Last day of 2005

I can not believe today is the end of 2005!! Didn't this year just begin?? Time is going by way too fast these days, in a blink I'm going to have teenagers, then they'll be gone to university! Scary thought!
I am not a fan of resolutions for new year's. I have never been good about keeping them, then I feel guilty about it later. Not this year, I don't want the guilt! I'm going to make goals this year instead. Goals are something to work towards, as opposed to being all out drastic rules that will likely get broken in the first week.
1. I am going to continue with Weight Watchers and am going to finish loosing all the weight I have put on over the past 10 years. My goal is to be within 150-160 pound range... I don't honestly even care how long it takes to get it off, but I'm not quitting this time!! I'm currently down 23 pounds.. have totally fallen off the wagon over the Christmas holiday season(ok the entire month of December has been a write off!) but I was happy that I only gained .8 of a pound... I'm right back at it now though! Nothing tastes as good as thin feels! lol I would love to be in a size 10/12, I think I would be very comfortable there.
2. I am going to declutter my house. It is too small for all the stuff we have. I know I am very emotionally attached to "things", especially gifts. I need to free myself of this, for my sanity's sake. Every day I hope to go through things and be ruthless and get rid of stuff. Either on freecyle or to the local charity box, or even the garbage as I'm sure some of the stuff I need to get rid of no one woudl want!
3. Get painting! I strongly dislike most of the colours in our house, I also dislike painting... but my goal is to get one area done a month... hopefully that will help us to end up with a freshly painted house by this time next year!
4. Explore other options of employment, especially doing photography with Julie. I love being at home with my kids, and the thought of going back to work next July makes me so sad. Julie has said in passing before about me working for her evenings and weekends... I am going to see if she is serious and if it could work!
5. Continue to exercise. Before the snow hit I was walking at least 5 times a week, and enjoying it no less!! I'm planning on starting "diaperfit"(water aerobics, but you bring your baby with you and they float around while the moms exercise) next week. I love being in the pool, and exercising in it doesn't hurt my knee, so it's the perfect place for me! Let's hope Ian enjoys it too!
6. Stop feeling sorry for myself about being alone so much. It's my own fault that I don't reach out to people. So I am going to make an effort to invite friends over for dinners, try to find people to have playdates with, other moms to just hang out with during the day. I have felt really isolated since being at home. All of my current friends work or live too far away to get together... I probably spend too much time online as well.

I think this is a good start!

a little after the fact...

but better late than never. I'm just about to take down the Christmas tree and decorations and was thinking that I didn't get very many photos of Ian this Christmas... his first no less!! And was feeling a little mopey about it. So Chris says, "let's stuff him in a stocking" and this is what we got! Poor boy is going to be traumatized for life! lol

2005 in Review

Just found this on another blog and thought I would add it to mine(please feel free to do the same!) I have altered the questions to fit with Canadian holidays...

2005 In Review
JANUARY
1. Did you have a new year's resolution this year? yes, to not gain an astronomical amount of weight with my pregnancy, and I didn't!
2. Who kissed you at midnight? Christopher, think we ordered in Chinese food, and had fun with the Verriers and the Scraptivity new year's eve online challenges! (well Heather & I did, the guys were watching a movie I think)
3. Did it snow where you live? Probably??!! I can't remember. We had a lot of snow last winter
4. Have you ever been to Times Square to watch the ball drop? nope
5. Big January Events: My pregnancy was confirmed!!

FEBRUARY
1. Who was your valentine? Chris & Brianna
2. What did your valentine get you? scrapbooking goodies! he is the best!
3. When you were little, did you buy valentines for your whole class? Yes I remember getting class lists to make sure that we gave one to each kid in the class. And we made little boxes to hold them all. I loved that day!! (probably explains my continued obsession with stalking the letter carrier! lol)

MARCH
1. Are you Irish? yes part Irish... the good part!
2. Did you wear green on St. Patty's Day? Of course. Working in Long term care, we go big with every "holiday". The oldies lvoe it and we have fun with it too! We served green everything that day!
3. What did you do for St. Patty's Day? I was working... didn't go out.
4. Big March Events: Easter fell in March this year which was kind of strange, especially with organizing events at work. Brianna got to do her Easter egg hunt in the snow this year at the Montessori school where we go. That was different!

