7 months old

Patrick turned 7 months old yesterday! He's growing up so fast. This past month he mastered sitting up on his own and got his 2 bottom teeth.

We went to the parade!

We went to the port Elgin Parade on November 25th with Shaun's Parents. The Parade is at night which is really unique. You really get to appreciate the lights this way.

Patrick was given a helium filled balloon, which we tied to his stroller where he could see it, but not get it (balloons are very dangerous for youngsters -- if the ballloon should happen to pop, the pieces of latex can be inhalled/swallowed and block the flow of air) and he laughed every time it moved.

The Parade was well done and the bands were terrific. Patrick fell asleep about half way through, and missed Santa at the end.

Piano Star!

Now that Patrick can sit up on his own, there are soooo many more toys to amuse him with. He just loves to bang away on this piano, and is amazed when mommy plays a song that he's used to hearing me just sing.

Patrick & singing snowman

Patrick thought the singing snowman & dog were really funny AND they kept him entertained for quite a while!

Its official!

I'm NOT going back to work! Yippie! We figured our budget, and we'll be fine. I can be just a MOM for now, and I'm pretty darn excited!

I will continue to work 3 hours a week doing the billing, and when my maternity leave is done in February, I'll offer the drugstore one 8-hour shift a week to help get the new technician fully trained. After that, I'll resign.

I really enjoy my 3 hours a week right now. Its rewarding to go in to a stack of invoices, and get it all cleaned up! I really like the new technician too -- she's super nice :) But its always nice to leave and come home to my family :)

So that is the most exciting news!

Patrick has 2 teeth

Its official -- my little boy now has his 2 bottom teeth! I guess he'll still be wishing for his two front teeth for Christmas :)

It was a rough couple of days waiting on that tooth to come in, Patrick was very very sad and obviously in lots of pain :(

We're so glad the tooth is now here -- hopefully he'll be feeling much better.

Harry Potter and the new hair colour

On Friday night, Shaun and I left Patrick with Auntie Boo and went to see the new Harry Potter movie. The theater was PACKED even though we went to the late show. As usual, the movie was terrific and we really enjoyed ourselves...and it was great to get out together, just the two of us.

I've been complaining about looking 'worn' for a few weeks now, and thought a new hair colour would brighten me up, and I was right! Its a lovely blonde/red and its a bit lighter than I wanted, but I like it! It was getting so dark:( and although I LOVED the highlights I got in the summer from the salon, I just couldn't justify spending that money again!

So yesterday, my wonderful sister-in-law came over and we went hair dye shopping -- its such an overwhelming experience! There are TOOOOOO many choices! But that is why I took Boo -- she has experience with these things. We finally settled on Loreal #37 - GOLDEN BLONDE. It looks very nice -- she did a great job of applying it. I'll post a picture when I have one.

I AM the snowblower

Well it finally happened. The skies burst open last night and gave us a whalllop of the white stuff. Mother Nature couldn't possibly have started with a small sprinkling, oh no, she had to welcome winter with a big snowy party.

Now, most of you don't know that Shaun and I have been arguing about getting another snowblower. What most of you probably don't know is that we had one... briefly... last year. We purchased it second hand from Shaun's Grandmother's elderly neighbours before they went into a retirement facility. The snowblower was GREAT until it comitted suicide and blead all over the drive way. One of the piston shafts had broken loose, and a piece of metal exploded out the side nearly missing Shaun. The resulting oil leak made the whole mess very graphic. We actually managed to sell the thing to a guy who was planning to fix it. And so it was just us, and the shovels.

It actually worked out quite well. In the morning, I would shovel while I waited to be picked up by a friend for work, and in the evening, Shaun would finish the job. I got in a lot of trouble last year for shovelling snow! Apparently pregnant women are supposed to sit in the living room with a cup of hot chocolate and watch their husbands labour to move the heavy white stuff. Oh well. No harm done as far as I can tell.

So the debate continued from last winter until now, mostly with Shaun telling me we NEEDED a snowblower, and me frugally telling him we didn't. And so it was settled: I would shovel. I would LOVE to shovel. I would want to shovel even when there was only 1/2 an inch of the white stuff on the driveway. I would dream about shovelling and wake up enthusiastic to do so. We didn't need no expensive, gas-powered contraption!

And so, after dragging myself out of bed this morning, and opening the curtain I was a mix of enthusiastic and mortified. What had I done? What had I comitted myself to? But I put on a brave face, got into my snow-shovelling clothes, donned my coat and boots and despite Shaun's evil grin, went outside to tackle winter's gift.

Getting started was easy. I cleared the porch and walkway. "Ha!" I thought, this was going to be a breeze. But then I got to the hard stuff, the 7 inches in the drive. It was HEAVY wet stuff, and the worst part was my glasses fogged up and since EVERYTHING was white, I could barely see anything.

