Exploring!

Gah...okay..so I just finished writing a really long blog entry, and my computer decided that it wasn't worthy and did some sort of screwy thing..resulting in the blog entry disappearing. So instead of re-writing the whole darn thing (which would just be too annoying to even attempt) I will give you a re-cap of what it said.:
#1) Liam has been sucky at sleeping this week. Not a new story for us. But last night Bill and I took a stand which ended up taking about 2 hours, lots of crying (Liam and myself! lol) and finally around 9:30, Liam falling asleep due to Bill's bright idea of putting a blankie in the crib with little man. Go Bill!! Just FYI..we did not do the cry it out thing, we just refused to rock Liam to sleep, he had to do it on his own. So if we did pick him up, there was no rocking.

#2) This week has been all about exploring Petawawa a little. Instead of going for our daily walk on the base (which was getting very boring and monotonous), we have been venturing out to new places.

#3) New place number 1 was this walking path I have driven past many times and never stopped in to see it. After walking down this massive hill (not so easy with stoller and dog in tow) and walking by a somewhat creepy, really old cemetary (all fenced in with barbed wire and everything...I think the graves are from the settlers of Petawawa)...you come to this huge open paradise. There is a pond with ducks swimming around, you can see the river rapids just beyond it, there are beautiful gazebos, open green grassy areas to play soccer or whatever, a fire engine shaped play structure for the little ones, and a little mini sandy beach area. Gorgeous! And the trail is nice and paved, and follows the river so all you hear is the water and the birds chirping. I will take pics the next time I go.

#4) New place number 2 was Petawawa Point, a beach that it pretty close to our place. It does involve driving to it though, but I am an expert in packing up the van on my own at this point in the mommy game.

The view from this beach is spectacular on a rainy day...but today was sunny and perfect and the view was amazing! You can see all these little islands everywhere, and the hills in the distance. There were kids playing in the sand, and all the cottagers along the water were out enjoying the weather. Cottagers are always so friendly don't you find? People were saying hi to us left, right and center :) We went for about a 45 min. walk, stopping along the way to give Liam his bottle and to cool down in the shade along the fast moving part of the river (we were on a hill overlooking it).

Evidently there was a moose sighting along the river today so there were a couple of people with their binoculars out trying to see him (including this really cute kid with glasses. He was so excited!). As great as the walk was, I was happy to get home and get little man into the air conditiong. Love the weather, but I don't like Liam to be out in it for too long. So we are all caught up now...and as soon as Liam wakes up from his nap, the rest of our day will be filled with lots of playing and banana puffs (I love the way he almost smooshed them into his mouth!! SO cute!). Go out and enjoy the weather...and explore new places! You might be surprised what you can find in your own backyard (I was!)

My son...the Rockstar!

Today was one of those super happy, easy days. It was Bill's last day off before he heads back to work for a six day stretch, and we actually had nothing planned. For some reason we always end up packing so much into his time off. Maybe everyone is like that. Before his time off has even arrived we've got trips to Ottawa planned, to-do lists made, gardens to plants, etc.etc. So today was great. For the first 2 days of his time off we were pretty busy. Bills parents came to Pet to help us build a shed in our backyard. We bought the shed awhile ago now (for a really, really great price), but we didn't realize how complicated it was going to be to build. I'm sure the look on my face when we opened up the box and I looked at the instructions was priceless. It ended up taking us all day Monday and Tuesday to get the whole project completed....but we are SO happy to have it (thanks Mom and Dad-in-law!!). My friend Nichole also came down for a visit on Monday afternoon, and stayed until Tuesday afternoon. So I should add some thanks for her too, as she ended up helping out a lot with the shed.

We had a barbeque on Monday for all the "shed builders" and Bill invited one of his co-workers and his family. It was kind of cool to meet them because they brought their daughter Addy who was born on the exact same day as Liam. Turns out they only live around the corner, so I told the woman (Pauline) that she should carpool to playgroup on Tuesdays (she doesn't have a car during the day) On Monday night, after Liam was all bathed and ready for bed, Nichole and I drove to Pembroke to check out the theater there and to see "Eat, Pray, Love." The theater...not so great! lol. No cupholders, squeeky seats, REALLY loud, and you could hear the movie in the next room. BUT the awesome movie made up for it. SO good :) Somehow, we managed to stay up long enough when we got back to enjoy a glass of wine and to chat for awhile. Needless to say we were both a little zombie-ish the next day.

