Thoughts and ramblings

Friday, June 30, 2006

Paper towels

I must start by saying my husband IS smart. But this one thing he does just boggles my mind.

He knows where the paper towels are kept, but for some reason he has a heck of a time putting them away. Why is that?

Patrick and I are up early today, so I took advantage of the time and did some cleaning. I 'rollered' my furnature to remove the cat fur, gave Ramses a brush and dusted the 'zone'. I also did the dishes and a general clean up.

The work in Patrick's new room is coming along. Yesterday we finished sorting things to go to other locations and I took a HUGE bag of items to the sally-ann. Shaun ripped out the old, decaying closet which proved to be stronger than it appeared and I took down miscellaneous things on the wall and the old curtain rod. Today we'll be removing the baseboard -- hopefully intact so we can re-use it and maybe be removing the carpet. It is disgusting and I can't wait to see it go. I just hope the hardwood under it is in good shape and needs only a good wash. We will sand and varathane if we need to, but I hope its not necessary. That room is the only room upstairs that had carpet.

We picked up some paint samples and now I'm trying to decide which one. You all remember the stress of the paint for the Hall-Stairs-Hall so now I am twice as nervous about picking paint. UGH. I think I have it narrowed down to 2, and will keep checking them in different lights. It shouldn't be much of an issue because the fabric we picked for the curtain has many blue's in it.

Humm... Patrick is now exploring my drawers. He's found 'his' drawer. I think he's trying to get a bottle out. HA! Won't he be surprised that its empty!! :)

Shaun is up now, so we should have breakfast and get started.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Baby sling

I am going to get a sling for the new little sprout. I have found one I like and have been able to try it on because someone I know already has one. BUT I need to pick a fabric. Please help me choose!

http://www.heart2heart.on.ca/sling-patterns.html

I really like the bears, but would something plain be better? I also LOVE the ocean one --sooo soothing. Is it worth the extra?

Vote now for your fav!!

Sprout

Sprout and I had our 2nd prenatal appointment today.

We are healthy! I have lost 3 lbs, which I don't see as a huge deal. The nausea is really keeping my eating in check, especially at night. Sprout is measuring right on track at 13 weeks, and has a nice healthy heartbeat of 155. That is in the girl range for those who are wondering, although there is nothing scientific to that old wives tale!

BUT the best news is that I am getting the same OB I had before! YAY!! The were rumors that she was retiring. My doctor's office was unable to get an answer, and were certain I would have to go to someone else. BUT I don't! I called them direct and talked to Beth, the receptionist/nurse. She said that as long as I was due after October, they would take me! I jumped back on the phone and asked my doctor's office to get the letter ready and fax it right away to assure me a spot. YAY!!! I am so glad that Sprout will have the same delivery doctor as Patrick and in the same hospital! Yippie!! There is comfort in familiarity.

UPDATE: I have booked my "big" ultrasound for August 14th at 3 p.m. I will eat sugar and I will drink apple juice and hopefully we will be able to find out what this little sprout is!! YAY!

Monday, June 26, 2006

Your new government at 'work'

When the last election was up and coming, I am sure we all remember the conservatives promise to give $1200 per year per child under 6 under the Universial Child Care Benefit to help with child care expenses.

BUT what they didn't tell you was that this was NOT an automatic payment, and has to be applied for.... before July 1st. I am lucky that a friend of mine forwarded the information she also recieved in an email. I am just a wee bit ticked at the government right now.

Here are the links:
Form: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/rc66/rc66-fill-04e.pdf
Website: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/benefits/uccb/menu-e.html

Take advanatage of this everyone, afterall, it IS your tax dollars.

UPDATE: If you already recieve the Canada Child Tax Benefit, you do NOT need to apply for the universal child care benefit -- you will automatically be enrolled and begin recieving payments on or about the 20th of July. Thanks Anna for pointing that out!

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Pregnancy: food for thought

On babycenter.com, you can find a weekly update of the progress of your pregnancy. One of the most fascinating aspects for me is knowing what size my little sprout is now. To simplify things, babycenter uses reference to fruits and veggies. I thought I would weed through all the pages and share them with you!

5 weeks: sesame sead
6 weeks: Small lental bean
7 weeks: raspberry
8 weeks: kidney bean
9 weeks: grape
10 weeks: kumquat
11 weeks: fig
12 weeks: lime
13 weeks: jumbo shrimp
14 weeks: lemon
16 weeks: avacado
17 weeks: large onion
18 weeks: length of a large sweet potato
19 weeks: Small zucchini

neato eh??

Thursday, June 22, 2006

10th tooth

Patrick is working hard at getting his 10th tooth, and second molar. The poor kid has just been so upset with it, and I am sure it must hurt a LOT. The first molar to appear took a while to finally break from the gum. It has 3 points and is overall the size of my pinkie fingernail, which when you think about it in a little boy's mouth, its HUGE. I am so sad to watch him struggle with getting another one so soon after the first.

We're having a lovely time here in Orangeville. The weather has been lovely for the most part, and we've been able to play every day on the deck. My father and his friend made a TERRIFIC gate for the deck, so basically its a large play-pen for Patrick. He LOVES the freedom. If there are few bugs, we leave the sliding door open and he comes in and out as he pleases. He loves to play with my mom's wind chimes which hang just below the side-rail and are reachable for him when he pulls up to stand.

