What a Week (and it's only Tuesday!)

What a week, WHAT a week!  Hang on...it's only Tuesday right? lol.  Okay...well I guess it just feels like life has been on this endless loop lately.  I have been trying to find some sort of toe hold, but seem to always be pumelling into whatever the next turn, the next day may bring.  Life just gets SO crazy busy sometimes! 
I am the type of person who needs some quiet time now and again to gather my thoughts and to just get in tune with myself.  This "quiet" time has been sorely lacking lately, and it is catching up to me.  Don't get me wrong, I adore my life.  I love my son such that no words can do it justice.  I am always falling more and more in love with my husband (even when he is driving me nuts).  My puppy Chloe continues to offer so much unconditional love into our household (even when she is driving me nuts!).  It's just the "loving myself" part that needs some nurturing right now.

We all need to love ourselves from time to time don't you think? Find that one thing that makes us happy and just go for it.  Lately my one thing seems to be crafting.  I always knew that I had a crafty spirit, but truly didn't give myself enough credit.  I CAN KNIT!! Who knew?  I've been on a roll lately knitting wool hats for the kiddies in my life.  I can work a sewing machine and make actual beautiful things with my own two hands.  Didn't know that either.  Wish there were more hours in a day to make pretty things!  I have all of these different projects floating around my head: finish Liams first year photobook (yeah..you heard me right...first year! And he's in his third year now. I am behind.), organize and label the photos I have taken with my iphone since November (currently they have no rhyme or reason on my computer), learn how to crochet, finish/start my first quilt (I think I started cutting squares for it while I was still in University), etc. etc.

On a completely different note....Liams first trip to the Nature Museum this past Sunday was SUCH a huge success.  My parents ended coming along with us which was fantastic...Liam so enjoyed having his Nana and Papa there.  The first room we entered was the dinosaur exhibit.  My boy was too thrilled for words.  His eyes just got so big and his little pointer finger made its first appearance of the day.  He pointed out everything to us, and just kept calling out what he was seeing; "dinosaur...rawr!!!", "Eggs mommy (dinosaur eggs)", "feet".  He was a little weary of the actual dinosaur replicas they had and made sure to sort of walk down the center of the room.  Like he wasn't too sure if they were going to stay where the were supposed to.

We let him run and explore for most of the day.  We did bring the trusty stroller (though in hindsight our Ergo would have probably worked out great too...just wouldn't have been as useful in carrying our lunch bags, diaper bag, and extra coats..lol), but I'm of the opinion that kids need their freedom to see and learn things on their own terms.  Of course we made sure that he wasn't running into other people, or touching unappropriate things, but I loved watching how his little mind worked.  Loved seeing what things fascinated him and made him stop in his tracks.  We learned that he is not afraid of heights.  We learned that he truly does adore all things creepy-crawley.  Bill and him spent some great quality time in the bug/spider/fish/snake room. 

We learned that 3D glasses are not his thing (we took him to his first in-theater movie...a 3D).  But he was so good in the theater....put all my fears to rest (so wasn't looking forward to being "that" mom that takes her child to a theater before s/he is old enough and then wonders why s/he can't stay still or stay quiet).  By the end of the trip he was just exhausted! He finally crashed in his stroller with his blankie, his soosie and his belly button and that was that. What a fun day!

This week is a busy one (as previously complained about...lol).  I work four days straight which is unusal for me, so I am already feeling pretty beat.  Though I did just make it home from the gym...kudos to me.  Bill is off right now for his March Break, so the timing of my full work week couldn't really be better.  I love knowing that Liam is at home having fun with his Daddy.  And it doesn't hurt having someone to help with with meals at home either.  Or to come home to a clean bathroom, organized hat/scarf/mitten closet.  Love my hubby!  He is currently off checking out the karate club on the base.  He took karate for many years, and I have been sort of pushing him to get back into it.  I think it would be great for him to have an outlet outside of home or work, to meet some new people and to just be able to get away from "us" for awhile. lol.  Hoping it goes well for him tonight.

This coming weekend Liam and I are off to Ottawa for my niece Devyn's 5th birthday.  Seems like yesterday I was living in Ottawa and visiting teeny tiny baby Devyn as much as I could.  She is such a sweet, wonderful girl and I am just SO proud to be her auntie. 

Spring?