Tuesday was another shed-building day. It was also Liams playgroup day, so in the afternoon I stole Nichole and my mom-in-law away to come check it out with Liam and I. Not a lot of the regulars were there, but we did meet some new mommy's and some cute lil ones. We even met a little guy named Calum who was also born on Dec. 8th! Cute cute cute.

And that brings us back to today. Our rock-star day!! Lately I have been seeing all of these lil ones Liams age doing things that he isn't really interested in yet. Like climbing up on things for example. Liam could stand up, holding onto things, if we put him there. But today...oh today...he was sitting in his crib looking at me, and he just reached out, grabbed the rail, and pulled himself up. I was so excited I started jumping up and down and clapping for him. He got all excited with himself. And that was just the start of our day :) He's been working on getting to a sitting position from his belly lately, but hadn't really mastered it until today. Smarty pants. After his morning "snack" bottle, we headed over to a park near us. Liam has never been to a park, so it was really fun for us to share the experience as a family. We pushed him in the swing....

We helped him to go down the slide, and we let him explore the cool, squishy ground beneath the playground...

Then we went home, and tried some cheerios and apple juice for the first time. It seemed to be the day to venture out and try new things.

All in all...a great day! I'm so happy that Bill was able to be there for so many of Liams firsts. He missed so much being away at boot camp, and then for the G20 summit, I am always thankful when he is around now. That being said, tomorrow Liam and I are leaving for Ottawa. We're just staying the day, and then driving to Trenton on Friday. Saturday we are planning on going to the beach with some of our friends...I can't wait to see Liams reaction to the sand :)

I am a horrible, horrible blogger. I admit it. You would think that not having anything to say would be the problem, but for me, it's the opposite. If I don't write for a few days, I feel like there is WAY too much to report, so I don't write, and then the problem just gets bigger and bigger. But I am not giving up quite yet, so no worries!

This week has been pretty uneventful, but as always when you have a baby in your life, it has been pretty busy. Bill is currently working six days on, and then gets three days off....so I am excited for tomorrow when he starts his days off. On Tuesday of this week I took Liam to the Under One club playgroup for the second time. We had been away on holidays for a few weeks, and he slept through one of the Tuesdays, so in all we had missed three weeks. What a difference 3 weeks makes!! The first time we went to the group, Liam sort of sat in front of me and assessed the situation. He did end up playing a little bit, but he didn't really venture too far away from me. This Tuesday, he was off! There was no stopping him! :) There was another little boy there named Nolan that we had met the first week....he and Liam were just having a grand ol time. It is seriously the cutest thing ever to see two little guys watching each other play with new toys, looking in the mirrors together...and just crawling around, learning as they go. I loved it. Nolan's mommy seems really great too, so I am excited about next weeks playgroup. It's great to have another mom to talk to about silly things like whether or not our kids should be eating meat yet, or how much they should be napping at this stage. We even found out that we are both planning on putting our little guys in swimming lessons come September, so it will be super fun to go together.

For the rest of the week, Liam and I sort of stuck to the same routine everyday. Get up, chill in the big bed for a little while (I still breastfeed Liam in the mornings...it's kind of our special time together...with Bill...lol), then venture into his room to get dressed for the day. I find that I have to get myself nice and cheerful in the morning so that it sets the tone for the rest of the day. It's hard not to be happy though, with this little face looking at me everyday.

After that, we play in the living room for awhile...usually end up making a big mess exploring all of our different toys. Liam seems to like the toys that are not really toys the best...remote controls, the camera case, the cabinet doors under the tv. Silly guy! When he was about 3 months old I bought him this stand and play walker thing...and I finally managed to put that together this week. So far not too much interest in it...but at least it's there for him when he's ready. I got spoiled this week because for two whole days, my son actually napped for longer than 30 min. intervals. He had 2, 2 hour naps instead. AHHHHHHHHHH!!! Amazing!!! I was able to get some chores done AND relax myself. So that is how the other half live. Today we're back to normal it seems.

