Five Years Ago today

I woke up in the hospital (having spent the day before there on bed rest) and reminded the nurse that I wasn't able to eat the breakfast they had brought me what with the imminent c-section I had been emergency scheduled for two days before. Looking back I should have just eaten it, since the Peanut didn't make her grand entrance until after 9pm.

I had waddled on my extremely swollen feet with my super bloated belly, back, arms and hands) for my final maternity appointment and the high blood pressure (along with the extreme water retention) I had when she did the basic check up routine alarmed the Doctor enough that she took it again 10 minutes later (in the hopes that it had just been raised because of the physical activity of walking to the office) to make sure. When it was still high after the wait, she called the specialist who booked me an appointment for later that day where I was told that I had preclampsia, the baby was too big for me to safely deliver and I was headed to the hospital for a day of bed rest followed by an emergency C-section to take place some time the day after.

So I was told I could go in at 9 and then 10 and I had my fingers crossed that I wouldn't be going in until my Mom arrived. I needn't have worried since each slot I was put in throughout the day (5 times between noon and 7pm) was pushed back and my Mom and Grandma arrived in more than enough time.

When it was finally my turn, the husband was led off to change into scrubs and I was wheeled into the prenatal ward where I promptly threw up into a cardboard boat (you know, the kind french fries are served in at the high school cafeteria).

In the operating room I sat up on the table, hunched over while they tried and failed (what with the extra 25lb of water I'd been carrying around) a few excruciatingly painful times to give me the spinal. The Specialist (who was amazing) helped by holding me down while they jabbed the needle into my nerves a few more times before they hit the right spot and the lower half of my body went numb. Interesting side note: the room the Peanut was born in was in the Movie Look who's talking. To this day I will watch that show just to catch a glimpse of the dated pink flower wall paper that decorates that room in Lion's Gate Hospital.

The Husband came in and before I knew it they made the incision.
They dropped the curtain and I got my first look at the Peanut, "It's a girl! here's your baby!" the Dr said.

I took in her little old man face (I don't care what anyone says all new born babies have it; it's the scrunched up slightly bloated from swimming in fluid for 9 months about to cry from the indignity of being forced out of a nice warm safe place face), the shock of hair (there was so so so much of it) and tiny button nose and greeted her with the first thought that came to mind "Oh, there you are!"

She cried, I cried, the husband shed a few manly tears and they weighed her (8lb 5oz), measured her 20" and poked her in the heel to test her blood. Then I got to hold her as I was wheeled into a recovery room where the husband and I nixed all the names we'd short listed for her (River and Clara were the top two) all of which just didn't suit her; while we marveled at how perfect and beautiful our daughter was.

We finally landed on the perfect name when I suggested a name that just seemed to have been made for the Peanut and then, just like that 5 years just seemed to fly by.

She's grown into a simply beautiful little soul. She's smart and funny and creative and (along with her sister the Jelly Bean) the best thing I ever made. She makes me laugh, cry and sometimes so frustrated I wonder what I was thinking when we decided to start a family, but only sometimes. She also makes me bust with pride every single day.

So, five years ago today I stepped into motherhood; the Peanut was born and our lives changed, it's been one sweet ride.

Family, Owls and Kilns

Our time spent with the Husband's Dad during on our trip had some pretty amazing highlights. The Peanut had a blast plying with her cousins, is still talking about it and asking for sleep overs. This time around we were able to get a little extra playtime in with them which included (those are gasps and squeals of joy you are hearing) not one but two orange kittens.

There was also a family BBQ with family that (in the nearly 20 years I've been with the husband) I hadn't met as well as family that we hadn't seen much of since the last family wedding. We had a great time and a fantastic visit.

On a play date visit with the husband's cousin's family we were introduced to the family of owls who had taken up residence in our cousin's yard. The young ones have been named Hoot and Holler and they put on a pretty good show for me when I brought out my camera.

One of the best parts of our stay with the Father in Law is that he lives just down the road from the Reids who were in the Fine Arts program with me at Red Deer College. If you've followed my 5 question series you may remember that I featured Auvery two years ago. It's still one of my favourite features not least because I love the eclectic quality of her work. Where Auvery's work is as fun and full of ideas as she is Joe's work has a quiet strength to it that also mirror's his personality. My current favourite series of his, are the ceramic thermos that is used as the profile picture on their studio's facebook page.

Joe and Auvery are currently in the process of building a wood fired kiln just outside of their converted barn studio. We slipped down the road for a little visit and a studio tour. I'll be honest and say that I have some pretty extreme studio envy; their space is amazing as is their work. They also have a website and blog that you should totally visit.

