Misc Mondays

I haven't done a post like this is a while!
I feel like since I've been mia for a few days a recap is in order:

* I have not given up on the blog challenge, but the past few prompts really have not inspired me to write, instead I just decided I needed a breather. It's a bit tiring to go from a casual,blogger to forcing yourself to post daily, sometimes even more than once daily. There are some prompts coming up I'm interested in so I will stick it out for August.

* next weekend we have the big bocce tournament and family reunion for hubby's family. I'm not as excited as I usually am, I think I'm more anxious about how MV will do and what the weather will be like etc. It's two full days of being outside, and usually I would be drinking large amounts of alcohol but not this year. If I'm able to then I hope to have a drink or two but that's going to depend on MV's mood.

* MV turned 5 months old this past Thursday! I have been working on putting together his monthly stats so hope to have that posted soon. I also really need to get caught up on his baby book and journal before I start to forget everything.

* we are still working on the bed transition, by 3am MV is back in my bed. It's all convience (well maybe I'm a suck too).

* hubby is still unemployed. It definitely sucks major tush but it is a little nice that he's able to spend the time with me and MV. I give it another week before I'm ready to strangle him lol I enjoy my time when he's at work and of course now he's always around.

* I have come up with a couple ideas to make some extra money, nothing to pay the bills with except maybe my cell phone, mostly just spending money for me. More to come on that later.

* I'm ready to start exercising. These last 30lbs are still not going anywhere, I did go down two but they crept right back. So I bought a jogging stroller second hand and have been looking for quick non intimidating exercise routines. I'm a little nervous about my supply tho, I've read exercise can sometimes interfere but can't find much to give me definite answers.

* my mother recently found out she will "most likely" lose her hearing in an unspecified time period. She already has lost the ability to hear from her left ear, and now she is having problems with her right. She has hoped it could be corrected but it turns out not. She will be getting a hearing aid soon to assist her until it is completely gone. I still feel like that news is not real.

* we are all about the Olympics right now. I think I prefer the summer games over the winter, they are just more enjoyable to watch. Even MV likes to watch! Oh and I decided MV will be an Olympic swimmer when older nbd ;) lol

* Hubby's birthday is coming up in August, I've started searching pinterest for some ideas, and we may have a surprise BBQ with a few friends.

* After this weekend I will have to get into full on baby shower preparation and gift making mode. I have a ton of ideas for homemade gifts, and will be helping hubby's cousin Lyns plan a baby shower for her sister in law.

* I had planned on doing today's challenge prompt but realized I'm not prepared, I had my days mixed up so I will try to post it tomorrow.


Hope everyone had a good weekend ! :)

I'll leave you with this cute picture from today of MV and his auntie Mag playing with his new drums :)

Summer Blog Challenge day 59

How does your life measure against the vision you had growing up:

When I first saw this prompt I thought "perfect, easy and thoughtful at the same time". Thoughtful is right lol Im sitting here trying to remembered what I thought my life would be like, but I don't think I ever fully planned it out. Here is what I do know:

I thought I would be done having children well before I came close to thirty.
Reality I'm 28 and just getting started, I don't plan on even getting pregnant again until I'm at least 29 if not 30.

I thought I would marry someone I had known my whole life (grew up in a very small town) and live in said town forever.
Reality I left town asap and hardly ever even miss it, and I married my amazing husband who grew up in a town 5-6 hours away.

I thought life would be easy, and I would somehow be rich.
Reality we have had struggle after struggle, bad luck like no person should ever be dealt. Every time we start to get ahead we are knocked right back down. But life isn't fair, and life isn't easy so we keep on going and make the best of it and enjoy it the best we can.

Life may not be exactly what I had visioned but my vision was not totally lost. I am married to a man I love, I am a mother to an adorable little boy, I have a career and friends and family that love me as much as I love them.

I think I did alright.

;)

Happiness

Co sleeping

Co sleeping
Bed sharing

Whatever you want to call it, we do it.
I always swore I wouldn't, i thought it wasn't safe, it created bad habits, our bed will never be ours again.

But somehow it happened, and I love it. And now as MV is approaching five months it makes me sad to know it's time to transition him to his own bed.

What started out of convenience (limited mobility from emergency c section), has turned into a bonding experience I love. I love how easy night time feeds are, I love feeling my little guy shimmy and snuggle up close while he's still sleeping, waking to see him already awake and staring at me with such anticipation in his eyes.

But eventually he must sleep on his own, and hubby and I need our own space.