Looking like Spring is slowly on its way here in Ontario (though I will miss the cuteness that is Liam all dressed in his winter gear! lol).  Today brought with it extremely high winds and temperatures in the pluses finally.  It also brought with it lots of slushy roads and power outages.  I worked for most of the day, so Liam got to hang out with his Daddy.  Bill is now off for his March Break, and it is delightful to say the least.  There is just something great about leaving for work with no hurt in the back of my heart for leaving Liam at his daycare.  I know he has lots of fun at daycare, and Pauline does such a great job at loving him like I would, but those days that he doesn't want me to leave and clings to my body...those days tug at a mommy's heart strings.

Tomorrow we are off to Ottawa for the day.  I have been wanting to take Liam to the Nature Museum for quite some time now, but circumstances have always seemed to foil our plans.  So tomorrow is finally the day!  I cannot wait to see my little monkey's face when he gets to see all of the animals, birds, dinosaurs and the like.  I think he is going to LOVE it and I can't wait.  We are also fitting in a visit with my grandparents and with Bills parents, sister, brother in law and our niece Stephanie.  Nothing like a busy day. lol. 

Liam is such a busy guy these days.  I was very happy that Bill got back from Cochrane when he did this week, because I was getting dang exhausted running around after him and Chloe.  Liam has sort of got the "no way" thing mastered now, and does not hesitate to make sure we know it. lol.  He also loves to throw things all of a sudden, so no toy is safe.  Liam is such a smarty!! Today while our power was off, we spent some family time on the couch reading books.  I loved listening to him and Bill learning the alphabet and counting out numbers.  Liam can pretty well count from 1-10 with no problems now, and is awesome at the alphabet.  It's crazy how fast they pick things up at this age.

 So here's hoping that the Spring weather continues around here.  I can handle some wind and rain as long as it means that the mountains of snow we have might finally melt.  I am SUCH a Spring girl...it can'ts come soon enough for me :)

Liam is 2!

My baby is TWO! Guess I missed a few months since my last post....because did I mention that my baby is TWO?? It is such a cliche to say that kids grow up way too fast, but it is so true.  I was sitting in Liams room the other day, rocking him to sleep for his nap (he was getting spoiled...we don't usually do that anymore), and I just kept thinking about the day that he was born and about how tiny and precious he was.  At that time it was hard to imagine life outside of sleep schedules and breast feeding, but now here we are, two years later, and life is fantastic!

Liam is very, very busy these days.  He almost always wakes up in a great mood, raring to get going...and doesn't slow down until after bathtime at about 7:30.  He is even trying his darndest to give up his afternoon nap, but thus far we have managed to convince him that they are still a good idea. Ha.
He is VERY car obssessed! Well...pretty much he is obsessed with any sort of machine that moves (think trains, planes, cars...you get the idea).

Before Liam was born I had all of these ideas about trying not to push any sort of gender stereotypes onto my child, but little did I know that some things are truly just engrained into them.  I am sure that having a father and grandfather who are also car obsessed has played a huge role in Liams love for them, but he has just been a very "boy-y" boy since day one. He likes to push baby strollers, but has no qualms about tossing those poor babies right on the ground as soon as he realizes they are along for the ride.  At least we have a Lighting McQueen stuffie that he loves and we work on giving hugs to, etc. So I have at least a compassionate car loving little guy on my hands :)

The other loves in Liams life right now would have to be:

  * Going to playgroup.  If we even walk by that building while walking Chloe, he gets really excited.
  * CARS 2!!!!!! Seriously, we watch this movie every. single. day.  No lie.
  * His Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater Stuffies.  Sleeps with them every  night.
  * Swimming.  He continues to be a water baby and actually kicks and swims very well.
  * Bath time.  Goes along with his love of water.  He could stay in there forever.
  * His Grandma/Nana/ and Poppas.  He just loves them all! He's a lucky, lucky little man.
  * Being outside.  He will often bring me his boots to tell me he wants to go out, and hates to come in.
  * His belly button.  Enough said. lol.
  * Reading books.  He especially loves Clifford books, and seek-and-find books.
  * Food wise: cheese, crackers, apple juice, cereal, pb and j sandwiches, broccoli, bananas, nutrigrain bars, yogurt, strawberries, cucumber, kiwi, and anything mommy eats! lol
  * Playing with Chloe.  He loves it when Chloers chases him.
  * Snuggling with mommy or daddy after bathtime.  That's our favorite too :)

Dear Liam...

