2009 Comes to a Close

All afternoon has been spent chasing around a rambunctious 16 month old that now really does get into everything.  I thought it was bad before with just the climbing on furniture, tables, getting at my computer, pulling out all the shoes etc.  But lately she has learned how to open the dishwasher.  We try to keep it latched as that would seem the obvious solution, but the little smartie pants has figured out how to unlock it.  Then today, holy shit, the oven door. 

What's Your Motivation?

Motivation:
An emotion, desire, physiological need, or similar impulse that acts as an incitement to action.

The word motive produces images of serial killers, rapists, a general picture of all things criminal.  For criminals have motives for the bad things they do.  They were abused by a mother figure, have a total disrespect for women and want them all to suffer, or have some superiority complex...or maybe they are just really broke so they rob a 7-Eleven for the quick cash, or really thirsty so they hold up a liquor store, (although they could have bought the liquor with the money they stole from the 7-Eleven). 
We always hear the word motive in this context so it's no wonder when we think of someone having a motive for the things they do, it instills negative images. 

Treasure the Goodness in Every Moment

There is good to be found in everything we do or everything that happens to us.  Even when it seems hopeless there has to be something good.

The snot drizzles from her little nose and I hear her snoring at night.  If only she would take that stupid soother out of her mouth she might be able to breathe better but each time I try she wakes.  At least the loose snot means she's getting better right?  With every swipe of the tissue that is just a little less snot to capture.  We have been pretty lucky though...she is rarely sick and it's been months since I have had to chase after her with the tissue to collect the slimy mess.

The Brain of a Man ("simple" yet lovable)

I love my husband to death but sometimes he seriously drives me crazy.  It's not his fault.  He can't help it that he is full of testosterone and whatever other hormones make up the human male, making him the way he is.  I think there is some kind of chemical in a man's brain that makes them either lazy or stupid. 

Most Memorable Moments of 2009

I thought I would create my own memorable moments list of things that happened in 2009.  Not that my life is all that exciting but there has to be some things that top the charts.  It's nice to see what you can remember from the last year or what you forget.

January:

• I think it was pretty cold this month.  Really not remembering anything exciting or interesting that happened to us or anything that we might have done. 
• Julianne might have rolled over this month.  I can't remember for sure when that happened.

Christmas #2

Now the second Christmas that the little one has experienced, this is a huge difference from last year.  Still a babe wrapped in swaddling clothing last year, this time she was able to attempt unwrapping her own gifts.
For the most part, Julianne would open one and play with that, not even thinking about all the others that were left.  And there were a lot for her.  After all, it's all about the kids right? 

Many gifts we still had to help her with but by the time she was done, she was getting right into it, so started to open the ones that weren't for her.  Almost completely opened one of her Uncle Tim's gifts.  There was very little paper left on it by the time he arrived to open it himself. 

All in all, it was a good day.  A good experience, memory, for the record books.  Too bad Julianne won't remember it, but there will many more to come that she will remember.

So tired, can't even muster the energy to write anything of length.  Nothing more than the day was great.  Will write more tomorrow.

Hope you all had a great day and got lots of turkey.

Cheers

BTW---Fudge was good but WAAAAAY too sweet.  Will have to modify recipe to see if it can be made a little less sweet.  Also, extra note, wax paper sucks.  Use margerine or butter to grease pan. 

Full of Sugary Goodness

I did it.  For the first time in my life I made fudge.  Ha.  Not that it's a great accomplishment or anything cause it's really not all that hard to do.  Don't even have to turn on the oven.  But do have to turn on stove and that could be dangerous. 
It remains to be seen how it will turn out.  It's now sitting nestled in the fridge, going through the cooling stage.  T- 3 hours. 
When I was a kid, at Christmas my grandpa would often make fudge and it had to be the best thing

Holy Moly...2 more sleeps

Only two more sleeps until the big day.  No more sleeps if I don't sleep for the next couple of days.  Highly unlikely though as I have been incredibly tired the last week.  Perhaps unusually tired considering my normal sleeping pattern.  Could be the festive season is taking its toll on me or it could be that because I normally don't sleep all that well that it's finally caught up with me.  Whatever the reason, I know it will be two more sleeps before Christmas Day.

3 More Sleeps...

And I still don't have all my shopping done yet.  Sheesh.  So much for having everything done by the end of November.  But I will pull myself up and go to get the last couple of things soon.  Hopefully today.  Plus I still have to do the dinner shopping.  My plan was to do that tomorrow but I might do it today.  We will see.  It's starting to snow AGAIN.  It snowed all day yesterday.  Looks like we are going to have that white Christmas afterall.

