Save.ca

I tried this out before I posted it to ensure it works!

Go to save.ca
Click on the coupons you wish to have
Fill in your shipping address
Recieve coupons in about a week!!

I just got Downy (save 75 cents) and Pampers (save 2.00) in the mail!

milestones

Patrick
1. Now eats his nightly cheese-yogert with a spoon.... he's currently a leftie
2. Can stand up from the middle of the floor (no need to crawl to something to pull up on!)
3. Got his 14th tooth (4th molar) yesterday.
4. Has increased his vocab significantly... generally most of these added words are used once and never again. He now says kitty, daddy, mama, light, nice, fan, pretty, cookie and 'was dis' (whats this) on a regular basis and we've also heard horse, please, more, up, out and flush.

Busy Busy Busy

This is what happens when Mommy is busy on the phone, updating her blog and signing up for free stuff from baby websites. Whoops!

Night Light

About a month ago, they replaced all the street lights on our street. We were quite excited as the old ones were rusty and worn. But instead of something lovely, we got instead telephone poles with lights attached at the top. Very stylish.

Granted I don't really care about the esthetics of the whole thing. They work. Thats what matters. Unfortately, the new poles are taller than the old ones... and the light shines RIGHT into our bedroom at night and bothers me so that I can't sleep. Yes we have a great black-out blind, but the night breeze is also lovely! If the blind is down, we don't get any breeze.

I had been trying to get used to it. I wasn't making much progress. I taped a dark towel over the window. It fell down. I pulled the duvet up to block it, I put the sheet over my face.... no luck.

So today I called the town. I figured they'd laugh at me when I requested that they lower it 6 inches. They actually didn't! The man I talked to (Dave Burnside -- no I don't know if there is a relation) said he would look into it! I was floored. I am optomistic. I also made a note on my calendar a month from now to call again if there was no progress.

Everyone cross your fingers for me!!!

Mobile Pic

I'm so proud of myself :) Looks neat eh???

Hot feet

My feet are hot. All the time. This is really only bothersome at night when I am trying to sleep -- it keeps me awake.

So its midnight, and I'm sitting here at the computer with an icepack under my feet. They are slowly cooling off. What a pain.

This was not as much of an issue when I was pregnant with Patrick -- it was winter!! I do remember walking barefoot on the porch or the basement concrete floor some nights when they were really bad.

All I have to say is bring on the snow!! My feet need it.

Suggestions on how to ease the hotness / make it go away GREATLY appreciated.

Mary Maxim

Can you believe the screw ups continue???

The did not include the fiberfill that I had paid for when they shipped the order. I didn't realize this when I recieved the package because I didn't open it, I just sent it on to Orangeville.

I've sent a complaint and if I do not hear back by the end of tomorrow I'm going to call and speak to someone who could actually help me.

This better end soon.

UPDATE: Mary Maxim wrote me back. They claim the fiberfill was backordered, but they will ship it directly to Linda in Orangeville AND they have offered to reimburse me for the shipping I had to pay to redirect the original shipment! This is good news. This means I may be a repeat customer.

Feelin' crafty

During the time when I couldn't post pictures, I completely forgot to tell you about the mobile I made for Patrick's room! Its the solar system, complete with yellow-ball sun, 9 glow-in-the-dark planets, stars, all hanging from the milkey way.

I got the planets from e-bay, bought the sun at the dollar store and got a wicker 'plate' to hang it all from at the Salvation Army for 35 cents. I sprayed the plate black, and then painted on glitter glue so it looked like distant stars when you look up at it. I hung the planets and sun and stars with invisible thread, I even hung the planets in the correct order AND with increasing orbit around the 'sun'. At the outer edges I hung glow-in-the-dark stars that my mother in law had picked up for P in the states.

After we attached it to the ceiling (3 hooks for leveling purposes) I stuck the extra small glow stars to the walls around to give it depth.

I am soooo pleased with it! It was super annoying to assemble but worth it!! Working with the invisible thread made me think of the Emperor's new clothes!! But it is done and hung and when P gets up in the morning I will take some pictures!

