No Name

After professing my undying love for the color brown... I go and get bitch slapped. Every time Maizey wears the little brown hoody that I thought (and still think) is the cutest little sweater you ever did see... she gets called a boy.

 A freaking boy. The most girly of all little girls *in my opinion* gets called 'little fella' 'buddy' 'handsome little guy' ... I was even stopped at the farmers market and asked "how did you get so lucky to get such a handsome fella?" I asked who he was talking to? ME? or MAIZEY??? I won't be buying any pottery from that guy, that's for sure.
BUT... it gets worse... its started to happen more frequently. No matter what color she's wearing, pink or not. I always correct the people... we went to get one year shots and the nurse repeatedly referred to her as him, his and he and she JUST booked the appointment that morning and it was her at the desk when we walked in and I said we are here for MAIZEYS shots. She forget in two seconds???  I corrected her a few times and Brian did too. She didn't even say sorry. What the eff? 

 This is not the look of a lady boy... I mean seriously - how much more girly can you get with a coat like that?! Gahhh... boys have it so much easier!

ANYWAYS.... I am in love with fall. Its crisp days with the sun shining and the fresh air.

 We have been going for nightly wagon rides around the neighbourhood

She fakes interest in our rock skipping abilities and would much rather just stay in her wagon. Ohh boy does she love that thing. Greatest present ever.

We went to the flats with Corbin and Ang and their dogs - Maizey is such a pain in Corbins ass.

she just tried to steal his truck and he scolded her appropriately.

then she crawled over to him, said up up up then proceeded to climb on his lap. He sat there unsure of what to do.

We do love being outside playing. Maizey got nice and dirty, she ate some sand, she played/annoyed her friend. She was worn out when we got home. Love love love those days.

Happy Weekend friends.

She Might Walk 500 Miles. Or Not.

It has been weeks of a few steps here and there, standing for prolonged amounts of time and seeming interest in walking. But, like I said before, Maizey would not walk because we wanted her to. Well, tonight guess who decided she was ready... 



I am bursting with pride! Is this what its like for every mom (and dad) out there?! Because seriously, I could not be happier! I have not stopped smiling for like, I don't know... 2 hours? Its just SO EXCITING! Please feel free to join me in my excitedness!

Way to go Baby Girl, we are so proud of you! I feel like I should bake you a cake or something... mmm cake!!

Awesome

HOLY.... bad blogger. It feels like its been so long, I can hardly type!!
BUSY. That's what we have been.
There was, of course, the week from hell with the new-but-now-gone-house, then there was the weekend of two weddings, which YAY, means dressing up! Wooo!
We took Maizey to the ceremony, but then.... Babysitter time... 

It was the first time we had to get a babysitter other than grandparents. Holy shiza scary, right? Wrong. How awesome is that! This 14 year old is practically a professional at it and did not even waver a little at me saying that Maizey is strong willed, when she's told NO, she quickly does whatever she is not supposed to be doing five more times before I get there.  But not to worry - she doesn't hold grudges or throw tantrums, yet. Seriously, this 14 year old babysitter sent from heaven was all , it's no big deal, I'm sure I've handled worse. So we left. Turns out she's not practically a professional, she IS a professional. I am sure she makes more money than Brian. So, it was easy to party all night knowing Maizey was in good hands. For the record I only called once. Ok, twice, but the second time was tell her we were going to be an hour late... I know, I know, I am very thoughtful. It was so much fun to be out. I partied like a rockstar, while Brian partook in a back room poker game.

woooo - the party shades... but what the deuce  am I doing with my hand... is that a peace sign or a gang-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks sign? heh. 

Sunday morning I came up with five reasons why its better to be the designated driver (which I was):

1) When your one year old wakes you up at the crack of dawn you don't feel the need to lay on the couch in a half coma while she does things she normally is not allowed to do.
2) You can laugh at your husband while he moans on the couch and asks you for Tylenol and water.
3) You can clearly remember all the stupid things you did the night before - not have to read about them or see the pictures on facebook.
4) It really is fun to drunk-people watch.
and 5) I don't think there is anything more fun than hearing people ask you how you were feeling the next day and seeing their reaction when you tell them you were feeling like a million bucks, because contrary to popular belief, yes, you really are that awesome that you can act like that and have that much fun, totally stone cold sober!!