I have more to say today but not enough time to write so I will post again later maybe.  Or leave you all in suspense. 

Cheers

Monday Again?

Is it really Monday again?  Already?  Where does the time go?  Well it's the start of a new week and hopefully a better week.  So far, Julianne is in a good mood.  She slept really good.  Actually she has been sleeping pretty good for the last few days.  She went down around 8pm last night and didn't wake up until close to 10am this morning so I would say that's a success.  She didn't eat much for breakfast though.  Sometimes the amount she eats worries me but she seems to be doing just fine.  Obviously she is getting enough.  Just eats like a bird.  And she eats often so I am sure she's just fine. 
I think she's getting used to not having a soother during the day.  Now it's just a matter of getting it away from her at night.  I tried to go take it away from her the other night while she was sleeping, but as soon as I pulled it out of her mouth she sat straight up in bed.  Not entirely awake but enough to know what I was doing I think.  So I gave it back to her and left it alone.  I think I might have to go the route of poking the little pinholes in it.  Although it's not entirely necessary that I take it away from her now.  I will probably leave it for a few more days.  Maybe in January I will progress to the next step.

So the staff Christmas party is complete and it wasn't all that bad.  The food was good and there was lots to talk about.  Namely the 50 something Janis Joplin-prostitute wannabe.  What the (*$^)!  Who dresses like that?  Long jet black hair parted straight down the middle and wild enough that many a bird could have found a safe haven among the mattes.  You couldn't even see her face behind all that hair.  And that was nothing compared to what she was wearing!  Black, bell bottomed strappy dress that was at least 2 sizes too small.  Her breasts were so squashed into that dress I swear she was trying to perform a self-mammogram.  I felt sorry for the little duo as they tried to break free, trying to catch any possible breath they could.  It was so short in the back that her bra was ALL you could see.  And of course the dress was WAY too short.  I couldn't tell you what kind of shoes she was wearing as I was too shocked with the rest of the getup.  Rumour has it she's trying to find herself a 'decent' man but come on lady, do you really think that is going to attract the kind of man you're wishing for?  Good grief!  Some people will never get it.  From the looks of it, what you're offering, most men have to pay for.
Sorry, I don't normally talk about people like this but it was definitely a sight that I just couldn't get over. 
However, the highlight of the night was the awards.  Employee of the Year went to none other than....wait for it...drumroll please....my husband. Well deserved for sure.  And the nice monetary bonus that came with the glory was appreciated.  So I guess this was one party that wasn't all that bad.
One thing that really gets to me though, are the people that show such a lack of respect for the company they work for that they show up looking like they just rolled out of bed.  Most of these people were young men though.  Not that that's any excuse but it explains a lot.  You could at least not look like a hoodlum.  There were some I swear must have been packing something under that hoody.  It's possible that it's not a blatant disrespect for the company per se but a lack of respect for themselves.  But that's a totally different issue.

Cheers.

6 more sleeps til Christmas.  The stockings are hung by the chimney with care...in hopes that someone will fill the fuzzy things.  Most of the shopping is done, just a couple more things to get and then of course all the fixings for our holiday dinner.  Then we are ready to go.
Julianne is happy the last couple of days.  Probably because Daddy is home but happy nonetheless.  I'll take it, no matter what the reason.
Arie's staff Christmas party is tonight.  Julianne is spending time with her Auntie so that we can go out and have a good time, kid free.  It will be a welcomed break.  Even though, staff Christmas parties are not my favourite thing to do.  The formalities that surround them can be so boring and then the fact that I don't know anyone at this particular one.  But personally I don't like my own staff parties either.  At least the ones of the past.  The best ones have been the informal parties, at a co-workers home where it is simply the old fashioned house party.  Now those are the good ones.  Drinks, food, laughs and no formal activities.  Oh I miss those days.

Until tomorrow.

Soothers Are For Babies

Julianne will be 16 months old on Christmas Day.  I did some research into the right time to discontinue her soother.  Or binky or whatever you may call it.  I call it a soother for that is what it is, or pacifier but that sounds too stuffy, like I am a super sophisticated woman living the high life.  Ha, whatever.  It's a soother to me.

Different articles recommended different times and different ways of doing it.  But the general concensus was that I could start anytime.  If it doesn't work now, try again later.  I kinda wanted to have it done before we begin to potty train her.