My next mobile project is for sprout's room. I bought a wicker 'ring' which I will spray white and I bought some stuffed animals (everything is from the salvation army) to hang from it, this time with ribbons. I plan to hang it over the changing table as something to look at. I'm also replacing the stars from P's crib mobile (see nursery picture) with coloured elephants to better go with the theme.

Sprout's first pictures

SO ADORABLE! :)
Now... just to get him/her to be less shy about what is between the legs!!!

Nursery colour (wow! I uploaded another picture on the first try!!)

Exersaucer (better late than never)

No pictures for you!

Blogger picture upload still isn't working. Heres the post anyway. Hopefully I will be able to add pictures in the future.

And how! Instead of doing multiple postings today, you're getting it all at once. Happy scrolling!

Exersaucers
P and I were on our way back from running errands/going to the park yesterday when our acros-the-road-to-the-east neighbour was loading 2 really cool exersaucers into the back of his pick up. I smiled and said "wow! those are really nice exersaucers" and kept walking. He stopped me by the time I reached the other side of his driveway and asked if I would like to have them. I expressed enthusiasm and said Iwould come and get them as soon as I dropped P off at our house. I took P across the road and parked him in the driveway, then went back to get the 2 exersaucers. I think he was surprised that I lived so close, and he trailed me back with a lagging piece of one of the exersaucers. So I finally got to introduce myself to my across-the-road-to-the-east neighbour! His name is Dave, his wife is Rachel and they have 3 kids: 1 boy and then BG twins which explains the double exersaucers. He also remarked there may be other baby-related items and asked if I would be interested and I said I would! Apparently there are a lot of clothes -- good name brand stuff -- so I am hopeful that will come our way too.

Nursery
Despite having a nasty headache, my MIL came over yesterday to 'edge' the nursery because I'm too chicken to do it! She was here when I arrived home from our morning out and was making terrific progress. After I fed P and finally got him down to nap, I joined her with the roller. Now the first coat is totally on! I am very pleased with the colour and hope that this weekend when Shaun is off I can get the second coat on as well and be DONE with painting for a while. Next project? Finally getting the second coat of paint on the master bedroom walls. Its only been a year. HAHA!

Kicks
I was laying in bed last night, listening to the TV and relaxing with my hands on my tummy.... and I got KICKED! I felt it right in my hand. It was so wonderful! I waited and I got 3 more random kicks. I'm so glad that Sprout is almost to the point where Shaun will be able to feel his/her kicking -- it really helps with the bonding process.
Oh and speaking of sprout... if I hear one more person remark how wonderful it is to have a surprise I just might blow a fuse! I realize that lots of people enjoy waiting to see what they will have, but I personally feel that knowing ahead of time facilitates the bonding process for ME. And since I will be half-frozen and unable to move at the time of delivery, and probably won't even get to meet sprout until 5 hours after s/he is out of my belly, I'd like to have that pre-birth bonding. Yes yes i know I can still bond with 'sprout' but I honestly don't think it will be the same. Patrick practically came out knowing his name and responding to it by turning his head or stopping crying and this baby won't have that oppportunity to learn pre-birth.

Teething and a growth spurt...

Patrick is teething again. He's working on his 4th molar (some of the points are through) and possibly the eye tooth in that area. At any rate it is tooth # 14 that will make its appearance shortly.

He also seems to be going through a growth spurt and is eating a TON!

Both of these events are also causing him to sleep in which is wonderful :) This is the 3rd day in a row that I've been up at 8 a.m. (he went to bed at 7!) and he is still happily sleeping. I heard him briefly around 5:30 before Shaun got up for work but I think he was just wimpering for his buppy and must have found it because it never became a demanding noise. At any rate, I am glad that he is giving himself the opportunity to rest because when he gets all the sleep he needs, he is a much happier baby to be around.

Today my mother-in-law was hoping to come and help me paint the colour on the nursery - very exciting!! But she called while I was sleeping and left a message saying she had a headache so she is unsure if she can come today. Because of the headache, I don't want to call her back making the phone ring, so I will wait for her call. I hope she is feeling better but even more I am hoping she will relax and feel better. The painting can wait.

