I tried to get angry, but I was laughing too hard

Tonight - while we're playing "grocery store" with Miss M (which involves her loading her play food into her shopping cart, then out again to "pay" and then back into a grocery bag).

We're at the "grocery bag" stage and Maddie is trying to put the bag on her shoulder. But only manages to get one loop on one shoulder and one loop on the other shoulder. So she's kind of wearing it like a reverse backpack.

Which is clearly not what she wants and she gets annoyed.

"Maddie not do it!" she exclaims, as the bag drops to her feet. Then with a "arghhhh" she kind of hits the bag/picks it up and throws it down again. You can feel the frustration.

Seth: "Now now, let's not act like your mother."

Me: Hahahahahaha. [beat]  Oh. Hey. Wait a minute....


Yes - I have a short fuse. I get frustrated. I often take my frustrations out on the inanimate items that are frustrating me (case in point - my busted ass laptop). So, um, yeah. I couldn't really get angry, especially as I was laughing so hard already at what was a clear case of mommy frustration happening for the little person in front of me.

That didn't stop me from getting her to tell Daddy, "That not nice Daddy!" though...

xxoo.S

My Etsy Addiction - part un

I have a fancy-schmancy expensive mobile from when Maddie was a sproggy, but o.m.g. this is adorable and is a match made in heaven for my colour-scheme, non?

Birds & Eggs Mobile by mrowe on Etsy 

(am also loving the crazy stuffed octopuses on this seller's page!) 

And before everyone thinks that I'm ignoring Maddie in favour of my new obsession with Sprog #2's room, check out this hat that I don't think I'm going to be able to resist buying as an early Easter prezzy for Miss M...

Bunny Hat Vanilla by NoraAndFinn on Etsy 

(and if saccharine bunny ear hats ain't your thing, check out the adorable sock monkey hat)

xxoo.S

The Nursery

Since this is my latest obsession, I figured I may as well write about it. Like with Maddie's nursery a few years ago, I have all the plans for the room design up in my head, just floating around. Whenever I try to explain the colour scheme to anyone, their forehead crinkles up and they look confused. I get it - I want to do a blue room and trying to convince someone that blue can in fact be gender-neutral is difficult.

And then, while trolling about Etsy last night, I came across this gorgeous piece that sums up visually exactly the colour scheme I'm after:

Adorable, non? I think Sprog #2 will love it.

xxoo.S

23 weeks

• My hungriest time of the day is between 3-4pm. Which kind of screws with my dinner appetite, but that's okay, I just cram the dinner in anyway.
• I'm carrying far lower than I ever did the first time around. At least from what I remember. This means I pee. A lot. And if I do a lot of walking I get all crampy and in fear of the baby just falling out...
• I still love Sour Kids, Gummy Bears and other gelatin based snacks. Seriously - want to make a pg woman your BFF? Buy me some Welch's real fruit snack goodness.
• The vivid dreams continue. I totally forgot how crazy pregnancy dreams can be. Not necessarily the "I left my baby on the roof of my car like she was a coffee cup" style (but, yes, have those too) - more just stressing out about not having the nursery done or Maddie out of the crib before the baby comes. That`s a recurring theme...
• Speaking of the nursery - the plan for painting/wainscoting is for March. I figure as long as we can have the goal of getting Maddie into her "big girl bed" by the beginning of April we should be okay. Now watch that transition fall apart like a house of cards!
• And shhhh, here's my last little confession - the closer we get to baby-time, the more terrified I'm becoming. That I don't remember how to care for a small newborn sprog. That I do remember just how tiring it is, and how will I ever manage to take care of Maddie when I'm that sleep deprived. And guilty, that I'm not eating as "healthy" as I did when I was pg with Maddie. That I'm not taking pictures of my pg belly every single week like I did the first time, does that mean I'm going to be a total slacker mom with this kid and then have to pay for therapy because they have 2nd child syndrome and... Yadda. Yadda. Yadda. For the record. I KNOW I'm being irrational. And that none of my worries are uncommon. It's all normal, everyone feels this way, but it will all be fine blahblahblah. Doesn't change the fact that I'm obsessively convinced that this baby will hate me because he/she feels shafted.

xxoo.S

This isn't as whingy as it sounds...

But holy hell I would like for this week to be over, like, pronto. Or in fact, if we're making wishes, that last week never happened? Car accident (yes, again - but not my fault... this time), laptop dying (with all sorts of non-backed-up files because I am a procrastinating moron) and sad family news that I don't really need to get into right now.