And tonight I'm awake writing this because tonight I put MV down in his pack n play instead of my bed. He's less than 3 feet away but I can't sleep and I miss him. This is the first step and once he starts sleeping better (or the summer ends whichever comes first) he will then move down the hall to his own room... I'm not even going to comment on the anxiety I feel about that.

The deal tonight is I put him on his own and when he wakes to feed I can bring him back to bed. I'm secretly hoping he wakes soon ;)

Because seriously who wouldn't want to wake to see this?

Summer Blog Challenge day 54

Music I'm listening too:

Lately I've been listening to a lot more Elmo and Old Macdonald than anything else :s
lol

When I do listen to music it's just been whatever's on the radio, half of which I couldn't tell you the song name or who it is. How did I fall so far out of the loop? I used to listen to music constantly, it was part if my everyday life.

Life changes I guess. And somehow I didn't even notice.

But back when I listened more regularly aka pre baby I often could be found listening to Incubus, Foo Fighters, Adele, and Natasha bedingfield to name a few. My iPod always had a wide variety of artists it all really depends on my mood.

What are you listening to? Any suggestions?

Summer Blog Challenge day 53

How to beat the summer heat:

This summer has been crazy hot so far. I remember the days of longing for summer to come so I can lay out in the sun relaxing and tanning, such carefree days. Not anymore.

MV loves being outside, and I've noticed on days we don't go out he tends to get a bit more irritable and almost "bored" with me. So in the mornings usually before 10am we spend time outside. At that time our backyard is heavily shaded by the house and there usually is a cool breeze, the temperature can be so drastically different from the front yard in the direct sun.

If we do go outside mid day it will involve water in some way, either our kiddie pool or swimming at hubby's aunts house. We have been doing pool days at least once a week its so refreshing.

We are lucky to have central air in our place, I really don't know how we would survive without it, especially MV the poor kid is a furnace just like his father! I feel bad staying inside but sometimes we just need to.

Dinners consist of BBQ everything, cooking inside is just crazy.

Sometimes we will go to the mall or other public places that have air conditioning. Anything to stay cool and keep me from going house crazy :)

As MV gets older I'm sure I will have to get a little more creative, there is a splash pad and a water slide and play area at the local pool. Going to the beach will be fun as well, I haven't tried it yet this year I'm a little nervous about how MV will enjoy it.

Oh and lots and lots of ice cream and freezies and popsicles are a must!

I hope everyone has been keeping cool!

Weekend & a baptism

Less than a hour and it will be Monday and the weekend is over. That is I suppose if weekends and weekdays make any difference to you ;) myself not so much.

And now hubby not so much either (boo). There is a shortage of work right now and the company he has been a steady for is in between jobs. Which sucks majorly because now hubby has to collect EI while waiting for the next job and that cuts his income in half. Since hubby is part of the local union he can't just go apply for another job he has to wait and when there is work available he gets called. We have been lucky so far and with the exception of school he's only been laid off two or three times in the past 7 years. So that's how our weekend started.

Saturday was MV's baptism, it was a nice short ceremony at the church where we were married. Hubby and I are both catholic, we do not attend church every week but we do plan on raising our children catholic. If they decide to grow up and change religion or say forget it all together well ok that's their choice, I'm not going to be pushy.

MV was sooo good during the ceremony, he actually was quite happy being the center of attention and seemed to be enjoying himself. Afterwards we had our families (those that could attend) over for a BBQ lunch and cake. I'm not a huge fan of hosting things, it's really alot of work and pressure. But everything went really well.

Today we spent the afternoon swimming at hubby's aunt and uncles house. Sundays are so much more relaxing for me when I don't have to cook lol and of course spending the time with family is nice too :)

I took a break from the blog challenge again this weekend. I need a but of a break every now and then, I'm not crazy about all the prompt topics so forcing myself to continuously write is just more likely to make me quit altogether. But not that I need to explain myself lol

I hope everyone had a good weekend! I need to catch up in my blog reading but it's getting late so it may have to wait until breakfast ;)

Hubby and I decided we weren't posting baptism picks online with the exception of a couple head shots if MV, the rest we are keeping just for us. Here is a little sneak peak of the cutie patootie in his little get up <3

Big Boys

MV will be 5 months next week,
Baby N will be 7 months next week

Today they were big boys and sat in the shopping cart at Costco :)

Lyns (N's momma) and I decided to see if they could stay upright, the straps held them pretty good, MV can't sit on his own so the straps were very helpful.

Everyone was either talking about these two or stopping to coo to them.