To wean off the bottle was pretty simple.  We just reduced her bottle to night time, just before bed and enforced the cup more regularly.  One day she seemed to decide on her own that she didn't want that night time bottle anymore.  So that was fine with me.  So I am hoping the same will happen with the soother.

We have reduced the soother to naptime and bedtime.  Soon I am going to start taking it away from her in the middle of the night or middle of naptime so she doesn't have it when she wakes up and see how that goes (although most of the time the soother is on the floor by morning so she doesn't have it anyways).

Now, there could be some connection between the elimination of the daytime soother and her "episodes".  So, if that's the case, it should pass.  But we had her in the car this evening to go shopping and on the way there and way back she didn't have it and we had no problems.  Usually by the time we are done shopping and driving home she is incredibly cranky and today she was oddly calm.  Coincidence, probably.

There are so many other suggestions out there on how to wean your child.  Some really good suggestions and some really cruel suggestions.  Like just taking it away and letting her suffer.  I don't think I could so that.  Not only is it painful to her to go cold turkey, it would be painful to us.  I imagine moreso that it has been.  I don't want to traumatize the poor kid.  I suppose it works for some, but I am not going there.
The other idea I really liked was to poke holes in the nipple end so that it deflates when she sucks on it.  Do this for a few days then cut the tip off so it's even worse.  As days pass, if she hasn't already given it up on her own, continue to remove small portions of the nipple until it's down to pretty much nothing.  The idea is that your child will give it up on their own.  I like the gradual aspect to this method and that the child is essentially making the decision to give it up.  Seems fair and allows the child to feel a little more grown  up and in control.

For now I will try this way and see what happens.  If it's like the bottle, then it won't be long.

Then comes potty time. 

Cheers.

A Picture Worth A Thousand Words

One of the most beautiful pictures I have seen in a long time!  Just wanted to share.

Resolutions...

I fear it's that time of year again where we vow to make New Year's resolutions only to fail miserably within the first week (or month for the truly dedicated) of the new year.

I gave up making resolutions as I admit I am one that usually barely makes the first week.  I prefer to set goals.  But not year long goals, just goals to be completed at my leisure.  Ok that's kind of defeating the purpose because in my set up there is no chance of failure unless I die too soon.  But then I am not around to know that I failed and feel guilty about it.  My loved ones could go on thinking, 'It's so sad, she didn't complete all the goals she set for herself.'  But they would get over it.  Of that I am sure.  Because really isn't about living each day of your life to the absolute fullest?  Maybe you would rather spend some much needed quality time with your family rather than go to the gym and work off that 25lbs you vowed to shed.  You just never know when your time is up.  Do the things you love and love the things you do.

There is nothing wrong though with setting a few personal goals.  I do it all the time.  Mostly with my writing but maybe it's time to set some goals for my life.

Stay tuned.

Stay Strong and Stay Calm

I think I finally have it figured out.  Julianne has not been going to bed very nicely for about the past week.  Well, she'll go to bed and lay there playing and talking to her animals for over an hour then gradually the talking turns into moaning or squealing, eventually turning into an all out scream, pretty much a temper tantrum.  Speaking of temper tantrums, I will get to that shortly.  Keep reading!

So normally when the crying begins we would get up and get her, give her a snack and put her back to bed and it worked like a charm.  Lately though, that has not been working. 

Due to some other recent events with her, I have come to realize she is just having a fit because she is not getting her own way.  So one night, we got her up but afterwards she wouldn't go back to bed.  I got fed up as I am sure most parents do and finally just left her in bed and let her cry it out.  Approximately 20 minutes later she was asleep.  Good, problem solved.  Well then the other night it did not work out so easily.  She screamed, after being in her bed for about an hour.  Finally catching on to what she was trying to do, this time I refused to take her out of bed.  I went and talked to her, which didn't work.  I tried sitting in the middle of the floor with my back to her (saw that on SuperNanny, but I think its actuallly meant for the child that won't stay in their REAL bed) and some light music which actually worked for awhile but of course as soon as I moved it started all again.  So finally I gave her a little snack, which she played with rather than eating it.  So I gave her a drink of water and voila! she layed down and went right to sleep. 