But, like a master snow-ramp builder, I set to work building ramps to drump the snow over, and slowly but surely the black pavement began to appear. I must admit that about half way through clearning the drive, I was tempted to drag myself inside and beg Shaun to go buy me a snowblower. But after I got over the initial exhaustion, I was invigorated, and seeing the pavement appear and grow was quite motivational. I even cleaned off the van. And then shoveled the mess that made.

So will we end up getting a snowblower? I hope not. Will I be completely sick of the white stuff before Christmas? Definetly!

The Christmas Treee

Here it is! I put Patrick in it so you'd know it was from this year :)

Well...that was fun!

We had a great time away. I really like it when Shaun has a chunk of time off with me, and we really get to be together.

On Friday (which actually felt like a Friday), we packed up and headed to Orangeville. Patrick and I napped on the way in the car. It was great to see my parents and we all played a new game called 'sequence' which is TONS of fun!

Saturday (which felt like Friday) we left Patrick with my parents and went to Newmarket for Christmas shopping. We had a BLAST and are now 99.9% done! Yippie! And yes, we did see Charlene, her mom & Benji. Char's mom & I met in the most popular spot in the mall: the woman's washroom! We returned to Orangeville after dinner at Montanas and played even MORE Sequence before heading to bed.

Sunday (which felt like Saturday) was also busy. We met up with friends in Beeton to celebrate Steph's birthday, and then we went to my sister's to celebrate Mattea & Janae's birthdays too! Patrick had a great time in Beeton with the twins (they are 13 months old) and also had a great time at my sister's place.

Monday Shaun got up with Patrick and I got to sleep in (heaven!) which was very nice. We got packed up and we came back home and set up the tree! Its very lovely, and its decoration-free right now until Ramses gets used to it again. He hasn't tried to climb it yet, but we put the water bottle right beside it -- just in case.

And now its Tuesday (but it feels like Monday) and Shaun is working 12 hours. My goal today is to get the bathroom cleaned and give the house a general tidy... and maybe bring the rest of the decorations upstairs. We also have erands to run. And at some point, I'd like to have a shower.

Amy: I'll post a picture of the tree as soon as I can locate the camera!

I had a lovely morning -- ALL BY MYSELF!

Syd (the sleek silver Sedona) was due for routine mateniance today, and so a trip to Owen Sound was necessary. Shaun took care of Patrick, and I got to have a morning ALL BY MYSELF!

There were 4 things that needed doing on the van: Oil Change (and wrap-around service), fix the sound system, a recall on wheelbearings and another recall on the something-or-other sleve. I dropped the van off, and then happily scampered across the road to WALMART!

Now, most of you probably don't understand why that place evokes such happy bliss for me, but that is likely because you are unaware that Port Elgin, although a lovely town, has pretty much no shopping except for a large grocery store and some lovely shops on the main drag, most of which are NOT accessible with a stroller. (WOW! That sentence has 60 words! Crazy!) Patrick and I do a lot of little-shop-shopping when we can, and we get our groceries locally of course, but you just can't shop downtown the way you can SHOP at Walmart!

So there I was, camera card in one hand, list in the other. First stop -- the kodak machine where I printed out the October pictures for Patrick's scrapbook. I had to be really quick about printing a page of his 'precious details' which contained up-close pictures of his nose, belly button, ear, hands, feet and yes, cute little bum.

After that, I needed a cart, and used it to happily circle the store about 5 times checking things off my list, and browsing the isles and isles of things that are really really neat, but... when would I use it and where on earth would I store it?

I also started christmas shopping, but in the spirit of the season I can't tell you what I bought or who it was for :)

After checking out and balancing the load of bags between my left and right hands, and truddged back across the road to the dealership, paid my ENORMOUS bill ($13.67), loaded the bags, and I was off!

But now it was lunchtimeish... and I was hungry... and the prospect of eating an entire meal without tending a kid, or having one on my lap was too tempting. MmmMmm Wendys!

Home again, the boys were happy to see me and listen to me tell my shopping tales. And just like that, my morning off was over and it was back to reality.

Of course, reality is the best place to be and there is no where else I'd rather spend my time.... but a little time off is always nice.

The Calendar says "Monday" but my body says "Saturday"

Well we made it. Shaun worked six 12-hour shifts last week, and now he's off for 7 days -- a combination of regular rest days and a couple of vacation days since this coming weekend is our 2-year anniversary.
But now my body is in total shock. Its apparently Monday, but since my hubby is home it feels like Saturday. I figure I'll be lost for the entire week.

This week we'll be putting up the Christmas lights, tree and doing general Christmas decorating. We started this tradition last year after going Christmas shopping on our anniversary weekend. In fact, we're making it a yearly tradition to do the majority of our Christmas shopping on our anniversary weekend. We'll be going down to Orangeville for 4 days, and mom & dad will watch Mr. P on Saturday so we can go and shop shop shop at Upper Canada Mall. I've just about got our shopping lists ready -- look out VISA!

I made soup today. We had some veggies just hanging out in the fridge, so I chopped them up and tossed them in a pot with chicken broth and spiral pasta. It LOOKS good and it SMELLS good so I hope it IS good. Shaun also made bread with the bread maker. Should be a yummy dinner!