Since our set of dinnerware has been slowly breaking piece by piece over the last few years I'm planning on starting a new collection. I'm hoping to buy a setting or a piece of a setting here and there and since I'm not to bothered about getting matchy matchy I'll be buying from Joe and Auvery.

and in completely unrelated news: yesterday was the deadline for entering the Melissa and Doug draw. Since we obviously didn't hit the 200 facebook fan mark (I'm in the process of emailing my contact with them) I'd like to still do a draw from all the entries I did get; including the extra entries I promised those who entered before the original draw date and send one of my sun catcher's to the winner. I'll post a little about that in the next few days.

Not my Forte

So when Melissa and Doug approached me about doing a giveaway I was thrilled. The sand toys they wanted to promote with the giveaway are; like all Melissa and Doug toys, awesome. I could totally see the Peanut putting all of them through their play paces. When they made receiving 200 new likes on their facebook page a requirement of the giveaway I thought I'd give it my best shot. So I wrote the post. I tweeted about it, and posted links on some social networks that I follow and I contacted some blogs that list giveaways in the hopes of driving the required number of entrants to my giveaway post and then; despite my footwork things kind of fizzled. So I rallied and tried again, I extended the deadline and tried corralling more entries but again; fizzle.

Right now the number of required entries is well below Melissa and Doug's required 200 which leads me to think that the whole giveaway thing isn't really one of my strengths. Either that or my readership doesn't quite fit with the Melissa and Doug target audience. I'll be doing a final little push for more entries today and I'll get in touch with my contact at Melissa and Doug with my entries on Tuesday. So if you haven't already entered please do so now, pass the link along, spread the word!

Dinos Galore

Some of my favourite photos from the Royal Tyrell Museum.



Our second leg of the trip was spent with the Husband's Dad. The highlights from that portion to follow soon.

Now I really hate to harp on this but I'm still looking for entries on the Seaside Sidekick Giveaway If you know anyone who loves to play in the sand, send them over! Deadline for this fantastic contest is on Monday night.

A Thousand Words

Air and Oil Edition:

First Stop

Before I start: the Melissa and Doug Seaside Giveaway has been extended. If you haven't entered there's still time, if you know someone who loves playing in the sand tell them about it too! It's an awesome prize pack and I'd love to gift one of you with it!


Because our families all live in the same area our trips are always split into three separate parts: The husband's Mom (aka my other Mother), the husband's Dad and my parents. This trip was brought to us by the Husband's Mom's boss (still following?) The trip was originally supposed to be for her to fly out and see us but things didn't work out for many reasons and her boss offered to have us fly out instead. So, we started our trip with Grandma. Other than a chance to have some prime Ma time and introduce the Jelly Bean to her Grandma we shopped and ate and enjoyed a little side trip into the Bad Lands of Alberta for a little Dinosaur time for the Peanut.

The house my other Mother lives in is one of the oldest in the city she lives in. It's haunted, and chock full of paintings, woodcut prints, and plants. I love staying there. Of course every place the husband's Mom has ever lived in has had a similar feel to it. The woman knows how to create a homey atmosphere.


On the way to Drumheller we took a secondary highway that took us by a stretch of wind farm. The juxtaposition between the almost lazy spin of ll the windmills and the bobbing up and down of the oil pumps dotted along the fields on the way was too much to pass up and I took some photographs along the way. I'll post some of those later this week.

The Royal Tyrell Museum was a huge hit for the Peanut. She was in state of bliss for days afterwards and she still talks about the Dire Wolf and Mammoth exhibits as well as the T-Rex and Triceratops exhibit that we visited first.

All in all the first part of our trip couldn't have been better.

And it ends.

The vacation. It never seems long enough.

We're unpacking, getting settled and starting some new routines and I'll be posting some recaps of our trip complete with extreme weather and prehistoric ocean creatures but not at the same time.

From the looks of things the giveaway that I posted about before we left isn't up to near enough entries to qualify for a prize from Melissa and Doug. I'm contemplating adding an extension on the deadline (I'll post an update to this tomorrow) to see if we can't add a few more entries because I'd very much love to be able to give one of those gift packs to one of you. If you haven't entered, please, please do! If you have, tell your friends and family about it and send them on over the more the merrier after all.

Amazing

So I'm hanging out with the Jelly Bean, she's sitting in her exersaucer and making bird noises. Chirps, squeals, long drawn out groans. and every time I turn to look at her to say something, " Hello Baby" "Is that so?" "Oh! Really" I'm graced with twinkle eyed shoulder shrugging giggles and drools. The child is a charmer.



But no one, and I do mean no one, can get her to giggle like the Peanut. The best is when the Peanut tries out her beat boxing a la Electric Company. The Bean stops whatever it is she's doing and grins her gummy grin which gets bigger and bigger until she lets out a baby guffaw and a squeal.