One reason it is NOT so great to be the sober one...
By the end of the night, when the oh-so-sexy shoes are no longer comfortable, more like making you want to stab a hot knife in your eye painful, you can't wait at the door while your husband pulls the truck around for you. Booooo.
Anyways, it was fun. There was lots of laughs and lots of dancing. Which I am awesome at. Just saying.

This week, we had an incident with a vacuum salesman, which I wont get into detail over... but lets just say, we brought our hide a key in from outside, just in case.
Maizey is starting to take steps. Only when she thinks we don't want her to though. Three times she's gone from the t.v stand to the love seat and a few times from the coffee table to various pieces of furniture! If we try to get her to walk between us, she goes limp and plays dead. What the hell? She walks holding one of my hands, but when I let go mid walk, she sits down. I have tried explaining that its for her benefit, that if she just walked, she could get into way more things, like at the grocery store and pharmacy (I was trying to speak her language, I thought she would be interested, since she likes to get into everything), she dismissed me though. I am close to resigning. Let her be the five year old that doesn't walk. Whatever.
That reminds me, she also knows how to open doors and drawers now too. I found her trying to get the lid off the Benadryl today. Awesome. I just may have to put the stupid locks of the cupboards after all.
Anyways, I jut re-read what I wrote and I have said awesome like 20 times, so I think I should stop, before this awesome post, becomes not awesome. Next post will be more photos, less rambling-ness.



 

Staying Put

It's done. The dream is dead. So much time...literally days have gone into making this purchase happen - for months its consumed us. Late Tuesday afternoon it ended. We made the offer on our dream house on September 3rd. They accepted on September 4th. We had until September 14th to remove our subjects. September 13th we knew we weren't going to make it in time - we just simply weren't getting the answers we needed. So early on the morning of the 14th we asked for an extension. By noon they had agreed to give us until September 20th. By 5:00 (and several beers later) we knew in our hearts that it wasn't meant to be. Without getting into the details, it's confusing and sad all at the same time. If someone ever gets the house, it will be beautiful and a sight to see. That we didn't get it - It's also a little bit of a relief. We are fine to stay in our house. We love our house and the little home we have made it into. We will stay happily put right here.
If you would like to see the house click here.

Garlicky Goodness

I love the garlic festival. I have only been one other time, years ago, but I was in heaven even back then. Sunday Maizey and I headed to beautiful New Denver for good garlic, delicious food and market shopping. It was pouring rain but when you live here, you have to eventually stop caring. So we went and it was a great mama-missy day.

(our view on the ferry)

(I am not the best self portrait taker, but I like it when it the timing is off - it's so much more 'us' that way!)

We stopped for lunch in Nakusp  at a cute little cafe. Maizey called Brian to let him know we were fine!

There is just something so calming about being in the Kootenays. I love it and vow to get there more times this year. The mountains are beautiful and everything just seems so relaxing. Plus, with all the hippies and earth-friendly people, there is nothing but delicious healthy food everywhere you go

We did some shopping - for garlic related things of course, listened to the music and watched the shows

 Maizey rode in the backpack and laughed, talked and tickled my head the whole time *which really means she was pulling my hair (accidentally) while saying 'tick tick tick'* - she had a great time.

I love knowing that I am brave (if that is even the right word) to take my daughter on adventures, alone. With no Brian or friends or grandparents. Just her and I. I always admired people who did that (i.e my own mom - who bravely took all five of us *i should say six because my one brother really was enough work to count for two* on trips alone. She BRAVELY took us camping alone every. single. summer.) So I am happy to see that I am good to go in that department. I am already planning our next trip. If Brian can come, that's obviously awesome, but if he can't, I know we will be good to go on our own. We had fun. These are the times I want Missy to remember.