So I am not sure what P and I will do today. I am sure will will go to the park at some point, and maybe get some groceries. And he will nap this afternoon after lunch and I can keep working on laundry. I also have a chriopractic appointment at 4:15 - YAY - to fix my poor back which has been hurting for over a week from the stress I put on it doing all that nursery painting.

For the past 3 days we've had company. My friend Cathy and her kids Jordan (5) and Keira (7 months) were here visiting. We went to the park and the beach and had a great time together. Patrick enjoyed having playmates and played with both of them. Because of this I really feel he is going to LOVE playschool which starts in less than 2 weeks!!!

FREE stuff

I love getting free stuff :) Thats probably why I do surveys and the like -- the promise of something FREE.

SO if you like FREE stuff like I do, do the following!

Go to www.electrasol.ca and click on the 'free offer' tab that slides across. Tell them you saw the TV commercial and that you usually use cascade powder (other combinations only give you a $2 off coupon) and they will send you a free box of 15 electrasol powerball tabs for your dishwasher!! Very cool.

Post Ultrasound

Sprout is very healthy. The heart beat was 140, the heart, kidneys, brain, etc look textbook.

However, we now know what we suspected: Sprout is shy. Our first suspicious were when he/she would swim away from the doppler at the doctor's office. We are now convinced. Despite multiple tries, we could not get a gender shot. The only time sprout moved his./her legs was to cross them in the other direction.

So now we are having a surprise!

*~*ULTRASOUND TODAY*~*

Today is finally here! At 2 p.m., we get to have a look at our little sprout and make sure that he/she is ok. And get some pictures to share with the rest of you!

We're also hoping to see if Sprout is a boy or a girl. Lets hope this child has the same lack of modesty that Patrick did!

I will upload the details later!!!

Annoyed

For the last month I have been trying to get a care bear kit from Mary Maxim that a friend would crochet for Sprout's new room. When I was pregnant with Patrick we ordered the kit and instruction book with no problems at all. This time I have encountered nothing but aggrevation.

I first placed my order in early July. Because I'm having it shipped directly to someone else, I wasn't watching the mail for it. When she wrote to tell me it still hadn't arrived I did some checking and found that my credit card had never been billed, despite having e-mail confirmation that the order was placed. I re-placed the order late July and about a week later got an email saying that I had placed my order on the American site and they had transferred it to the Canadian site and would fill it and ship it. I assumed this meant that they would fill it and ship it to where I had indicated on my order. In stead, they shipped it here and I had to go to the extra expense of shipping it to her myself.

I fail to see how this really could have happened because...
1. I always log into the Canadian site. I have no idea how I got onto the American site and honestly shouldn't they have some sort of fail safe when I'm logged in to keep me viewing the Canadian site?
2. I've never had any problems before so this must have been a web-related problem.
3. I've only had things shipped to myself once at Christmas. Otherwise, they have always been shipped elsewhere. Shouldn't this have been noticed?

I am glad to finally know the package is on its way to the correct destination and I have written a complaint to the company. I'll let you know if they even respond. I am fairly certain I will never order from them again after this royal screw up.

3 product reviews

1. Goof Off. A product Shaun bought me went we painted the hall-stairs-hall. Removes dried paint droplets from floors/furnature and even clothes if used quickly.

I really like this product despite my initial aprehension. It works really well. You spray it on, leave it for 10-15 seconds, go at the 'tough spots' with a putty knife and then wipe away. I haven't tried it on clothes yet, but it works terrific on floors. This time I used it I even got off paint from the LAST time the room was painted, and I have no idea how long ago that was. Pretty impressive.

2. Shick Intuition razor. Shaun also got this for me. It was a Christmas present. I was very aprehensive of it because I thought it wouldn't work. Its the razor that has the built-in soap around the blade, and it really DOES work, and does a terrific job, I am quite impressed. Its great on underarms and legs.

3. Knorr frozen entrees. I was sceptical at first. They are quite pricy and seem to be small portions, but they actually are not. There is enough in each bag for 2 people for dinner. And cooking is a SNAP! You dump the contents of the bag into a skillett on medium heat. Stir at 5 and 10 minutes. Serve. Really it is that easy! Quite amazing. A great thing to have in your freezer for a quick dinner.

