Catching Up...

I decided to take a break from blogging while we were all recuperating and then catching up on the things we let slide while sick/injured.

Just to back track...Brad went to the ER on Valentines Day and was told he had a throat infection, ear infections and chest congestion. The doctor figured a couple of more days untreated and he would have had pneumonia. Even with the doctor prescribed drugs, drops, vaporizer and something for the congestion, it took Brad a long while to feel better. He still has a cough that sounds horrible and sometimes keeps us up at night. We spent his weekend off resting... a lot.

My leg finally bruised that weekend after the slip, slide, split and fall I took on the Tuesday of Valentines week. By the start of the next week it was a horrible rainbow of colors but I was getting around much easier. This week it is pretty much back to normal. Thankfully Ryan and I did not get what ever Brad had, although I think we both were feeling a little run down and had it not been for the long weekend of resting, one or both of us may have ended up sick as well.

Earlier this week I had my monthly prenatal appointment. I found out I failed my 1 hour glucose test so I went back and did the longer one yesterday. I was able to get my 32 week ultrasound booked for next Tuesday. We will see if the placenta has moved or if I have placenta previa. My prenatal appointments are now every two weeks and I suspect I will not find out my exact ultrasound results or my longer glucose test results until my next appointment.

I am currently working on a presentation that I am making to my local breastfeeding group about VBAC and C-sections. I am very excited about it. Our group is also gearing up for our bi-annual baby sale. It is a large consignment sale of baby, kid and maternity items. We are experiencing some growing pains with the previous success of the sale however, and are having to think outside the box a bit. Unfortunately for me, my scheduled repeat c-section is for the Friday of the sale. I am very sad just thinking about it.

Ryan has new words...most notably are "tiggy" (tigger from winnie the pooh), "pease" (please) and "I did it/I do it". He is also very helpful right now. If he understands what you are asking, he will usually do it. EG- put your empty tube in the garbage, get momma new diaper, put your dirty diaper in the bag, ect.

He is also sleeping in a big boy bed. We were trying to find solutions to his waking up in the middle of the night and wanting to come into our bed. He would easily settle and go back to sleep but if we tried to move him back to his crib he was soon up and in our crib again. One night I took him to the couch and slept with him there and was even able to sneak away from him and go back to my own bed. (Sleeping on a couch with a toddler while pregnant is not the nicest thing in the world!) Even though we were not sure he was ready for it, the next night I decided to try the single bed already set up in Ryan's room. (We got it when Brad's grandma moved out of her assisted living apartment and into the nursing home and since our other bedrooms have beds already we set this one up in Ryan's room even before this pregnancy as an option for a single over night guest since Ryan slept in with us until just after his first birthday.)

Anyhow, the next night, when Ryan woke up crying in his crib, I just took him to the bed and laid down with him there. If I can get him settled and asleep before I fall back asleep myself, I will put my body pillow along the edge where I would be and sneak back to my own bed and if not, well I sleep there with him. After a couple of days of this, Ryan decided that at night he didn't want to start in the crib at all and would just climb up on the bed. We've always put him in his crib awake so I didn't know how this would work, but if I cuddle with him and look at/read a couple of books with him, I can leave him awake in the bed with a low light on and he will go to sleep on his own. Sometimes he gets out of bed, but if the rest of the house is pretty quiet, he will go to sleep on his own. I stand outside his room with the door slightly ajar so I can see him and he can't see me and I tell him to go back to sleep or lie back down when I see him trying to get out of bed and he listens really well. Last night, he slept through the night from 9:30ish to 8ish this morning, all by himself, no wake ups, no crying, no momma in bed. We are so proud of him. I think I need to look for some cute sheets and stuff and maybe get him his own new pillow this weekend as a reward for being such a big boy now.

Happy Valentines Day

When I am teaching, Valentines Day is usually spent in Edmonton at teacher's convention (unless it falls on a Monday or Tuesday). Last year I made dinner (a rosemary and thyme chicken with roasted garlic baby potatoes and carrots and atossed salad with an olive garden like dressing) and dessert (chocolate covered strawberries) and grandma came to stay with Ryan so we could go see a movie (music and lyrics). This year, grandma is in Edmonton at work related meetings. Brad is sick (he was supposed to leave work this afternoon once everyone else arrived and go to emergency since his cough and chest congestion kept him up all night), my leg is still sore and Ryan is being a really grumpy bear.

I had planned a nice dinner (sundried tomato chicken, roasted baby potatoes and carrots and chocolate covered strawberries for desert) but I couldn't find nice fresh strawberries so I am making a chocolate cake instead. I don't know if I should even make the dinner, I don't know if Brad will feel up to eating it plus making dinner involves a lot of standing and even that hurts my leg. I did find some frozen strawberries though and am thinking of making strawberry smoothies to have with dinner.