When Mom Gets Out Smarted

Timing is always different in our house. Brian doesn't have a set schedule so he may go to work in the middle of the night, or really early in the morning, or right when we should be going to bed, or any other random time of the day - and its usually at the exact moment that we would like to do something. Its the nature of his job - its just the way it is. We long ago gave up on trying to make plans or schedule anything set in stone... it just never works that way. This means that I can never plan for him being home at any given time of the day, like say, whatever time of the day I want to shower. That time is always different around here too... it depends on whether I have somewhere to be, or if I am going to work out early or late or if I am being lazy and don't feel like having one right away. This means that I rarely ever get to shower in peace. There is usually a little baby girl in the bathroom with me, be it in the shower, or sitting in her high chair having a snack, or my personal favorite, in the empty bath tub playing with her toys and laughing at herself in the mirror on the door of the shower. I happen to feel that the bath tub idea is genius - she cant climb out, shes safe, she can move around and play with her toys and still see me. It works for both of us. We use this tactic when I am trying to get ready to go out and when I am running up and down the stairs and she wants to follow me (we don't have a baby gate, she can handle the stairs fine, but she still needs supervision on them) and many other times through out the day. Its practically her favorite place to be. Today she broke all the rules in the tub. I am thinking this may no longer be an option. EFF. Today she learned how to turn on the water by herself. While I was in the shower and she was in the tub fully dressed *shoes and all* of course. Not only was it the water, it was the HOT water at that. Luckily I noticed it was on and got it shut off before the hot water actually got to the top. She wound up soaking wet, the bathroom floor covered in water from when I came lunging out of the shower and the water sprayed everywhere out of the open door. I had to think fast - she cant be left to roam the bathroom as she heads straight for the toilet and wants to put her mouth all over it (I am open to suggestions on how to teach her that that's GROSS....), I couldn't leave her in the tub and have her turning the hot water on... so I had to strip her down and bring her in the shower, which left me standing there dripping everywhere, causing even more wetness all over the floor. Gahhhhh. She thought it was hilarious. Plus, she loves sitting on the shower floor playing so she was stoked to be in there. I, on the other hand, should have taken Stacey up on her offer to watch Maizey after we worked out so I could shower BY MYSELF!!!!
In other, unrelated news Maizey stood up today. As in she was sitting on the floor, and she pushed herself onto her feet then just... stood up. Then looked at Stacey and I, smiled, and sat down. Ahhhh, two weeks ago she was totally un-interested in walking, now she is standing up, letting go of the table and walking holding only one of my hands. Its not going to be long!

Also I forget to write about Maizeys one year check up.

Her stats were: oh crap - I just went to get the paper I wrote it down on and I cant find it. Oops.
All I remember is her weight was 17lbs 15oz's - she is getting quite the belly on her! 

 We love our doctor!

Maizey is now gaining weight like a champ so we are cutting back to 3 months between visits rather than every month like we have been doing since January. We are going to miss our little visits every month.

Wordless Wednesday - An Oldie But A Goodie

I'll Take This Kinda Day Any Day

After saying that I am so busy and barely have time to do anything, let alone spend some quality time with my little family... well then today happened. When we had ALL day to hang out and do what ever the heck we wanted. Thanks to Labor Day there were no phone calls or emails coming and no meeting or appointments. Or anything. The weather took a fierce turn towards winter today - but I refuse to turn the heat on... so in an attempt to warm up the house I decided to try my hand at making bread - which would require the oven to be on for a realllly long time, thus heating a small area of the kitchen for us to huddle in and be warm. The bread was obviously just a bonus. I am sure there was sound logic in there somewhere. Either way, we now have some seriously delicious bread for our toast tomorrow!

But as most mothers of toddlers know - a whole day inside is just asking for punishment. Atleast it is for us. So with a whole lotta disregard for Mother Nature and her bitchiness for bringing winter SO early this year, and giving me only one stinking week of my favorite season, we braved the cold and went to Skunk Cabbage to walk the board walk. I am not going to lie - it was effing cold. I think Brian was thinking of disregarding ME when I first told him we were going (I didn't ask - I know what the answer would have been), but he sucked it up and loaded the backpack in the truck. It ended up being so much fun.

