Happy First Birthday Blog!

One year I have enjoyed the company of my little friend, my blog. I didn't know what to expect when I started it, nor did I know if I even had the drive to actually, you know, write it! Well, it turns out I do!
This little space has been used exactly as it was intended - to document milestones, learn lessons about my self, share stories about being home with my kid and just get things out there, for people to take or not take, like or not like. Thanks to my faithful readers! Looking forward to another year!

Where We Are

Our life seems to be flying by and we barely have a chance to catch up, even though it also seems like we are hardly doing anything other than staying dry in the house and watching our laundry pile get bigger and bigger. Not sure what it is... maybe its the groundhog day-ish-ness that seems to be going on right now with the constant rain. Every day, rain. Its killing me. Is it too much to ask for just one day of sun?? I would gladly take the -30 if it meant I got to see that big burning ball, for real. With staying home so much, comes a lot more time spent just Maizey and I. It's been fun, we read about 40 books a day (or more like the same books over and over until we get to 40), we watch Dora, sing, play, nap, cook (and eat). Its these past few days (weeks?) that I have noticed how grown up my baby is getting. So, before I jump into a 'this is what stage we are in' spiel, I just want to say that I really could not be more thankful that I get the chance to stay home every day with my girl. Its the most amazing luxury to be able to stay home and while, yes I do get breaks and have my own time and its very much needed in order to be this present and happy mom, I do know that I am thrilled to be here and grateful that we are able to do it, financially and otherwise.
SO, with that said, here we are quickly approaching 17 months and while I know I have thought this at every stage, this one is so unbelievably fun and I am loving every thing about it. Could it really get better than this?
The things she learns every day are so surprising that we are sometimes left speechless while laughing.
We read this story called Goodnight Gorilla every day, multiple times, and have for many many months. The last page is two speech bubbles that say "Goodnight Gorilla" and "Zzzzz" . So we say goodnight gorilla and make the snoring sound. A few nights ago I was going to bed and when I went to check on Maizey on my way, she was awake. I asked her if she wanted to come to my bed for a bit, she said yes. When in my bed, she would not lay down, not stop playing, not stop looking for DADDA!!! *who was working*  and showed no sign of going to sleep anytime soon. When I was at the end of my rope I tried ignoring her. A few seconds in, she laid her head down on my pillow. Perfect, I thought. Then the fake snoring started. How am I supposed to ignore her when shes doing that, because let me tell you, my baby fake snoring is so freaking funny.
Her vocabulary is growing by the minute - she will repeat almost anything you ask her to.
She relates words with what they are. We tell her to say Leda-Lou, she says Pupppppy!!
She watches Dora a few times a week (maybe more?!) and has really started listening and paying attention. When Dora says 'Who do we ask for help when we don't know which way to go?" She answers MAP!!
She goes down for a nap with socks on, but always gets up barefoot.
She knows where we're going when we turn off the highway - 'Papa!!! Nana!!!'
Shes asks for what food she wants - 'cheese'  'eerriooosss (cheerios)' 'nanna' 'chips' 'wa-wa (water)'
We find her numerous times a day in the bathroom, getting herself 2 squares of toilet paper and sitting on her potty. No need to pee, just wipe.
I find her in crazy ways when I check on her before I go to bed. One leg out of her sleeper, one arm out, 2 legs out, no diaper on. I would love to be a fly on the wall in her room while shes in bed, supposed to be going to sleep. I just want to know what lead to these scenes.

Shes decided she likes going front-ways down the stairs. And with every stair she goes down she says JUMP with a little hop before plopping down on her butt and going to the next stair.
She also 'jumps' over anything she can, a toy, my foot, the crack between the lino of the kitchen and the laminate of the living room.
She knows who's cell phone is who's.
Anytime one of us sits down at the computer she says 'Nannie' and wants up. She thinks we are always skyping with Grannie.
We are still waiting for her to turn into a snuggler... we are starting to think its a lost cause now. She gives multiple kisses to her stuffed animals and toys, but rarely ever to us. She has always been this way, never big on the cuddling, and hugging, but I still wish!! 
I am just so often left in awe of this whole being a parent thing. I am loving watching her find her way with her friends and watching her little personality grow and form into the person she's going to be. My little passionate, attentive, laugh-loving little girl. Look out 17 months, we don't know what its going to be like, but I am betting its going to be just as fun as the rest!

We Laugh At Things Like This

We ordered sushi last night for supper, since we all love it.

Maizey loves the tofu in the Miso Soup the best. Brian was giving her some spoonfuls of the broth...we thought it was hilarious!! (You might have to turn up the sound to get the full effect!)