APRIL
1. Do you like the rain? Yes I love the rain, as long as I don't have to go out in it!
2. Did you play an April Fool's joke on anyone this year? sadly no... but I have an idea already for next year
3. Big April Events: we did our own taxes for the first time ever! lol my dad is a CA, CMA and was retiring this year. He has ALWAYS done my taxes but thought we should figure it out before he retired!

MAY
1. What's your favorite kind of flower? I love almost all flowers, spring flowers are lovely though, tulips, crocus', daffodils! love the all!
2. Do you like the spring? So absolutely love the spring! The renewal and coming back to life of all the plants and the SNOW melting... who doesn't love the spring?
3. Finish the phrase: "April showers bring..." Jamie's birthday lol Heather's dh's birthday is on May the 1st. He said that phrase once to me and I havn't forgotten it!
What would you think of as a spring color? green
4. Big May Events: We drove to Ottawa in our new car to visit my brother and his family. The portable dvd player made that long drive sooooo much nicer!

JUNE
1. What year did you graduate from school? High school – 1992; University 1999(took the extended plan, should have been done in 1996)
2. Did you go on any vacations last June? Nope
3. Big June Events: Just me... I was big as a house and it was hotter than normal for June!

JULY
1. What did you do on the 1st of July? Sadly I don't think we did anything. Just tried to keep cool inside!
2. Did you go on any vacations during this month? We went to the 6flags amusement park in Darien Lake NY. That was entertaining as I was 8.5 months pregnant!! And it was upwards of 40 degrees Celcius!

AUGUST
1. Did you do anything special to end off your summer? We had Ian on August the 9th! I escaped the hospital 2 days later(not bad for having a csection) and Chris took 2 weeks vacation time to help us adjust to our new family of four. None of us(except Brianna) got any sleep! But were so happy to have our little boy in our arms
2. What was your favorite summer memory of '05? Having Ian
3. Did you go swimming a lot in the summer? Yes every chance I got! It was the hottest summer on record and I was so uncomfortable being so heavily pregnant. I even went and sat in Brianna's kiddy pool in our backyard to get soem relief(I have photo evidence of this too!)
4. Did you go to the beach a lot? No, unfortunately the beaches around here aren't very clean.

SEPTEMBER
1. Did you attend school/college in '05? took a course via my work.
2. Who is/was your favorite teacher? n/a
3. Did you like fall better than summer? I lvoe going for walks in the fall, I love the fall flowers. I love being able to keep the windows open at night time.


OCTOBER
1. Whose house did you go to for Thanksgiving? My parents house. My brothers and their family's joined us too
2. Do you like stuffing? love it!
3. What are you thankful for? I am thankful for my family, my wonderful husband who spoils me rotten!, for having a year off of maternity leave to stay home and enjoy my kids. So many things to be thankful for

NOVEMBER
1. Did you start Christmas Shopping? yes! I hate the malls in December!
2. Did you participate in any remembrance day events? Not officially, but I was walking into a Michaels store at 11:00am on the 11th and the store stopped as the trumpet played over the speakers. I was very impressed that people just instinctively knew what to do and that we all just stopped in our tracks, put our heads down and quietly looked at each other.
3. Major November events? Brianna turned 4 years old! We had her first official birthday party at a nearby indoor playground with 12 kids! It was so much fun! Not sure who had more fun the parents or the kids!(the adults were allowed to climb the equipment too!)

DECEMBER
1. Do you celebrate Christmas? Yes
2. Have you ever been kissed under mistletoe? Yes, my parents hang it in their house every year!
3. Do you like cold weather? not a big fan of it, but love staying in and getting snuggly & cozy warm. Flannelette is my friend!
4. How would you rate your year on a scale of 1-10? This was a great year, although it's been so hard with Ian's colic and me not getting enough sleep. I know this is such a short phase of his life, and I will sleep all through the night again soon. So I'd still have to give this year a 10
5. Big December Events: We had a lot of Christmas parties to attend, and the kids did great with the ones they came to as well. Christmas was wonderful. The weather has been so mild. Can't complain really!

