Budski

Immediately following Jaces first birthday he became a grumpy old man.

Dude, one year old is not old. Quit being so cranky.

It was non-stop crying and whining and needing to be held.
The getting up multiple times in the night. The short naps. The picky eating.
It was painful.

Then last week Brian noticed that he had cut a molar. The next day I noticed a second one. Two days later there were two more.

Okayyyy, I felt bad for cursing him for a month straight. Sort of. The real lesson here should be learned by Jace. Just ask for some tylenol, Buddy. 

A month late, I finally took him for his one year check-up.
He weighed in at a whopping 22 pounds.



He is not a seasoned professional at the doctor, like Maizey was. He cried over everything. The measuring tape on his head. The laying on the bed to measure length. Sitting on the scale.
He's so dramatic.



This was as close as he would let her get without crying.

I think we turned a corner. The four molars are pretty much out, he has slept through the night for the last few, he's back on food, ALL food, and he's much, much happier.

I'm happy to have my Budski back, but I still totally hate that bitch, the Tooth Fairy.

Quick Trip To Africa

Maizey woke up this morning with a million questions about Africa.

     So, can we go to Africa?

     Is Africa where all the monkeys live? What about all the Zebras? Efelants? Lion Kings? Simbas friends? 

     Where exactly is Africa? 

     How long is it going to take? 

     No! I don't want to go get Buddy up, I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO AFRICA!!

     Look! Mama! This bag has all the animals of Africa on it. I love it so much!

So we've been talking about Africa for the last hour. She's wondering if it's near Rio. You know, the movie, not the place in Brazil. She doesn't even believe me that Brazil is real. She's wondering if I know Simbas mommy.  She says it takes about 30 minutes to get there by plane and that we just really need to take a zebra ride right away.
When I told her we have to cross the ocean to get there, she was a bit annoyed because apparently, she doesn't really like places by the ocean (wth??!!).

I'm guessing a dream about The Lion King sparked this.

I'm looking into flights asap.
As well as looking for any leopard print and/or anything zebra like. Thats what they call camo in Africa, right?

Fall Is Almost Over. Also; Wahh.

Mom, you have to come see this. If I close the fridge slowly, it goes, like, totally dark in there. 

***** 

I love the fall. I really do.
But I hate the thought of grey, rainy/snowy days that are looming.
Every single second that the sun is out, we are outside. Soaking it up, playing in it, jumping and singing as though we are in the Sound of Music, because I simply cannot stand the idea of winter coming right now. For reals.
The shift has come. The snow line is so freaking low. The wind is cold and no matter how nice and warm I feel in the house, the second I open that door, I need a coat. We need coats. I have to put three coats on and three pairs of shoes and two hats and Maizey has asked for mitts every day. I can't find them. Eff. She suggested she go barefoot today, so after much arguing she went out in shoes with no socks only to return five minutes later for socks and boots ( I say that was a win for me).
The thing that sucks is that I am all yay, fall is here! scarves! boots! leaves changing! yayy! Whyyyy do I get so excited when inevitably winter comes right after? I'm just never ready for it. Yes, I ski a little and yes, I play in the snow. We build snowmen and slides and we go tobogganing and we drink hot chocolate and blah blah blah. I WANT FALL TO LAST LONGER DAMMIT!!!
3 weeks ago we took the kids to the  pumpkin patch tourist trap that has a lot of pumpkins, to take cute pictures.





Ohhhh boy, waking Jace up from his nap was not a good idea. Barely a cute picture was taken because of all the crying, omg the crying. Dude, we are at a pumpkin patch, quit crying. He didn't care.


case and point
 
Anyways, I had fun and so did Maizey. I think Brain did. To be honest , I didn't ask him. Oops. We did take some pictures, Maizey came head to head (through the fence) with a goat, and yep, still scared,




but she did feed them through the giant pully system and she thought that was awesome, which in my opinion means $0.25 well spent.








Jace wandered the pumpkin lined paths and tried to pick a few up, no big deal. Despite the crying, I say success. I'm trying to make this an annual thing, so as if I am going to admit it was a fail, regardless.



It seems like so long ago now. 
Anyways, I forgot where I was going with all of this, and it suddenly feels very rambly.
Winter is coming, which means so is the dark. Will the inside of our house feel like the fridge soon?
I hope not.



Fall, if I could marry you, I would.

Away. Alone.

Brian and I took off last week for two nights. Alone.
It was the first time we have been kid free since we were in Mexico. Almost two years ago.





It was so relaxing. You guys, we ate breakfast for an hour and a half. I drank at least 10 cups of coffee while eating my still hot breakfast. And dinner for two and a half hours, where the only food I cut was mine.