  You are now 21 months old (soon to be 22 months old) and you are such a joy to me!  Somedays I feel like I spend every spare moment just staring at you.  Wondering how I got so lucky to have been blessed with having you in my life; wondering how you are growing up so dang fast; wondering what you will choose to do with your wonderful life; wondering how I don't just fall over all the time with how CUTE you are; wondering how you got so funny so fast; wondering what you are thinking about; wondering whether or not to cut that awesome hair of yours (the decision changes daily); wondering how I could ever love another child just as much as I love you.  And the list just goes on and on. 

 You are SO much fun these days monkey!  You smile all the time, you laugh when you think something is funny, you clap and dance along to music or shows on tv. You can point out all of your different body parts, and can even repeat a lot of their names when mommy or daddy tells you what they are.  You know SO many words now: purple (pretty sure this is your favorite color right now), mama, dada, nana, papa, truck, moo, dog, puppy, choochoo, train, banana (you say "nana" for banana)....and the list just keeps on growing.  I tell you I love you like a thousand times a day and I just can't wait until you can say it back.
  You have such a jest for life.  You LOVE, LOVE, LOVE trucks, cars, planes, trains and anything else that moves and makes noise.  This summer there was a lot of construction happening in our neighborhood, so you were truly in your glory watching all of the big machines.  You get SO excited when "Mighty Machines" comes on the tv.  We know now that we just need to stop anything we are doing so that we can stop and be excited with you.  You always point at the screen, make a "ooohhh" sound, and then turn back to make sure that we are SO seeing what you are seeing.  Too cute! lol.
  Mommy recently went back to work, which has been an adjustment for all of us.  You are not used to staying with anyone that is not mommy or daddy, but you seem to be having lots of fun with Pauline and Addy of the days that mommy is at the bank.  This week Daddy left to go away for week for 6 weeks, and I think that you have picked up on it.  When I went to drop you off at Pauline's today, you cried and clung to my leg (not something you usually do).  So I came in with you and hung out until you felt more comfortable.  It hurt to leave you today, but I knew that you were safe and happy, so we made it through.  Needless to say though, mommy's favorite days are the ones that she spends completely with YOU :)
  I would write about what your favorite foods are...but there are just too many to list! lol.  Here are some of your favorites right now:  pizza (typical kid!), bananas, grapes, cucumbers, cheese strings, goldfish crackers, mommy or daddy's cereal (whatever that may be...guess it tastes better from our bowls), freezies, watermelon, and cookies (of course).  We are SO lucky that you are such a good eater.  Thanks buddy!
 

We love you to the moon and back Liam, and cannot wait to see what the future will bring!
           Love Mommy

Potty Training Chronicles: Chapter 1

Liam is now 20 months old.  Waaaaayyyyy to young to start potty training right?  Well I may be bragging here, but my baby officially peed on his potty for the very first time tonight!!! Did you hear that? We had pee, in a potty, successfully....OMG!  
Bill and I bought Liam his little potty a few months ago, just to introduce Liam to the look of it, and to let him try sitting on it, playing with it..basically whatever he wanted to do with it.  A few weeks ago we decided to move it upstairs to the bathroom so that he could start associating the potty with the "big boy toilet" (k..trying to use appropriate words here..lol).  Whenever I change a poopy cloth diaper, I have Liam help me bring it to the toilet, and he gets to flush just to see what happens.  Gross? Too much information? lol.  Wellll...you may not want to read on then! lol

Every night before I give Liam a bath, I take off his diaper and have him sit on his little potty while I pour the water into the tub.  He always used to stand beside the tub while I was filling it, and usually ended up peeing on the floor...so I thought I would hedge my bets and plop him on his toilet.  And VOILA!  As I was filling the tub tonight, I look over, and there he is, peeing like a big boy.  I, of course freaked out (dunno if that's the correct response...haven't read the books yet..lol), praised him like craaaazzzzy and gave him a high five (that's the way we role in our family).  Who knew that a little pee in a little potty would bring such a high?

