Cats in the house

The cats we are looking after are finally warming up to us--just in time to go home. I have not seen much of one, but the other one is coming out of the basement and hanging out on the main floor. He is even letting Emmett maul him a little. The first time he came up and started rubbing against me I was wary--sure enough the food dish was empty. I pictured the two cats trying to decide who would be brave enough to come upstairs and ask for food. Did they draw straws? Play rock, paper, scissors? They have not caught the mouse. Maybe we are feeding them too much?!

I hit some good sales at the mall today. I got a giftcard for Christmas and was able to get a whole new outfit to wear out on New Year's Eve. I forgot how aggressive salespeople can be. Right up until the moment my money left my hands they were trying to push stuff on me. There was even a fugly plastic, studded purse that came with a $15 dollar rebate. Yep, the purse was so ugly that they were going to pay me to take it off their hands!! I didn't bite.

I am really looking forward to New Year's Eve. We have a babysitter and invitations to two parties. The kids were invited to one of the parties, but since we have child care, we can go to both. A real grown-up evening!!!!!

I knit a swatch of the yarn Richard bought me. It is not working up to the right gauge for the pattern I want it for, so I am going to have to either alter the pattern or find a new one. Anyone know where I can find a pattern for a cute bolero style sweater???

Is Christmas over already? (Please say yes)

Christmas dinner is still sitting like a brick in my stomach. The mashed potatoes had little bits of uncooked potato in them, the gravy didn't have any actual meat juice in it, and canned cranberry sauce was put out instead of the homemade chutney I brought (my last jar). MIL has such a tiny dining-room that we didn't all fit. We were squashed in like sardines. I ended up hiding in the kitchen with Charlotte and a piece of pie--the pie that MIL asked us to bring and that never got set out. MIL can be so infuriating sometimes. It was nice to talk to SIL and Rich's cousin, though. SIL and I agreed that we have to come up with a way to get the burgandy polyester jumpsuit with satin cowel and red plastic belt away from her mother. I am sure she thought she looked festive, but really--jumpsuit??? red satin cowel???? polyester???? jumpsuit?????
Perhaps next year I will have to pull up my socks and make Christmas dinner--I can make gravy that does not look like paste to pour over mashed potatoes that are not crunchy.
We are heading out to see my aunt in Ninette today so we don't have to go back to eat leftovers.

Char was up all night screaming--despite two doses of Advil and some homeopathic teething remedy. There are four teeth wanting to come through all at once. Poor little peanut. Poor the rest of us.

Did I mention I still have PMS? Can I have a menstrual hut to hide in for a while?

I love husband. I love my children. All the rest of the family can visit by appointment only.

Hubby gave me a big box of yarn for Christmas. Its virgin wool. Its Italian. I. Must. Knit. Now.
(ok, I will take care of Charlotte and fix breakfast for Emm, then can I knit?)

Merry Christmas!

The Stockings have been hung by the chimney with care, the kids are tucked in to bed, and Richard is helping out Santa with his duties. All that is left to do is bake some pie for Christmas dinner tomorrow.

Wishing all peace, love, and a Merry Christmas!!!!

Addendum

I have watched all of my episodes of Weeds (hee hee, I am all out of weeds). Now what do I do??? Play with the kids????

Holiday funk.

Ugh--why does Christmas have to coincide with PMS?? In additon to barely holding onto my sanity for the sake of the children, I have to do Christmassy crap too??? These past few days I have been totally slacking, drugging Emmett with Teletubbies and keeping my house at most, a mess instead of a disaster area. It is almost lunchtime and only Char is out of her PJs. I even used disposable diapers yesterday. There are presents to be wrapped, bread to be baked, laundry to do and instead of being inspired to get working, I just feel more and more overwhelmed. Char is teething, Emm is being a two-year-old, and I want to run away and hide. I feel all fat and gross. Perhaps I should have consumed something better than a pan of sugar cookies and coffee yesterday.

Santa, I want a wife for Christmas, and a spa vacation with just hubby. Is that too much to ask??

Ahhh, Char is napping, Emmett is signing Christmas cards--I can watch Weeds and drink coffee. I guess that will have to do.

Three more sleeps.

Is Christmas really in three days???? I guess I had better wrap my gifts. (At least I should get Richard's wrapped while he is at work.)