So this week has been, difficult, to say the least. But hey, lessons learned - well, at least as far as always making sure you back up your computer files and when your computer is starting to work rather poorly, don't yell at it or smack it. Note to self: It is not a 1985 television, and won't start working a titch better with a good 'cuff upside the head.

Also? Laptops are REALLY cheap now. Like in the $500 range. And that's just crazy to me, because partly you feel like a sucker or paying over $1k for something just 3 years ago that you can now buy for under $600. And also - apparently we shouldn't "expect" computers to last longer than 3 years anymore. Landfills anyone?

So that's my week. And it's culminating in a rather large, kinda important work preso on Friday where I get to show off my video editing skills. (Yes, you can laugh with me. I know my strengths. I CAN analyze the shit out of a spreadsheet. I CANNOT edit the shit out of video. I love adding skill sets in my mid-30's!)

This weekend will be quiet and relaxing. Except for the 8 women + children I am hosting on Saturday morning for a playdate. Um - that won't be quiet or relaxing. Remind me to make plans to do absolutely nothing next weekend please? And to stop volunteering to host get-togethers. Although that does seem to be the only way any vacuuming happens in our house. Yes, we really are that slobby.


Next post will be more interesting, with less whinge. Perhaps with pictures. You know - like a blog is supposed to be... me promisey!|

xxoo.S

Happy Valentines Day from Maddie!

What doesn't say "I love you" like a heart-dude with crinkly appendages?

xxoo.S

21 weeks

What's new this time 'round?

• More "junk food" cravings. Like I can't get enough of any pectin-based snack food. Gummy bears? Count me in. Wine gums? Yes to the please. Sour kids? Ohmagooooood....drool.
• Less healthy food cravings. Like brocolli? Yeah - you and your cruciferous friends can suck it...
• Crampy aches in the lower, er, pelvis region. My midwife says this is totally normal for 2nd-time-round-ers. Like feeling that the baby may just fall out if you walk any further in the grocery store? Totally normal apparently.
• I miss caffeine. More particularly, coffee. Like miss it with an ache that should only be reserved for lovahs. I do imbibe on a cup of regular tea each day - and that is yum. But man - I want me some coffee. Dark, thick, muddy, dirty, naughty espresso. (And no - decaf isn't the same - thanks for the suggestion.)

And the same?

• I'm massive. Just like last time. And my sense of humour hasn't gotten any better over those, "OMG - you're only HOW far along?" or, "Hahaha - are you sure you aren't carrying twins?" and then there's always the, "Wow - so how big do you think you're going to get?" or the classic, "raised eyebrow of shock" when I tell them how far along I am.  For the record: pregnancy is not an excuse for you to tell me how fat you think I am. Just so's you know.
• Unending appetite for food. (And yes, I get the irony of posting this directly after a "how shockingly massive I am" point.) However, I'm hungry. All. The. Time. And another for the record? Vegetables don't fill you up. No matter how many you eat. I've eaten a whole cucumber (a WHOLE cucumber) and pint of grape tomatoes in one "snack session" and had to top myself up with something, er, more substantial (like a bowl of chips) just to feel full. That's right. I said it.
• My lack of gorgeous shiny hair, beautiful long nails, glowing skin. Yeah - this apparently isn't a "side effect" that I get to experience with any pregnancy. Instead I have chippy peeling nails, gross frizzy hair and dull dry skin. Go me!

What I totally forgot about?

• How incredibly awesome it is to feel the little sprog move about in there. Like swirly whirly, popcorn popping, soft little movement gorgessity. Love that bit. Even when he/she is tap-dancing on my bladder.

xxoo.S

I know it's -17C, but still...

Since the Hubs promised me that he would finally take down the Christmas lights on our house this Saturday, rain or shine, we all got bundled up to do just that.

Well, really, Maddie and I were there for moral support. I thought she'd have fun bombing around in the front yard while I actually attempted to help and de-light our front tree.

She thought better, and decided it was time for a trip to the park. Since we had an hour until lunchtime, I was like, eh, whatevs, park it is.

About 1/4 of the way to the park I remembered just why it is so stupid to wear jeans in cold, windy, winter weather. Because they get stiff and make your legs feel like icicles. Remember that feeling?

But onward - to the park we went. And upon getting there we were greeted with a desolate winter desert of a park. Of course we were the only people there. It's like minus-a-thousand with the windchill.