However, tonight I was not interested in dealing with the temperment problems or whatever you want to call it.  Soooo...she did not get a nap today.  She was tired earlier in the day and I did try and give her a nap but she wasn't interested in sleeping so I kept her up and no matter how tired I could tell she was getting, I didn't put her to bed until after supper.  And she went to sleep with NO problems whatsoever.  Yes she went down a little earlier than normal but if it means I get that much needed couple of hours of peace and quiet in the evening then so be it.  That's what I am going to do.

Now for the temper tantrums.  I think more fitting is Julianne's episodes.  She throws a fit if she does not get her own way.  Like if we don't let her climb on the kitchen table and play with Mommy's laptop.  Or after she has gone through so much trouble to remove that particular piece of garbage from the trash can, how dare we take it away from her.  Sometimes there is advanced warning...big pouty lip comes out followed by the tears, or we just get straight screaming and laying on the floor kicking and rolling and hitting if you dare to get too close to her.  What a treat! 

I had my first experience of an "episode" in public.  We were at the mall trying to get some Christmas shopping done and this time she wanted to walk by herself.  I should mention we got one of those kiddy harnesses for her so she could walk and we could hold on to her, but once she was in a big wide open space with so much room to run but held back by the harness, that was it, she wouldn't go anywhere except down on the floor.  And yet I remained calm.  I simply picked her up, carried to another store that actually had shopping carts and then it was all good.  That was until I wouldn't let her touch everything that we walked past. 

I did make it home, a little exhausted but unscathed for the most part.  I am hoping that this was just a matter of being hungry and tired but only time will tell.  Until then I am on a mission to do everything possible to break her of this early.  Namely just not giving in.  I have to stand my ground, after all, I am a lot taller than she is.  For now at least! 

Cheers!

The kids are sleeping and I am sitting her mostly alone, trying to decide what to write about today.  The Christmas tree lights shine and the coloured lights around the room give it a soft colourful glow.  I was thinking about writing about the true meaning of Christmas, but there are so many different opinions out there that it seemed misguided to only write about what I believe, what I have been raised to believe, and the beliefs I have adopted on my own. 
The only constant around Christmas is the spirit of giving to those less fortunate.  I actually did something the other day that I have never done.  I gave money to the Salvation Army.  I was in the grocery store and a man was standing by his red bucket. jingling his bells, and it just made  me think.  I strongly support the veterans on Remembrance Day but at Christmas I sometimes forget about those people out there less fortunate.  I am not well off by any means, but I have a roof over my head, food in the fridge, warm clothes to wear, and extra money to do some fun things.  My daughter has just about everything she needs, actually probably more than she needs and there are people out there that don't have any of the above mentioned items that we often take for granted.  So, I decided it was my time to give a little more.  I think about it every year but very often just don't take action.  When the weather gets really cold here, and it does get really cold, I think about the poor homeless people out there and how difficult it must be for them in these temperatures.  I want to do something but it seems overwhelming.  There are so many people that need help, where do you start, how do you decide who is more deserving? 
Last year I was going to donate some blankets and warm clothes to the homeless shelters but then I got to thinking, only about 1000 homeless people make it into the shelters each night, (that number may be off, it's probably even less) so what about the other 1000 that are huddled under stairs in back alleys, under bridges, in parks among the trees, with barely anything to cover them, trying desperately to stay out of the frigid cold.  I could not imagine a life like that and I am sure the vast majority of us couldn't either but the fact remains that it's out there whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. 
So I did my little bit and hope others will too.  In the spirit of Christmas.

Take the Gobble, Gobble Out of Christmas?

Arie wants roast beef for Christmas dinner.  Are you kidding me?  Christmas is time for turkey and stuffing and all the other great foods that go with the holidays, and he wants to go for something else.  It's total crazy talk. 
His argument is that it is so much work.  But for who?  Surely not for him.  And really how much work is it?  You make the stuffing, fill the birds butt and neck and toss it in the oven.  The oven does all the work. 
I have a solution though...if he's concerned about it being too much work for ME, guess what, he's gonna help me this year.  He doesn't know it yet but he will find out soon enough.  In roughly 240 hours, give or take a few hours.
Won't he be surprised. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS, or HAPPY HOLIDAYS, whichever you prefer.