And so that was Christmas!

Now I know what it's a good thing Christmas only comes around once a year!!! It was wonderful, but exhausting! We spend Christmas eve here at our house and enjoyed a chocolate fondue! yummo! Too bad Brianna wasn't much into it. Chris & I enjoyed it though. It's been a tradition in my family for years to have 3 fondues(cheese, meat and chocolate)... I thought just doing the chocolate one would be fun.
We spent Christmas morning here at home. So nice to see the joy and excitement on Brianna's face! Wow if I could compare the look on her face to a word... pure bliss!!! so cute! I can't imagine Christmas now without children! Santa was very good to her. He brought her an art activity desk with crayons, markers, paint and pencil crayons!! This is all the girl does, and now finally my kitchen table can be free of the colouring books! hooray!
Ian's gifts were a little more modest, but we made up for it with a deposit into his Education fund. The kid has more clothes than he could wear and toys coming out the wazoo... so boring and practical me thought this was a good alternative. I know we'll get plenty of years to spoil him later! He liked the name train though

I did very well too, lots of neato scrapbooking stuff from my hubby, including that fandabbidozzie Designing with calendar for 2006! Can't wait to get using it! My parents gave me 2 new duck feather pillows... my head has never been so happy! And flannelette sheets! (I have wanted these forever, but didn't want to splurge on my sleepign comfort). Now if only the boy would sleep I will be the most comfy girl around! My next concern is, if I wear flanelette pj's(and I do), and I sleep on Flanelette sheets(I hope to soon), will I be able to get up? Or will I stick??

Christmas afternoon we spent with my parents, my middle brother, his gf and his 2 girls
here are our kids with my 2 neices(we have one more but she wasn't here yet) . And we returned to my parents house on boxing day for more family fun, and my oldest brother and his family joined us. It's now over and I am back on the bandwagon of Weight watchers... definitely fell off over the holidays! No time like the present to get back on however!

Hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday with their families!

Christmas Eve Day

Just wanting to wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas! It's so luxurious to be still sitting here in my pj's at 11:00 in the morning! Don't get to do that very often.
Have a nice relaxing day planned. Was hoping to go sledding later, but the rain has put a damper on the snow... so that may not work out. I'd like to bake some cookies later wtih Bree for Santa... but I just realized I don't have any butter. Not sure if I feel like braving the grocery store.

Time's up Ian's needing attention!
Merry Christmas everyone!

I'm thankful

for so many things. It's so easy to take for granted the things that we have that make our lives more comfortable. Earlier in the week I posted on our local freecycle site(love that place, great to get rid of things no longer needed but that still have some use in them maybe to someone else!) that we wanted to get rid of our old 10 gallon fish tank and the blue gourami that is currently swimming in it. We've set up a 60 gallon one in the basement and is a non aggressive tank so the blue gourami can't join the gang. We got inundated with requests for the tank. Some just said they wanted it and give them a call, others shared a reason why they wanted it. I always give preference to the people who share a reason with me. Hopefully they're legit, even if they're not, if it's a good story I'll give them the item. Well I couldnt' decide. So I got Chris to read the requests with me and one stood out from teh rest. She had said she wanted the tank to give to her fiances children. Chris admired her desire to welcome in his children with a gift so I emailed her and told her she could come and pick it up at her convenience. She said she would come the next day, and would be here when the bus dropped her off. She was coming from Hamilton. I emailed her back to confirm that she understood a 10 gallon fish tank, plus gravel, heater, filter and a baggy with a fish in it, was not going to be an easy thing to transport on a bus, especially a long ride like that back to Hamilton. She replied saying she understood adn it didn't matter, as this would be so important for his kids. She went on to explain that his three children(2 boys and a girl ages 9 through 12) were out in BC and had jsut been removed from their excuse of a mother by child services and were being held in foster care until the dad could get through the red tape to get them brought to Ontario. She was devastated that they would be spending Christmas in foster care, but they couldnt' do anything about it. But when they came, they would be coming with literally the clothes on their backs and not much more.
My heart just sunk in my chest, those poor kids. This poor lady, I couldn't envision her hauling that heavy tank on a 2 hour bus ride! So I talked with Chris and we agreed we'd like to help her out. SO we're goign to bring it in to her tomorrow, and I asked if we could donate some other small things to help out too. We have a hamster cage and all the odds and ends that go with it(we had a hamster when we first got married lol don't ask!), Chris is also an avid Star wars buff and has lots of books, puzzles, models etc that he doesn't need. So we're going through our things to see what her kids may need or like and we're gonig to drop it all off tomorrow. With all the stress of the holiday season, my heart finally feels good. This is what it is all about... to give! Not tooting my own horn here, my goodness this is the least we could do. But man does it ever bring back into perspective how much we have!! I have to remember how incredibly blessed I am to have a warm house, food in the cupboards and a loving husband. I am so blessed to be able to stay at home with my kids this year and try to be the best mom I can be. I hope others remember the reason for the season this year and can reach out to a family in need.