I am amazed by my two little beauties. I just want to squeeze them I love them so...

Now that we've packed

I realize that what we really really could use for the Peanut (and also the Bean when she gets big enough to carry her own luggage) is one of these:


Now if it seems like I'm on a Melissa & Doug kick I kind of am. Between the giveaway they've offered to sponsor (if they reach 200 likes on their facebook page from my giveaway post, you can click this link or the one their logo in the sidebar to go see what they're offering) to the fact that Birthday Party Season is fast approaching I've been visiting their site often.

So what about the Trunki appeals? Well it's red (the one pictured is red, there are other colour options) it has wheels and a handle and with all the stuff we bring for the Peanut when we go traveling, she could totally stand to have her own suitcase.

For Your Own Comfort and Safety:

I say it every time

and then I end up packing just as much as every other year.

This year I really tried and I think I managed to really cut down on what I've stacked in the suitcase. The problem seems to be that when I pack I get big ol' case of the what ifs. You know, the what if we decide to go out for dinner? What if it gets cold? What if we end up at a beach? Which reminds me I should make sure the bathing suits are packed....

See what I mean?

If you haven't had a chance to enter my latest giveaway there's still time. If you know anyone with kids, please pass on the link, I order to have a prize to giveaway we need 200 new fans for Melissa & Doug!

The things that run through my mind

when I'm breastfeeding the Bean.... (but before we go any further make sure you enter into teh Melissa and Doug Seaside Sidekick giveaway )

Well, mostly I read. I'm nearly done the Orange Prize Short list with a handful of the long list already crossed off but tonight I finished Wendy Law-Yone's The Road to Wanting and found myself with no books within reach so my brain did a little wander and I found myself thinking about the first book I remember reading as a child which led to a short list of books that I remember from childhood.

On the top of that list is Dr Seuss' One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. I remember my Dad reading this book to me and my sister when we were little and giggling when we got to the part where the narrator says "I don't know go ask your Dad"

OK, if I'm going to be honest the first book that popped into my head was the Hobbit. I first picked up the Hobbit when I was eight or nine and I've read and re-read it over and over and over ever since.

The third book that popped into my head was a book that I didn't even read when I was a kid. In fact I've never read it at all. It was a book that was read out to us during a story time session in our school library and for some reason I never managed to get it out of the library to finish it but If I was ever to come across the book I would totally be reading it. So the name of this book that made such an impression on me? Roger Wolcott Drury's The Finches Fabulous Furnace. A book about a family who moves into a house that is heated by a tiny volcano.

We've been reading to the Peanut since she was the Bean's age and the books that have made an impression on her are Ted Dewan's Bing Bunny books and Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The ones that have stayed with me are Sam Mc Bratney's Guess How Much I love You and Neil Gaiman's Blueberry Girl

So what books do you remember from your childhood? Which books do you read to your child (if you have one) that will always remind you of story time) that most lovely of moments in each day?

Trains, Planes and Automobiles

We're on vacation, we packed up and left town yesterday and are now living and breathing vacation time. There are no "have to" and "I really should"s here.

So we're hanging with the Ma-in-law. in the haunted house she lives in. eating fried dough for breakfast with real maple syrup and the promise of strong roasty coffee in a while.

The Bean weathered her first cross province trip well; ending the day with a massive tummy upset that had us changing the bed and giving her a second bath where she splashed and kicked and gave us a few more grins and giggles to let us know that she was all better before promptly falling back asleep and staying that way (even at this moment)

I've set up a few scheduled posts to fit in here and there while we're busy doing vacay things. I'm hoping to add a post here and there while we are here but if now I'll be giving a full recount once we're home and settled.

If you have a moment, know some beach loving kids and want to try for a fantastic sand toy gift set be sure to click on the Melissa & Doug link in the left hand column there's plenty of time to enter!

New Starts

On Thursday I get to have some much needed one on one time with the Peanut. It's her kindergarten orientation in the morning and the Bean is going to hang out with the husband while we head out to see the Peanut's classroom, meet her teacher and hopefully make a friend.

It's a big step for her and I'm getting a little misty thinking about my little Peanut headed off to school next September. It seems like just yesterday she was the size of the Bean and rolling over. Kindergarten has sneaked right up on us

Once that's done and we head home to make sure that the Bean hasn't decimated the husband; it's packing time so we can introduce the Bean to Grandma, Great Grandma and all her aunts uncles and cousins (not to mention a side trip to the Royal Tyrell so that the Peanut can exalt in all things prehistoric.)

And hey, have you entered into the Seaside Sidekick giveaway yet? If you've entered, thanks, link the post to your friends and family because once Melissa and Doug get 200 new fans on their page from my giveaway they'll send a prize pack including all the sets written about in the post to one lucky entrant.