Richard is being super-nice and going grocery shopping after work. He knows what a nightmare the stores will be right now and doesn't want me fighting the crowds with two little kiddies. Time to re-stock our supply of formula, diapers and baby Advil (poor Charlotte!!).

We took possession of our exterminators last night. They came out of the basement after Emmett went to bed. Lucy has been keeping a respectful distance. They were up all night trying to get into bed with the humans, and even woke up Emmett. Polaris is beautiful and friendly and I want so much to snuggle with him, but I am afraid of how that will make me feel. Blitzen is a little more skittish, but I think he will come around. I didn't realize how much I miss having kitties around until these ones came over. I think Polaris knows why he is here. He was pacing around the walls where I have heard the mice, and his eyes were sooooo big and wide.

Pooh on you!

Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

Playgroup was soooo quiet today. I read "The Polar Express" in honour of Christmas. I didn't realize what a sad story it was.

I am trying to teach Emmett to sign "Please" to ask for things. I want to get back to signing, but we keep stalling with it. I have to step up my efforts to teach him to communicate, but we have gotten so good at anticipating his needs that we tend to take the easy way out--not helpful in the long run. Being at the speech pathologist yesterday helped remind me of the work I need to do at home everyday to encourage Emmett's communication skills.

Char is teething--we had a late night and very early morning. I am feeling very lazy today.

Emmett said Mom!!!!

We went to the speech pathologist today. She still doesn't know why Emmett is not saying anything, so she wrote a referral to a pediatrician who specializes in child development. It may take months to get an appointment, but at least we are in the system. A bit closer to home, she told us that Emmett is around three from the top of the waiting list for her therapy. We could get a slot any time now. She says that there are a couple of puzzling things about his behaviour and his reactions to certain situations that leads her to believe he needs further assessment.

Later this evening Emm was playing and babbling to himself at the dining-room table while I was in the kitchen and I distinctly heard him say "Mom"! My heart soared. I feel a little more hopeful now.

Yesterday at playgroup Mrs. Claus visited. She did face-painting and led a sing-along. There are pictures here at my friend Cheryl's blog. Emmett had a blast colouring pictures, and ringing his bell along with the songs. He also didn't eat luch at home since he filled up on Rice Krispy treats, sugar cookies and caramel corn while there. I fed him vegetables at supper time!!!

Family Dinner

We had the Big Family Christmas Dinner at Richard's Aunt's house last night. The kids were amazing. Emmett had a little cousin to play with, so they giggled and chased each other most of the evening. There was no meltdown, even though he missed his bedtime by over two hours. Charlotte was a sweetheart, and only started to complain a little by the end of the evening. I suspect there will be extra-long naps today. I sure need one! Emmett spilled red wine on Richard's pants, but Richard is the same size as his uncle, so he borrowed a pair of jeans while his pants took a trip through the washing machine. I was presented with a pair of clean, dry folded pants as we walked out the door. I wonder if I can bring laundry every time we visit??

Ooooh, my pretties!

I got my yarn order yesterday. Ooooh, the snowflake yarn is gorgeous. I started a little baby poncho for a friend and this stuff is just lighter than air and so soft. I can hardly wait to get my needles into the Kureyon. The pictures don't do the colours justice.

I am not liking my new glasses. The look good, but the lenses are narrower, so when I look down, I can't see anything. They are also a lot heavier than my old glasses, so I am finding they need more adjusting to be comfortable. I have had them adjusted twice in less than a week, and I will be going back for another adjustment today. First they were digging into my ears, and now my nose is hurting. I hope this is all just growing pains, and that I will get used to them. I had my old ones for four years, so I think I just need a little more time. Friends keep telling me I will get used to the line in my peripheral vision where the lenses end. At least I am not seasick anymore!!

I get to cat-sit for a friend over Christmas. I am going to bring them home and hope they can do a little exterminating in exchange for shelter and regular feedings and pats. I also hope Lucy doesn't mind the extra guests in our home. She knows about cats, and they know about dogs, so I am feeling optimistic. The cats will not be allowed in the bedrooms, so they will not take over Lucy's bed.

I have such a good boy!!

Yesterday morning Emmett was "helping" Richard get dressed in our bedroom. Emm would not let Richard out of the room until he picked up all of his dirty clothes and drop them in the laundry chute. What a good boy I have!!!

