Loopeeeee

New Years 2012 - Happy Belated New Years

2012-01-31T15:39:00.002-05:00

This is the first year Otis made it to midnight and was able to see the band, for that matter Marlo was awake too. Battle Snake was superb as usual this year. Marl and I dance in the hallway while everyone else was a room over. She loves dancing to the music. We are very lucky to have such a great New Years tradition.

In The News

2012-01-20T13:56:00.002-05:00

We opened our second location for Bailey's Local Foods this week. We are lucky enough to be featured in the Woolwich & Wellesley Townships Observer. You can read the article here.

Photo Courtesy of the Observer

Christmas 2011

2012-01-10T16:19:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderfully quite Christmas this year. I think it was the most laid back Christmas we have had yet. We have celebrated three Christmases so far and have two more to go.

Our first delicious dinner was brought to us by my sister in law Kathy and her husband Dave The Saturday before Christmas. We were supposed to have a full family dinner which has been postponed to January due to a viral infection. Otis was really excited to open gift and have family here to visit. I decided to give the kids their Christmas P.J's that night so that they could wear them at all of the Christmases we would be celebrating.

Christmas Eve was pretty fun. Dave and I stocked the tree with all the gifts we would be opening before Otis woke up. When he went down to wake up nonna he discovered there were a lot of presents under the tree he ran back upstairs shouting about all the presents that were under the tree. you would have thought that Santa had come already.

There were only five of us for dinner including Marlo. We had are usual seafood dinner just on a much smaller scale. After dinner we opened all the gifts. It was a night a Star Wars. Just about every gift Otis received was Star Wars other then the few other items I picked up. Once all of the new toys had be sufficiently played with we all headed downstairs to watch one of our favorite Christmas movies Die Hard.

I managed to get Marlo's Stocking finished on Christmas Eve. Santa came in the middle of the night and left the kids stockings full of goodies and a few other gifts under the tree. We were lucky enough to get to sleep in until 8am. We opened all the new gifts under the tree and had a yummy breakfast Dave made. Once we were all dressed and ready to go we hit the road for Niagara to see My Dad's side of the Family. It to was a nice relaxed day spent eating delicious foods and visiting with everyone. It was Marlo's first time at her Nonno and Nana's house. She was very good all day including the drive to and from Niagara.

I try to make at least one hand made gift a year. This year Marlo will get a dress that is still not complete and Otis got a pencil crayon holder. The whole time I was making it, I told him it was for someone else. He asked me many times if he could have one too because his pencil crayons keep falling out of the box. I love being able to surprise him.

First Immunization

2012-01-09T10:52:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the silence. We have had a baby going through a growth spurt. There has been a lot of crying baby and lack of sleep on our part. Things seem to be settling down which meamd I can finally get some chrstmas pictures posted.
Marlo now weighs 15 lbs 13 oz. She has grown in length by 4 inches too.
The doctors are happy with her growth. She is in the 97th percentile for length, 50th percentile for head and in the 85th for her weight.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T12:30:00.001-05:00

From our family to yours.

Gingerbread House - Fail

2011-12-24T21:18:00.004-05:00

Here it is, the annual gingerbread house. I think the set was from last year. The icing was gloopy and did not dry. Most of the candies rolled off. I would call this a fail. Oh well.

GO Train in the Loo

2011-12-24T14:28:00.002-05:00

The GO train is has come to town. This past Sunday GO transit had free rides for those in Kitchener to Guelph and back. We were lucky enough to get a seat in the upper deck. The ride was much longer then expected. The boys had fun for the first half and then grew restless after being on the train for over an hour.

Otis took pictures to pass some of the time on the train. There were almost 100 of them.

Christmas Concert

2011-12-24T13:31:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago Otis' was in his school Christmas concert. The kindergarten classes are the first to perform by singing a couple of different Christmas carols.

Papa and granny were in town for their six day layover before heading out for another great adventure.

Santa Clause 2011

2011-12-16T13:26:00.001-05:00

Two in the Tub

2011-12-01T00:50:00.000-05:00

Otis has been wanting to have a bath with Marlo since she got home. What better place then Nonna's to do so. He joined Marlo for her bath and then Marlo joined him for his bath.

Photo Shoot at Nonna's

2011-11-30T11:00:00.000-05:00

We had a bit of a photo shoot this afternoon. I took almost 200 pictures in a half hour period. Here are some of my favorites.

Pink TuTu

2011-11-30T00:58:00.001-05:00

ZiZi Miranda insisted She buy Marlo her first TuTu

Skylon Tower Brunch

2011-11-29T14:54:00.001-05:00

This past Sunday November 27, 2011 my mom turned Sixty. We took her to the Skylon Tower for Brunch. When we pulled up to the tower Otis asked if that was where we are going for lunch. I answered "yes". Otis looked up and said "Up there, Wow!!!"

When we first got in the yellow bug to go up he was afraid for about 4 seconds the gained the courage to let go and walk over to see the falls.

This was my first time going up the tower too. Funny since I lived here until I was almost twenty. After Brunch we went up to the observation deck to have look out. It was really windy Otis had fun in the wind.

Dave came in Saturday night so he could be here for brunch. We dropped my mom off to catch a nap before she had to work while we ran a couple of errands. We spent the rest of the day and night vegging out being full from the food we ate. It was nice to have a quite evening after the last three late nights out.

Junior B Game

2011-11-27T14:03:00.000-05:00

We are spending a week in Niagara. This means lots of visiting. We arrived here on Thursday afternoon. I unloaded the car and unpacked before we set out on our first surprise visit. I knew my dad would be picking up Big Nonna before my brother's hockey game. We managed to get up to the front door before anyone realized a car had pulled up in the driveway. An amazing accomplishment if I do say so. My Nonna always looks out the window when a car pulls in her drive way

My little brother Gabe has made the Thorold Black Hawk Junior B Team. It was Marlo's first hockey game. I bundled her all up so she wouldn't get cold. By the end of the game she was so warm that I had to strip her down. She did very well and didn't even flinch when a goal was scored.

Thursday was the first night of three staying out until almost midnight. Friday and Saturday We set out to visit some of my cousins. My goal is to get a visit in with all of my cousins that live in town before we go. We are on track, just need to get a hold of one more. Otis had a great time playing with little boys his age and he has done so well. Two of my cousins one on each side of the family have a little guy close to Otis' age. Each of them spend most of their time playing with girls and were really excited to play with a little boy. Even after 6 hours of constant play there were no fights. I get so involved in visiting I have forgotten to take many pictures. Oh well visiting is more important then the pictures.

Big Nonna and the Kids

2011-11-21T08:40:00.000-05:00

I love this selection of pictures. Big Nonna is the Kids only Great Grandparent. They are very Lucky to have a great grand parent in their life. I too am very Lucky to have a grandparent left in my life.

Santa Clause Parade 2011

2011-11-20T20:44:00.001-05:00

Otis got to be in his first parade this year. He was very excited to do so. Thank goodness the weather was rather nice. The wind on the other hand was a bit chilly. Marlo stayed all bundled up and warm in her carrier under my big sweater. I find every time I go to the parade it is so anti-climactic. They really need to have a better Santa float.

The best part of the parade was watching all the people in the parade avoid the horse poop that was left in front of us. Oh and seeing Otis on his float. Check him out.

Lest we Forget

2011-11-11T12:46:00.001-05:00

Today Marlo is 11 weeks old on 11,11,11.

Doctor's Visit

2011-11-10T07:37:00.001-05:00

10lb 6oz. Up over a pound a week since the last visit. She also grew 4cm. WOOHOO!!!

Standard time shift, Lego & Leaves

2011-11-06T11:08:00.000-05:00

Happy extra hour of sleep day. Believe it or not we were lucky enough to have children that accommodated the time change. Marlo slept snuggled into me until 9:30am new time and Otis was downstairs playing with Lego.

There are times when I get frustrated about the Lego situation at our house. It cost a fortune, it is hard to find a storage solution that keeps each set separate, and It really really hurts when I step on it. I can only imagine how many pieces Marlo is going to get into her mouth.

It isn't until I find something like this ship around the house that I can appreciate Lego and the amazing creativity it allows a child to explore. I found this ship in Marlo's bed beside me when I woke up this morning. He told me what kind of ship it was. I could not repeat the name if I tried, let alone type it so all of you could know what it is called. Lets just call it another Star Wars battle ship.

Right now the boys are outside cleaning the fall leaves. The city is coming any day now to pick them from the curb. It would really suck if we didn't get the leaves to the curb. We had to bag them up one year and it took us over 25 bags to do so. Thanks Mom for getting most of it done for us.

Emma Tunic

2011-11-05T20:42:00.001-04:00

I have been getting some knitting done in my spare time. Most knitting happens with babe in arms these days. I saw this little Tunic over at Soulemama during the summer. I knit up two this past month one for little Laura Rachael's daughter and one for Marlo. This little tunic is called an Emma Tunic. You can get the pattern over at Pulling at Strings if you are interested in making it yourself. There are a few cute patterns I heart for over there like These Bloomers. I love making little things they knit up so fast.

Day 70 - Half & Half

2011-11-04T11:15:00.000-04:00

Today, Marlo has been home as many days as she was in the Hospital. Look at the difference.

Beaver's

2011-11-02T12:11:00.000-04:00

Otis Joined Beaver's last month. They meet every Monday, so I thought. I had no idea when we signed him up how involved it is. There have been a few other events held on other days too. Unfortunately due to the timing we have not been able to participate in any of the additional activities. He is really enjoying Beavers. There are several boys who all know each other in his group which makes it exciting. A few weeks back we went to a ceremony for the new beavers to the organization. They held the ceremony outside. Unfortunately it was pitch black and we could not really see a thing.