four more sleeps!

I wish people weren't so grumpy this time of year. I have managed to escape most malls and shopping outlets for the past 2 weeks because everyone is just so miserable!! Sadly I need to get some groceries for the weekend and Ian wasn't up for the trip today, so I'm going to brave it tonight! Thinking of doing it around 8:30 hopefully most people will have already gone home by then. Man that's such a bah humbug thing to say! I don't want a few grumpy people to get me down!
I'm still working on my mom's present too, nothing like leaving it to the last minute! I'm making her an address book... from scratch! Couldn't find one I liked to alter, so I made up the pages in Excel and printed them out. Was going to use the spine from the November Scraptivity kit, but figured with the number of pages I will need to have punched I think it will be easier on my hand to take it to business depot and have them bind it. Eeek that means another trip out before SUnday! I need to get my behind in gear!

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

Was just reading HeatherM's blog and saw she had a slow cooker recipe on it, and I thought it was a great idea to share sucessful recipes on here. I just made this last night and it turned out alright

Boneless Chuck Roast(I used a package of browned extra lean ground beef because that was all I had)
2 Cans of Cream of mushroom soup(plus 2 cans of water)
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1 can beef broth
2 cans mushrooms
egg noodles
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp garlic salt
salt & peper to taste

Place roast in the crockpot adding all of the soups and water Add seasonings. Cook for 5 hours on high. Check for doneness, shred up the meat. Add some water if needed. When you are ready for dinner cook the noodles as directed on package and add to the crockpot. Add sour cream and serve.

I used ground beef(cooked it first then added it in). I also added half a bag of frozen veggies since I'm trying to eat more of those. Made lots too!

What kind of super hero am I?

This is too funny! Spidey is dh's favourite super hero! Can't wait to see what he gets!

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 50% Green Lantern 50% Robin 43% Superman 40% Hulk 40% Catwoman 40% Batman 35% Wonder Woman 35% Iron Man 35% Supergirl 25% The Flash 25%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

Midnight Madness!

I need to remember how little I like to be awake beyond Midnight these days... Last night I went to a scrapbook store on the Hamilton Mountain for their midnight madness event(everything in the store was on for 40% off between 11-12pm)... so what did I do? I had a nap from 8:45pm until 10:00 and set the alarm to get up and go!! How insane is that?
I am a scrap o holic(or at least I collect/hoard scrapping stuff) and I have a problem! I had to go get a coffee because my body did not want to be awake at that time! Drove to Hamilton and when I got there it was FULL of other insane scrapbookers! Chris and I both got some "mad" money to blow out of his Christmas bonus and so this was where I was spending mine. OH my goodness I got so much fun and neat stuff! and despite the fact that I was in the lineup to check out by 11:30 I was in the line for an hour! They have one cash register and A LOT of people in line a head of me. It was insane! But met some really nice people who agreed the fact that we were all there and in line was nuts but definitely we needed the items we were purchasing! I didn't get home and in bed until 1:00am! And then of course I was so wired I couldn't fall asleep! I was too excited about all the neat stuff I just got. I don't think, I know I have a problem! lol Then of course Ian was up at 2:30am but after feeding him I was able to fall right back to sleep. He was a good boy and let me sleep until 5:30, and Chris got up with them both at 6. I just pulled it all out and showed him all the neat stuff I got, and he was pleased! Man do I ever have the best husband!? He totally supports my habit/addiction and encourages me!
Gosh I love him so much! Now to have a couple more cups of coffee, and clean off my scrapping table to start playing wtih my new stuff! :)