So here's my delima...

I have a constant and nagging question that I have to answer shortly. Every day it seems I change my mind about the whole thing. I just don't know what to do.

My maternity leave is over Feb 10th, and my job wants me back. Actually, I've been working there once a week for 3-4 hours doing billing to help out because the lady they had replacing me while I was gone quit without any notice. There is now a super-nice technician working in my stead, but she is still in the midst of training.

I've also been looking into working from home, and am actually checking out a work-from-home company now. The company is amazing, and so is the product, but I just don't know how I'd fit in WORK with Patrick and housework too with Shaun working 12 hour shifts.

So... do I become a Stay at home mom? Do I work part time and put my precious little guy in daycare? Do I persue this work-from-home stuff and cross my toes that I can find the time to do it?

If I go back to Independent, it would be on a part-time basis only, for a maximum of three 8-hour days a week. I'd likely need daycare for Patrick for 2 of those days. I think the interaction with the other kids would be great for Patrick but how do I trust someone with my precious little boy? Is it worth it to work out of home, have to pay for daycare and still find the time to keep house? Also, I know the current technician wants full-time hours. She wants to move out of her house into an apartment and couldn't do that on part-time hours. IF she leaves, that means that I'd have to train someone new, AND keep up with all the regular stuff in half the regular time.

If I decide to work from home, I have to find time to do it, but I also wouldn't have to pay for daycare. Today wouldn't have been an issue as Patrick has been very sleepy, and I think I would have had time. But what about when he becomes more active and takes fewer naps?

If I decide to be a stay-at-home mom, our income is decreased and we won't be able to do as many house repairs as we would like to. I would, however, get to spend lots of time with Patrick and see all his milestones as they develop. Without the pressure of having a 'job' I would be able to join mom's groups, and set up play dates for Patrick. I might also go stir-crazy.

I still have lots of thinking to do.

Some Hallowe'en pictures....

YAHOO! It worked.

Ramses thought the pumpkin was very very interesting and spent a good few minutes giving it the sniff test. He even tried to bite the stem, silly boy. Then he took the time to be cute so I could snap a picture.

Isn't Patrick cute in his Eeyore outfit?? I want him to wear it again, but I wonder if he'll look silly in his Hallowe'en outfit in November!

So... we went for a walk...

I get a little stir-crazy sometimes being in the house for 12 hours by myself with an infant who's entire vocab consists of da-da-da and an assortment of other amusing, but non-conversational noises. I love to imitate Patrick's wide range of noises, which he finds quite funny since Mommy is not capable of making them exactly the same way.

Anyway, I bundled Patrick up and we went for a walk to the grocery store, it takes about 20 mintues. We only needed 6 things, but that wasn't the point.

The weather man has been calling for rain for the past few days, but the weather has been quite nice. So I chanced it. It was only slightly overcast anyway.

The trip there was uneventful. The trip home, however, it started to spit and the wind picked right up. I tried to use Patrick's stroller 'wind shield' plastic thingie, but the wind was so strong it ripped it off. The stroller's 'bonnett' was just as uselss, as it wouldn't stay unfolded. There were leaves whipping everywhere! It was actually quite lovely, except they were coming right at us and it was quite the task pushing the stroller against the wind. I now have a lovely bottom-of-stroller basket full of yellow leaves.

Patrick finished his bottle and went down for a nap! Time for lunch. Chicken and rice yum!

Apparently its the weekend

I know that lots of people get excited because its the weekend, but quite frankly our 'weeks' are so very different from calendar weeks that I usually forget that its the weekend at all.

Patrick keeps me on a pretty strict schedule 7 days a week. He gets up about the same time every day, regardless, and goes to bed about the same time too. The bulk of our day is spent arranging play time and house-work time between naps and food. Shaun's schedule has somewhat of a pattern to it, but I can only seem to keep track of it one week at a time. So when people make reference to it being Friday or Monday, I just can't relate anymore. That s life as a mom I guess!

Patrick is now eating solids twice a day. He has breakfast around 8-8:30 of fruit and cereal and dinner around 5-5:30 of veggies and cereal. So far he's had Rice, Oatmeal and Barley cereal; Squash, yams and beans for veggies; and banana, apple and pears for fruit. Monday he'll get to try pumpkin for the first time and I hope he likes it because our jack-o-lantern made a LOT of pumpkin!

Patrick also has a tooth! We discovered it a few days ago. Its his bottom left and it explains why he's been cranky for the past few weeks. We thought it was a cold! SURPRISE! We think he's working on the other bottom tooth now because the 'cold' symptoms and rosy cheeks have re-appeared.

Question for my fellow bloggers: How do you post a picutre in this thing?

Time to go! Patrick is awake.

All my friends seem to be in the blog-spirit, so I thought I'd jump off a cliff with them! I really enjoy reading their blogs every morning, so I hope to have something interesting to say in mine!

More later, after I explore and customize!