Here is a Tid Bit From Wikipedia about it the Ceremony.
A new Beaver is called a "Kit"; a Kit must learn the Beaver Promise, Law, and Motto and go through an investiture ceremony to become an "Eager Beaver". The investiture ceremony officially welcomes the Beaver into the Scouting programme and during this ceremony the Beaver receives a tail, neckerchief, and badges for his uniform.

A five-year-old Beaver is a brown tail, a six-year-old is a blue tail and a seven-year-old is a white tail. The tail is attached to the back brim of the Beaver Hat.

The boys all had fun they made lanterns to put around the fire. After the ceremony we sat around the camp fire had hot chocolate and sang a few campfire songs. It was really nice to get out side and be by the fire even if it was for a short time. It was Marlo's first campfire. She slept through the whole thing. To bad we didn't have marshmallows.

This past week Otis got to bring Chucky the beaver home. I guess he is a mascot for their group. I am not sure if each group has one or not. Chucky is well traveled. he has come with us out and about and even sleeps with Otis.

Our 8th Anniversary

2011-11-01T08:59:00.000-04:00

Today, Dave and I have been married for eight years.

I love our life and the little family we have created. Yay! for us.

Happy Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T20:47:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone had a great Halloween this year. We had fun here.

Sushi Anyone?

Luke Skywalker

Otis the Photo Journalist

2011-10-30T18:18:00.003-04:00

I gave Otis the camera at the pumpkin patch and let him go. There were well over 200 pictures once he was done. Here are some of the best.

The Patch 2001 Edition - Farm #2

2011-10-30T16:11:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was such a nice day. Otis, Marlo and I hit the road to get some things done. We went to the dreaded mall. Otis needed his winter boots and snow pants. I both items along with a Christmas gift and a few other items needed. Overall a successful trip.

After the mall we headed out to Nauman's Pumpkins. I am pretty sure we will always go to two pumpkin patches a year. The two we go to are very different. One has farm animals which are always nice to visit and the other has fun play activities for the kids to enjoy.

There have been a few additions to the activity area for kids this year. They added a silo slide that Otis must have went down it 20 times. The hay mountain was a favorite among most of the kids there. They were all working together to get each other up at places it was nice to see.

We went and played in the activity area first that By the time we got to the pumpkins the sun had gone down and it was freezing. I took Marlo out and took a hand full of pictures before I bundled her back in to get warm. Unfortunately they are sleeping baby

Otis made sure he got pictures taken up on the pumpkin wagon.

Halloween Tot Parade - The Museum

2011-10-29T13:03:00.000-04:00

I had to have the kids costumes ready for October 28th. That is three full days early. I feels weird to say kids plural. I haven't had my sewing machine out in over two months. Which has been good since my craft/sewing room is also Marlo's room. My sewing table has been doing double duty as the drop zone for all thing Marlo that don't have a home yet.

There were doubter in my ability to make costumes this year with having a new baby. I only have a few more year before Otis will not let me make his costumes any longer.

I cleared it off and got sewing without a pattern yet again. Both costumes worked out well. We met up with a bunch of others to attend The Museum Halloween Tot Parade. We have an annual membership to the museum. I can't remember if I have mentioned it here or not. It has been so handy to have a place to go on really hot, cold or wet days.

The Museum arrange for a few local businesses to give out candy. First all the kids made loot bags and the we headed out for the Parade. It was a zoo, there were so many kids and strollers. Otis had most of his candy done by the time we got to lunch.

There was also a Halloween event at the library. There were spooky stories, songs and more trick or treating. It was nice to be out with all those Kids and Mama's. Marlo is really good at going out and about. If you don't already know what she will be for Halloween you have to wait until Monday.

The Patch 2011 Edition - Farm #1

2011-10-28T18:01:00.000-04:00

Otis, Marlo and I met up with some others at the pumpkin patch last week. Farmers have struggled this year with the yeild of their produce. Pumkins were no different.

We had a lot of fun playing on the farm and visiting with all our friends and the animals on the farm. It was far to cold and windy however to get some good babes and pumpkin photos. Hopefully we manage to make it out this weekend before Halloween to get some great pictures and a few more pumpkins.

Pumpkins were slim pickings at this farm. There may have been better ones out in the field but it was way to windy and cold to go out and have a peak.

Few Minutes - I actually have some

2011-10-27T21:35:00.000-04:00

I have had requests for more pictures, so here I go. I have Marlo sleeping on my chest and I have my hands free to type.

These are pictures from over the last couple of weeks that have been collecting on the camera and phone. I had a few minutes today to sort through them. We have been doing really well here. Breast feeding had been put on hold a few weeks back as she started to lose weight. We are now working really hard to get her there again. She is really growing now. I had to move the straps up on the car seat to the next level. She also started to out grow some of here teeny tiny sleepers. Yay!!!

We get stopped everywhere we go. When I tell people how old she is (because they always ask) I then get the comment was she preemie. I stumbled at first to answer as they look at me strange when I just answer no. I now follow the no with she had tummy issues. I forgot that having a baby meant everyone now stops and asks you questions.

Marlo turned two months old a couple of days ago. We have had her home for four weeks now. She is a pretty funny little girl. She freaks out when she does not get food the second she wants it. I assume a residual effect from not having food for two weeks. She is also a mommy's girl and loves to be held. So different from Otis.

At her last weigh in she weighed 7 lb 12 oz. I was also given the go ahead to eat say again. We promised Otis that as soon as I can eat say we will go to sushi. We left the Dr's office and picked him up from school for a surprise lunch. You would have thought it was Christmas based on his reaction and excitement.

Her neck is getting much stronger and we don't feel like she is going to break as easily as she did before. She is plumping up so well her innie belly button is now an outtie. I had no idea that could happen.

I love the picture below of everyone sleeping but me. I have been getting a good amount of sleep. I don't feel deprived of sleep. Dave and Otis let me sleep in if it has been a really bad night. for the most part Marlo wakes up once a night. I am usually up an hour feeding and pumping. A few nights we have been really lucky she has so much to eat right before Dave and I go to bed that she sleeps until 6 or 7pm.

Evenings

2011-10-26T17:13:00.001-04:00

They look a lot like mornings

Mornings

2011-10-24T20:36:00.001-04:00

Some day I will have free hands again to update this blog. Until then pictures will have to do.

Going for a Hike

2011-10-10T10:34:00.000-04:00

We are very luck to have a large piece of woods down the street from us. The weather was to beautiful to stay inside. I still have not officially been given the all clear for physical activity but made the decision it was time to walk.

I strapped Marlo in the carrier and off we all went. Otis has been asking to walk in the woods all summer. I did not have the energy to even think about walking in the woods.

At the end of the woods we ended up in the Breithaupt Park. I thought Otis was going to explode. He was so excited to have been out in the woods and then to play in the park. Who could imagine.

I am so happy my energy level is up again. I was so worried I was never going to get it back.

Little Black Dress

2011-10-09T22:49:00.002-04:00

Every Girl Needs One.

I wanna Hold Her

2011-10-08T22:23:00.000-04:00

We taught Otis how to pick Marlo up properly a few days back. He really wanted to stand and walk with her now that she doesn't have wires on her.

He did really well carrying her. I made sure once he was done, we went over the rules of when he is allowed to carry her. I even made him repeat them back to me twice to make sure he was listening.

The next day Marlo was asleep on the couch wrapped up in a blanket. I was upstairs doing laundry. The next thing I knew Otis is on the landing almost all the way up the stairs when he calls to me to tell me he had Marlo. I walked over quickly and calmly. He was holding her still all wrapped up. All is fine and well.

I wonder how many more times this is going to happen.

She is Home - Hooray!!!

2011-10-03T22:48:00.000-04:00

Thanks for holding your breath with us. We finally made it home Friday night. Overall things have been going well.

Feeding is getting there. Stressful at points. Sleeping is at a minimum and cuddles are at a MAX.

During our first night home Otis was frustrated with all the crying. About five in the morning he said to me. "Mommy babies are hard to take care of, huh?"

Otis is over the moon with his baby sister. He will tell anyone who will listen that she is home.

Marlo is one tiny little drama queen. She likes to be swaddled as tight as can be. Thanks Greg and Heather for leaving those amazing purple blankets here they have been a life saver. She also likes to have her bum pat to settle her down. At the first hint of a diaper change she started to lose her mind. She sounds like a little squealing piglet when she really gets going. Most of her cloths are to big and fall off of her. As you can tell by the outfit my mom got her to come home from the hospital in up above.

I really enjoyed our Saturday home together. Unfortunately Dave had to go to work but we got through it without him. Otis passed out on the living room floor in the afternoon after being woken up many times through out the night. We spent the evening on the couch relaxing. It was the first time in over five weeks I did not leave the house.

Tomorrow will be my last visit from my the home nurse. My wounds will be closed. I am so thankful for how accommodating they were with my schedule and came at all different times of the day based on my needs.

I can finally say Marlo's birth/hospital Adventure is over. Marlo spent thirty six days in the hospital and I spent eight days in and Thirty one house visits.

I want to send a special thanks out to my sister Miranda who is now in New Zealand. She Set up a Facebook fund to help us with our expenses during this time. We will miss you ZiZi Miranda. I Look forward to our Skype dates. I also want to thank everyone who gracously gave us their hard earned money to us in help us out through this time it is much appreciated. Thank you and we love you all.

Days 32 to 35 - Surprise

2011-09-29T20:36:00.004-04:00

Monday morning Dave and I arrived in Hamilton to find out we will be moving back to Grand River Hospital in Kitchener. We just needed to wait for a bed. Marlo would also be taken off the TPN(nutrients) as she is eating enough milk now. They will still keep the central line open with a saline drip until they are sure we no longer need it.

Tuesday morning I called down to see if there was a bed yet. I was told not to plan on her moving back to Kitchener that day. They have not heard about a bed opening yet. Once I got to McMaster they let me know a bed opened up and we will be going back some time during the day.