9 days and counting!

Christmas is in the air, and everywhere you look! I absolutely love this time of the year. Me being the softy that I am, everything Christmasy gives me the warm fuzzies! I have Christmas Carols being played constantly on the computer(little drummer boy being my all time favourite!), we have just recently be dumped with half a foot of snow, Chris & I have done most of our present wrapping so the tree is brimming with gifts and Brianna's eyes are about to bulge out of her head from excitement! Christmas is all about the kids! I never really got that before, until I had them! We have 4 stockings hanging off our hutch(since we don't have a fireplace) and Brianna calls them " the 4 socks" I love it! I just love it! I think I'm going to have to scrap that! I'm so afraid of forgetting some of these funny things that she says. Last week when we were at the doctor, he wanted her to stick out her tongue and say 'ah', and she asked him while he was doing it, if he could see her beautiful heart? He smiled at her and said yes he could, and it looked great! Can't forget that stuff!
Last night was Bree's school Christmas Concert. Chris went since we both couldn't(I had seen the dress rehearsal earlier in the week). He snapped this cute photo(it's a bit grainy because of the dark). Our little moppet, looking for daddy!

Rolling rolling rolling

Well our little man did his first roll over from tummy to back yesterday and I didn't even see!! Chris didn't either!! The only reason why I know he did, was because we put him to sleep on his tummy(yes I know we're not supposed to, but he will not sleep on his back!) and when I went to check on him before I went to sleep he was on his back! Of course I couldn't get him to do it again today no matter what.

OH and here is our lamo Santa photo. I was kind of ticked because they wouldn't re take it, even though Ian wasn't looking! Brianna looks cute in it though. ahhhh well.

50 end of the year questions

Just found this list at http://www.misstonigifts.net/articles/article/1309632/20037.htm and thought it would be fun to complete.

What are your resolutions/good intentions for the New Year?
To continue to loose weight. I am going to do it for real this time! I have made excuses for so long. I don't even care how long it takes, but I am not going to settle this time.

What happened in your life that you never expected to happen?
To be so happy staying at home with my kids

What is one thing you did that you have never done before?
Wandered around 6 flags 8.5 months pregnant!

What were your biggest achievements?
I'd say my weight loss so far. I've never made it this far on a "real" diet.

What were your biggest challenges?
Getting(& staying) pregnant with Ian

What is your biggest regret?
sometimes I wish I could keep my mouth shut. I've said things I wish I could take back.

When were you happiest?
I'm pretty happy right now.

Who was your best friend?
Other than Chris, Gayle is and always will be my bgf.

Who surprised you this year? In what way?
Brianna. She is blossoming every day more and more into a little girl. She is loving school so much, and is changing so much. I am so proud of her! She is such a blessing in my life!

Who did you admire most this year?
My mom. She has been working her tail off to get better after her accident. She gets physio 2x a week, goes to the gym 3x a week. This is a lot for a lady who's never been physically active!

Who were you in love with?
madly, truly & deeply with Christopher

What was the most important lesson you learned?
learned and still learning... patience with my children

What was your favorite TV show?
Toss up between Lost & Prison Break

What was your favorite film?
Sadly, I havn't gone to see a movie this year, but want to see the Chronicles of Narnia!

What was your favorite book?
Healthy sleep habits, happy child. I have learned a lot from this book!

What was your favorite food?
Jalepeno anything! especially the cheddar and jalepeno doritos!