Ryan picked out a little Winnie the Pooh valentine for Brad and a 3 pack of Lindor chocolate hearts. I got Brad a card and a new computer game (Half-life 2:Episode 1) which he will probably want to play this weekend while he is off. I have a little valentine card for Ryan as well and a book (Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree). He loves Winnie the Pooh. Everytime he sees Winnie the Pooh (or piglet or tigger) he keeps saying "pooh, pooh" over and over and tries very hard to reach out and get it.

Happy Valentines Day everyone! Hope yours is a good one!

OUCH!

*If you want to know more about Talk About Tuesday or want to know what other people are talking about today, visit Lara at The Lazy Organizer.



Imagine being 6 months pregnant (and looking more like 8 0r 9 based on the amound of people asking how long I have left) and finding yourself in this position on your kitchen floor. And, no it wasn't on purpose. It started out simply enough, with me mopping the kitchen floor. I accidently, stepped back onto a wet patch, each leg went in a different position and I soon found myself on my side in a world of hurt.

My first thought of course was of the baby. I especially wondered about the possible placenta previa complication I may be facing. I half expected to find myself in a puddle of my own water or worse yet, blood. Thankfully, there has been nothing out of the ordinary the rest of the day in terms of the baby. Seems he is safe and sound, even if my right leg isn't.

Over the day I've taken two doses of tylenol for pain and have done 2 40 minute session of 5 minutes on 5 minutes off with a bag of frozen peas. My limited mobility has kept me from seeing a doctor but it feels like I have a possible pulled muscle in my groin or whatever muscle is in your upper thigh and twisted or pulled a muscle in my knee. I am in limiting pain on my right side from my hip to my knee.

Just what I needed, another thing to make moving and sleeping just a little bit more difficult. I hope you all are having a much better Tuesday!

Weekly Menu Plan Feb 10-16

*If you are interested in more info on Menu Plan Monday, are looking for ideas or want to join us, head on over to I'm a Organizing Junkie .

Again my weekly menu went off as planned. Even with our Tuesday shopping trip being pushed late into the day, pancakes were a nice, light and quick dinner idea! As I blogged about in Last One in the Pool, Brad thought he might have to work late Thursday night this week and when planning my menu I forgot that it was the first Thursday of the month and therefore Babies First night for me. Babies First is the breastfeeding support group I am a part of. We meet once a month and talk about all sorts of things related to babies and pregnancy not just breastfeeding; this month for example was about labour. Next month I am giving the talk; I am going to talk about VBAC and avoiding a c-section even in a first pregnancy. Anyhow, the lemon-dill salmon has been pushed to this weeks menu.

Sunday- Leftover pizza or soup *Brad is quite sick and I have a touch of the sniffles as well.
Monday- Lemon-Dill Salmon with rice and veggies
Tuesday- Pasta with tomato sauce and garlic toast
Wednesday-Mac and Cheese and Hot Dogs
Thursday-Valentine's Day-sundried tomato chicken, baby potatoes and veggies and chocolate covered strawberries
Friday- leftovers/ sandwhiches/ eat out
Saturday- Hamburgers and French Fries

SMART-update

*If you are interested in what other people are getting more SMART about, or would like more information, visit Lara at The Lazy Organizer .


My SMART habits for February are hit and miss so far. My kitchen and general tidyness have been distracted by general not feeling well and just wanting to crash most nights after dinner. Hopefully this weekend I will get things back on track and get caught up on some household chores.

My exercise program is also hit and miss. I bought my pool membership and have been twice with Ryan. (That doesn't give me so much of a workout but at least it is better than being at home on my butt playing with toys, watching TV or in front of my computer.) I did my yoga DVD 1 time. And I didn't get out to walk (not even at the mall) at all. The weather is very cold again and so I can't get outside to get the fresh air and sunshine I think I am craving. The more this cold weather drags on, the more I feel compelled to just cuddle up with a pillow, blanket, good book or movie and just hibernate. Getting out, it will do me good. I know this.

I hope you are having a good weekend and are being successful at being SMART.

Ryan's ever growing vocabulary

One of the girls at Brad's work remarked today "Oh, he's talking!" and at first I kind of looked at her like she was dumb or something because Ryan has been a chatterbox for sometime. But then it dawned on me, that it may seem that way to me because I spend pretty much all day every day with him. Upon further reflection, Ryan is not as "chatty" when we go to Brad's work either. So, the girl is forgiven. It was I who was dumb.