The boys are becoming a lot more interactive with each other (soo cute) and while in the cart they would each occasionally reach over to the other one just to touch them or hold a random body part (with the occasional eye poke).

Tomorrow is another big boy day for MV it is his baptism :) the party tent is set up in the yard already for the after party and now it's time to get some sleep so I am well rested for tomorrow

Night!

Summer Blog Challenge day 50

What would you do if you won the lottery:

The main thing I would do is pay off mine and hubby's debts. After that I would go down this list and complete as many as I could depending on how much I won.

- buy a house or land to build our own
- buy new vehicles for hubby and me
- buy my mom a house
- buy hubby's mom a house
- open a large savings account for MV
- take a vacation
- become a stay at home mom
- have a hobby farm
- open my own dog bording kennel
- donate to charity
- invest
- travel
- buy really good Christmas presents
- relax

:)

Summer Blog Challenge day 48

Today's topic is to name five things to do in a power outage.

I don't feel like doing that so instead I'm sharing a picture :)

MV had his four month vaccines yesterday (delayed for multiple reasons), and since then he's been having mini rage fits where he just yells out for no reason. Hubby got a video of it today and captured this screen shot.

Oh and notice the two bottom teeth visible yet still not poking thru.

Summer Blog Challenge day 47

Random act of kindness:

I have been known to pay for the person behind me in the drive thru at Tim Hortons.


* I don't feel like blogging today so keeping it short and sweet.

Summer Blog Challenge day 46

Favourite room in your house:

I can't show you a picture, but my favourite room is the spare bedroom/"my" room.

When we moved in we decided hubby could make the garage and basement his space and I could have one of the spare rooms. At the time I was pregnant so we determined the smaller of the two spares would be the nursery and I claimed the larger.

Both spare rooms are at the front of the house so they get the morning sun and stay very well lit throughout the whole day.
I love how much light comes into "my" room, I love just sitting in there with a book, or doing some sort of craft. It's mine. All mine.
I can't wait to paint it, I am still deciding on colour, and right now I am looking for a small white desk and more storage options. Since it doubles as a guest room I like to be able to tuck my things away.

So the reason I can't share a visual right now? It's because that room is a disaster right now, I moved the furniture, and put everything on the bed. There's piles of things everywhere as I'm struggling to sort it all out.

I need a babysitter for MV for just one day so I can get it done, but currently there is noone else capable of feeding and putting him to sleep.

My goal is to have it organized how I want by the end of the summer. Fingers crossed!

Summer Blog Challenge day 45

Make up tips and tricks:

I am nowhere near qualified to even begin to write the title of this post let alone pretend I even have a clue when it comes to make up!

I hardly ever wear it
When I buy it I keep it for way too long
and I'm terrified of the makeup aisle at the store.

When I do wear makeup it's because of one of the following;

1. I'm so tired that I'm delusional in thinking makeup might help me look like I belong in the land of the living.
2. I have somewhere fancy like a wedding etc to go to.
3. I know that there will be lots of pictures taken for whatever reason and to avoid feeling underdressed I resort to makeup.

The makeup I own includes some mascara, a bronzer, eyeliner, and a couple colours of eyeshadow. I have no clue how to use cover up or those other skin tone products.

I wish I knew how to apply make up properly, and how to do al those glamourous looks. But also I really have nowhere to wear it.

Does anyone have any recommendations of sites to teach me??

Lips taped shut

MV has started making this noise that sounds like someone has taped his lips shut.

He does it when he's happy but mostly when he's trying to do something or wants something that's not going his way.

It's kind of annoying.

Good thing your cute kid ;)

Summer Blog Challenge day 44

Advice for my son:

Appreciate the people and the things in your life.

You are not entitled to anything so you need to work hard and then you will be rewarded. Entitlement just leads to negative feelings towards others, it can build into resentment and will cast a cloud of doom over your head. You dont want to be someone who wakes everyday and is unhappy with their life. In order to be happy with life you need to appreciate it, even if you do not have many possessions or the "nicest" things. Look around and you will see there's always someone who has more and there's plenty of people who have less. So give yourself credit for what you've achieved.
The people you keep in your life should also be treasured. There are simple ways to show them that you value their presence, you should make sure they know it. You never know how long someone will be a part of your life so don't take them for granted.
As you grow older I know you will be influenced by me and your daddy, and our views of life's situations can be very different sometimes. Just remember to enjoy the little things and when you are older looking back you will see them with nothing but the fondest memories.
xox <3

Summer Blog Challenge day 43

Ahh we just got home! So technically I'm late again lol oh well!