So I know it's early, and I won't be pushing the potty thing all the way yet, but it's nice to know that it is right around the corner for my little man.  Is it weird that I am looking forward to making a potty chart, getting out the colored star stickers and the smarties as rewards?  I can't wait to start doing things like that with Liam :)  Fingers crossed for some more potty time tomorrow night...stay tuned.  Looking forward to seeing that little tush in some spiderman undies sometime soon.

Come to think of it...Liam and I watched Elmo's potty training video on O, My Family yesterday.  Could Elmo have worked SO fast?  If so, WOO to Elmo! lol

Our Summer So Far

Okay...it has been awhile since my last post, but in my defense, it has been such a crazy, hectic, adventure-filled summer so far for the Adam's family. 
Liam is now 20 months old, and I cannot put into words how much FUN it is to be around him all of the time now.  He is one of the funniest little guys that I have ever met.  You can't be near him for more than a couple of minutes without cracking a smile.  I think his joy and jest for life are just so contagious....I spend my days with him just looking for that next adventure around the corner. 

I started a new job as a Customer Service Representative at TD Canada Trust about a month ago now, and the most difficult part by far has been leaving Liam for any amount of time.  He is being cared for by a dear friend of the family, Pauline, who has a daughter the exact same age as Liam (and by exact, I mean that Liam is literally only a few hours older than Ads), so I know that he is safe and comfortable and having lots of fun while I am at work.  But I am so afraid of missing those little moments with him.  Like he learned how to say "shoes" sometime over the last couple of weeks, and when I told Pauline, she said that she already knew, she had heard him say it a bunch of times.  I missed "shoes"!!!!  Working means more financial security for my little fam right now, so it is a necessary evil.  And I do get a strong sense of accomplishment from doing something new, and from helping to contribute to the well-being of my family...but dang I miss my baby! 

Hmm...how about a quick recap of our summer so far?  Or at least the parts that my mushy, overworked brain can remember right now. lol.  We are very much an outdoor family, so we have spent the majority of our free time in the fresh air. 

We have gone to our local beaches a bunch of times (we even found a dog-friendly beach nearby that we have loved going to in the evenings after dinner...there is just something about that time right before the sun goes down..magic). 

We went to Trenton for a (way too short) visit with my mom and some great friends.  My mom and dad moved into a new home this summer, so I had to make a special trip to say goodbye to the old pmq.  So many memories...but oh so many more to be made in the new house.  We had lots of fun with our friends Amber and Alexis while we were down :)

We have been to Ottawa a bunch of times for different things (ie. getting Liam fitted for his first suit...omg...CUTE x1000!).  As much as I am learning to appreciate Petawawa and its natural beauty, it is nice to head on back to the city occasionally.  Though we always breathe a little sigh of relief when we exit the rat race there. 

We have been to the cottage as much as possible (it's our version of paradise, and I am so pleased to know that Liam will truly grow up there), and have had the pleasure to share it with new friends and old family.  We brought Pauline and Addy up there for a weekend with us, our good friend James spent some time there with us, and my dad came up with me last time.  I spent my first week away from Liam and Bill (okay..4 whole days...but it felt like a week); I had to work, and Bill was on vacation, so we decided that him, Liam and Chloe would stay up at the cottage with his mom while I returned home.  It was such a weird experience to have quiet time to myself...to clean the house and actually have it stay that way for more than 10 minutes was wonderful...but to come home to such peace was a tad unnerving.  The look on Liams face when he first saw me back at the cottage was worth it though :) 

We have been fairly successful growing our first gardens in our front yard.  I'm thinking maybe I need to devote a blog to the garden soon, there is so much goodness there.  I brought Liam outside with me tonight just before bathtime to water the garden, and the first thing that he did was wander on over to the strawberry plants, point, look at me and said "uhhh" (which in Liam language can mean one of many, many things...apparently Bill and I have the dictionary hardwired into our brains, so in this case I knew it meant that he wanted one).  I love that he can do that.  Just pop on over to his own garden, and grab a fresh, pesticide free, organic snack.  Awesome I tell ya!  We even snuck a taste of the carrots that are growing...though they are the smallest ones ever.  Not too sure we're going to have much success with them this year.  Ok..onwards.....lol