I picked up my new glasses yesterday. I think I like them. I need to get used to them. I spent all yesterday afternoon with poor depth perception and motion sickness. I couldn't even knit yesterday. Today is a little better, but I need to go back to the store for more adjustments to my frame. I got glass lenses this time. I am enjoying the super-crisp vision, but I have to get used to the extra weight. The clerks assure me that I will love glass once I get used to them--they are much more durable and scratch-resistant. (not to mention $200 less than the same prescription in plastic)

Mom and Dad are moving out of their big house in a village to a smaller house in a bigger town. Mom was not so happy about having to move over Christmas, until she had to drive to work yesterday in a snowstorm. She had to be on the road so early that she even beat the snowplows out. I have to get my stuff out of her basement. That means I am really grown up now!! (nope, being married with two kids and a dog and a mortgage does not make you a grownup. Having all of your stuff out of your parent's house makes you a grownup!!!)

Ok, Ok I will wrap and mail my out-of-town Christmas gifts. I don't wanna! I don't wanna! (I still haven't got my tree up) I pulled out my favourite Christmas CD (Christmas Songs, put out by Nettwerk) and danced and sang with Charlotte. I was in a Christmassy mood for a minute or two, but I don't think it stuck.

Things that make me happy.

1. I found the bottom of my laundry chute.
2. I am slowly beating back the Clutter Monster. This is my newest weapon.
3. I haven't heard "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" on the radio yet.
4. I finished the back of my sweater!!! I will be casting on the front tonight, while hubby and I watch Rome together (or maybe Commander in Chief). Small digression: I didn't know Romans knew about bikini waxing. Another small digression: don't watch Rome with kids around!
5. One more thing...Go Fug Yourself!

Oops, no symphony.

Well, because we live in Manitoba, it is raining little balls of ice on the highway. No trip for us. Thankfully the Real Yarn Store has online shopping. I will still have my pretty balls of yarn.

What are you doing this weekend?

Why thanks for asking! We are heading into The City to see a Christmas symphony. I will also be hitting a Real Yarn Store. (yay!!) On my shopping list is some yarn to make this precious poncho for Char, and some Kureyon to make some wrist warmers for me. I am hoping that wristwarmers will help with the pain I experience from knitting sometimes. That, and the colours of the Kureyon just look soooo lucious!! The pattern I will be using has a cable chart on it. I am going to try a swatch of the cable panel with some scrap yarn as I have never done cables by chart before.

We have mice setting up housekeeping in between our floors. I hear them scritching around during the day and it really creeps me out. I miss my cat! I am trying to decide if my staying drugged up with allergy meds is worth it to have an exterminator in my house on a full time basis. Its getting more and more tempting every day. I have never met one of the little critters face to face yet, so I feel like if they stay in their area, and I stay in mine and our paths never cross, we can live together peacefully, for now.

Quick! Someone organize a telethon!

Boo Frickin' Hoo. That is all I have to say about this:

It's hard to be rich

It snowed in Emmett's room today.

This afternoon I put Emmett in his room to have a nap. I then phoned a friend and had a nice little chat about this and that. I went up to check on Emm a while later and instead of sleeping he had busied himself redecorating his room in a baby powder theme. I don't even know where he found the powder. He was white and every toy was white and every surface of his room whas white. He left little white footprints wherever he stepped.

What do I do??? First, I laughed. Then, I called SIL, who was still in town, to come over and babysit while I cleaned up. Then, I took some of my asthma medication and went to work.

Emmett did a very thorough job--I had to wash every toy, the floor, and every shelf and toybox. His room will be smelling like baby powder for weeks, I think. Thank goodness it is not talc-based powder!!!

One of my friends did a very sweet thing today. Her little boy felt bad that Emm can't have chocolate, so they bought a non-chocolate Advent calendar for us while they were buying their chocolaty one. Thank you!!!

A breakthrough!

We had a breakthrough this morning. Emmett usually has terrible separation anxiety if I have to leave him with a babysitter. I took him (and Char) to a friend's house this morning so I could go to an appointment and he did not cry at all!! She had a little girl and two kittens to play with so apparently he did not miss me at all.

SIL Rachel is in town. We had a great visit over pizza last night. I made garlic pizza crust and the house smelled soooo good! The pizza didn't taste too bad, either! We are going out this evening to pick out a new pair of glasses for me. I need a sighted person to come along as I have a hard time seeing what frames look like without my lenses in them.