It was so freaking easy. There was comfortable silence, I read a book and a half. I didn't have to remind any one to go pee before leaving, we walked at adult paces every where we went and getting in and out of the truck is so fast when there's only my own seat belt to do up. 





It was time and we were both so ready for a small break.
And then we were ready to come home. It took just over 24 hours and we ready.
I am just so not in the business of leaving my kids.



I know when I need a break, some time off. I know that I am so much more the parent I want to be when I am calm and rested and have had time to myself. I know when I am feeling like that, that I need to leave the kids with Brian, grab a magazine and head to the coffee shop to sit alone for an hour or two. I need some time to clear my head and just re-center myself. It doesn't take a lot and I am back to the best version of myself.





That being said, it was so, so nice to go. To sleep in and laugh and say as many swear words as I wanted, whenever the hell I wanted to. Ahhh, freedom of speech - haven't had that in awhile! It felt f**cking great. Heh.







I was not frantic or worried about leaving the kids. Maybe because it was such a short amount of time, or maybe I am just getting better about it. Or maybe it's because I know they love being with Brians parents and that they were fine. Either way, it was an easy good bye.



 

And a very excited hello. Honestly, all four of us were excited. The last 20 minutes of our drive were so freaking long... we both just wanted to get there and pick them up and hug them. The hello? Better than I could ever have imagined. They both came running and Jaces excited panting... ohhh I wish I had been videoing, because it was hilarious and perfect and was dripping in love and happiness for us.



The rest of the day, no one was out of direct line of sight. There was a lot of hugging and laughing and talking.
We were home and it felt so right.

*all photos in this post taken with my phone. I'm blaming Jace for the lost battery charger for my camera.*

Thanksgiving In Banff

Thanksgiving spent in Banff with (most of) my family (Hi Shane!) in pictures...






Grampa and his  mini-me

 




A whole lot of cousin time. Once the fighting died down, it was some quality time with the girls that Maizey loving refers to as her best friends. 










missing you Caera!!








hello Elk, up close and awesome


three missing from this, plus two more babes on the way

 Thanks Mom (and Pat) for everything, all weekend. It was such a great idea and I am so glad we pulled it off. If there is one thing I really hope for my kids is that they remember these times and moments and trips and they cherish them, like I truly do. We talk about when my Grannie and Grampa took all of us to Banff for the weekend when we were kids, I hope my kids talk about when their Nannie and Grampa took them.
xoxo

Five Years

Five years ago today I woke up in a king size bed next to my little Hummel. The alarm went off, but I was awake long before.
I'm geeettttiinnngg maarrriiieeddd I whispered to Hummel in the dark.
I sipped coffee and Baileys around a full breakfast table with my best friends. We had someone do our hair and makeup, ate sushi and passed another bottle of Baileys around my dads truck, that we were crammed into, on our way to the Bed and Breakfast.



 Pat started the tractor while we threw a green plastic lawn chair on top of a tarp covered hay trailer and piled on, headed for my waiting groom. We arrived to a standing applause.
I don't really remember what was said, but I do remember the feeling.



Thanks for the last five years Brian.
I can't imagine my life without you.
I love you.

October Already

So, um, September came and went, hey? I blinked and it was done.
Which, ok, right? My anniversary is coming. Then my birthday, so yay for October!

I am super behind on everything. Blogging, pictures, laundry, cleaning, my eyebrows.





My garden is still abundant and needs to be dealt with. I went to pull the cauliflower plants that took up prime real estate all summer and produced NOTHING and guess what I found... 2 little toonie sized heads.



Right in time for rain and frost. They've grown to be, like, half a grocery store head size but I'm holding off as long as possible to pick them. Soon though. 







We took a few drives, we went to the train museum, we ate outside as many days as we could, the kids took some last dips in the kiddy pool.





 I try not to answer the question How are you guys? with the lame answer busy because, um, what exactly are we busy doing? I truly don't know, but dude, we are busy. Well, it feels that way anyway.







We had company. My favorite kind of company actually. The home kind. Trudy came for the weekend and I love watching her do the fun things with my kids that she used to do with us.



 Her patience knows no bounds with tiny little hands and scissors and tape. And also, as I watched Trudy scroll through pictures on her blackberry, zooming in to give Maizey a better look and navigating that phone like it was 1983 and she was pushing a tape into the VCR, I realized my senior citizen friend is cooler than any one elses.



Thanks for making cards, blowing bubbles, pulling wagons, knitting Owl blankets, entertaining Maizey, the visit. The flowers and gifts, the laughs and for just making the trip at all. We love YOU a bushel and a peck Trudy.

Well, September is over and despite my previous statement, October is shaping up to be busy. Not the lame kind of busy though, where I don't know why it's busy, no, it's the awesome kind where we are actually busy.







My favorite holiday is also coming.
Happy October in this house.