My Love

A little mini-me. She has my attitude, hair, nose and fantastic sense of humor, obviously.
I pick a hair off my pants, she does too.
I say 'Oh Maizeyyyy'
She says 'Oh mamaaaaa'
This little girl, she gets me every time, with her laughs and yells and smiles and screams.

Mama loves you very very much Maizey Rae. Thank you for being you.

A Coffee And A Ski

Skiing made me tired. But you know what I do when I'm tired? I quit being tired, and be awesome instead. (totally stolen from How I Met Your Mother)
So that's what I am trying to do, but to be honest, I am really exhausted... so forgive me now if this post totally sucks.
We skied today, four of us girls and it was SO much fun! I feel like a blue bird day on top of these incredible mountains while hanging out with your friends and knowing that there is nice frosty beer waiting for you at the end of the day is pretty much the epitome of totally freaking awesome. Because for real, today was totally freaking awesome. When I cut my last ski pass off my jacket this morning, I looked at the date on it. January 28, 2008. What the eff?? I really haven't skied in almost three years? Well that explains the burning quads and throbbing arms right now. It's totally worth it though.

I want to go every day!!
I was a little worried about you know, falling and stuff. Its been three years for the love of god. I thought for sure that I had totally forgotten what to do. I didn't forget, but it did take a minute or two to get back in to the groove. Get my shoulders pointing the right way and remembering to actually use my poles instead of just carrying them around for fun. Actually point my skis down. I know that sounds silly, but sometimes I have a hard time telling myself to do it. I have to have a little argument in my head first "well how do you think you're going to get down if you won't point your skis down and actually make yourself gooo???" 
Fineeeee. I always get there, even though sometimes its not that easy. But the reward is always there, at the end, when I make it down without a broken leg or something and we all laugh and talk about this totally epic day we are having. Just knowing that I can do this, that I have the ability, the desire and the *ahem* skills to do it is a little reward in itself.

 plus, this view isn't so bad! Although, the really cold wind at the top made it hard to take a second to enjoy the view, I did have the nerve to take off my mitts to get this picture. It was worth it.

 I think its safe to say that we will be going again, right friends??

We were bid a sweet farewell. Its hard to say no to something this beautiful.

::::

On the same but kind of different note, we have been enjoying the hell out of this winter. We have been walking a LOT, I am keeping my eye on kijiji and Craigs List for snowshoes and we've been drinking hot chocolate. Yum. Maizey had it for the first time when we decorated the Christmas tree (whenever that was... it feels so long ago now) and loved it. She had it again yesterday and all she could say was 'mmmmm' and 'yep, yep, yep' while nodding and pointing to her cup. I guess she thought she should have more.

Since I got a fancy dancy Espresso Machine for Christmas (did I mention that I got a fancy dancy espresso machine for Christmas? I feel like maybe I haven't) I have been you tubing the hell out of how to make latte art. Like those fun little hearts and leaves and if you're really lucky, maybe an elephant or something. It's not nearly as easy as they make it look in all those videos for the record. When I am lucky enough to get a coffee that has a nice little picture on it, it totally (I mean totttttaaaalllllyyy) makes my day. Yesterday, I made myself a coffee when I made Maizey hot chocolate and guess what? I totally made MY OWN day!!

I am tired now, for real. So friends, what is making your day these days?
Hoping its delicious (and nice looking) coffee and skiing. If it is, lets share stories. If it isn't, that's ok, lets share stories anyways.

Snow Day

I started this post last night but about 2 minutes in, Brian opened a bag of my favorite chips (Ruffles Hot Wings) and turned on my new favorite show (How I Met Your Mother), so I quit this to do that.
But guess what? Its still snowing, so now its more like Snow FOR Days.
Yesterday afternoon Brians mom called to tell me that we had been issued a Snowfall Warning. We get a shit-ton of snow, yes, but it always seems alarming when they feel the need to warn us. We are always expecting it, so how bad can it be if we need to be warned? Well, so far its been 36cm's bad. I know people exaggerate when it comes to snowfall... it may feel like 3 feet, but its not. Its just over one foot. Anyways, it's a lot. I always like the big dumps at this time of year, January, the beginning of our loooong winters. Come March I won't be so thrilled to see it, as us in these parts like to call it, puking out.
Stacey and I walked yesterday afternoon for our daily dose of exercise. Walking in the snow is hard, what with the slippery-ness and the muscles always clenched ready to stop your feet from coming out from underneath you without any notice.

We walked and talked and enjoyed the snow. We discussed the reasons why sometimes we remember places and people and things differently than the way they really are. I use to think that the hills in Turner Valley were huge, but in comparison to here, they are tiny. But not in comparison, they really are big. So why do I feel the need to compare?

We stopped and made snow angels. Actually, I was the only one that laid in the snow... not surprising.