I would have thought that the days of late or no showers would be gone.  You hear stories about mothers that just don't have the time to get cleaned up but I thought that was only with newborns or within the first year.  I was sadly mistaken.  As it turns out, the early days are much easier.  You can just put the baby in a bassinette or playpen and off you go, no worries of the little one escaping and you keep them just outside the bathroom door and you can still hear everything.  But as they grow older not only can they get into things when you're not around, and very quickly, but if you try to bring them in the bathroom with you, they try to climb in.  Actually the one time I tried this, months ago, Julianne kept pulling the shower curtain out of the bathtub, so not only was she soaked by the time I was done, so was the bathroom.  I will add, there are much easier ways to clean the bathroom.
So now, she is 15 months old and if I want the luxury of bathing I have to wait until she goes down for a nap, or get up way before she wakes up.  The problem there is that they are so unpredictable.  You never know when they will actually wake up or as of late, not take a daytime nap at all.  She doesn't like the playpen anymore so that has been out of the picture for quite so time.  It leaves me only with spongebaths, and I don't own a sponge.  So I must wait until Daddy gets home.  Ugh!  There has to be another way. 

So this is Sunday again.  It's a cold and blustery day, and when I say cold I really mean cold.  -28 to be exact and it's not looking any better for tomorrow.  There is some reprieve this week though.  By Wednesday we are supposed to be in the positive digits.
So cramped inside.  Julianne is cranky today.  Mostly because she can't do whatever she wants.  It's temper tantrum crankiness.  She was fine for most of the morning but she has learned how to climb on all of the furniture.  Her new favourite is the kitchen chairs.  But then she wants to climb on the kitchen table and we stop her and she gets mad.  Then I wouldn't let her have the camera and she got mad.  Even started throwing things.  So guess where she is now?  HA, mama wins again. Bed!  She's not complaining about that though so maybe she was just getting tired. 
I know I was.

The Phone Keeps Ringing

I am so tired of telemarketers and telephone surveys.  It's gotten to the point that if I don't recognize the phone number I won't answer the phone.  Or if it's an 800, 877 or 888 number, don't expect the phone to be answered. 
For the last week, I have been getting this one phone caller that always comes up as a Private Caller.  That's annoying too because I have some friends that come up as private caller, so do you answer or not.  The choice of late has been not.  If it's someone I know, they will leave a message.  If it's an important call, they will leave a message.  Well this one particular caller was not leaving a message and I was continually ignore it.  Then they started calling at ALL hours.  First mostly in the evening, then in the mid afternoon and then finally it started in the morning.  Give me a break.  You would think if the phone is not answered after a few days of calling these people would give up and move on to the next victim.  But no, they are persistant.

So last night after they had called three times yesterday, I finally gave in and answered the phone.  I have a hard time hanging up on people and I have a hard time telling people I am not interested in what they are selling, or for them not to call me anymore.  Hence the reason for just not answering.  But alas, I gave in because I wanted the calls to stop.

Lucky for me they weren't selling anything, it was just a survey.  Fine I don't mind the surveys, as long as they aren't dreadfully long.
So mystery caller has been identified.  Let's see how long it takes for the next one to get that persistant.

Daddy's Girl

It's too early for me to be awake.  Well, not in normal person standards but it doesn't help that Julianne decided it was a good idea to stay up until after midnight.  Everytime we tried to put her to bed, she cried.  Everytime Arie tried to go to bed himself as he had to get up early for work, she cried.  But if she was with him, she was fine.  She even followed him around like a lost puppy and then when he wasn't in sight, she cried.  I seriously think this is taking Daddy's Girl to a whole new level.  Certainly she seems to favour him more than me and I am ok with that because I still get my fair amount of attention from her but this is going to a whole new level.  While Arie is flattered (and irritated for still being awake at 12:30 in the morning) I am a little insulted, (but not that much).  More irritated too for still being up at 12:30 and not having been able to have my relaxing few hours before bed.  So much for evening television.  The one thing that I look forward too after she has gone to bed, a couple of hours of just sitting and not having to think.  But apparently she had other plans for us.  Thankfully she is still sleeping but it won't be for much longer.  I heard her making noice already and soon the guy is coming to install this new electric fireplace.  Apparently they don't fit in the fireplaces all that well so he is going to have to be cutting portions of the old fireplace to make it fit.  It's going to be such a joy.  And of course, once again it is snowing and cold.  If it warms up to something semi-reasonable I will take Julianne out to play in the snow, but we can't (or rather, I won't) drive on these streets with her in the car unless I absolutely have to.  But a little snow fun might be in order.  It's currently -12 with a windchill of -20. 
Did I mention how much I hate winter?