We left McMaster by 4:30pm and were on the road. Traffic was great back in Kitchener by 5:30pm. Marlo was famished by the time I got up to the NICU. She was in her own room and the nurse had a gown on. Turns out there was a baby in McMaster that had some bacteria on her floor. She needs to be put in isolation until they can test for the bacteria. She was not happy being swabbed. All she wanted to do was eat. I put on my gown and she fed great. I went back in and fed her at midnight and 6am.

When I got back in for the noon feed her doctor was there. I now have permission to feed her all the time. We now started to discuss the exit plan. He mentioned taking her central line out on Friday. I pipped in that I wanted to go home on Friday. He then agreed to take the central line out on Thursday (today). they need to watch the location for 24hrs. I then asked what other goals do we have to reach before we can get out of here. The doctor sat silent for about thirty seconds and the said nothing really. You can plan to go home for Friday.

DID YOU READ THAT. We get to go home FRIDAY!!!!!! That is tomorrow. Can everyone hold their breath with us.

I slept at the hospital last night to feed through out the night. We have had seven successful feeds in a row. The most we have attempted to date was three. She even put some weight on last night. I will be spending most of day and night there. Today will be the first time in a really long time that she will be free of all wires and tubes. She will have to wear a monitor while she is sleeping but when I hold her there will be room to move.

We will be coming home Friday evening turning off all the phones and locking all the doors for the weekend. It is going to be nice to drink in the true first moments our new life as a Family of four.

Days 28 thru 31 - OH Happy Days

2011-09-26T01:33:00.000-04:00

Wow we have been living this life for four weeks now. Marlo will be one month old tomorrow. Are you all wondering if she has pooed yet? The answer is yes of course. She had her first little poo Thursday evening and has been "stooling" as they say ever since. As of this evening the results of the poo test have not come back. However the nurse today has said her poos look like the poos of a breastfeeding baby. There is no blood or mucus. YAY!!!!!

I drove to Hamilton on Friday for the first time. I only had to half pump before feeding so she could get more milk. I have been fully pumping before feeding to regulate the amount of milk she has been getting. Feeding went well. I am very happy with her progress. My first drive to Hamilton went well, After the hospital I went to the church to try and help out. It was pick up day for Bailey's. I wasn't much help but it really helps me to do something from my real life. By the evening I had the chills. By the time I got home I was shivering to the bone. I got in bed with a hot water bottle and tried to sleep. Turns out I had mastitis and man did I hurt. I woke up and pumped every two hours to help clear the blocked milk duct that was causing me pain. My fever broke through out the night. I spent most of Saturday in bed resting until we went to the hospital to see little miss.

Saturday I was told I would not have to half pump any longer. I still could only feed for fifteen minutes but she could have as much as she could during that time. She fed well, I have no idea how much she actually got though.

Otis got to see his little sister for the first time in over a week. He proclaimed Thursday evening that he really wanted his sister home so he could hold her and cuddle her. He didn't want her to be in the Hospital anymore. I told him she was getting better and that she would be coming back to Grand River Hospital soon. He was happy with this. then we wont have to drive so far to see her. This way he could visit her more.

Today I spent most of the day with Marlo. We were able to feed together three times. We started each feed by weighing her so we could see how much milk she was getting. Her tube feeding is up to 35ml. Her first feed with me she got 26ml based on her weight gain. Although is is not exact it does help gauge progress. She would have fed more if she was able to feed longer. She was awake for almost two hours which made her tired for the second feed. She got 18 ml the second feed. She was ready to feed a bit earlier for the next feed being she didn't get her fill the last time around. The six o'clock feed was awesome. She was gulping away like crazy she would have to slow down and catch her breath. The nurse was impressed she was able to handle the speed of the milk flow. She only fed for ten minutes this time and was done. Her weight gain said she had drank 34ml. 1 ml less then the feed she would have got from tube feeding. The nurse said that this is a really good sign for home life. When we are not on a hospital schedule and feeding whenever we need to. ANOTHER YAY!!!!!

Did I just here the mention of HOME. I think we are getting closer.

Day 26 & 27 - Waiting for Poo

2011-09-21T21:42:00.003-04:00

Marlo has been eating since Monday and has not pooped. This is not a big deal as she is not getting a lot of food. I find it funny that Marlo is fitting right into this family being we seem to always be talking about poo. I was thinking I need to get her these little guys for her isolette.

Pee & Poo

While at the Pee & Poo Web sight I did purchase This little Onesie . This is the first thing I have bought her since she has been born.

Feeding has been going well the last two days. She got 7ml from me this morning. I stopped her from feeding as I was worried she may get to much. I didn't realize that the nurse would just pull it out through her tube to see what she got. I could have kept on feeding her. Tomorrow I am just going to let her go and then let them decide how much they want to leave in he stomach for digestion.

Currently she is receiving 15mls every three hours for her feed. They have been increaseing her feed by 3ml every 12 hours. Once she poops they can have it tested. If all is well they can increase the food at a quicker pace.

The nurses know that I do not want her to receive any milk by bottle. They were O.K with this and will continue to feed her by tube until we get her back here where I will be more available to feed her. My hope is to have her moved back in Kitchener by Friday. I will accept Monday if I have to.

Some of our family members have set Thanks Giving as the date she will be home by. I am starting to think they might be right. I have had a tough two days. It is getting really hard to leave her there every day. She is becoming way more aware and looks directly at you now. Please let this time fly by in the same whirlwind we have been living in up until now. If it slows down it will be even that much harder to get through this.

Day 24 - 25 - Good Days

2011-09-19T23:11:00.002-04:00

Sunday was a day of the same. My friend Lisa picked me up and brought me to see Little Miss Marlo. She was doing well and was ready for snuggles. There was a little pink swing beside her bed. She got to spend one of her naps swinging away. The nurse said she really enjoyed the swing. Good thing we have one waiting here for her when she gets to come home. I had the pleasure of changing a diaper. It has been a couple of weeks since I changed one. I think I have only changed her diaper three maybe four times. Marlo had her first poop since last Friday, eight days ago. There was no blood. YAY!!!!

Today we set out to spend a good amount of time at the Hospital. Dave would bring me in snuggle with Marlo and head home in time to pick up Otis for school. Nona and Miranda would pick me up on their way through.

When we got to her bed side she was wailing. Her monitor was ringing as her heart rate was a hundred beats higher then her resting rate. She was so worked up. I tried to settle her in her isolette, she would not have it. I finally broke her out of her plastic cage and still could not get her to calm down. It took almost five minutes. We had arrived right during rounds which meant we finally got to meet her doctor. She got a new doctor today. It seems the pediatricians work on two week cycles. Her new doctor let me recap her history rather then read her file. He would only refer to the nurse practitioner if I could not answer the Medical questions. It was nice to be acknowledged and listened to for the first time since we have been there.

Marlo was still wailing away. He made the call that we would start to feed her today. The nurse questioned starting to feed before the end for the full ten days. The doctor took one look at the crying baby and said feed her she is hungry. He had me pump first so Marlo would not get to much food right away. The Doctor paused and asked me by name if I had any more questions or concerns before he left. Ahhhh I almost feel at peace after our encounter.

She latched immediately and went to town. After close to ten minutes I burped her and she snuggled with Daddy. She seemed very satisfied and grabbed a hold of Dave's beard. If you are wondering why Dave still has not shaved his pregnancy beard. The answer is he is waiting for her to come home before the burly man look goes.

When we left today she was just about to get her next feed of 6ml by tube. She will not be put on a bottle. The doctor made a point of letting the nurses know she should not get formula and keep her on breast milk.

Our next step is to wait for the poop. He hopes to have her up to 60% of her feed by Friday. I hope this means she will get to come back to Kitchener by then. If not I will be spending a lot of time in Hamilton coming up. Only time will tell.

Big Brother the Doctor

2011-09-18T19:54:00.001-04:00

Yesterday Dave and Otis were just about to head to Hamilton. Otis had to run upstairs to get something before they left. When he came down he was carrying his tool box and his fisher price doctors toys.

He said "I have to bring my tools to the hospital to make Marlo better so we can bring her home".

My heart is just melting. He has been so good through out this experience . He is very understanding and loving to this little girl. I can't wait to see them grow up together.

Note: The picture above is of him waiting in the waiting room for Marlo to be born. The middle creature is Safari. Safari spent two weeks in bed with Marlo while we waited for her to get better.

On the lighter side of Life

2011-09-18T13:15:00.005-04:00

A few nights ago Miranda and I were in the basement, while I tried to print some stuff to get ready for Bailey's pick up day.

Every so often I would here this noise by the window. I thought it was the printer. Eventually Miranda heard it too and asked what it was. I said the printer, she didn't agree. Later on I heard the exact noise again and was sure it was not the printer.

I hate little creatures and could/would not get off the couch. I freaked out and called Dave on his cell phone. I had know idea he had been sleeping upstairs for over an hour. He came down very grumpy and could not find anything. I got off the couch and almost ran up the stairs. I would have run if i could.

Miranda actually slept down there. She heard the noise a few more times through out the night. It was always in the same spot. I decided Miranda/we should check the window well before we left for the day. There was a little bunny trapped down there. We got a basket and a bag and off she went to save the bunny. There was no way I could climb in there. Miranda eventually managed to scoop him up and slide him up the wall to get him out.

During all the excitement Miranda and I both forgot she is allergic to Rabbits. While we were in the car she started to have a reaction. Her throat narrowed and she was sneezing. Luckily after a little while it all cleared it self and she was fine.

YAY!!!! We don't have a mouse in the house. AND We saved a bunny YAY!!!!!

On a side note: I didn't realize Otis was using the window well as a toy box.