Then and Now Photos:

Summer Blog Challenge day 42

I still plan on posting days 40 & 41 but I'm tired and I don't feel good so here are some pictures for day 42

A vacation you've been on:

We've never been the vacationing type but a couple years ago my mom, brother and I drove across 4 provinces and spent a few days in Calgary and Banff Alberta.

After being in a car for four days a
and then spending the next few days with them I don't think I spoke to either for a few weeks. Luckily we flew home.

Here's a couple pics, I have over a thousand from the trip

Technical difficulties

Just a FYI incase anyone's looking I plan on posting today and yesterday's challenge posts but need to be able to post links and my phone and iPad won't let me. Which means I have to turn on my dinosaur computer and we are having issues ... But they are resolved and I'm going to bed so the challenge posts can wait until tomorrow :)

I'm sure no one noticed but just in case ;)

Watching

MV loves his exersaucer.

Sometimes I just sit here and watch him discover the toys around him.

Right now he's getting frustrated but then he discovers a new toy and how to make it crinkle, or squeak, or sing.

I like to think I'm watching his little brain get smarter ;)

Summer Blog Challenge day 39

Pet Peeves:

I used to have a lot of pet peeves, just little things that bothered me that sometimes I didn't realize bothered me until others pointed it out. lol

So I tried to think all day of what they were and if they still bothered me. But I find it's not until it happens that I really realize its a pet peeve.

So here are a few things, I know there must be more....

*Loud breathing. This one really bothers me for some reason. Makes me mad even, I just can't stand it.

*Fork biting. Makes me cringe and I blame my stepdad he used to complain when people did it.

*Joint popping, and teeth grinding. Enough said right? If not see above.

*Cap locks typing. It should only be used to eventuate a point or highlight a key detail. How do you even type a whole paragraph "accidentally" in caps? You can't so just don't do it :)

*People using the word ignorant incorrectly. I'm not going to define it now, but there's a good chance you are not using it correctly so look it up please.

I know there's more ... But if I told you all of them you might think I'm crazy. A

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend, ours was pretty busy but I like it that way since my weekdays are spent just me and MV at home (someday we will have a second car and I will be free again...)

Friday MV and I hung out at home in the morning while hubby went to do a side job he's been helping a friend with. He wrapped it up early so we could then go out to a friends cottage. I have no clue what lake we were on but it was nice. There's something about being near water that just feels comfortable, I would love a house with a view someday.

Hubby did a little fishing.

I love watching a sunset over water

Saturday MV and I did errands. Hubby had a bit of a heart attack when he saw how much money I spent but we needed some essentials like shampoo, toilet paper etc. I find the bill is always so much higher when you need non food items. We are thinking of switching to Costco brand toilet paper I've priced it out and it's the same price as when I buy Charmin (I always buy on sale). Costco always is a high bill but at least when I shop there I can stock up on things.

Saturday evening we went to a friends housewarming, there were tons of people and it started late (7:30) but MV did great and even had a snooze while being cuddled. We stayed until almost 10pm.

Sunday we went to Hubby's aunt and uncles house for a swim and BBQ. It was a nice relaxing day and we were home by 6pm. Dinners there are usually early which is nice so you can still go home and relax.

Hubby got a chance to swim with MV in the pool. MV enjoyed it a lot more than last
time

Hubby, MV, Baby N, and Hubby's cousin

MV decided having a bottle Sunday wouldn't be so bad after all. He hesitantly drank 1oz Saturday morning too. I really hope this is a good sign!

I hope everyone had a good weekend :) I'll post my challenge post later this evening, today's topic is pet peeves... I need to really think of these

Summer Blog Challenge day 38

Lyrics that have meaning to you:

I considered posting our wedding song but decided to take another approach to this one. This song has been a favourite of mine for many years, I find that over the years the lyrics have taken on different meanings to fit my life at that moment. I think that really makes a song a great one personally, it grows with you.

Nelly Furtado - Try

All I know
Is everything is not as it's sold
but the more I grow the less I know
And I have lived so many lives
Though I'm not old
And the more I see, the less I grow
The fewer the seeds the more I sow

Then I see you standing there
Wanting more from me
And all I can do is try
Then I see you standing there
Wanting more from me
And all I can do is try

I wish I hadn't seen all of the realness
And all the real people are really not real at all
The more I learn, the more I learn
The more I cry, the more I cry
As I say goodbye to the way of life
I thought I had designed for me

Then I see you standing there
Wanting more from me
And all I can do is try
Then I see you standing there
I'm all I'll ever be
But all I can do is try
Try

All of the moments that already passed
We'll try to go back and make them last
All of the things we want each other to be
We never will be
And that's wonderful, and that's life
And that's you, baby
This is me, baby
And we are, we are, we are, we are
Free
In our love
We are free in our love

Summer Blog Challenge day 37

*I realize it's after midnight and technically I missed a day but I'm not asleep yet so it's still My Saturday ;)


Something you would attempt if you knew you couldn't fail:

....