The new knitty is up! I must make the chaos sweater for one of the kids. A sweater pattern that involves rolling dice!! The teeny gamer chick in me is giddy with delight!

And now for a small rant: I was in a shop this morning buying a couple of Christmas prezzies and the clerk was compaining to me about how much she hates winter. Unless you have bought your condo in the Cayman islands and are planning to move, perhaps you should reconcile yourself to the fact that living in Manitoba involves enduring some sort of winter weather for about half the year. Suck it up!!!!

Headless bear jumps into the frog pond

I got a free sample of "Disco" yarn in the mail a couple of days ago. Since it was brown and furry, I thought it would make a good teddy bear . It is double-knit (no seaming!) and had a contrasting face so you could tell it was something besides a big, furry ball. I knit all day and got to his neck, dropped a stitch and messed up his head. Oh, well, I'll try again later!! Darn furry novelty yarn!! Maybe its the cold medicine I am high on that is making me not feel bad about all of my work having to be frogged so close to the end.

Updates

Check out "Done like dinner!" for pictures of some finished knitting projects.

Isn't my little girl cute??? Sorry for the shamless posting of the baby pic, I couldn't resist.

I started Christmas shopping today, but feel so ambivalent about the holidays that I don't even want to put up our Christmas tree this year. Will the Christmas tree police beat down our door if we skip it this year? I will probably decorate our fireplace mantle and call it a day (that is the surface most likely to stay decorated once I get it done!!)

This could have been a terrible morning.

Picture it: 2-year old coughing (hacking), runny nose, running around. 6-1/2 month-old teething and getting over a cold. Mommy getting over a cold. Cupboards are bare. Mommy grits her teeth, bundles up the grumpy baby and drippy 2-year old and heads out to the store with a shockingly long list in hand.

The family gets there and the 2-year old is secured in the truck-shaped cart and baby is tied into the seat but still tippy. Mommy barely finishes in the produce aisle before baby starts screaming. And screaming. Mommy bravely attempts to navigate unwieldy cart with one hand while holding angry 20lb baby with the other and still manages to throw a few items in the cart.

An angel arrives in the body of a store employee and offers to hold the screaming baby. The employee is a grandma and knows how to talk to grumpy babies. Grumpy baby smiles. The employee follows the Mommy around the store bouncing the now less grumpy baby while Mommy fills her cart to the top. (I told you the cupboards were bare!!!) Mommy pays for her purchases (and tries not to show outward shock at the total) and arranges for delivery of groceries to her home. Mommy bundles kids in the car, heads to the drive-through for lunch and goes home slightly calmer and happy.

Mommy has a new favourite grocery store.

Girly Time

I had such a great visit last night with my dear friend, Robin.

We went to the hospital to visit my other good buddy, Andrea, and see her brand-new baby Amber Lynn. She was born the day before yesterday. I forgot how small they start out!!! I love the squinty newborn stare. I also love how brand-new parents think their baby cries loudly. Just wait, Andrea, she's just praciticing for the real thing!!!

After visiting with the new family we traipsed off to the mall to do some shopping. We ransacked La Senza together and ended up buying matching undies (how girly of us!!!) We also pawed everything in Le Chateau-I looked wistfully at stuff that could not possibly be accessorized with spit-up or sticky peanut butter fingerprints. Sigh, I have to have mom clothes. I should have gone to Rietmans.

Robin came back to my place for a tarot card reading (shh, that is none of your business). We talk almost every day through email, but it is soooo wonderful to be able to have a conversation face-to-face. Oh, and to shop with someone who is not afraid to tell you how you really look in things. I swear, some sales people are leagally blind, or so desperate for a commission they will tell you anything. Not cool.

While we where out shopping, Richard was teaching Emmett how to make poo poo on the potty. Emmett will now use the potty for his grandma, and his father, but not his mother. Why???? Somebody please tell me!!!

Here is a fun quiz--if you don't know what Firefly is, don't be a mugua and head to your local video store and find out, goramit. You don't know what you are missing.


You are Kaylee, the ship's mechanic. You are cute
as a button, chipper, cheerfull and optimistic,
though you panic in a fight. Engines make you
hot and you prefer having sex next to a big,
humming thing.