We saw pretty flowers covered in rain drops and a whole slew of weeds that look beautiful and exotic along the boardwalk. I only know they are weeds because they grow in my garden and let me tell you, they don't look beautiful or exotic, they look annoying and pain-in-the-ass-ish.

We were the only ones that braved the pouring rain and cold and there was something very tranquil and refreshing about being there. We left feeling fresh and very alive. And cold.
Which is why Maizey felt the need to take her socks and shoes off in the car. So she could blow on them to warm them up.

(you know... like when you cup your hands and breathe into them to try to warm them up when you forgot your mitts and its minus freaking 20) 

Or maybe she did it because she felt the need to try to bite her toe nail off.

(the second toe nail)

Or maybe she just thinks she has cute feet (which she does of course) and wanted to look at them lovingly

(please mama, paint my toenails pretty like yours)

(She is going to kill me one day for posting these pictures!!!) 

She sure is special.

 p.s what a great day. So fun. I am feeling much more prepared for the chaotic week now. Thank you Mother Nature. I owe you one. I will give it back to you in the form of a perfect fall day please. 

Happy Crazy Week At This House

I am involved in a love hate relationship with busy. Busy days, weeks, agendas... busy anything. I like being busy for the simple reason that I seem to be able to get it all done when I feel busy, I work more efficiently if you will. I also like NON busy time because its so much more funnnn... relaxing, not stressful, etc.
Since I was in Kelowna for the stagette of the year, I have not slowed down. A few hours here, a few hours there, but mostly it has been non-stop. Birthday party business, appointments, returning phone calls and emails and waiting for phone calls and emails constantly, coffee dates, girls night in, inspections ( more to come on that soon), siding, yard work (which for the record very little ended up getting done) and gardening, all while trying to maintain a balance with Maizey and reading and playing and walking and working out and cooking and cleaning (which for the record also very little got done). Add to that a sudden surge of creativity that led to a whole living room re-arrangement just so we could hang our new photos from Jessica. Like we had time for that. Its been crazy. Oh-so-wonderful on one hand and oh-so-freaking-tired on the other. There were some 9:00 bed times in there. Don't judge me.
Our week in just a few photos...
Brian's cousin Dave's wife Heather came over for a visit with their son Ari and there sweet new baby girl Seyja! It was fun! Plus Maizey slept most of the visit so I just got to love on little Seyja all I wanted!

Playing with Corbin. They are so funny together!

We managed to get a ton of work done while Maizey napped for two hours (and yes, that is normal for her! SO GREAT!) But when she got up - it was time for me to call it quits - yayyy! So we sat on the ground and watched Daddy working! heehee

After eating a very juicy and delicious watermelon we filled up the pool so Maizey could play and get clean at the same time! This is how hard core she is - she is FREEZING - note the blueish lips - but still playing the 'show me where your tummy is' game!! FYI: Hypothermia is a real thing. Just saying.

 So in an attempt to prevent the hypothermia Brian cuddled her in a warm towel. Ahhh so much love for them!

Annnndddd... my new favorite of the two of us! I asked Brian to take a picture of us... but before he had the chance (or so I thought) we got distracted... this is what came of that!! Love it!

Most Sundays we go to Brian's parents house for dinner! The whole fam. There can be anywhere from five of us to 10 or 12.  Its sometimes quiet, sometimes crazy and always delicious! After dinner is when it gets the craziest, when bed time is so close we can taste it! So tonight after dinner rather than helping clean up, I chose to help by getting the kids out of the house and out of the way! We checked out the chickens and turkeys. The kids are hilarious around them! They are so brave until the chickens come over to them, then they are scared little wimps! Maizey included.

We also spent some time out at Paola and Marks lake property, but those pictures are on Paolas camera, so for another day!
This week is shaping up to be equally as busy. I will do my best to maintain the balance. The finding time to play in the grass on these beautiful fall days (ack... its SO early this year!) and read a few chapters in my book but still stay on top of all that needs to be maintained - housework included. Who am I kidding... if you stop by and the house is a mess... well, that's just the way it goes.
Happy week friends.