How is there enough meat in a short story to make a make movie out of it?  Apparently it can be done.  Examples: The Shawshank Redemption based on the short story, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King.  Alright, not a great example as it was a novella so somewhat longer than the average short story.
Then there is Brokeback Mountain, based on the short story of the same name by Annie Proulx. 
There are probably a lot more out there but I don't have time to look for them. 
It's just interesting what screenwriters can do with something fairly small.  I haven't actually read the above mentioned short stories but it is going to be a mission of mine to actually check them out. 

Later...

Not quite sure what to write about today.  Nothing new and exciting has developed in our lovely household.  It's warmer today than it has been in a few days.  A balmy -15.  I think it's time to break out the summer clothes.  Funny how we get so climatized.  When it's -20 for awhile, suddenly -1 is incredibly warm but when we have experienced +20 for several days, +5 feels cold.  Our bodies are strange that way.  But either way you cut it, I hate being cold.  I would rather be sweating from the heat than shivering from the cold.  Give me +30 temperatures everyday and I am happy.  Ok maybe that's a little much but between +20-+25 would be ideal.  I think I need to move south.  Really far south.

Our landlord is taking out our wood burning fireplaces and installing electric ones.  Not sure what I think about that.  I like the wood burning but at the same time I have been smelling smoke from other apartments quite frequently and it's nerve wracking when you aren't sure where it's coming from.  Just last night I could smell it and I thought it was coming from my computer because the only time I could smell it was when I was sitting in front of it.  I kept smelling the computer just to make sure but it was fine and it wasn't even warm. Had to be coming from somewhere else.  So maybe this change will be a good thing.  Although if it's used, the electric bill will go up.  Wood is cheaper but more dangerous.  On the other hand, Julianne won't be able to get into the fireplace anymore so that is a blessing, although she has been pretty good about that lately.  Her latest thing has been to unplug the christmas lights and then try to plug them in again.  I am not really ok with that.  But I know eventually she will get over it.  Just not sure when that will be.

And she can climb up on the kitchen chairs now to sit at the table.  The only problem with that is that it's where my laptop is and that's the only reason she wants to climb up there.  Then when we don't let her, she gets angry and throws a little temper tantrum.  I fear she is going to be one of those.  Those children you see in the department stores that throw a fit when they don't get what they want.  Not looking forward to that.  But one baby step at a time.  With all the negative things that are still to come, I know there are going to be a lot of good times to come as well.  Funny how we only think about the bad things though.  I guess cause we can't predict the good, but the bad is inevitable.

Well enough of that.  Gotta go take a shower since the little one is down for a nap.  Oh the peace and quiet.  Enjoy it while it lasts.

Monday Quibbles

It's Monday again.  Yes people, it comes around continuously, whether we want it to or not, every seven days in fact.  For most it's the dreaded beginning of the work week, for some it's not.  Those are the lucky people that work from home so everyday is a work day for them.  Unless of course you have a set schedule and give yourself regular days off.  Or you could work from home and do absolutely nothing even though you're supposed to but instead you leave it all to the very last possible minute and still get it done and no one is the wiser, except you of course.
I  must admit lately, I fall into that last category.  There is a long list of things I should have gotten done at home but the weather has somehow left me uninspired.  I look outside and just the thought of how cold it is outside, for some reason just makes me want to curl up under a blanket with a good book and wait until it blows over.  Even though it is nice and toasty warm inside, Julianne is napping and I have all the time in the world to get a lot done.  In between loads of laundry.  In between cleaning the house, collecting scattered toys and putting them in one spot even though I know that later they will be scattered everywhere again. 
The dishes are washing, there are only a few to do by hand and really that's it.  And of course I sit here in front of my computer blogging about all the things I should be doing, and precious time is slipping away.  Julianne will only sleep for so long, I should be taking advantage of the quiet time but at the same time, when she is asleep I should be taking advantage of the chance to get some much needed housework done. 
There never seems to be enough time.  If only we could add just a few more hours to the day, I could get so much more done.  More housework, more Facebook, more time with my daughter and husband.  I have the feeling I still wouldn't have the time to get the actual paying work done. 
Priorities? 