But that made me think about Ryan's ever growing vocabulary. His very first word at all was "Dada" (although I don't think he knew what it meant) at about 6 months. (Told you he was a chatterbox!) Now he says:
dada,
mama (although not as much),
ba-boo (his word for TV/cartoons),
cat,
car,
pooh (for winnie the pooh, and he also uses it for mickey, tigger and piglet too although we are trying to teach him tigger and piglet and he has said them each a couple of times),
cup,
shoes,
hat,
coat,
play,
all done,
all gone,
sit,
I,
chair,
no (although he prefers to just shake his head violently for no),
mine,
banan (for banana),
mum (when he wants food or likes his food...maybe he means mmmm or yum?),
dog,
shish (for fish).

He puts words together like mama car, I sit, I chair, dada all gone, ect. He also has a couple of things he says that we just have no idea, we haven't decoded yet. One is the name we are considering for baby boy #2. I think it is his word for up (or pick me up). That seems to be how he uses it. But we have started using it for the baby and we often ask him where "up" is or to hug "up". (Yes, we are still keeping the name to ourselves for now) Ryan likes to hug my belly, lift up my shirt, and sometimes he will playfully hit it as well. And just in the last couple of days he has been saying something that kind of sounds like pain or play but it isn't play. He says it when he wants something or doesn't want something you gave him. He was saying it tonight as he pushed his supper (usually a favorite- alphaghetti) away. But since he had fallen asleep in the car on the way back from bringing supper to Brad, I put him down (at 630 at night no less...yes I am going to pay for that I am sure!) and he is fast asleep. So maybe it is some sort of tired cue.

Ryan also signs. He signs "eat", "more" (which he uses as more, again and please), and "all done" which he also uses for all gone. He waves bye bye (to Brad and Mason the most) and he will blow kisses "night night" to me or Brad when he is going down for a nap or to sleep. (Although he doesn't have the "blowing" part down, but it is still really cute!) He understand a lot of what we say to him and listens well, especially if it is something he wants to do. I need to get some of this on video because it really is just so cute (even if I am a touch biased!).

Last one in the pool...

Last February I started taking Ryan to the pool for Mom and Tot swim at lunchtime with my playgroup. I bought a family membership to the pool each month and we tried to go at least 3 times a week. Brad came along a couple of times when he could and Ryan really seemed to enjoy it, except getting his face wet. When I started babysitting Mason, I stopped taking Ryan to the pool. I just couldn't handle the two boys in the pool and I wasn't sure how Mason would take it. (His mom told me she has taken him a couple of times but never with much success.)

But one of my SMART habit's for February is more exercise and while I don't swim laps or anything, taking Ryan to Mom and Tot swim is better than sitting at home. So today we went and bought a month membership again with a goal of going at least twice a week. We can do Mom and Tot on Thursdays when I don't have Mason (or Brad can take him on Mondays/Tuesdays when he is usually off), and then there is family swim on Saturday and Sunday afternoons or Wednesday evenings when Brad could even join us.

We stopped by Brad's work to drop off his lunch to him before we went and Brad decided to join us. (Since he had to go into work on his day off Tuesday to deal with the new sign and may have to stay late tonight, he figured he could take a long lunch break today and come with us.) It was a very welcomed surprise (even if it did cut into our pool time with us having to swing home and get swim stuff for Daddy).

The last time we were at the pool, Ryan was just barely walking on his own. Now he is a full fledged toodler with a passion for running. He is much more active in the pool now, and he still LOVES it! He was a little cautious at first as he walked into the pool slowly letting the water get deeper and deeper. But he had the biggest smile on his face and even his eyes were smiling. He had no fear, walking out deeper and deeper until the water was going into his mouth. He does kick his legs a little if we hold him, but he is more content to just walk around in about chest deep water, chasing rubber duckies, boats and daddy. Next time we will try a life jacket, if they have one small enough, and it might be the next thing we invest in.

Next time Brad is able to join us for swimming (maybe next weekend when he is off) I am going to get him to bring the camera and take a couple of pictures of our little swimmer. By the way, we had so much fun! I don't know if it is because we are still crawling out from a deep freeze, but there were barely anypeople at the pool today. The big pool is for noon lane swim and there were maybe a half a dozen swimmers. When we first got to the pool, there were 2 moms with some kids in the leisure "kiddie" pool but they left soon after we got there and so we had the kiddie pool all to ourselves. I am going to look at the schedule and see if there is a time when I can get some swimming in on my own as part of my goal. I mean, we bought the membership, and while we don't have to go that often for it to pay for itself, it is a good thing to use. (The drop in fee for a family is $10 per time you drop in, a family monthly swim pass is only $20- just need to go 3 times to make it more than worth your money, and only $148 for a family for the year for just the pool. We are considering getting a year pass next month.)

