Wordless Wednesday

After staying up until 2am last night reminiscing with hubby and looking at baby pics of our firstborn, I thought I'd post a pic of our first sweet baby boy.  As the due date creeps closer, I find myself wondering all day long what this next one will be like!

These were before and after shots of his 2nd hair cut (the first could barely be considered a hair cut).  

He went from Conan O'Brian to G.I. Jonah.  I just about died when I realized how short they were cutting it!

It's okay . . .

I'm totally stealing this idea from a good friend with a great blog - check her out at Dreams, Diapers, and Dilemmas.  She stole the idea from her sister who stole it from a magazine, so I guess it's a catchy idea! Here goes.

It's okay that . . .

I'm hopelessly addicted to warm fuzzies.  Cats, dogs, my husband, my son, babies, chick flicks, and making memories on family outings. Maybe that could be the reason why I'm such a picture taking junkie and tell stories on end about my little boy.  I just love reliving the moments.  And hey, what's better than the smell of yummy babies and burying your face in a kitty's fur?

It's okay that my 3 year old was up until midnight last night because I accidentally got carried away with my scrapbooking in the afternoon and he ended up with a 4 hour nap.  Oops! 

It's okay that I'm a tomboy at heart but hate bugs or baiting my fish hooks.  It's about the only girly girl aspect about me.

It's okay that I'm a facebook junkie.  I love to stay up to date with friends and family, especially since we moved more north.  It has really become difficult to get to see everyone face to face on a regular basis, and lets just face it, what mom has time to spend hours on end on the phone?

It's okay that I hate being pregnant (but I love the results).  For anyone that spends their entire pregnancy yakking, fighting constant heartburn and sciatic nerve pain, you'd hate it too.

It's okay that I'm not Supermom.

It's okay that I'm a dreamer.  I get a high just planning things and thinking about how I'm going to do something, even if I know, it's probably never going to happen.  Optimism is healthy!

It's okay that I nap just about every day, even when I'm not pregnant.  If it's good for the Spanish, it's good for me!

It's okay that I LOVE homemade mac and cheese and just can't wait to microwave the leftovers the next day.

It's okay that I love Road to Avonlea and would watch episodes for hours on end if I had the time.  My heart melts every time I hear Gus Pike say "Mess Kang (Miss King)" with his alluring accent.  : D  And yes, I will admit, I dragged my husband with me to the Road to Avonlea cast reunion at the Royal Ontario Museum a few years back.  I even made him be the one to take the picture of me with 'Gus' (Michael Mahonen).  And yes, he said "Mess Kang" for me!!!! Eeeee!  Next to my wedding day and the day my son was born, it was just about the next best day of my life!


What's your "It's okay . . ." list?  Share your comments, I'd love to hear!

Wordless Wednesday

Momisms

For mother's day this past May, my mom surprised ME with a mother's day gift.  Totally unexpected and so sweet.  Thanks, Mom!  Anyway, in it, there was this little book called Momisms: What She Says and What She Really Means.  I've been leafing through over the past few weeks, whenever a spare moment (ha!) comes my way.  The crazy thing about this little book, is that there are 105 momisms in it - EVERY one of which I've heard before and many of which I've already used in my three short years as a mom.  Some of them are just too hilarious to keep to myself, so I thought I'd post a few . . .

Momism #4 - This one is soooo me!
"Put that down - you don't know where it's been!"
{Referring mainly to objects found on the ground in public places - things like coins, candy, half-eaten sandwiches, and used chewing gum -- this ism reflects every mom's pathological fear of germs.}

Momism #5 - One I heard repeatedly as a child.
"They're just jealous, that's all."
{A time-honoured but weak attempt to comfort a child who has been treated cruelly by his or her peers.  This ism is often uttered through clenched teeth as Mom plans the untimely, slow, and painful demise of her kid's tormentors.}

Momsism #6 - I honestly just used this one today, for this exact reason!  LOL!
"What did I just say?"
{The child interprets this as a challenge over whether or not they are paying attention.  But in most cases, the actual translation is, "I'm not testing your hearing.  I have actually forgotten what I just said and I'm hoping you can tell me."}

Momsim #10
"This place is a pigsty!"
{This pathetic attempt at motivating children to improve their housekeeping skills usually falls on deaf ears, especially with urban urchins who think a pigsty is an eye infection in swine.}

Momism #27
"Look at me when I'm talking to you."
{Moms do not like to be ignored, especially when delivering a long, impassioned diatribe on a child's bad behaviour.  Maintaining eye contact is the only way a mom can tell if her message is getting through, even if the eyes in question seem to be glazed over in a zombielike state.

Momism #46
"Don't forget to flush (or brush, floss, wipe, etc.)."
{One of the many daunting responsibilities in a mother's life is to train her son(s) in the fine art of personal hygiene.  This is easier said than done since most boys, until the approximate age of thirty, require constant daily reminders to perform the most basic of hygienic tasks.  These momisms are used several times a day around most households.  Sometimes, moms find it difficult to leave these warnings at home and may absentmindedly yell: "Don't forget to wipe!" as their young sons head for the rest room of a five star restaurant.}

Momism #93 - I've told myself this one many times!
"This, too, shall pass."
{An old standby, this is the ism to try when no other ism will do.}

Momism #105
"I love you."
{No translation necessary.}

Wedding Dress Blog Tour

A blog I follow, Shasher's Life is doing a Wedding Dress Blog Tour. How cool! So, I thought I'd join in for the fun of it! Check out her blog for links to all the other participants, and tour away!