My mother also bought him a ball for the deck. Its about the size of my head, and its gold with blue stars. Patrick enjoys pushing it around the deck and laughs when it bounces off of something and returns to him.

Actually, Patrick just likes balls in general. On Monday night we had the pleasure of attending my father's baseball game at the Princess of Wales park in Orangeville. Patrick thought baseball was super funny and laughed everytime the ball was thrown, hit, caught, rolled, bounced. It did help that the ball was a soft-ball, and also flourescent yellow!!!!

Today my sister and my youngest niece are coming to visit for lunch, and then we are all going out together. Tomorrow, my sister minus all her children who will be in school, my mother, patrick and myself are going shopping!!! I am excited! Although I've already purchased a new skirt for the wedding in July, I still need a top. I just HOPE I don't pop too much before the wedding -- the skirt has room for a bit of a pop, but not a huge one. I kept the reciept.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Clean House

Hello!

I have had a wonderful day. I spent the morning with Patrick, of course, who was in better spirits than he has been of late. It seems that tooth has finally poked through and it appears to be the 2nd tooth back from the eye tooth, and its got 3 nasty peaks. Poor kid :( I am glad he is feeling better.

This morning after we had breakfast and played, we went to Giant Tiger and then the Dollarstore. Then we came home and played in the living room and downstairs. At 10:15 P had a nap, and slept till almost 1!!!! WOWOWOW!! I didn't want to wake him but I was beginning to be concerned after he passed the 2.5 hour mark. After lunch, we played in the kitchen and chased the kitty, swang outside and blew bubbles. At 3 Patrick had his hair cut. He got about 3/4" taken off!! It was getting in his eyes, but without it he looks so old! Like such a little boy, and so unlike a baby. He's growing up so fast.

After his haircut, I took him to Shaun's parents as they had offered to have a sleepover with him. I was home by 3:30 and attacked the rest of my cleaning. I vacuumed all the floors, then used the carpet cleaner on the carpets and washed the floors. It took me over 2 hours of non-stop work to accomplish this, afterwhich I had a lovely dinner and then a long hot shower. Bliss.

After my shower, I folded a load of towels, put the dark load in, and then soaked my feet in the foot spa while watching TV.

And now I'm waiting for Shaun to come home -- oh there he is.

I must admit that although I got a lot accomplished, I am truly missing my little guy. I think its partly pregnancy hormones, but I really want him back. Now. I called and left a message with Shaun's parents just to see how things were going but I haven't heard back yet, and its 8 p.m.-- Patrick's usual bed time, so now I'm worried -- likely for no reason.

Well I must go.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Ballett

Last night, my friend Jen, her stepdaughter and her stepdaughter's friend went to see a local ballett school recital.

I have always enjoyed watching ballett. When Patrick is watching TreeHouse and the Toy Castle comes on, I am mesmorized! As a child, I always wanted to be a ballerina, and someday I would really like to see NutCracker.

Reading the newspaper last week (www.shorelinebeacon.com) I saw an advertisement for the ballett recital. It wasn't mearly groups of kids coming out to perform one song and then disappearing, but rather a true ballett with a storey line and terrific music and a narrator to tell us about the scene we were about to see. The ballett was 4th in a series of original balletts written by the dance teacher and included a good fairy, a wicked fairy, a village man, and lots of little faries, gnomes, and villagers. It was quite entertaining!

I especially enjoyed seeing the little 'rosebuds' and the 'bluebirds'; all little girls less than 6 years old. So cute! I also enjoyed the older girls with their precise and graceful steps and spins. The only true problem with the recital was that there were no boys to play the male roles, and it was slightly discerting to see a woman playing a man, especially during the 'courtship' and 'wedding' scences. But overall, I really enjoyed myself!

Afterwards, we went to the Queens for drinks (I had a virgin strawberry daquri--YUM) and snacks. Our platter contained a multitude of things, including battered & deepfried asparagus, sweet potato and turnip. Very odd, but enjoyable none-the-less.

I didn't get home until 10:30 and was still awake at midnight.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Moment in history


We had a moment in history at the McLaren house today. Patrick WILLINGLY drank his juice from a sippy cup! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of him!

We have been trying different sippy cups for about 4 months now, and they have all been rejected. About 2 months ago, my MIL bought P a small, soft-mouthed sippy and he has been using it when we are there, minus the stopper. So basically, it was a cup with a spout... he needed help to drink out of it because it was free-flowing, but I think thats where he really caught onto the idea, thanks to much patience from my MIL and much 'forgetfulness' on my part to ever bring him a bottle. Bad mommy!

So here he is, in his kodak-moment pose! Hurrah!

Saturday, June 03, 2006

News




Yep! That is the news! We're expecting in early January, but fully expect the repeat c-section will be in late December. Very exciting!!!

Ok, well, at least i try to be excited between the fatigue and all-day pregnancy sickness. I know it will pass and I remember feeling this way when I was pregnant with Patrick, I just wish I was into the second trimester and feeling better!

Yippie!