*the picture in the left hand corner with the slide (which Ryan has not yet been on) is the leisure "kiddie" pool. The slide ends in a different tub of water than the pool. The pool has a graded entry, so you walk in, getting deeper and deeper. I don't know how deep it is at the end, maybe between 3 and 4 feet.

The cutest thing in the word

I just had to blog about the cutest thing in the world that happened last night. We were sitting in the living room watching the Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show ("Ba-boo") with Ryan. A commercial came on and he went over picked up his blue blanket, his puppy dog and started off down the darkened hallway and into his darkened room. We didn't immediately follow him as we were not sure what he was doing. But when he didn't come back right away and we could hear his crib rattling, I went to see what he was up to. He had put the blanket and puppy dog in the crib and was standing on the little stool I use trying to get into his crib.

I hadn't changed his diaper or put him in his pjs yet. In fact he still had some supper remnants on his face. It was a little difficult to get all those things done and keep him settled so he could go to sleep more easily. I did all those little before bed things and put him to bed but he ended up staying up a little longer. It was just so cute that he picked up his stuff and then went to bed on his own. This picture isn't from last night and it is blurry but you can see his favorite blue blanket and puppy dog that he brings out from his room when he wakes up and takes to bed with him even at nap time.

Baby Sleep Sacks Give Away at Mommy Knows

I first heard about sleep sacs from the mom of the little boy I babysit. She told me how that is the only way she can get him to sleep and that he just kicks off the blankets...sounds so much like Ryan! She has her mother custom make them for her son because he is a bigger toddler and outgrew the sizes she could find around here (see: selection bites the dust).

While it is nice to be having another little boy in just a couple of months, a newborn sized sleep sac is something I am missing from my baby boy stash since I hadn't heard of them yet with Ryan. I told my mother (who is just itching to buy things for the new baby) and so far she hasn't bought one because she hasn't seen one she likes. And while I hate to take away a possible gift idea from her, I just can't pass up this contest!


http://www.thebabymarketplace.com/ – a great online shop for babies and toddlers is hosting the Sleep Huggers Baby Sleeping Bag giveaway @ mommyknows.com . Go on over and comment and be entered to win one of two Sleep Huggers Baby Sleep Sacs!

And while I would love to win this myself, I highly recommend this as well if you are pregnant or know someone who is, or anyone with a baby or a toddler! Especially those of us who live in those colder climates.

Face Painting...

Even though his spoon skills have greatly improved, sometimes, Ryan just can't help but paint his face with his lunch. Apparently, lunch is no fun if you don't get to wear it.

Give Away

Are you pregnant or know someone who is? (Like me!) Then send them over to Our Blessed Arrows where she is currently holding a give away for a sage green Prince Lionheart Pregnancy Pillow. This is sure to be a welcome gift to any pregnant woman trying to get as much sleep as possible each night, trying to find that just right position or looking for support. Good Luck everyone!

January Memories

mmmm muffins

Last week I blogged about how I was going to make muffins this week. I finally got around to it on Saturday and now my freezer and pantry are full of muffins. I made banana, banana chocolate chip, oatmeal, oatmeal chocolate chip, honey nut, honey nut chocolate chip and chocolate chip (what can I say, I like chocolate and I had some chocolate chips in the pantry). I didn't get around to making the blueberry, carrot or cranberry orange-maybe later this week. I've been buying the pre-made mixes although I did make the banana and banana chocolate chip from scratch. I do have a muffin cookbook and I think once I use up these pre-mixes I will try a couple from scratch recipes.

Weekly Menu

Last week we were able to stick to our menu although we decided to not go out to eat Saturday night and ended up staying in and having a missmash of things. This week is 10% Tuesday at our grocery store (and as an added bonus they are also offering an additional 5% off for customer appreciation). I just CAN'T pass up that. That is 3x the GST (sales tax). So I didn't go grocery shopping yesterday, and am thankful Brad will be home tomorrow and we will take both boys to the grocery store. (My hope is to go earlier in the morning and then have lunch out with the boys before coming back home.) So here is this week's menu.

Sunday- Honey Garlic glazed Chicken with rice and brocoli (Honey Garlic Glaze from Shake and Bake)

Monday-Pasta with tomato sauce*

Tuesday- Pancakes with fresh fruit**

Wednesday-Chicken wings with raw veggie crudities

Thursday- Lemon Dill Salmon with rice and green/yellow beans

Friday- leftovers/sandwhiches/eat out

Saturday-Pizza

*I am not sure about Monday night's supper. Brad doesn't seem to like to have just tomato sauce much and I just can't stomach ground beef at the moment. But I have to go with what I have on hand since I haven't been grocery shopping yet.