Hubby and I were married on a VERY frigid May 15, 2004.  

It might as well have been snowing!  The picture session was short and sweet and consisted of bridesmaids wearing the groomsmen's coats and the groomsmen shivering with their hands stuffed in their pockets!  So much for my pretty, bloom-filled, warm, spring wedding.  Oh, well, everything else went off without a hitch . . .

Except for the cheapo wedding cake (or should I say birthday cake) that we ended up cutting with a butter knife because the caterer forgot the cake knife (notice how our hands are cleverly trying to conceal the butter knfe).  Very classy!

The question six years later - to sell or to keep?  Well, I'm pregnant with our second boy and I don't have plans for any more children, so I'm thinking SELL, since I don't think my boys will have much interest in me pulling out my old wedding dress to reminisce about years down the road.  I'm thinking if I can sell the dress, I'll buy a tree for the yard so I'll have something to remember it by, and something we can all enjoy.

What was your dress and your day like?  Be sure to link your blog up at Shasher's Life to join the tour!

Fantasy Friday (Don't worry, it's G rated!)

Okay, so at this stage in my life as a mom of a preschooler and of a wee babe on the way, there's not much room in my life for all that other stuff (you know, that 'stuff', other than wiping snotty noses, battling over the potty, the never ending piles of laundry, and spending the rest of my day just dealing with the attitude of a 3 year old).  So tonight, I sit here in front of the computer, the house strangely silent (hubby took little mister to Gram and Papa's), and my mind wanders to all the things I dream of doing someday.  Not that I don't love this stage in my life, I wouldn't trade it for the world, but it's nice to know it's just a stage, and that one day, maybe I'll have a little more freedom to do some 'me stuff' again.

• I want to sing in a choir again.  I grew up in choirs from the time I was little and could sing in the kids church choir, to the community youth choir, to high school Concert Choir, to church choir again after that. There never seemed to be a time I wasn't singing. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't profess to be some lead soloist or anything, there's just something so exhilarating about making music together.

• I always said once I finished my A.R.C.T. in piano, I wanted to learn to play the fiddle and the guitar.  Well I'm there now, but I don't see a fiddle or a guitar in my near future!

• I want to be a writer.  I have no idea of what, or what for, but I do love to write and hope that I will always have an opportunity to write.  I guess that's what's so great about blogging (when I have the time, anyway)!

• I am fascinated with my family history, and that of Simcoe County.  I would love to devote more time to researching those things, just for the heck of it and the sheer knowledge of knowing everything I can about the place I was born and raised, and where my family came from.

• I want to take my family to Grand Manan Island, N.B. to enjoy the beautiful place I was so blessed to spend many of my childhood summers.

• I'd love to ski again.

• I want to volunteer in my community.

• I would love to experience a day at the spa, not that I'm much of a girly girl and the idea of going to a 'spa' totally intimidates me, but who wouldn't want a day to be pampered.

• I want to learn about home and garden architecture and design, and maybe one day, design our own dream home.  Even if we never get to actually build it.

• I want to actually have a green thumb and not just rely on my mother and grandmother's skills.

• I would consider being a foster parent one day when our own children are grown.

• I want to put my feet up, with the sole purpose of just reading a good book and enjoying the sunshine, with no interruptions.  Unless, someone wanted to deliver me a glass of icy lemonade!   

Sleepy Sunday

I am the type of person that tends to be full of dreams and ideas, yet I lack the most important ingredient to make my plans happen - motivation.  Today I have so many ideas of what I'd like to get done and projects I'd like to tackle today, but all I really want to do, is curl up next to my sick little boy and sleep the day away.

Normally, at this time on a Sunday, we'd be zipping down the road, trying not to be late for church, but it seems in this household, we've been passing bugs around for the last couple of months, so unfortunately, we haven't been making it to church very often.  Thankfully, the Lord loves us and speaks to us wherever we are.  Even at home, in our jammies, hair awry, dirty dishes all over the place, laundry filling every nook and cranny of the house.  Our God is omnipresent, and that really is a beautiful thing!

In previous blogs, I've talked a bit about the depression and anxiety that I've been struggling with for much of my life.  It can be quite consuming at times, even though I'm taking meds to help me, and it can tend to be a road block for me when trying to get things done.  But, thankfully, I know I am in a place now where at least I can dream about things again.  Come up with ideas.  Get my creative juices flowing again.   Something I couldn't have even attempted this past winter.

As I dream today and attempt to tackle some projects that I've been neglecting for months, I'm going to hold fast to the verse we all know so well: "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.  Philippians 4:13"  Sometimes, you've heard a scripture so many times in your life, that you really never stop to think about what it says and how it applies to you.  How awesome is that, that with God, all things are possible!  Why then should I keep trying to plug away at things on my own?  A hamster on a wheel that goes nowhere.  It sounds so simple, a basic Christian principal that I have known all my life, but something that we tend to shove in a drawer and bring out only when there's a crisis.  I want to live by that principle on a daily basis, in the big things and the little things that a human chalks up as insignificant.  NOTHING is insignificant in the eyes of God. The Bible tells us that He knows when a single sparrow falls. Insignificant to us, sure, but NOT TO GOD.

So today, all those little things, the obstacles, the tiredness, the lack of motivation, I'm giving them to God.  When it looks like there's no end in sight to the piles of laundry, the potty training messes, the stack of mail that remains unopened, the projects, I'll look to the Lord to get me to the other side of that mountain of laundry.  To see that project through. To remember, that we all end up potty trained eventually.