Day 22 & 23 - McMaster to Stay

2011-09-17T22:04:00.001-04:00

Miranda and I went to McMaster Friday evening to see Marlo. She had kept her nurse busy all afternoon. The nurse finally figured out she really likes to be held and that she also likes to be bundled tightly. It was a strange feeling arriving to see my daughter and no one there knowing who I was. The rules to entering the NICU at McMaster are much more intense. I had to remove my wedding rings and all outside bags are to be put in plastic bags. You are not to bring any outside things in. There are very sick babies in her unit. When you arrive in the unit you need to wash up to your elbows. There is a step by step process on how you are to do so on the wall. I felt a little lost. Luckily there was a father just about to enter that realized Marlo was next to his twins. Turns out the twins were born in Kitchener two weeks earlier. I was feeding Marlo the night they were delivered and brought into the Kitchener NICU. Such a small birthing world.

Yesterday was a good day. They established her central line. We are very lucky they were able to get one in. If they did not have success the would have had to put a cut line in. A Cut line would have involved a surgeon cutting her thigh to find a vein. Once the central line was inserted it would have been stitched to the vein. This type of line would have meant she would be staying in Hamilton until she comes home.

I called McMaster this morning. They have decided to keep her there for now. The nurse has said the want to keep her until the establish feeds. They feel it would do her injustice to have her travel back and forth if the blood in the stool returns upon her starting to get milk again. They also feel they would be able to get to the correct milk needed quicker.

Currently the plan is to get her up to half feeds and make sure her insides can tolerate it. Once this is achieved we will be able to get her back in Kitchener to finish getting her to full feedings and hopefully establish breast feeding at the same time. Feeding could start as early as Monday. This is the doctors call it will be assessed if the ten day course of antibiotics was enough or if they feel fourteen days are needed. I brought a frozen batch of my milk to the hospital in preparation for her feeding to begin.

We just got back from visiting and cuddling her for the afternoon/evening. This is the first night Dave has held her since Wednesday. We have had to split up and conquer and will continue to do so through out the next while. Dave returned to work this week and we do have a little boy at home that needs us too. I plan to drive to Hamilton tomorrow. I am interested to see how I feel after the drive. The farthest I have driven so far is to a doctors appointment. I am feeling much better. This will be a good test.

Day 21 - Road Trip

2011-09-16T09:29:00.005-04:00

I slept in this morning trying to to have the morning pass with out thinking about it. Marlo was having her central line put in at 10am. I have my nurse come by early so we could go to the hospital as soon as the coast was clear to do so.

I called the NICU at noon to see how things went and to make sure we could visit her. Her Doctor got on the line to let me know that they were not successful. He had just made arrangements to have the transport team to come get Marlo and bring her to McMaster. She would either come back tonight or first thing in the morning.

I went to the hospital and cuddled with her until they came to get her. She was exhausted and slept the whole time. The transport team came and got her ready to go. We gave her kisses and sent her on her way.

I came home pumped and crashed from the sheer exhaustion of the whole event. I called McMaster this evening to see how thing were going. She arrived fine, all of her stats were normal and the trip was uneventful. I am a bit confused as the nurse there was talking about me bringing milk there. I was under the impression she was coming right back. The nurse explained that she was getting ex-rayed later this evening and that she would have blood work in the morning. They were giving her little body a break before the attempted to try getting a line again.

For now I am taking each step as it comes and not worrying about the next. I can not think or plan. I need to live in the moment. I will be heading down to McMaster tomorrow to check things out for myself and give that little girl some big cuddles. Tomorrow she is three weeks old. I would have never imagined this is how the last three weeks of our life would have went.

Day 17, 18, 19 and 20 - Stable Baby

2011-09-14T12:55:00.003-04:00

The last four days have been uneventful on the hospital front. We are in the sixth day of her ten day treatment. I love that we are now passed the half way mark. She is doing well. It looks like we will be starting to feed her either Sunday or Monday. This is going to be a very slow process. little increments at a time. There will be no rushing the process this time. She can get rather feisty through out the day and shows signs of wanting to eat. She had a bath yesterday and almost drank the bath water.

For the most part the only news is if the IV held or not. We were lucky enough for the first IV in her head to last almost 48 hours. The last two only lasted 12 hours each. I signed the consent form this morning for them to put a central line in tomorrow morning. If all goes well it will last and she will not need to be pricked and poked several times a day. On average a central line lasts four to six weeks so we should be fine.

I am feeling good these days. I have stopped taking my pills for pain about three days ago and am doing well. I drove Otis to school today all by myself. It has been almost three weeks since I drove. I made dinner on Monday by myself to. I am starting to feel like a capable person again.

Chocolate Milk Bubbles

2011-09-13T00:38:00.000-04:00

We were treated to lunch over the weekend in an effort to feel normal. Otis is very proud of his bubbles.

Days 15 & 16 - Positive Progress

2011-09-11T23:16:00.003-04:00

Saturday was a pretty non eventful day. It was the second day of the ten day treatment. Marlo kept the nurses hoping through out the night into Saturday morning. Her little belly had realized it was empty and wanted to eat. She spent a far bit of the night in the arms of the nurse walking around the NICU.

It feels like we are starting to find our groove here at home. My mom has been an amazing help around here. while we were out Saturday she managed to make me twenty six jars of fresh grape juice for us to drink during the winter.

Saturday evening we went for our nightly visit only to find out we would not get to have our cuddles. Marlo had just had a new IV put in and had just settled down after having a upsetting evening.

Sunday morning was a shock to the system. Marlo's IV had been moved to her head. There was a little ziploc bag taped to her incubator with some hair and a note. It made me happy and sad all at the same time. Happy they kept it. Sad her hair needed to be cut to have a needle stuck in her head. Her Doctor was on call, he stopped by to let me know the newest ex-ray looked cleaner and we would continue to rest her insides of food for the next eight days. We will then reintroduce my milk back to her gradually when the time comes. He said this is positive progress and keep the course.

I was told by my nurse it should only be a week or so longer before my wounds have healed. Today was the first day i felt like I could stand up straight and not stay bent over from the pain. I feel the end is near I can't believe it.

Otis' First Day of School - Senior Kindergarten

2011-09-11T13:39:00.000-04:00

We are trying to keep life as normal as we can for this little boy during a crazy time. Dave got everything Otis needed for school this year. They went shopping for his indoor shoes and came home with Spiderman shoes. He told everyone he came in contact with that he got Spiderman shoes for school.

Otis will be going to school full days every other day and every other Friday. Last year he went half days every day. His best friend from school is in his class. He will be in the same class room as last year but with a new teacher.

Dave and I both took him to his first day. Dave should have been at work today but has not been back yet since Marlo was born. As soon as we got to school his friend was their ready to play. They took off to the playground and get some playing in. When the bell rang he was so quick to come up and get in line to go in. There were only 4 kids in his class line. It was then that we found out that only the senior kindergarten kids were there. They would not have a full class until Monday. It is part of the gradual entry program which helps the junior kindergarten children adjust to starting school.

Dave picked Otis up after school. They played at the playground for a bit before they came home. The first thing Otis said to Dave was that school was so long. We tried to prepare him for the idea of all day school but he obviously did not understand what that meant.

School is very different these days. His school does not have a lunch hour they have two nutrition breaks. We have to pack two half size lunches and lable them so that he won't eat everything at once. The theory is the children stay more energized as the nutrition is spread through out the day. I find it strange not to have a lunch hour but I do get the thought behind it. He will not be able to come home for lunch.

Otis said he had a lot of fun at school. He ate almost everything in him lunches that Dave had packed and made his very own necklace during craft time. Starting school on a Friday is somewhat anticlimactic, now we wait until Monday for the next day of school. He plans to ride his bike with Daddy. It will still be awhile before I can walk him to school.

Marlo's Birth Adventure - Update Day 14

2011-09-10T08:23:00.000-04:00

Week #3 - So The Plot Thickens

Friday we went to the hospital to sign Marlo's release form so she could be transferred to McMaster. To our surprise she was being hooked up to an IV. Turns our there still wasn't a bed available at McMaster. Her doctor here decided to make the next move. It could be a day or two until one became available and it would not be in the NICU, it would be in the pediatrics department.

Through out the night Marlo was not overly interested in eating and threw up twice. The Doctor had decided to start treating Marlo for Necrotising Entrocolitis (NEC). He said there was a 50/50 chance that this would be the course of action they took at McMaster. He and his team of Doctors are not 100% sure this is what she has. But, they are not sure that it is Milk colitis anymore as the bleeding has become more persistent as apposed to getting better. The E-ray from Thursday had raised some questions amungst the team reviewing it. They ex-rayed her again Friday morning and the same area in her bowel raised question. Most babies that have NEC become much sicker quicker and have more traceable symtoms. Marlo has not followed the regular path of a NEC baby, however if she doe have it they will be ahead of the curve and hopefully get her better quicker.

The treatment for NEC is 10 days long and rather intensive.

stopping feedings

nasogastric drainage (inserting a tube through the nasal passages down to the stomach to remove air and fluid from the stomach and intestine)

intravenous (IV) fluids for fluid replacement and nutrition

antibiotics for infection

frequent examinations and X-rays of the abdomen

The Doctor did tell us that NEC could make a baby much sicker then Marlo was and if it did get to that point she would be transferred to the next level up NICU. She would be moved to which ever location had a bed available, either London, Hamilton or Toronto. But for not they would continue here in Kitchener. Thank goodness for that.

It felt like we were taken such a step backwards. She would have all the wires and tubes as she did before. The IV may not work for all ten days and she may need a central line. she will need so many needles and testing everyday. God I hope this works, how much more can a little body take. Dave and I left the hospital Friday morning very shaken up and upset. We also left not knowing much about NEC other then it sounded horrible and was much worse then straight up milk colitis.

Now that we had spent a bit of time reading about the disease, we feel much less fearful and more optimistic overall. This is going to be a long treatment but will hopefully yield positive results in the end. Meaning we may even get to bring our baby home.