**Tuesday is mardi gras and is also known as Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Tuesday.

Lemon Dill Salmon

Oilve Oil

Lemon Pepper

Lemon

Fresh Dill

Salmon Steaks or Fillets

1. Make a lemon pepper dill paste by combining the lemon pepper, chopped fresh dill and olive oil in a small bowl. (Keep a few springs of the fresh dill for later.)

2. Coat the salmon steaks/fillets in the lemon pepper dill paste and put them on a pam sprayed, tin foil lined pan.

3. Cut the lemon into slices (thickness depends on how many slices you need). Place a slice or two on each steak/fillet and put a spring of the fresh dill on top. Take the end pieces of the lemon and squeeze the juice from the lemon over the steaks/fillets.

4. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until the paste looks crispy.

Bloggy Carnival Give Away Winner

We have a winner! The lucky number was 16. Sweet 16.

Congratulations to Lorie of Honey, I shrank myself! and also of Food, Family & Fun!

I've sent you an email asking for your snail mail addy. Please respond as soon as possible. If I do not hear from you by February 9th, I will choose another winner at random.

Thank you to everyone who participated and Rocks In My Dryer for hosting. This was my first Bloggy Carnival and it was a lot of fun!

SMART- January reveiw and February goals

If you are interested in learning more about SMART habit Saturday, seeing what others are doing more SMARTly or joining us, visit Lara at The Lazy Organizer .


JANUARY REVIEW:
You can find my first SMART habit Saturday post here. My priorities for January included 1: Weekly Menu Planning and 2)Tidyness (cleaning my kitchen/dining room/living room each night before bed.

1) Weekly Menu Planning- first off let me say that I really like doing this. It takes a little time but I know what I need to buy at the grocery store each week, I don't tend to over buy as much (I don't think), I don't think we are wasting as much "fresh" food that I would buy and not get around to using and we do not have the "what do YOU feel like for dinner" conversation 4 nights a week; maybe just once a week now. Making my menu, shopping for it and posting it online makes me feel more accountable to it and I think this has been a successful habit. I will be continuing to menu plan but I won't be updating our success during SMART Saturday updates. If you are interested in how it is going in February, be sure to check out my blog Sundays when I list my menu plan for the week.

2) Tidyness- I have to say that I LOVE waking up to a tidy front of the house. I feel motivated to do things through out the day and to keep it tidy. It isn't easy with 2 toddlers running around here 4 days a week (not to mention the fact that hubby is home 2 of those 4 days- I somehow find myself feeling less productive when he is home, imagine a wife actually wanting to spend time with her husband...what a thought eh?). This habit is one I am committed to, but it has not been as successful as the menu planning. I think I need to continue to work on this one more consistantly in February.

FEBRAURY GOALS:
1) Tidyness- see above. I really need to be more consistant here. I think that is the key. My chore list should help in this but I need to be more consistant in making sure the chores get done. Both mine and Brad's.

2) Exercise- Yes, the dreaded E word. My goal for February is to do my prenatal dvd a minimum of 3 days a week. I would also like to take a walk (1/2 hour or more) at least 2 days a week. And finally, I would like to take Ryan to the pool once a week. I do have a plan for this. I could easily do my yoga video either when the boys are napping or once Mason goes home and Ryan is down for his afternoon nap. I can take Ryan to the pool Thursdays or Saturdays. I could walk with the boys any day if the weather is nice. If the weather is not so great, I could always walk at our "mall" (although for a half hour that is mybe 15 laps of the mall). I could do this with Mason and push both boys in a cart or stroller. Also since my main grocery store is at the mall, I can do my walk before I get my groceries. When the weather warms up, I can take both boys for a walk to check the mail downtown at the post office. This one is going to be difficult for me. But it is one I need to do. I need this for me, for the baby growing inside of me and for the type of delivery I want.

*sorry if there are any typos, I can't seem to get the spell check to work tonight. Sad to say I am quite dependant on it.

Kitchen Organization

Laura over at I'm An Organizing Junkie has decided to hold a monthly organizing round-up. The idea, as I understand it, is to tackle on area of your home each month and organize it, de-clutter it, take before and after pictures and then blog about it. February has been designated as kitchen month. I started some kitchen organization projects in January because I needed to make room for gifts I recieved for Christmas. However, my walk in pantry is a mess and there are still a couple of cluttered areas that need to be worked on, so count me in. Feel free to join us or stop back to see how I am progressing.