What was your favorite song?
ummm not sure I had one. Love the new Casting Crowns CD

What were your favorite phrases?
you're so funny!

What did you do for your Birthday?
had a lovely dinner with my family

Which was your favorite Holiday?
Always is Christmas

What was the best gift you gave?
ummm birth?? lol

What was the best gift you received?
My scraptivity subscription! (my dh is still dh of the year for that one!)

What did someone say to you that surprised you?
That I looked skinny. lol I've never been skinny a day in my life!

What was your hobby?
Scrap o holic through and through!

What new discoveries did you make?
Eating Healthy foods doesn't have to mean boring foods!

What was your guilty pleasure for the year?
still too into reality tv with Julie on Thursday nights

What did you do on an average day?
Worked up until August, looked after my family after August

What was your fashion like?
pretty casual. I wore capri's every day last summer! Now more into jeans and fleece.

What was your career/job like?
Loved my career, and my current career change!

Did you make more/less/same amount than the previous year?
was making more than I ever had before. Now making less than I ever have before! and happier then ever!

What new skills did you learn this year?
Becoming more knowledgable in spanish(Thanks to Brianna & Dora!) and photoshop

What do you think was your most valuable contribution?
Time spent with the palliative sisters at my work.

What lesson(s) did you learn about yourself?
I am too stubborn.

What were the most significant events of the past year?
Having Ian

What were you afraid of?
a vbac going wrong, happy the scheduled c section worked out so well!

What was your most memorable journey?
having such a good pregnancy

Which did you do more of? Smile or cry?
Definitely cry, because I also cry when I'm tired, and happy as well as when I'm sad. I am a sap!

Did you make any new friends?
Yes, lots of new online pals! Great group of ladies who share my hobby!

Did you lose any old friends?
Have lost touch with some sadly.

Did you have any births/deaths in your family?
Thankfully no deaths, and just the birth of my little man!

Did you fall in love/out of love?
Remaining madly in love iwth my hubby!

What is your newest tech item?
my new computer in the basement! woohoo!

What was your most extravagant purchase?
My car.

What should you have done more of?
pray

What should you have done less of?
worry

What made the biggest difference in your life?
Chris' constant support and understanding, even when I am not making any sense!

What gave you joy?
My family, my brother being happy again in a new relationship.

What made you sad?
not good to dwell on the sad stuff.

What is your motto for the year?
Stop procrastinating
Scrap more because it makes me happy
spend more time with my family, they're only going to be young once!
Go out with my hubby regularily on dates, to keep the flame alive!
Be more spontaneous!

Antuanette Wheeler

presents!

At this time of the year it's hard to think of anything else. What to give all the special people in your life. People asking you what you would like to recieve. It always seems so overwelming, daunting and stressful. I don't think it's supposed to be like this! Chris and I have decided to implement a 3 gift rule this year, everyone gets only 3 gifts(like the original Christmas). We really want to teach our kids that there is more than recieving gifts at this special time of the year. I want them to reach out to people in need. There are so many people out there who don't have half of what we do.
I remember one Christmas when I was 16, my parents volunteered their time and mine to serve dinner at the Salvation Army in downtown Hamilton. I was so full of myself, such a selfish teenager. My goodness I was in such a snit, thinking how unpleasant this was going to be to have to spend those hours with those "homeless" people. It ended up being such a moving and eye opening experience. I was so humbled. I'll never forget the gratitude I saw in those people's eyes as I scooped out their mashed potatoes. Who knows the next time they would have another hot meal. Their exteriors may have needed a wash, but you could feel the warmth in their hearts as they smiled at you. And they all stopped to say thankyou, thank you for doing this on Christmas day. I so needed that to get my head out of my own behind and think about the true meaning of Christmas. It's a celebration of Christ's birth, a time to give. Family. Love. I never want my kids to take for granted the luxury of a warm bed to sleep in, and food in the cupboards like I did. I think this afternoon when Bree comes home, I'm going to take her with money from the piggy bank and give it to one of the salvation army kettles. I know at 4 years old she likely won't get it. But you have to start somewhere right?