I played the diligent mom, kept asking Maddie if she was too cold, if she wanted to go home. She just kept looking up at me from her puffball snowsuit, and saying "no Mommy, Maddie play in park".

Who am I to be the killjoy mother? And it was around this time that I started thinking/remembering to myself - dude - I've been this cold and colder plenty of times. Yeah, maybe not recently, but remember when you were just that little bit older in elementary school, and were far too cool for snowpants, but holy cow it was freezing out when you walked to school?

So we played. Well, I watched her play. Up and down the climber thing. Down the slide a few thousand times. Onto the bouncy horse spring thing. She was tearing it up.

However I started questioning myself. Thinking, wow, all these people driving by are looking at me like "Who is that tortuous mother risking her kids life out in this frigid cold." So I convinced Maddie after only one more slide, that this was it - we were done after this - time to go home.

As we left the park, two little girls bounded down the path, joyously headed for the play equipment. I was all like, Whew, I'm not the only pea-brained mother that takes their kid out in the arctic gale cold to play.

Then I looked up and saw the adult that was accompanying the kids. It was an 85-year old grandmother.

Of course it was.

She probably had forced the kids away from the tv and ventured out, leaving the parents snug in the warmth of their home, to get her grandkids outside.

As we walked by each other she said, "You braved the elements too?"

I smiled in return as I was picking up Maddie (who of course didn't want to walk anymore as the wind was not at our backs anymore).

"It's good to get them outside, even when it's cold" she said.

This post really wasn't meant to sound as pompous as it reads. Trust me, while I do try to take Maddie out often, but I'm just as guilty of hibernating inside just like anyone is.

The sad thing is, when we do finally venture out (even on sunny, warm, summer days) the park is often desolate. And I know it's not for lack of kids - there are a TONNE on our street. But you just don't see the kind of traffic or use of the equipment you'd expect to see.

Moving to the suburbs, as I was 8 months preggo I remember feeling the excitement of how I'd be able to give my kids a similar upbringing to what I got. Running around until the streetlights came on with neighbourhood friends. Playing in front yards/backyards/local parks. Riding your bikes up to the stores and back. Pick up games of baseball or street hockey. Swimming in neighbour's pools.

I don't think that kids get that kind of childhood anymore. Well, I know they don't. Parks don't get used. "Free-range kids" is now a label for more bohemian parents. And blahblahblah childhood-obesity-cakes.

It's sad. How do you fight that? How do you tell your kid just to "go play outside" if there's no one out there to play with?

xxoo.S

Hide and Seek

We played hide and seek for the first time last night. I don't think I stopped laughing until we finally got her into her pj's.

Top 5 Reasons Why Maddie Will Never Be World Hide & Seek Champion:

1. She always hides in the same spot. And that spot is the front hall closet. Just so's you know.
2. She likes to peek out of her hiding spot (the closet) while you "look" for her.
3. If you're like me, and like to narrate your life (i.e. "Is Maddie under the table?" "Is Maddie behind the couch"), then she will answer you "NOoooooooo" - from said closet.
4. If you take too long "looking" for her, she will jump out of the closet and say "Maddie in closet Mommy!"
5. And if she is the seeker, she will actually only look in one place for you. And that place is... drumroll, please... In The Closet. Because CLEARLY that's the best hiding place in the world, right?

And these are the nights that make up for all those nights of fury and tantrums.

xxoo.S

So I didn't get to play with electricity

My big plans for fixing the doorbell this weekend were foiled by, well, an unwilling Hubs. But I did get a pendant lamp installed in Maddie's playroom, measured out the wainscoting for the nursery and made cookies with Maddie.

Our camera is currently MIA somewhere in the house (I hope) or I would have pics of our cookie-making adventure. I was shocked I was able to hold her attention during the whole process and I only had to bribe her without about 5 trillion choco chips to do so. Her face was priceless and the pics I did get w/ my blackberry just don't do it justice.

I also fell in love with a white wrought iron bed that I found at Costco. That is seriously playing with my determination to actually make Maddie's "big girl" bed. Because it really is just that gorgeous. Like easily imagine it with patchwork-quilt-and-piled-high-with-stuffies type of gorgessity.  Thanks a lot Kelly! That's the last time let you msg me with a "tip"!

So all in all, a fabulous family weekend. Just no pics to actually prove that the fact.

xxoo.S