Not a Toddler, A Monkey

She climbs and I mean she climbs on anything and everything.  Recently Julianne learned how to climb up onto the couch and sit like the average person.  Then she discovered she could climb onto the back of the couch which terrifies me as it's a pretty long fall to the ground below.  So then, not sure if it's to test my patience, or my blood pressure, she decides she is going to climb on the end table.  Nothing on the table as has been the case for as long as we have had a toddler but she found this nice little perch and goes there regularly.  Right in the middle of the table and oh so proud she is.  She sits nice and knows how to get off of it and back onto the couch but I guess the question is, is it ok to let her continue to do this?  Will she grow out of it?  My initial response would be yes but are we setting ourselves up for other problems if we let her do as she pleases now?  Of course we don't let her do EVERYTHING she wants.  Just the stuff that seems innocent enough and no one is getting hurt.  At least not yet.  If we hadn't let her take a few tumbles off the couch I suppose she never would have learned how to get down properly, climb up properly or even sit nice like everyone else.  Chances need to be taken, I know that.  We can't be overprotective about everything.  And there comes a time when it's really more energy than it's worth to prevent her from doing certain things. 

As promised, here is a picture of our Christmas tree. I took a few others but for some reason, everytime I try to take a picture of the tree with all the lights lit up, the image goes blurry.  Like trying to capture the image of a ghost...that just does not want to be caught.    This was the best that came out and it's not all that bad.

I love Christmas!

Oh Christmas Tree!

We finally did it!  The Christmas tree is up and the house is decorated.  It had to be the cutest experience ever with little Julianne and her first tree decorating party.  She watched so carefully as I started to put the decorations on the tree and then she decided she wanted to help.  First she started out just handing me the decorations but soon realized she could do it herself.  She took several of the decorations and laid them ever so nicely IN the tree so that they rested precariously on the branches.  Of course she couldn't actually get the strings over the ends of the limbs in order for them to dangle nicely.  But she was so proud of herself.
Surprisingly after the tree was decorated and lit, she has hardly tried to touch it.  I thought this would be a lot more difficult but the few times that she did try to steal the balls off the tree, we told her no and she left them alone.  Today, at least as long as I have been up, she has not tried to touch the tree at all.

We wanted to take her out to play in the snow today but it's a little too cold.  Currently -8 but very windy.  I am not sure what the windchill is at the moment but it is definately too cold to take her out to play.  If it wasn't so windy we would bundle her up and take her out.  Besides, I think she is starting to get a little cold.  It's not too bad yet but she has been sneezing and last night had a pretty runny nose.  Of course she had been crying so it's hard to tell if the runny nose was because of that or if it was because of an oncoming cold.  I guess only time will tell.  She seems happy enough and is eating properly so there may be nothing to worry about.

As soon as the camera is recharged I will add some pictures of the pretty tree.

I know I said I wouldn't but I couldn't resist.   Besides, I don't have much else to write about.  A winter storm is blowing across our lovely city with a wonderful arctic front on its tale.  Thankfully we aren't going to plummet to those -20 degree temperatures but it's going to get close. 
Big snowflakes are falling but when the wind picks up they all blend together and create an almost white out condition.  It's not cold right now, unless you're foolish enough to stand in the path of the wind but it's coming. 
I think today is a good day to set up the Christmas tree and decorate the house for the festive season.  Need food first through.  Coffee in not going to cut it.  I need full fuel to get through that task.  Should be fun with little miss fingers getting into everything.  Her first Christmas where she will actually be able to move and open her own presents.  Sometimes I think I wish she was still confined to a bouncy chair and content with said bouncy chair.
Until later.

As promised, my loyal readers now get two posts from me in one day!  What is this world coming to?

I have no clues as to what to write about, nothing all that interesting happening on the home front and I refuse to write about our sub-zero temperatures. 

Julianne is eating lunch.  PB&J with bananas again.  And watching Big Comfy Couch on Treehouse.  She loves that show.  Giggles and giggles and giggles.  It's such a treat when she's that happy.  Don't get me wrong she is happy most of the time, but lately she has been having a few more cranky days than I am used to.  But I must brace myself because I know this is nothing compared to what she might be like in a few years. 

My Grandma might be making the trek over the Rocky Mountains to join us for Christmas.  She is alone now since Grandpa died almost 9 years ago and most of the rest of the family left Invermere to get on with their own lives.  Everytime I talk to her she seems so lonely, and she's almost 85 years old so we came up with a plan to get her over for Christmas.  She is excited about the possibility but could still change her mind before the time comes.  It would be nice to have her here.  I haven't spent a Christmas with her since I was about 13 years old.  Yes it's been that long.  Maybe even since I was 12.  That's a long time if you know how old I am now.  And she hasn't seen my brother in even longer.  Since he was about 4 or 5 if I were to hazard a guess.  He is now 26.  So you can imagine how that will be for both of them.