Ian's dedication day

And he was the model baby! Such a good little fella. It was a really nice service and my brother, his kids and gf came too! Very cool! My mom and dad both had wonderful things to say, which I can't remember, so thankfully they have them all typed out. The photos that I got someone to take kind of stink(too dark) but here is one that is a little over exposed but better than nothing.
Just looking at the photo now, didn't realize how much that blouse looks like a drape... lol

weight watcher success

Apparently my home scale and the WW scale do not match up, because today I finally reached my first goal, loosing 10% of my body weight! I got a fancy keychain in the shape of a 10. I am so blown away that I actually have had success this time around! And it hasn't been that painful either, shockingly enough! I have made an effort to get out and get walking more often, and am cooking much much better, drinking more water, smaller portions etc. And now I'm down 10% Praise God this is so exciting! I've found that when I have a goal I have a much better chance at being successful so I"m going to aim for another 10 % loss. It's an achievable number, as opposed to the big picture. I am so hoping to be in better shape by the time the nice weather rolls around. I want to be a yummy mummy!!! It's so empowering too, I have tried to loose weight for the past 10 years and have lost a bit here and there, but never this much, and this healthily(is that even a word?) Let's do a photo comparison to see the difference so far...
The first photo is 3 days after I had Ian, and was at my heaviest non pregnant weight(I joined WW in September so I lost a bunch on my own before joining) and the second oh so lovely(note the sarcasm here) photo I did a self portrait in the mirror... I hate having my photo taken, but wow I can actually notice a difference!! Here is to hoping the rest comes off as well!

altering 101

Ok so I'm not quite at the level to be providing education on the fine art of altering items, but man am I getting right into it! I had been intimidated by it for so long, and finally have jumped in and tried it. And then taken apart the disaster and tried it again! Last night I tried altering a notebook, the first one... must admit, not so good... ok it was a horrible mess. My process was all off. But I learned, took it apart and tried it again, much better! Much smoother and this I could actually give to someone. In fact I think I may include it with a basket of treats and give it to Brianna's teacher for Christmas! I'm hoping to get a nice sized address book and give it to my mom with her other present. I can totally see how this can become addictive! Lol
Here is a pic of the one I made last night opened up. I used some Kelly Panacci pp that chris gave me I think for our anniversary. Very simple, but sometimes simple is good! Can't wait to try an altered canvas!!

needles, teeth and food oh my!

Ok I woke up this morning with the boy around 3 am, and he just wouldn't settle. I had a meltdown, I suppose out of my options crying is probably the least harmful. I am a wreck wtihout sleep, at least until I get a cup or pot of coffee into me!!
Both kids had dr's checkups today. Brianna's was her 4 year check up and needle, and Ian's was his 4 month check up and needle. And I thought I was so clever to book them both at the same time to "save a trip" . What was I thinking???

It ended up being not so bad after all. My kids have skin of steel or something because neither of them cried for the needles. Brianna was tipping the scale at an amazing 38 pounds and was 3'5" tall. Ian was 15lb 4oz, and 26.5" long. So yay my kids are growing, that must mean I'm doing something right right? I again mentioned to the dr how Ian isn't a big fan of sleeping and is there anything more we can do? Food I hope and pray is the answer... according to the lactation consultant you're not supposed to start solids(as solid as runny cereal is) until 6 months now... but I'm not sure if that takes into consideration the ravenous 15 pound 4 month old baby. Soooo I'm taking Dr. K's advice and on with the cereal!! He didn't seem to hate it too badly, it all pretty much came back out on the bib, but I'm hoping at least some of it may have been swallowed, we shall see tonight!!! He was pretty excited when I was feeding him, so that's a good start!
OH and yes the second tooth is finally through!! Hooray! I hope the rest can hold off a month or two until he learns how to sleep... I can't handle any more yet!

On with the lights!