....

....

....

Some of these topics requiring more thinking than I want to do this late at night.

....

....

I'm stumped.


I suppose even if I don't answer the question this still counts as my daily post ;) that is after all the point of me doing this challenge.

...ummmmmm....... *thinking really hard but drawing a blank* .....

I know!

I would quit Nursing and start my own business. I'm not sure exactly what kind of business, I haven't decided what I could do enough of yet to have a business but it's something I do daydream about :)

Alright bed time ! Night!

Summer Blog Challenge days 35&36

Day 35: A fear you have:

I find as I get older I become more fearful in general, I think maybe when I was younger I was oblivious to all the potential danger and scary things the world has to offer. I don't like talking about my fears actually, I feel like if people knew them they could abuse that knowledge. You might wonder who would do such a thing? I don't know but it could happen! lol

I will tell you one fear is of falling. I fall a lot, so I often worry about falling, especially if I'm up high, or my hands are full, near water such as a lake, or carrying MV ....


Day 36: A holiday tradition you have in your family:

Hubby and I decided we are going to start our own traditions now that MV is here.
We are very excited for this :) Holidays usually are stressful because they involve lots of driving and staying with family, busy busy busy.
One tradition we do enjoy is boxing day with hubby's family. His whole italian family. His dad, and siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

It's a lot of people, the location changes as everyone takes turns hosting. There is lots of good food and a gift exchange game. Its one thing we will for sure keep doing, maybe one day even host it ourselves. :)

Swimming !

Today MV had his first experience in an actual pool :) he's only been in his kiddie pool so far and he had a great time today!

Hubby's aunt took a bunch of pictures but I had a few on my phone I thought I'd share :) I even dunked the poor guy lol he wasn't a huge fan of that!

Hope everyone is staying cool!

Summer Blog Challenge day 34

Today is a topic of your choice day.

My choice is to keep this short.

I'm really tired lately and struggling to find motivation to blog, if it wasn't for this challenge (which I frequently get behind on) I probably would go weeks at a time between posts.

I hope all my American friends had a nice Fourth of July :)

Nighty night :)

Summer Blog Challenge day 33

Travel and plans for the summer:

Aside from our family reunion and MVs baptism I don't really have any plans for this summer. Hubby doesn't take vacation time since he gets a week at Christmas, and he gets every Friday Saturday and Sunday off anyways. If we do anything it's usually a weekend thing.

I hope to enjoy the summer since I actually get it off :) oh how I envy my teacher friends!

So since I have no plans I've decided to make a summer bucket list :)

- spend the day at Sandbanks
- spend plenty of time poolside
- kiddo/mommy play date at Browns Bay
- renew my fishing license and go fishing with hubby
- go to the Toronto zoo (I may wait til September when it's cooler)
- go on a picnic
- go hiking
- get a tan (lol)
- attend a outdoor movie in the town square
- relax and enjoy summer!

The last one is a priority :) as much as I prefer to be out and about I need to make sure I am relaxing.

Does anyone have any plans for the summer?

Rachel!!

Rachel @ Little Miracles I can not comment on your blog!

I am taking drastic measures to make this known LOL
It does not matter if I'm on my dinosaur computer, or phone, or ipad no matter what I can not view the spot where Im supposed to "prove Im not a robot" and put those letters in :(

Im not sure what happened I used to be able to comment, and for a long time now I havent been able to.

So hopefully you see this, I have been reading each and every post (usually within hours of you posting) but can not ever comment on them. I just wanted to let you know :)

p.s. Annabelle is gorgeous! 

Summer Blog Challenge day 32

Poetry you've written or love:

Well I don't write poetry and I wouldn't say I "Love" it either but when I think of poetry I think of the Shel Silverstein books I had when I was younger and I've decided I should buy them again to read to MV :)

Summer Blog Challenge day 31

Im keeping this short, we just got home and Im barely awake.

Something Eco friendly you do:

We do the following;
- compost
- recycle
- grow our own veggies
- abide by our cities water rules (for outdoor use)
- we only have one car (not really by choice but it counts)

Not sure what else could be on this list I'm way too tired good night!

Happy Canada Day!