Well, Julianne is just about done with her lunch and the TV show will be over shortly so I must go prepare myself to be her entertainment.  Oh the joys of motherhood.  I get to be a kid again.  What could be better?

Technically it is December 3 already and since I am still awake, thanks to my precious daughter who now thinks it's a good idea to scream and scream until she gets her own way, I will write in my blog.  You know it's really is hard to stay dedicated to this thing.  I have to conciously think about it each and every day.  Unless of course I happen to have a fabulous topic to write about, then I am all over it, first thing, as soon as I can open my laptop.  Sometimes even, my fingers can't keep up with my brain and you will find missing words in sentences.  It's a game I like to play.  Fill in the blanks.  Ha

No not really.  But my brain does often get ahead of my fingers.  If only I could actually type as fast as I think.  That would be truly amazing.  But then sometimes my brain is super slow and then my fingers are too fast for it.  K, that doesn't really make sense, but whatever.  It is 12:14am and most normal people would be asleep by now.  But nope not me. Wide awake.

I did finally get the little one to sleep.  It took forcing her to cuddle with me in the dark until she fell asleep.  I have to admit I almost fell asleep too but then my neck started to get sore in the chair so figured it was time to get her to bed and then I had the full intention to I too going off to bed, but instead, after moving around I was suddenly awake and ready to go.  So of course, start checking email and all that wonderful stuff that beckons me to the computer, like an addict.  God it's pathetic.  I have to learn to say no to the computer.  I tried that this weekend actually and it went not too bad.  I had just had enough of it and needed a break.

But that was only one day and then suddenly it was the beginning of the week again and I was right back at it.  Mind you, I have been accomplishing quite a bit the last little while.  Getting more writing done than I have in a long time and keeping up with the blogging. 

Seriously I think I could go on all night.  I could sit here and just write and write everything that comes into my mind.  It would probably be rather entertaining but it would go on and on and on and on and I know my faithful readers out there actually have things to do with  their day.  Like work or something. 

So this is where I will cut it off and say good night.  Or good morning depending on where in the world you are, you might just be waking up from a wonderful deep sleep.  (You know who you are.)

Until later...literally...probably later this morning.  You lucky people might actually get two posts out of me today. 

I Did It!

Julianne's first intelligable words other than Mama or Dada.  I couldn't believe it.  Last night she woke in the middle of the night screaming.  Bad dream perhaps but I still find it hard to believe that a child under 2 can have nightmares.  What could they possibly have nightmares about?  But whatever.  The fact still remains that she woke up and she was not happy.  A blood curdling scream in fact.  But once she was up, she was fine.  Happy and wanted to play. 
She has just recently learned how to climb on the couch unassisted and last night was no exception.  She pulled herself up onto the couch, turned and sat properly, and proudly exclaimed, "I did it."  Arie and I were so surprised and pleased.  Of course my initial reaction was that it was a fluke.  But I repeated the 3 word phrase to her and she said it again.  It was absolutely one of the cutest things I have seen in a long time, another step in her already fast moving life.  She is growing up so fast, I can't keep up. 
I often sit and wonder what life will be like when she's 15.  In that dreadful teenage, coming of age, stage.  And I just hope that I can be there for her, or that she will let me be there for her, like I was last night.

Later.

PB & J

There are few things that take me back to my childhood but PB & J us surely on the top of the list.  For those of you not familiar with the old acronym, Peanut Butter & Jam.  The reality series Big Brother really brought it back to the foreground of people's thoughts but who could ever really forget this favourite treat.  Comfort food from the past, but only if you had a good childhood and the reminiscing brings back happy thoughts.

Yesterday I took Julianne on a playdate with a friend.  When we sat down for lunch I gave Julianne a tuna salad sandwich but her playdate friend got PB&J.  Julianne instantly proceeded to steal the food off of his plate and claimed it as her own.  Lesson learned:  Always give children the same food so they don't steal the other's food.  Thankfully he didn't seem to mind much, even though he is 3 years old and at that age that sharing might not be the happiest moment in his life.

So this afternoon, I have given Julianne a PB&J sandwich and she is still eating it in complete silence.  Very focused and cooperative.  Gotta love it when a plan comes together. (oooh another blast from the past, A-Team for those of you unfamiliar with 80's television.

Her lunch may be a little messy but if she's happy that's all that really matters.  Content and quiet.  These are the days you really treasure your children, when they're happy and not wearing on your every nerve.

Later...