OH yes Christmas has hit the Miller house in a big way. Yesterday we dug out the Christmas tree. It couldn't have been buried under any more stuff. It was absolutely at the back of the under the stair storage in the basement... so out came EVERYTHING that I'm holding on to. Golf clubs...when with 2 children am I ever going to golf again? Luggage, when am I ever going to be able afford to travel again? a HUGE tote of baby toys... does he really need that many? What was I thinking? I digress... so out comes the tree, and all the stuff that goes on it. Brianna's eyes lit up and I had to stand back because the decorations started a flying! I got to do the lights, but essentally from 3 and a half feet down our tree is very densely decorated! lol Chris was able to get the lights up on the front of the house today, and shared some with our widow neighbour so our 2 units look fabulous if I do say so myself! I wish we could have some stuff on our lawn, but I'd be afraid someone would go walking off with them.

Last night we went to Chris' work dinner which was wonderful. It was our first night away from both of the kids at the same time... very exciting! My parents came over to do the babysitting and it all worked out great! It's funny how with the second one you loose all/most of the "what if's" about leaving a baby. Nawww they'll be fine! And they were. Dinner was great, dessert was awesome. I get along well with his co-workers at the table. Soooo nice to get out for some adult conversation and to leave the house without spit
up I think is a first for me!


Today Chris let me sleep in so we missed church, but it was nice to have a day inside. Bree & I decorated the gingerbread house. She has gotten so much better at it from last year! So cute to see how she is implementing the knowledge she has gained at school. Making colour patterns, keeping certain shapes together! I was one proud momma! And here is the end result
It's a good thing I'm not really into that sort of candy or WW would be blown out of the water!
I also snapped a photo of her doing the "thinking Huffman face" it's legendary in our family, all the kids do it. Whenever she's concentrating on something intensely, she pokes out her tongue and furrows her brow... too cute!
Everyone tells me how much she looks like Chris, at least I know she gets this from my side of the family!

photo crazy!

Continuing on with the Christmas cards... apparently I forgot to get photos done of the family to go in the cards, so I thought, hey no one really cares what Chris & I look like, it's all about the kids, soooo I thought, I have both home today, I'm going to dress them up cute and snap some photos.


So much fun! Unfortunately I couldn't get them both to look at me at the same time so some photoshopping was required, I could have done a better job but time is of the essence. Now just need to get them printed at the lab and we'll be good to go... oh wait I still have to write in the cards. There are not enough hours in the day! Christmas time shouldn't be so stressful!

Here is a cute one of the boy! He's now working on cutting the other tooth! No wonder my hair has become grey overnight!
Gosh he's cute!

Brianna desperately wants to bake cookies today and we still have a gingerbread house to decorate. I've also promised her a visit to Santa in the mall if she's good once Ian wakes up. And tomorrow is Chris' work dinner gala.

Need to go find something to wear and get Chris' clothes cleaned. argh calgon take me away!

3 toed sloth and christmas cards

Ok so really they have nothing to do with each other, but both made me laugh today.

My dear darling Brianna has an imagination that just blows my mind! Each day when Chris comes home she generally runs, or hobbles on all fours down the hall to greet him. This has become their little ritual and an evening home woudln't be the same without it. She often will insist that she is a horse(named chocolate white), a dog, a cat, a jaguar or something else. Now yesterday she insisted that she was a 3 toed sloth. What does one say to that?? Where did she hear about sloth's and their three toes? But wait it gets better! she then proceeded to tell Chris to sit down and put his leg out and become a branch. So of course Chris being the ever pleasing dad, does as is requested. She then drops to the ground and wraps her arms and legs around his leg and hangs... because that is what a 3 toed sloth does!! I laughed so hard I nearly woke Ian up! Had to have a photo...

It also occured to me that tomorrow was going to be December the 1st... traditionally in the past the day that I make sure all my Christmas cards are mailed, and usually my Australian ones are already on their way! eep, I havn't even started to make them yet this year? I don't even have a photo to go in them yet either?? What happened to November, and where was I? Soooo last night I sat down and come up with a super speedy card, and I think I may have to get a boxed set too. They really need to get out asap or they may not get overseas in time. Here is what I came up with. Nothing fabulous, but done none the less. May need to make a few dozen more though... another project to get on to!