If you are interested in reading more about it here is the Link - Necrotising Entrocolitis

Marlo's Birth Adventure Part #2

2011-09-09T18:09:00.000-04:00

Thursday Marlo had not put on weight. Which meant she could not leave the NICU. I needed to have a cat scan so they could have a better look at the wound. It was then recommended that I pump and dump my milk for the next 24 hours. I knew this meant breastfeeding would be done until we could get her home. After 7 attempts of very painful poking they finally were able to get the IV started that was needed to insert the die for the cat scan. The cat scan came back with good news. I was not bleeding internally and that the pocket was 8 x 10 cm. They decided the course of action was to get me home and have a vacuum put on the opening. This would mean I need to carry an apparatus around with me everywhere I went for up to 30 days. I managed to get some sleep Thursday night as I did not need to go feed Marlo.

WEEK #2
When I woke to go see Marlo Friday morning I found out she had lost more weight. She also had to be moved back under the photo therapy as her Jaundice(bilirubin) number had gone back up and that there was blood in her stool. AHHHHHHH. When is this going to end. I tried to breast feed her at her 9am feed. She had no interest in working for her food. Based on her weight loss the decision was made to ease up on attempting to breast feed and burning the calories she would intake and get her fed through expressing my milk. It is going to be a long road back to breast feeding.

Friday morning would also be the day in which they started to discover blood in her stool. All the formula feeding had triggered what the doctors thought was cows milk colitis. I was asked to go on a dairy and soy free diet and they would supplement with a dairy free formula. Marlo struggled to keep the formula down. It was to difficult for her stomach process. She threw up most of her feed. Which meant she would still not gain weight.

Saturday was a day of progress. It took three different formulas until they found one that she could tolerate. She was out of the photo therapy, she had her very first small weight gain and the blood in her stool had mostly gone. There would be a speck here or there in a diaper change but nothing overly concerning. If she continued with this pattern she may be able to come home by Monday. I was also discharged from the Hospital Saturday afternoon. It broke my heart to leave my little girl behind. This is not how things are supposed to go.

Sunday night she started to have more blood in here stool. Coming home Monday was out the window. Tuesday morning her pediatrician was in and examined her. He let us know that she would not be coming home for the next few days minimum. They needed to continue to monitor her and make sure she was on the mend. It is common to take up to two weeks for the bowels to settle once aggravated from milk colitis, If things went well she could come home Friday if not maybe the Monday after that.

So here we are Thursday September 8th, 2011 thirteen days after Marlo was born. There is no end in sight. It is not a good day. The bleeding has continued to increase. They have continued to test her and get ex-rays to keep an eye on what is going on inside. It was also decided that they would only feed her formula to remove more variables. I am now pumping and freezing my milk in hopes to be able to feed it to her some day.

We received a phone call from Marlo's Doctor this afternoon. He decided to consult with Mcmaster to see what they would suggest at this point as the bleeding has occurred for a week now. Mcmaster's Doctors would like her to be transferred to them in Hamilton so they can watch her closer. They have access to more testing for infants then they have here. We would just have to wait until a bed was available.

So, we stand and wait for our little one to get better and come home. Looks like we will be travelling back and forth to Hamilton for the next while. I need to be able to come home as I am still on the mend and need the nurse to change the dressing for my wound. Which by the way now has a second hole that needs to be dealt with.

Many tears have been shed and the emotional roller coaster has been more then I can handle at points. We have been very lucky to have an amazing support system around us and are thankful for everyone who has been there for us.

Marlo's Birth Adventure Part #1

2011-09-05T22:42:00.001-04:00

Marlo is still cooped up in the hospital for one week now. If things had gone as planned we would have been home this passed Monday. Just after we posted about Marlo's birth she was taken to the NICU with fluid in her lungs. My C-section has went well. I did not have any of the post-op issues I had when I had Otis. Unfortunately Little Miss Marlo had a respiratory issues. She was taken from us just minutes after we posted about her arrival.

Other then the 15 minutes I held her in the recovery room I wasn't even able to touch her for two days. Sunday afternoon I found out that she would not be coming home with me. I was devastated to say the least. Her breathing was still all over the place and they were testing to see if she had an infection that may be causing her to be Tachypnic aka Hyperventilating. One saving grace in this whole ordeal was that she was on an IV which meant she was not drinking formula. By Sunday evening I was able to start holding her. I would tuck her into my chest skin to skin and nap with her until I had to go pump trying to get my milk in for when she would be ready to feed.

To my surprise we were able to start attempting breast feeding Monday morning. This meant I could Stay at the hospital in one of their sleep rooms once I was discharged. Breast feeding was starting to work, she latched and fed some. They would tube feed her the rest directly into he stomach. They had to work her body up to a certain amount of fluid intake and make sure her body would tolerate it before they could take the IV out. As time progresses they needed to speed up the process as hes body was stuggling to hold IV's. The fluid they had her on is very hard on anyone's veins, especially babies.

In the mean time I was discharged from the Hospital Monday around lunch. During my whole recovery after the c-section I had not seen a doctor. We moved my stuff over to the sleep room and went for lunch in the cafeteria. Once we finished lunch I stood up to get back to the NICU for a feeding and dropped blood on the floor. I thought it had just missed my pad since I had been sitting for the first time in a chair. When I got back upstairs I got myself cleaned up panicked a little as it was a lot of blood. I spoke to the nurses about it, they had me go rest in the sleep room. I went in the family room with Dave to rest and calm my emotions. While in there Dave and I decided it would be best for me to go home in between feeding and pumps over night. I needed to be surrounded by family and in my own bed. The sleep room wasn't going to hack it for my sanity. Marlo was still being fed by tube and would not need to have a bottle. This meant I didn't really need to be there overnight. Marlo also developed Jaundice o on Monday and needed to be put on phototherepy to clear the jaundice.

I discovered later that night once we were home from the last feed, that I was still bleeding a lot and that it was coming from my incision. Off to the ER Dave and I went. When we got to the hospital it took over an hour to be triaged. There were only four people in front of me. Once we were put in line we were told we could wait upstairs in the NICU instead of in the ER if we wanted to. This was great, I could pump and relax in the family lounge. Dave started pacing the NICU while I slept. It was the middle of the night so he went to visit Marlo. Marlo's nurse was surpised we were still there. She called down to the ER to make sure they did not miss us. I eventually woke up to pump and told her that my Doctor was in the hospital on call that night. She made many calls trying to get in contact with him. No one would let her speak to him. About an hour later nurse told nurse told nurse and word had made it to him that I was in the ER line waiting to be seen. He travelled the hospital looking for me.

Breaking many rules he brought me into the Labour and delivery triage and looked at my incesion to see what was going on. He determind the inner incision was closed and that a pocket had form that was bleeding. It would take some time to see what was happening so he readmitted me into the hospital. He had told me then that he was surprised to see I was discharged. He had gone to check in on me about an hour after I had been discharged and I was gone.

Tuesday was a non eventful day for me I continued to leak blood. Marlo was off the lights and feeding well on me and we began to suppliment with my milk by bottle. This was the beginging of the end to the breastfeeding I was told Tuesday night that they were no longer going to treat Marlo as a sick baby. I would be able to change her bathe her and we just needed the jaudice to stay in check and for her to gain wieght

Wednesday I had an ultra sound to see what was going on the bleeding had not stopped as the doctor had hoped. He poked around a far bit to see if there was a clot causing the pocket to bleed. The ultrasound was brutal. The technichian had to push on the staples of my incision trying to get the right images. When doing so she was causing me an extreme amount of pain and pushing out the remain blood the doctor had broken up. This made her panic and go look for any on call doctor. In the end she could not get the images she needed and I went back upstairs. I was told Wednesday morning that if Marlo gained weight and the bilirun number stayed down we could get her discharged to my room Thursday. Low and benold she lost weight and the jaundice relapsed. Feeding was still going O.k. but not as well as when she was not received a bottle to supplement.

To be continued.....

Little Miss Marlo

2011-08-26T11:30:00.001-04:00

Born this morning at 10:12am
Marlo Gabriella Ivanco
6 pounds 10oz
Mom and baby doing well

Family Day - The last one as a family of 3

2011-08-25T04:36:00.000-04:00

I have done it. I have caught Loopeeeee up. Just in the nick of time. For those who don't know I am going into the hospital tomorrow morning (August 26th) to have a c-section. This little girl is on her way. She has been given her eviction notice as Dave says.

This passed Monday Dave, Otis and I spent the day together. It was Otis' choice. As it is the last week he will be an only child. For the most part he seems to understand what will be happening. He has been a bit more emotional recently. I am sure there will be other baby side effects in the weeks/months to come.

We spent the morning hanging out at home and then headed to the Lego Store. to build and race some cars.

We then went to see Spy Kids 4 and headed home for some Lego Star Wars on the Xbox.

Knitting for Baby

2011-08-24T07:05:00.000-04:00

I have been just as busy over the last 9 months getting some knitting done.

I have been collecting patterns over the years and am very happy to finally be able to use some of them. I have many more I plan to knit over the years and can't wait to do so. Link to Patterns are in the titlles.

Seamless Baby Kimono

This is a creation of my own. It is a sleep sack.

Monster Pants - without the monster

Loop Baby Toy

Pixie Hat

There are are several other things I have made that I will show you over time as she actually wears them.

Beer Belly Picture

2011-08-23T06:51:00.000-04:00

It is a tradition in my family to have a picture of your baby belly and a beer resting on it. I thought I would take you through a tour.

My Mom pregnant with me.

My Baby Belly with Otis

My Belly with Little Miss M.

We can't forget Otis' Belly

Little Miss M's Corner

2011-08-22T21:50:00.001-04:00

I have been busy nesting as they say. It was time to start getting ready for this little one to get here. I have been at the sewing machine a lot over the last couple of weeks making all the little bits I need.

Here is a list of everything I have sewn in the last 2 weeks:

12 burp cloths

32 cloth wipes
16 cloth diaper liners
8 sets of breast pads

5 change pads

3 receiving blankets
1 swaddle blanket

1 diaper bag

and a set curtain for the door

Little Miss M will not be getting her own room for awhile yet. We have set up a corner of the house to be her very own for now. It has her change table and dresser in it. She also has her own closet. She will be staying in our room to start and Otis has asked to share a room with her when she is in the crib. We will see if this actually happens it. But for now her corner will work. I have had just a much fun getting this corner ready as if I was setting up her own room.