Play-Doh

I forgot to share this with all of you.
This is actually from two days ago, August 7th.

We bought the play-doh from dollarama. I choose blue because ... well.. he's a boy. Besides, the other colours were gross :)

I made P a ball and then used his hand to show him how to smoosh it. Then I made a snake and a snail, and then I gave him the whole lot in a ball to play with himself, with diligent supervision.

Here are the before and after shots. I think he enjoyed it, but bored of it quickly. Note the fingernails in the 'after' shot.

paint paint paint paint paint. Whew.

The finish white is now on the ceiling, window frame and both sides of the door. Whew. I am so glad that is done.

No pics though, cuz white-on-white isn't very interesting.

Next up: Colour!! Yippie!

Nursery II

HURRAY! I got the opportunity today to FINISH priming the nursery. YIPPIE!! The walls have 2 coats, the ceiling has 1 coat and the window and door frames have 3. I am SOOO Very glad to be done because we had to switch primer brands about half way through and I HATE THE NEW PRIMER. Home Hardware beautytone primer paint SUCKS. It is thin and watery, has poor coverage and DRIPS EVERYWHERE. By the end I was cursing up a blue streak and spending more time cleaning drips off the floor than actually painting. The Behr primer we got from Home Depot is much better.

Here is a picture of the lovely white, and a picture of the main fabric that will be in the room. We're planning to paint yellow and hopefully will decide on the colour tonight. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get the finish white on the trim and ceiling.

nap time

This is a friendly reminder to everyone.

Patrick naps every day and sometimes I nap with him. Nap time starts generally around 11:30 and often lasts until 3ish with lots of variation therewithin. If I am lucky enough to get the chance to nap, I'm going to take it. If its interrupted, I get cranky.

Please do not call me during this time frame. You risk personal injury.

Thanks.

Spaghetti

Patrick and I had spaghetti for dinner last night which I had frozen about a month ago. Patrick L-O-V-E-S spaghetti but refuses to let me help him at all. So it makes a HUGE mess. This time was a bigger mess than normal -- he had sauce up to his elbows and behind his ears and in his hair. We went straight from the highchair to the tub!

School

Its officially going to happen. Patrick starts school in September, for 2 mornings a week.

Mostly I am thrilled. I think the experience will be good for him, help him grow, make friends and learn new things. I know that he will truly enjoy it once he gets past the transition stage. But I am also very sad because I know I will miss him during these times. I also realize that as a SAHM, despite providing him with the best environment possible, I cannot help him grow in the ways that he needs to grow in a group setting.

I know these 2 mornings a week will be my special bonding time with the new baby, and that by the time he/she arrives Patrick will be well established in his routine of going to school twice a week. It will also give Patrick an escape from the new baby to a place that is 'his'.

I still cannot fathom how parents put their child into full time care and go back to work. It must be a heart-breaking experience.

Water baby

We went to the beach last night with Shaun's parents. Last time we went to the beach, it took me over 15 minutes to coax Patrick to put his toes down into the water. Eventually he thought this was OK and walked, holding my hands, out to about waist height.

I figured we'd have a repeat performance this time. We didn't. Apparently Patrick is a water baby at heart. He and Daddy played in the water for half an hour, splashing and bobbing and Patrick was wet right up to his shoulders! It was very cute to watch from the shore as I hadn't worn a bathing suit. Next time I will!

Here are some pictures that Dorothy took:

Jello

I just had a full body, 1-hour massage and now I feel like jello. Soooooo relaxing. Driving home was like being in a dream (not such a good thing, in retrospect).

I think I'll go every month.

Nursery

Now that Patrick's room is done, we've moved onto the nursery.

While my parents were here, we took down everything from the walls and closet, stripped the old wallpaper out of the closet and took down the decorative wallpaper boarder, and Shaun began removing the old baseboard (we would have kept it, but there is a gap where the old electric baseboard heater was removed, and we can't match it anymore) and yesterday I filled all the holes with drywall compound.

Today Shaun is finishing with the baseboard removal and will then sand where the wallpaper boarder was and also all the places I filled. Then I am sure I will have to re-fill the holes (the stuff shrinks when it dries) and then re-sand. Then we can PAINT! Yippie!