The crazy way the wet snow was landing on and sticking to Stacey's eyelashes. 

This morning she came over again, we shoveled a small path out to the street, put Maizey in the backpack and trudged our way to Angs for a snow shoveling party. I mostly just wanted a coffee and baileys from her, but first I had to work. There ended up being four of us and the two kids. A lot of snow can be shoveled in a short amount of time with 3 shovels going and a sled puller for the wee ones!  We got a good workout out from the shoveling and Jade got a good workout from the sprint training while pulling a 25lb-ish sled behind her. Plus, Angs driveway is clean, so bonus!

I know it looks like she is trying to make out with the branch, but shes not! She just likes to eat snow.

Both Maizey and I came home exhausted. The fresh air combined with the laughing and shoveling and the great friends all leave me happy tonight. For some this much snow results in a state of emergency. For us it results in neighbors lending a helping hand with a snow blower, a good walk to enjoy the snow and help a friend out, and a whole lot of happy skiers and sledders.
Its starting to snow again.

Happy New Year

I'm not so big on 'resolutions', unless the possibilities of the 'resolution' are endless. Like I swear to never have a quit smoking 'resolution', not only because I don't smoke, but also because there are only two outcomes of that - either I quit or I don't. Black or White. And since I like to think of myself as more of an inbetweener, I don't want the answer to either be yes or no, do or don't. I want to know that even if I don't succeed at the proposed 'resolution' I at least found some other benefit from it.
I also don't like telling my version of 'resolutions' because sometimes I just don't want to hear other people tell me that I am not doing right. When it's my idea of a 'resolution', I decide when I am doing it right, not my trying-to-be-helpful and meaning well friends. That doesn't mean I don't want opinions, but sometimes I just want to be the only one that decides when things are done properly. When I was in college, I lived up the hill from campus, so it was pretty far away, but I found out that my friend that lived just down the street from me walked to school every day. I decided to walk with her one day, and realized it was great and I loved it and I decided I would too start walking. I walked every single day for months. One day I slept in and knew I wouldn't make it in time if I walked, so I drove. When I got to class not rosy cheeked or dressed exceptionally warm a classmate asked if I had driven. When I replied yes, he told me I cheated, like I had to walk every day with out fail or else I wouldn't graduate. I was pissed. The worst part was that, just to make a point, I drove every day for the rest of the week after that. Which made me even more pissed. It was a vicious cycle and I decided he was stupid and if I wanted to walk, I should and if I didn't want to or didn't have time, then I didn't have to. End of story. And that wasn't even a 'resolution' that I had made, it was just a decision I made based on the fact that I like the fresh air and I didn't want to pay the one dollar a day for parking. But I knew then that its not always a good idea to mention exactly what you are doing, because sometimes people (meaning to or not) make you feel crappy when you don't do exactly what you had intended to.
With that being said, I have decided I am not going to make any 'resolutions' this year. I am just going to live my life with an intention. To be happy, content, satisfied, loved, aware, awake, oozing all that is good about our life. To do what we want, when we want. To worry less about things that are out of our control. To relish in the days when we are tired and lay around on the couch in our p.j's. The possibilities are endless, therefore as long as I am happy with what I am doing then I am living according to my 'resolution'. Yes I feel the need to put quotations around 'resolution' . In the end, I think if you live everyday with the only intention being to be happy, if at the end of the day you've done that, then you have succeeded. I want to know by how my happy-meter is rating whether I have succeeded or not. I have always tried to live somewhat this way, but in getting older, more things to worry about have come up. And more crappy people have walked through my life. And I have seen sadness and weakness and despair that I didn't use to know was there. It's all part of the process I suppose, so now I need to get to a point where I accept all that life has to offer and STILL live with being happy as my main goal.
My amazing little family has certainly made this goal much easier. I am constantly reminded of the pure joy that comes with having a baby. Toddler. Shes quickly becoming a toddler. She makes me laugh to no end, lots of times when I know I shouldn't. She is such a free spirited little soul who knows what she wants. She finds endless joy in reading the same books over and over, "talking on the phone", taking our hand and leading us to things she wants to show us and singing and dancing. Besides the tiny little beast she can become when either tired or teething, she is just really fun to be around.
Then there is my husband. My rock that shows me how to throw the worry I seem to carry around with me, away. We are so completely different, I use to sometimes be shocked at us even getting along. But we do, we can laugh at each other, or rather with each other, we can fight about whether the magic bullet will actually grind coffee or not, and then enjoy a nice latte together moments later. We work. And that's perfect for me.
Together we all add up to a family with the same idea. Find the happiness and live it. Every. Single. Day.
So here's to 2011.
Happy New Year Family and Friends.