Little Miss M's Baby Shower

2011-08-20T10:20:00.000-04:00

Last month My mom and Miranda threw us a baby shower. It was a great success. This little girl needs her own walk-in closet already.

We are well stocked I can not think of a thing we will need. I am so thankful to have such great people to surround myself with. Thanks you to all who came and sent along gifts.

My Nona Grifa made this dress for Miranda twenty eight years ago. She passed away 25 years ago.

There were five babes under the age of one here. Four girls and one little boy. Soon to be six to one. Rachael had a baby girl Laura two weeks after the shower.

Bird Kingdom

2011-08-08T21:33:00.000-04:00

Otis, my mom and I went to the Bird Kingdom in Niagara Falls. We went during the hottest week of July. you can only imagine how much hotter it was in the bird aviary.

The Bird Kingdom is in the old Niagara Falls Museum. There were still bits of the old museum through out. Going over the falls in a barrel is part of Niagara's history and tourism. There used to be a booth at Maple Leaf Village where you could take pictures as if you were going over the falls. The same barrel is now in the museum and you can take your own free pictures. I Love the look on Otis' face.

Otis became obsessed with following the feet through the aviary that we then had to go through again so he could see the things he had missed the first time through.

We found this green bird down a hallway where the bathroom is. just hanging out by itself. So Strange.

We fed Lorikeets in the feeding area. At one point I had 6 birds hanging out on me. there was on hanging from the ceiling that pooped on my foot. I was orange and slimy between my toes.

We drove down Clifton Hill on the way to the Bird Kingdom. It was the first time Otis had been down the hill. On the way down he was in such aww asking if we could go there. He the says "It is like an amusement park" I promised him that we would go one day once the baby was out and have fun at all the different places we could go. I don't think I could have ever made it down the hill. Forget about getting back up to to the car.

Cob & Pizza Workshop at Little City Farm

2011-08-05T09:27:00.003-04:00

We have been pretty busy around here this summer. Between Bailey's, babysitting two kids and oh yeah being pregnant I haven't had as much time to spend on the laptop. I also got a smartphone that is allowing me to stay connected while not sitting in one spot. Don't get me wrong I do "A LOT" of sitting these days. I will work on getting you caught up on our Summer. Hopefully before the baby comes.

Otis and I went to Little City Farm's first children's work shop mid July. We learned about cob Cob is a Sand, clay and straw mixture. Is it used in building homes, ovens, benches etc. Otis and I built a fort for his Starwars characters. it was just like the house Anakin Skywalker lived in.

I have been dreaming of having a cob oven on our back yard for awhile now. I have come to the acceptance we will not have one at this house. I am not sure how long we will live here and you can't take a cob oven with you.

After we played with the cob mixture we went in and made our own pizzas for lunch. Greg baked them in their cob oven and we enjoyed a delicious lunch out in the back yard.

We made sure to visit the chickens and fish in the pond before we left. Otis really enjoyed himself and was excited to go to a workshop just him and I.

The Walking Taco

2011-08-04T10:09:00.001-04:00

Staying with Frito's recipes check this out. I saw it online this week. I still haven't tried it yet but you can bet I will. Here is the Link.

Long Weekend Baseball

2011-07-04T17:23:00.002-04:00

I can't remember how long we have been playing baseball on long weekends. This weekend was no exception. We tend to stay in town for one reason or another on long weekends and look forward to getting together with friends. I love how our friends are so accepting of Otis and let him get in the way here and there. He was so tired after playing. He must have run the whole diamond at least four times. He looked so little running that big infield.

Last Day of School - Junior Kindergarten

2011-07-04T14:53:00.000-04:00

Thursday was Otis' last Day of school. He has decided that now that he is out of school there is no a bedtime and he doesn't have to wear under wear. Otis truly loved going to school this year. Next year he moves to the all day alternating day schedule. I look forward to not having to walk him in the dead cold of winter everyday.

Sorry about the picture quality. Still working out the bugs of my new phone.

Kiwanis Park

2011-06-24T00:30:00.000-04:00

We went to Kiwanis on Saturday for the first time this year. I decided instead of the pool that was a pain in my butt to get a KW Swim pass.

I think we are going to get a lot of use out of it and look forward to passing the summer near water. Some day I would love that water to come with a cottage. One can dream can't they?

Self Portrait - School Year 2010-2011

2011-06-23T03:54:00.000-04:00

Otis brought home the self portraits he painted. One was from the first week of school and one was from last week.

September 2010

June 2011

It is amazing to see the difference. I love them both. These are keepers.

Frito Snack

2011-06-15T20:14:00.000-04:00

The girls came over for Stitch 'N' Bitch on Monday. I have had a this recipe in my back pocket for the last few weeks and knew I wanted to make it.

It took no time at all to make and was rather tasty. It was an addictive snack. The salty and sweet went together so well.

Here is what you do.
Spread a bag of Fritos corn chips in a baking sheet.
Melt together 1 cup each of corn syrup and sugar and bing to boil.
Remove from the stove top. Mix in 1 cup of peanut butter and drizzle over corn chips.
Let cool cut up and serve.

I drizzled melted chocolate over the whole thing. I have heard of adding candy corn, M & M's. really it is up to you what to garnish with.

I forgot to take a a picture of the finished product. Booo

Butterflies

2011-06-02T10:52:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite things about being home now is going on school trips. Last week Otis's class went to the Butterfly Conservatory in Cambridge.

It is so fun to watch children experience something for the first time. I had five kids in my group and I am not going to lie it can get a bit a hairy trying to keep track of so many.

Sparklers & Fire

2011-05-31T10:45:00.000-04:00

Victoria Day came and went this year. I don't want anyone to worry, I did managed to get some fire works in. Otis and I had a very busy Saturday. We started the day at the Little City Farms annual seedling sale. We then heading to Niagara for the afternoon. No trip to Niagara occurs with out a stop at Ikea for the ball pit. Unfortunately we forgot to bring socks for Otis. Which meant no ball pit, boo. We then visited with Nona for a couple of hours. I caught my nap then.

The whole reason we went to Niagara was to go to My Uncle Mario's 50th birthday dinner at the Mandarin. We got a quick visit in with a lot of family. On the way home Otis fell asleep. I thought he would be done for the night. When we got home Dave was out with some of the neighbours and their children. They were playing with sparklers. Otis quickly awoke and ran around at lightning speed for about an hour. He finally crashed again at 11pm.

I remembered we had a few fireworks left over from a couple of years ago. It really was just a tease. Sunday we made sure to pick up more sparklers and a few other things that you can set on fire. The kids thought it was very exciting. Next year we are going to pool our resources and buy a whole bunch of fun fireworks.

Ultrasound Pictures

2011-05-13T13:22:00.000-04:00

I have been trying to post this for the last few days or so but there have been some issues with blogger. I would like all of you to meet Little Miss M. At least we are 90% sure she is a girl. I hope we get a chance to have another ultrasound to double check. I have been feeling her move for the last three weeks or so. It was one of the longest ultrasounds ever. I had to get up and walk around twice to try and get her to move into a better position. The technician said everything looked good.

Telling Otis was pretty funny. We had just got home. I called him over and told him the Doctor told us that she didn't see any boy parts on the baby. He looked at me for a second and then started jumping up and down. He was so excited singing "I was right, I am going to have a sister."

I have my first appointment next week with my OB. It is so different having an OB compared to a midwife. All that really matters is that this baby gets here safe and health. We have 16 weeks or less left to go.

Pillow Fight

2011-04-21T10:41:00.000-04:00

I forgot to post about this. A few weeks back Otis and I attended an event at Waterloo town square. There was an outdoor Pillow fight. We took a bus uptown, which was almost as exciting as the pillow fight. Every time the bus stopped. Otis would ask. "Is this our stop?"

The ride was shorter then expected. We had time to stop for Hot Chocolate at the Princess Cafe and do a little window shopping at Bon Mot Shop.

The pillow fight was ridiculous to say the least. Otis watched for a while and seemed ready to leave. He then found a couple of little girls that would pillow fight with him and it was all over. we were there for another half hour while he swung his pillow.

Things Happen in Three

2011-04-20T10:29:00.000-04:00

So they say that things happen in three. Since My Nonno has passed we have been wondering who would be the third death.

This morning we woke up to discover that Petunia/Pickles had passed away through out the night. She/He didn't seem sick. From what we can gather it may have been the thunder storm last night. Not sure if this can actually happen or not.

Otis is very sad today. he really wants another rabbit. we will have to see what is in the cards for us next.

RIP Petunia Picklebottom.

Super Hero Birthday Party

2011-04-14T15:40:00.000-04:00

Otis' birthday fell on a Sunday this year. He was lucky enough to have his party on his actual birthday. I managed to get everything I planned done even with being out of town for the week. This was the first year he had a kids party and a family party. I won't lie by the end of it all I was exhausted. My mom brought enough food for 50 people as usual.

It seemed like all the kids had a lot of fun. The kids played for awhile as everyone got here. We had snacks and played a few games. Birthday cupcakes were for dessert and then the gift opening exploded. Otis seemed to have a great time and was very happy with being five. He had counted down everyday from 10 days down. Telling most people when he saw them that his birthday was in X amount of days.

Dave and I gave Otis his gifts first thing in the morning. We tried to hold him off until 9am but only made it to 8:30am. I find he has an easier time processing all of his gifts when he gets them through out the day compared to all at once.

Etsy was my friend for all of the party supplies this year.

PARTYonBOUTIQUE makes personalized paper products. The Cupcake toppers and all other super hero stickers were from her. She sends you a PDF File and you can print as many as you need.

theangryrobot makes buttons. I was able to get a set that had different sound effects on them. Like the old school Comics.