We spent this past weekend back in our home town of Trenton, Ontario, attending the wedding of my best friend Nichole to her, now husband, Dave (the wedding itself was held in Picton, Ontario).  I was a bridesmaid in the wedding, so there wasn't a free moment the entire time I was there...but I hear that Bill and Liam had a great time hanging out with Bills parents and just relaxing.  Bill's mom is always at Liams beck and call, so I know that he was well spoiled.  And he got to spend an afternoon with my parents, where I'm sure that there was even more spoiling happening.  It is all good....family can love and hug on my baby as much as they want!  Liam was the ringbearer in the wedding, and he did such a fantastic job.  My friend Amber and I worried about how well our children would "perform" that day, and they both did WAY above our expectations.  That will teach us to underestimate them!  The wedding day was beautiful, and rustic, and so much a reflection of my good friend Nichole.  I had the best time, with the best people, and I was a little sad to leave it all behind to return home.

Now we are home.  Bill is currently working out in the field, which means that he comes home at night for a quick shower and change of clothes, and then is gone again.  So it should be an interesting next little while.  I work for the next two days, but then get to spend two whole days with my little man which I am so excited for.  What with our crazy schedules lately, I have been feeling a little robbed of time with him.  And he is changing and growing so very fast these days...I don't want to miss a thing.  I took him to his old playgroup today with Addy and Pauline, and I was amazed at how well he was interacting with the other kids, and at how well he was able to concentrate on little things (like playing with the trains at the train table...he played there for a good 10 minute stretch...amazing for my go-getter).  We will definetly be going more often now that we see how much the kiddies love it right now. 

And that is about it (or all I can recall right now.....fading....fading...lol).  I am off to work on a Halloween tutu for my little business Pauline and I have started (because I just didn't have enough on my plate already..HA).  Little PAAL's...check us out..just sayin' :)  Nightey night ya'll!

Goals

I'm gonna be brave and write these words down so that I can't take them back.  I have been finding lately that being a momma is taking up all of my time.  I absolutely adore it, don't get me wrong, but I think that I need to try to find some things that make me happy outside my little family.  Things that remind me of who I am, who I used to be, and who I want to become.  We all have those things that make us unique...that make up who we are...and it is easy to get swallowed up in the everyday, so much that we forget to spend a little time on ourselves.
That being said, here are a few things that I would love to accomplish in the near(ish) future:      

* Take a French course.  I live in Ontario which is a very bilingual province.  Most (good) jobs that I am qualified for require french.  Also, the base offers free language courses for military spouses, so I really have no excuse not to take advantage of that!

* Run a marathon with my hubby.  Not going to be a full marathon, you can bet on that.  But I think it would be good for us to train for and accomplish a goal together.  And it has always been a secret dream of mine.  Time to take a risk.

* Go to the zumba class I recently saw advertised in Petawawa.  Have fun getting fit...sounds like a good plan.  And on that note, I will just add that I would love to lose a good 'couple'  of pounds (leaving it at that..lol).

* Get CPR qualified.  Again, many of the jobs that I would love to apply for require CPR training.  So what is stopping me?  Just have to carve out a weekend and DO IT!

* Do something wild and crazy!! Like go white water rafting, or ziplining, or hike up a really big mountain.  haha.  Just something out of the ordinary, that gets my heart pumping...and lets me say "I did THAT"

* Take Liam to a zoo.  My little man loves animals...so I really hope that an opportunity arises to take him to see all sorts this summer.  Geez..i can already see that big smile of his :)

* Dig out my paints, my easel, and some canvas.  Set myself up outside, with a nice cold glass of something, barefoot.  And just paint.  I used to love painting, and I would love to get back to it.  There is something so freeing for me in turning something so plain, into something colorful and beautiful.  I would also love to get a huge canvas and let Liam walk all over it with some paint.  I think it would be so much fun for him to just be creative with no boundaries. 

* Work on my little home business.  My good friend Pauline and I have been getting together every week to work on making homemade hair bows, felt flower clips, and whatever else our crafty brains can cook up.  We would love to start selling our wares (since we enjoy making them so much!), but we haven't gotten our butts in gear as of yet.  So I need to get on that.  We have a name..that's a start.."little Paals" is born (stands for Pauline, Addy, Amanda, Liam..just FYI..lol)

Okay..well that's all that I've got for now.  The words are out there..so no turning back!

P.S.  Bill is finally HOME from the field :)  Life can go back to normal again...woo!