So all in all...a pretty normal week in the Adams family. When Bill was working the morning shifts, we were able to go out and buy some potted Mum plants to spruce up the backyard a little bit better. When we first got to this pmq, the yard was in serious need of some attention. After making this new little garden, I am pretty pleased with how it is coming along. We may not live here for too long, but while we are here I'd like to see something beautiful when I look out my kitchen window. And after all my complaining about the damn birds in the backyard...FINALLY we have some cute little ones. They appear in packs of 5 or 6...and they're the sweetest things ever. YEY! :) Liam and I stand at the kitchen window almost everyday and just watch them :)

Can you bottle a feeling?

Right now my son is asleep upstairs with his Nana, the house is quiet, and I have a full iced cappucino in front of my. Life is good! We are staying with my grandparents in Ottawa for one more night, and then it's back to good ol' Petawawa. I took a walk over to Tim Hortons just a little while ago, and man is it gorgeous out. It's one of those days that you just want to bottle up and sample every once in awhile. The sky is oh so blue, and the temperature is perfect, and there is just this feeling in the air that fall is somewhere around the corner. Not necessarily the next corner, it may take a few blocks to get there...but I love that sense of the season about to change. As a kid, I always loved fall. I was one of those weird ones that actually loved back to school time. The new outfits all set to go, all of my pencial crayons sharpened and colorful ...waiting to create something magical, the new backpack all filled up. So great! I can't wait to share that feeling with Liam. As it is right now, I am so excited just to experience Liams first autumn with him. I have visions of playing in the leaves with him, picking out pumkins, going for hikes in the forest (we LOVE to do this as a family...there is always so much to discover), and dressing him all up warm and snuggly in his fall clothes. MMMmmmm....did I mention that life is good? :)
For the past 2 weeks we have been on vacation. My husband had a couple of weeks off (so GREAT!!) so we took off to his cottage for the first week, and did the whole Ottawa/tourist thing for the end half. The cottage was actually a lot of fun this time. Sometimes in the past I haven't had that great of a time up there...Bill will go off to help his dad with things, and then I've been sort of stuck inside with the baby. But this time was different. Bill was super awesome the whole time....we really worked as a team the whole time we were there. One night I would do bathtime and Bill would do bottle, and then the next night we would switch. It worked out great and we both got our alone time with little man. We took Liam in the lake for the very first time (I will post some pics soon I promise!) and he absolutely LOVED it! He did a little squack the first time, but honestly...who wouldn't?? The water was a tad chilly at first. But then his little legs started kicking and his face lit up. It was magic. Our puppy Chloe also joined us in the water, so Liam had a grand ol' time watching her paddle away (and mommy had the task of keeping the two "babies" from meeting up in the water...dog paws and floating babies do not mix! lol). We took Liam for a couple of long hikes in the woods which he also loved. I think he enjoys being in the snuggli because he can be a part of all the action. Sometimes he moves his legs like he is actually walking along. Too funny.
Ottawa has been great, and tiring. Lol. We've taken Liam downtown Ottawa to see the sights and do some shopping (he loved all the people and watchng all the cars), we took his on a little toy buying splurge at Toys R Us (bought him a picnic table, etc. for his birthday in December), and we took him to the Science and Technology Museum (he seemed to like all of the reflections in the glass, the trains....but most of all the ceiling fans that were way up high...lol). All in all, a great trip.
Bill left Thursday for home as he had a meeting Friday morning, and Liam and I decided to hang out in Ottawa for a couple of extra days. It is my Uncle Gords 50th birthday party tonight, and since we've moved away I have missed a lot of family events, so I thought it would be nice to see everyone. I know that everyone is dying to see Liam also...so I don't wanna deny them. lol We'll head back home tomorrow morning which is great. After having had 2 weeks with Bill not working...I'm having withdrawal being away from him for a couple of days. I miss him.
Anyways, sorry no pics this time...there will be lots in the future!