ClickityClack supplies unfinished wood items. I got wood peg people. and made them into super heroes.

I went to Google images to get pictures of super heroes to use in making garland.

Overall I would say it was a success.

Nonno

2011-04-07T10:51:00.000-04:00

If you haven't noticed I have been gone awhile. March disappeared. I wish I could say in the blink of an eye but I would be lying.

I am very sad to say the reason I dropped off of the blog universe is that My Nonno passed away some what suddenly on March 9th. I am not going to go into many details. He had a stroke on the Monday morning and never woke up again. Myself and my extended family on my dad's side sat vigil at the hospital for three days. To support each other and especially my Nonna.

One week prior to his passing. my great aunt on the same side of the family passed away. One good thing that came out of her passing, was that I had a chance to visit with my Nonno one last time. Had she not passed away it would have been several months since I had seen him last.

It was amazing to spend a whole week with so much family. Our family has not spent more then one day a year together in forever. I got to know a lot about my cousins as adults not just the children who grew up playing together. By the end of the week I was speaking more Italian then I had since I was a child. I was even able to read a page out of my Nonno's little Italian bible.

For those who don't remember, I wrote about my grandparents beautiful garden last summer. My Nonna seems like she will do fine on her own. I hope.

This was Otis' first exposer to death. He did very well and seemed to understand quite a bit about what was happening. Just the other day he had a asked ma a couple of questions about Big Nonna but for the most part he seems fine with the hole experience. Which was good. I didn't want to make to big a deal about it. I was afraid if we did it could scare him for many years. Unfortunately he did end up at the hospital for a few minutes when we first got into town. I didn't want to waste time dropping him off at my mom's. He wasn't a big fan of all the machines and wire and didn't even come into the room. I wonder how he will be when the baby is born.

Even though I lived through that whole week in March I still struggle to comprehend that My Nonno is gone. He was a very fun and loving man. You could never leave his house emptied handed. I am glad he was able to live the life he wanted to the end and did not suffer for to long.

I love and will miss you Nonno.

Party Planning

2011-03-03T10:36:00.000-05:00

It is birthday season around here. I am in planning mode. I think we have finally decided on a theme.
Otis has determined he would like an Avengers party. No not just a superhero party an Avengers party.

I was thinking of even playing some party games this year. The only one I can think of is Pin The Tail on the Donkey or maybe I will call it Pin the star on Captain America's shield.

The options are endless I just need to get myself organized so I don't run out of time.

Very True

2011-03-02T08:04:00.000-05:00

I can`t remember what website I found this picture but it cracks me up.

Otis Quote #1

2011-03-01T08:29:00.001-05:00

This one was worth writing down.

Otis: "Mommy I can't go to school tomorrow."

Me: "Why?"

Otis: " Remember all the ice cream I ate?"

Me: "Yes?"

Otis: "It gave me an ice cream fever"

Monchichi

2011-02-28T07:32:00.005-05:00

I have been on the search for Monchichi for a long time, since I was in Highschool. I used to go to the Toronto gift show with my mom when she owned a flower/gift shop. I found them back the from the Ganz company. Unforutunatly we didn`t need to stock a whole order worth for me to get one.

I then worked in a gift shop in Toronto. When the Ganz Rep came in I made sure to check the catalogue to see if they still had them. I was hoping we could stock them in this store as we stocked a lot of retro type toys. Unfortunately they no longer sold them.

I have looked a few times over the years online and could never find any. They seem to have come back to the states in the last year or so. Last night we went to Chapters. We tend to go there often. I spotted my new friends on the bottom shelf and immediately decided they were coming home.

Otis asked me as soon as he saw them if he could cuddle and sleep with them. I told him he may have to fight me for them. Every time I look at them I want to squeal. Yeah!!!!!

Now if they would only bring back the Popple.

Totem Tree

2011-02-25T08:49:00.002-05:00

Andy was in town last week and brought Otis this really cool cardboard tree. I made sure to put it together once to see what it looks like. Otis now has free reign and can make whatever he wants with all the pieces.

The tree is from a company called Kidsonroof. They are a dutch design company that specializes in design for creative and playful kids and grown ups. You may have seen their Casa Collection which is a card board play house or their children's furniture both of which have been all over the internet.

I wish I had a chance to take a less busy picture but I was not putting it back together again just to take a picture. It took me about a half hour to get it together. I am sure it would take less time the second time around.

Family Photo

2011-02-24T00:06:00.000-05:00

It has been a long time since all three of us have been in the same photo.

Yes, Dave has a giant beard. It started out as a winter project. If you remember last year it was how long he could grow his hair. It has now been determined that Dave is going to grow this beard until the baby is born. I wonder if he will survive the summer with that much insulation.

Bathroom Reno - After

2011-02-23T12:01:00.002-05:00

Here is our finished Bathroom. If you don't remember what it used to look like click here to remember. The room is so small it is hard to get good pictures. I love how it turned out.

It still surprises me to walk into a finished bathroom.

Learning to Skate

2011-02-22T13:03:00.001-05:00

We brought Otis skating for the first time yesterday. I was worried we weren't going to get him on the ice before the Spring came. It was a bit colder then I would have liked. But we went anyway.

For someone that hasn't skated before Otis walks really well on his skates. He was so disappointed that he could not just get on the ice and skate like everyone else. If it weren't so cold we may have been able to convince him to stay on the ice a little longer.

Both Dave and I don't have skates. I discovered last year that my skates no longer fit. I figured there was no use buying a new pair until next year as the shape of my feet are about to change again with this pregnancy. Thank goodness Uncle Sean was there to make him go fast.

There is nothing better then a whole timbit after a tough 20 minutes learning to skate. In the end he said he had a lot of fun and he can't wait to get better. Next time we go we will bring a chair for him to lean on and push.

100 Days of School

2011-02-21T12:33:00.000-05:00

Friday was Otis' 100th day of school. He came home wearing this cute little sticker. About 1 minute after I took this picture the sticker was in many little pieces.

Otis decided to sled down the stairs and leave the stickers behind.

Today while getting dressed Otis counted all the way to 100 with out my help. Yeah 100.

Painting the Bathroom

2011-02-20T15:32:00.002-05:00

We Painted our bathroom last weekend. Most of the renovations were finished about 5 months ago. There was a leak that caused us to delay finishing until it was looked after. We finally had the chance to get the rest of the bathroom finished. During the last five months we had lived without a door on the bathroom. Ever since we put the door back on we have all been banging into it.

Otis was a big help with the painting. The after pictures to come in the next couple of days.

Not Much

2011-02-18T10:47:00.001-05:00

Been pretty uneventful around here these days. Two more weeks and I should start to waking up from the first trimester sleepiness. I remember being tired with Otis but I don't remember falling asleep at 9pm on a regular basis. I have also had nausea this time around. Can't wait for that to go away.

There is a club in Otis's class called the "Zipper Club" you can only join it once you can do up your coat zipper. We have been working on this most of the winter with out any luck. The coat Otis has is finicky and Dave and I have trouble with it sometimes.

Up until recently Otis had given up completely and wouldn't even try. This past week He has been able to pull put the zipper together and as long as I hold it he can pull the zipper up. He has been doing the same thing at school so his teacher has encouraged him by saying he is halfway to the Zipper Club.

I think once we get to his Spring jacket he achieve his goal. Here's to the "Zipper Club"

Visitors from Kelowna

2011-02-09T14:51:00.000-05:00

How do you take a picture of 6 grandchildren and 2 grandparents and have them all looking the same way.

You don't.

I have about 20 versions of this picture and this is the best one. What a treat and zoo all at the same time. Otis loved visiting with his cousins and was very sad when they left. He has been talking about them non stop as if they are coming over right now. Maybe we will get out there some day.

We also got to meet baby William, who was cute as a button.

Kitten with Green Sweater

2011-01-29T01:06:00.000-05:00

We are having some visitors from B.C. this weekend. I am a slacker and still haven't mailed their Christmas gifts. I ran out of crafting steam once Christmas hit and had not made Baby Ava a gift. Nothing like a dead line to get the ball rolling. It has been over 4 years since Otis has been able to play with his cousins. He is very excited to see them.

I hand drew the cat on a piece of paper and went from there. I think it looks pretty good for something I have never made before.

Ava is the only girl in a sea of five boys on Dave's side of the family. I have been waiting a long time to make gifts for a little girl.

Loopeeeee is 5 Years Old

2011-01-19T03:46:00.000-05:00

I started writing this blog 5 years ago when I was 7 months pregnant with Otis. I now post on Loopeeeee's 5th birthday 7 weeks pregnant with baby number two. Can you believe it?

Wow, life is flying by.

New Years Cherpumple

2011-01-14T17:07:00.003-05:00

Photo Taken By: Owen Cherry

Happy belated New Years. I am slowly making my way through all of the planned posts I have wanted to write. We celebrated New Years this year with the annual turducken dinner. For dessert I made a Cherpumple. You can watch the video here.

Dave had been talking about wanting to make a cherpumple since we saw the video. I woke up New Years Eve and decided it needed to get done.

We went to the grocery store to get the ingredients and you would have thought the apocalypse was coming. I have never seen so many people in the grocery store. I could only imagine if the store were closed more then one day. I was worried we may not find pies. but just as we were about to leave I saw the pies out of the corner of my eye.

It took me 5 hours to make the cherpumple. I had to put some skewers in to reinforce the cake so we could travel with it. I think the whole thing weighed over 10 lbs including the heaviest cake plate we own of course.

By the time we cut into the thing I couldn't bring myself to even try it. I was told though that there is something magical that happens when you bake a pie into a cake. I wouldn't suggest that you jump in a make a three layer pie cake thingy but it would be worth it to make one pie in a cake.