Which Firefly character are you?
brought to you by

Rollin',Rollin', Rollin'

Today Char hit the fun stage where she will roll onto her belly and then cry to be rescued (after smiling at her accomplishment!!). She made quite a splash at playgroup with her battered eye this morning. All of the moms traded baby-maiming stories. Its amazing we have survived as a species!!!

It's oh so quiet

Mom and Dad just left from their whirlwind visit. Mom and I did the mall yesterday and fought pre-Christmas crowds. I can't get into the Christmas spirit yet--it's not even December!!! We had a nice lunch with Aunt Susan, Sean and Stephanie and made arrangenments to switch children with her and go to the movies next week. (Harry Potter!!!! I think we got the better end of that deal!) I have put no thought whatsoever into Christmas shopping and I think I will have to drag myself kicking and screaming to do it. Emm and Char are too young to get wound up about the holidays, so maybe when they get a little older Christmas will get exciting again.

Char's nose is healing nicely. You could almost mistake her black eye for a shadow. She is such a resilient kid. She has to be, with Emmett for a big brother.

What a nice, quiet Sunday afternoon. Both kids are sleeping, Rich is puddling with a computer, bread is whirring in the bread machine and there is a lovely smell coming out of the oven from an apple crisp baking. Time to turn off the computer and pick up my knitting needles.

I'm going to have to send my mother of the year award back.

Poor Charlotte!! She likes to be carried all the time. I carried her downstairs to look for something, tripped and bumped her nose on a little shelf I have by my washing machine. She was so shocked she didn't even know if she should cry or not. She chose just to wimper and look at me with a confused look. Ok, momma nurse then went into action: Breathing obstructed? Nope. Bleeding? Just a tiny bit. Eyes tracking symetrically? Yep. Disfigurement of the nose? Except for an ugly scrape, none. I don't think we will have to spend the afternoon at walk-in, breathing in avian flu germs. I know she will be fine--I just feel sooooooo terrible!!!

Mom and Dad are in town, so we will get to go out for dinner and show off Char's new injury. Poor Mom, she just came home from working the graveyard shift, hopped in the car and hasn't gone to bed yet. (Good thing Dad drove)

Knitting group last night was surreal--three of us showed up with three different projects all using the same type of yarn!!! We looked like an infomercial. We had a good giggle about the yarn, then went on to giggle about more important things: S-E-X (tee hee, snicker, snicker)

What do you mean the antenna doesn't work??

Day 1 with no TV. Yep, no channels, even with the fancy-shmancy antenna that cost $40. It is very peaceful around here now--no incessant chatter in the background. I think my life will improve, even without Oprah telling me how to do it.

We went to playgroup this morning so we got out of the house. We'll see how this afternoon goes. Yesterday I got to witness a full-on nuclear meltdown because I couldn't get a DVD to work on the TV. My boy is hard-core addicted. Is there a 12-step program for this? How many times can one Baby Einstein DVD be shown?? We got our first shipment of DVDs from our online club--tonight we will be watching M*A*S*H after the kiddies go down.

Look what I can do!

I have been a hat-making machine lately. I addition to this one (Firefly fans should recognize it), a matching one has been made for the hubby and there is a third hat on needles for the MIL of a different design. Winter is here and I am taking personal responsability for the prevention of frost-bitten ears in my family.

Today is going to be a hard day. Baby Charlotte got her 6-month vaccinations today and we cut the cable. Emmett will be going into withdrawl from his beloved Treehouse channel and Momma wil be suffering Food Network DTs. We wanted to minimize exposure to commercials before the kiddies get old enough to develop the "gimmes". We are not cutting out TV. In fact, we now subscribe to an online DVD rental club so we can still watch TV shows, just no commercials. The rabbit-ears we had laying around the house don't work, so off to the store I go so we can get CBC--the children's programming in the morning allows me to get my chores done!!! In a few days we will be getting our first shipment of DVDs from http://www.zip.ca This is our first foray into the land of online DVD rental, so I hope it is going to work out well for us. I am a big girl, I can live without BBC Canada and the Food network, can't I?? I can do it. I can do it. I can do it?

Hello, and welcome to my world.

This is my first post on my first blog. I am just getting my feet wet here. I am currently a stay-at-home mommy to two sweet little children and debating about whether I should go back to work when my mat. leave is over. I guess I just wanted a space to rant, ramble and organize my thoughts. This is definitely a work in progress.