Here were the Pie Cake Combos:

1. Pumpkin pie in a white cake

2. Apple pie in a butter pecan cake

3. Cherry pie in a chocolate cake.

We rang in the New Year with a performance of Battlesnake's rendition of Mr Roboto. Once Midnight had hit we went outside for Lindsey and Dave to finish the bottle of Champagne. Thank goodness there were others to pitch in this year.

I hope 2011 is good to everyone.

Orange Juice

2011-01-08T11:58:00.000-05:00

Before leaving for the south John and Gail dropped off a box of oranges. I have been making fresh squeezed orange juice for the last week or so.

There is nothing like a glass of sweet orange juice first thing in the morning.

Christmas Times 5

2011-01-07T21:37:00.001-05:00

Well we made it through another Holiday. This Year we had 5 Christmas dinners. We actually ate Christmas dinner at my moms in shifts. I think there were either 5 or 6 shifts. I can't really remember now.

Otis loved Christmas this year and is very happy with all of his gifts. He woke up Christmas Eve morning and ran downstairs. When he came back up stairs, he was upset because Santa didn't leave him any presents. Once we told him he had one more sleep he was very excited. He might as well ate sugar all day because he was bouncing off the walls.

We had a nice quite dinner Christmas Eve. It was delicious. Otis left beer and cookies for Santa again this year in Santa's new dish set I picked up.

I have managed to almost find homes for all of our new belongings this year. There seemed to be much more then there has been in a few years.

Otis wore his Christmas PJ's for almost three days. He is in love with them.

I can only imagine what he is thinking in this picture. He and Nonna had been singing and dancing. I am not sure if this is before or after. Otis learned Boney M's - Feliz Navidad, a regular in our family.

I am not sure if this is round 2 or 3 of dinner at my mom. Dinner was made up of many rounds of appetizers. So yummy.

Getting a good snuggle zizi Miranda before she goes back to work

End of an Era - Gen X

2010-12-28T21:43:00.000-05:00

I found out some sad news today. Gen X will be closing it doors. Otis' very first outing once he arrived home from the Hospital was to Gen X. There will be a void left in many peoples lives with you gone.

Zombie Walk 2007

Halloween 2007

I wish all the employees happiness in their new paths.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T16:53:00.000-05:00

See you soon!!!!!

Feast of the Seven Fishes

2010-12-23T10:07:00.001-05:00

We have always celebrated Christmas Eve in our house with a seafood Dinner. I discovered this year that it is known in Italian households as the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Who knew.

La Viglia di Natale

On December 24, Italian families all over the world gather together for La Viglia di Natale--the Christmas vigil--where fish is on the menu instead of meat. Also called The Feast of the Seven Fishes, the ritual of La Viglia has been handed down from generation to generation over the centuries.

Found on allrecipes.com

Here is our menu.

Appetizers

Shrimp Cocktail

Smoked Salmon w/ Dill cream cheese

Crab stuffed mushrooms

Main Course

Mixed Green Salad

Cajun Shrimp on a bed of rice

Bacon Wrapped Scallops (Bacon is a vegetable in our house)

Shrimp Tempura and Wonton Shrimp

Braised Kale

Dessert

Cookie from the cookie exchange

Snack

Later in the evening we will serve a Cheese Tray made with an array of local cheese and crackers with my homemade pickles.

The photo above is from a comic/cookbook. There was a comic strip back in 1983 about an Italian Family preparing for Christmas Eve Dinner.

Skull Caps

2010-12-22T12:44:00.018-05:00

I have made a dozen of this hat in the last month. I have two left for sale. They have been added to Loopeeeee Design Shop

There are two sizes left. Children's 4-6 and Children's 8 - teen. If you are interested and are in the KW Area I can deliver before Christmas.

I am slowly adding items to the Design Shop. I still need to adjust the add to cart button to include the shipping rate. Slowly but surely. I will get there.

Lemon Snickerdoodles

2010-12-21T12:04:00.000-05:00

I took part in a Christmas Cookie Exchange. There were nine people who took part in the trade. Which meant I needed to bake 10 dozen cookies. (we all brought 1 dozen to sample). We gathered at Michelle's house to exchange and sample the assortment.

I was a bit stumped on what to make. I wanted to make something that would not be a duplicate of someone else's cookie. I went through the collection of online cookie recipes I have gathered over the years and decided on Lemon Snickerdoodles. I discovered this recipe over the summer.

Snickedoodles have been around for a long time. The very first cookie I ever baked in Home Ec. class way back in 1989 was a Snickerdoodle. They were very yummy. The difference between in the lemon version is you omit the Cinnamon and add lemon zest of 2 lemons. Back then I had never heard of the cookie before and I quickly forgot about them as life went on. I stumbled upon the recipe again in one of the first cookbooks of my collection.

Here is the most recent edition.

I was so excited to have found the recipe again. I have baked them many times over the years.

This mixing bowl was full to the top with 4 batches of cookie batter. The dough was tasty with all the fresh lemon zest in it.

Thank goodness for the little measuring spoon which kept all the cookies the same size an speed up the rolling process.

They only take ten minutes to bake. I had just enough for the exchange by the end of the bowl. Dave, Otis and I all got one cookie to eat. Needless to say we ate more then one and I had to bake more the day of the exchange.

Tree Time

2010-12-10T12:37:00.002-05:00

The tree has finally made it up and it is decorated. Whew, I wasn't sure it would get up this year. Everything seems almost last minute this year. I am hoping this weekend will get me on track.

I try to get one decoration every year to add to the collection. This year I got five. The first three pictured are locally hand made. The felt little bird is from BRFC. I love the look of it on our very full tree.

These two ornaments came from the Grand River Hospital gift shop of all places. It was the only fun place to bring Jasmine for a walk to on her stay there. Jasmine gifted me with the little bird and who can pass up a pickle. It is so much fun pulling out ornaments from over the years.

Here is the giant pile of ornaments before they went on the tree. Believe it or not they all made it on. The inside of the tree is just as full as the outer branches.

Last year I melted a bit of my stocking by leaving it hanging on the fireplace. I had to find a new place for the stockings this year as we have been using the fireplace a lot. We just turned the furnace on last week for the first time.

My most exciting decoration this year is this little Charlie Brown Tree. I have been on the hunt for one over the last couple of years. Dave brought it home from work and made my day. There was a point a few years back when Otis watched all the Peanuts Holiday dvd's over and over again. Otis recognized the tree right away.

Reindeer Games

2010-12-08T21:28:00.003-05:00

Otis had his first school performance this week. Dave and I were both lucky enough to be able to go see him. I love gathering mom material. Oh the black mailing this will be used for in the future.

Sorry it is blurry. The best I can do online.

Visiting Santa

2010-12-08T10:51:00.001-05:00

Otis has never been to a mall to visit Santa before. His first Christmas Santa came to us. He was so amazed by him.

We did try to go a couple years back but when we got to the mall it was to early and Santa wasn't there for another week.

Last week we were at the mall to get snow pants when Otis saw Santa's village was set up and he wanted to go. We promised him we would go on Tuesday when daddy got home from work. I had completely forgot about it until we were walking to school and Otis was singing about it. Going to school has really changed his awareness of things like Santa.

On they way to the mall Otis went over what he was going to ask for. On the way through the mall Otis decided he wanted popcorn. We tell him after seeing Santa he could have some as a treat. It is a special day after all. Once we get to the Santa's Village he changes his mind. He doesn't want to see Santa anymore he just wants popcorn. We convince him to go in. He had to watch for awhile while others visited Santa. With a little coaxing he finally sits beside Santa and tells Dave what he wants instead of Santa. He get down and says "Now can we get popcorn."

By the time we got home I had the picture in my inbox. How cool is that. I called Otis over to see the picture. This is when the real wonder about Santa started. "Mom, How does Santa Fly?" I say "his reindeer pull him with the sleigh". "Reindeer's Fly?" I say, "Yes they pull Santa's Magical sleigh" This goes on for a few minutes. He is really getting excited for the whole thing.

We even have a special milk and cookie dish set for Santa.

Clean Fridge

2010-12-04T10:35:00.001-05:00

My mom is going to love this post. My fridge drives her crazy every time she comes over. It is unorganized and she can't find anything. Look at it now.

This is the first time my fridge has been close to empty since May. It was time for a scrub down. I couldn't understand why there was an awful smell coming from it being so close to empty. It was nasty. Turns out it was some leftover braised kale. My goal this weekend is to finish up most of the produce by Bailey's pick up on Monday.

I need to figure out what to do with Jerusalem Artichokes, Brussel sprouts and purple cabbage. Google here I come.

Petunia - is a boy

2010-12-01T20:48:00.000-05:00

So it turns out after three years Ms. Picklebottom is now a boy. The previous owners did not believe us when we told them. Due to the recent discovery Petunia for the most part is called Pickles.

Quote from Otis telling Nona about this "Nona, Petunia was a girl but now she is a boy" How confusing is that for a kid?

We also discovered the Pickles doesn't like to have his cage by the fireplace. It was there for almost a week and he didn't leave the cage. We moved the cage back to under the window and He has been running around the living room for the last 3 hours.

November 30th

2010-11-30T23:15:00.000-05:00

What does November 30th mean to you?

In our house it means dig out the Christmas decorations, if we haven't done so already. Which we haven't the Halloween lights are still up and the Thanks giving banner has just come down to make room. The reason for this is we need to find the Advent Calendar.

I made them for our first Christmas in this house. For the first two years we filled the pouches with Hot Wheels. This year we have been a bit stumped. We only have 6 filled. We need to think fast to fill the rest.

How is your Holiday shopping going? Local or handmade is my approach this year.

This afternoon we were at Lens Mills getting some supplies. Otis spotted a gingerbread kit and instantly paused in silence. He then asked if that was the one we got last time. He had to make sure we were making a gingerbread house again this year. That made me very happy. Yeah, our traditions are forming. He is now old enough to remember things from year to year. This year we are going to write the first letter to Santa. Maybe we can do that tomorrow.

Slow and steady easing into Christmas this year.