Countdown to craziness

I tried canceling Christmas this year but no one around me seemed to listen.

So now we're trying to get in the spirit of the season in the like, two seconds a week we have to think about such things.

So far, we have a wreath on our door (thanks Nana and Bopa!), a few lights in the window and a tree!

Here's a little snippet from decorating the tree today:

Monthly Update: November

You really should stop checking this blog. I have no time to add things! How about we make a plan to meet, like on the first of every month?

That way you don't have to keep checking and feeling disappointed and I won't feel so guilty.

Funny stories / quotes happen every day but like I said, no time to post. Store has been open about three weeks and all is well. Turns out talking about baby stuff all day is fun!

Kids are in winter colds / lots-of-change-in-their-lives mode which is never pretty but we're getting through okay. Send groceries.

One story to share:

At bedtime tonight, Mela and I were talking about names and then, when we were lying quietly in the darkness, she said, "Mama, have you ever met someone named Amelia? Not me, another person?"

And I said, yes I had. She asked, "Where did you meet her?"

I said I'd met her in a bathroom, in a restaurant. There was a mama and a little girl and the girl's name was Amelia.

Our Amelia the Precocious then asked a number of questions, including "did you know her?" (no, she was a stranger), "was she a baby or a big girl?" (big girl), "what did she look like?" (long yellow hair), "where was the restaurant?" (in Toronto), "were we with you?" (Daddy and baby Mela were but Nate wasn't born yet), and most importantly, after a long period of quiet thought ...

"Was she a dinosaur stranger or a people stranger?"

Important question to ask.

Say click:

The substitute parents keep the kids company:

Nate the Tool Man "fixing" the dishwasher:
Could there possible be a fat baby inside that box?
It's Nate!
Mela struts her stuff:
Close-up:
The most beautiful eyes:

Few quick shots of the weeds as they grow before our eyes

If you're still checking this blog, then here's a little reward.

First time with hair totally in pigtails - it's getting long!
Do I have a three year old or 13 year old? You decide:
Pure boy:
Playing sleeping bunnies with Sophia - great way to get three kids to be quiet!
I went in his room to wake him up but really, how can you?

And here's a video of our pancake eating monster:

Annual giving of the thanks

I think its obvious why I should be thankful.

We finally (FINALLY!) signed a lease at a place for our new baby store. We're hoping to open as soon as possible (three weeks?!) which sounds ridiculous except we have had nine months to prepare.

The kids are finally in a much better day care situation. It's quiet (sometimes only 2 or 3 other kids in their classes!), they play together for hours in the shady outdoors and Nathan actually had a 2.5 hr nap there on Friday, he was so relaxed.

The only downside is that I now have to face the (new) challenge of trying to convince them to leave!

Good friends and good family, near and far.

Two amazing kids. One amazing husband. Our own house in a friendly little corner of the world.

The Good Wife on TV once a week. My iphone. Skinny jeans and over-the-knee black leather boots (apparently I think I'm 25). Pancakes with local maple syrup. A book club where I walk in the room and every single person there is someone I like and want to talk to. CBC Radio 2 Drive. A kick-ass perennial garden. The freedom and support to become an entrepreneur and take an entirely new path in life. Snuggles in a warm bed with a sweet snoring toddler.

It is obvious why I am thankful.

Say click:
Corn maze farm:
Which way do we go?
Battle of the flags:Photo shoot: preparing (before I bribed Nate to take off his beloved hat)
Photo shoot: Take 1
Photo shoot: Goofing around (check out the crossed ankles, cousin Jenny)

Photo shoot: As good as it's going to get

Okay, now you can go crazy:

Three lessons for one mom

Still no time to post really but couldn't resist this.

First of all, Nate recently did the big tranfer out of his crib. With Mela it was all fanfare and a gorgeous toddler bed (which she spurned) and song and dance and celebration. With kid #2, I carried him into bed one night and he said, "No crib." So I made a nest on the floor for him and that was that.

I had known the day was coming and besides, it meant I got to snuggle him to sleep again, which I've been waiting for since he was six months old.

What I didn't expect that was he wakes me up at 6:55 each day now. Turns out that's when he's probably been getting up all along but would play nicely in his crib. Now that he has his whole room to play in, he's decided to yell for me as soon as he's awake instead.

Lesson #1 learned: with progress can come pain.

The second lesson was taught last night. I've had the kids sleep in each other's rooms before because I wanted to prepare them for the day they'll share a room (since Mela is so brokenhearted to sleep alone every single night). It's always gone well. Then last night we did it and it was a disaster. They were up until 10 pm (so much giggling and plotting!) and then were hysterical when we finally had to separate them. Turns out that with Nate out of a crib, they spend the whole time having adventures instead of sleeping.

So today was fun with two sleep-deprived little ones, especially one who refuses to take a nap even when her eyes are almost black underneath.

Lesson #2 learned: no sleepover until we have beds for them to stay in.

And the third lesson was learned tonight. We separated them from the start (and Mela was crying so hard she was almost incoherent and then promptly passed out) and it seemed to work well. Except Nathan had had such a monster-long nap, he was full of beans and spent the next hour learning how to open his door.

Which he finally mastered.

And then walked downstairs and said, "Hello!" in a very jovial tone. I put him back in his room repeatedly and it finally seemed to stick.

Fast-forward to my bedtime (about 10 mins ago) and I decide to check on him. I crack open his door and peer into the darkness. No lump in the nest. I creep in and feel around on the floor. No sleeping body. I look everywhere and finally turn on the light. No Nathan.

I run and look in our room but he's not there. For a minute I panic and think he's somehow climbed the stairs to the attic and is horrible trapped but then I remember to ...

check Mela's room. And there he is.

So now I know ...

Lesson #3: just because a transition starts out seeming straightforward, doesn't mean it is.

Funny that he loves her so much and still tries to hit her all day long.

Say click:

Back when it was still summer, the kids sweating it out on the couch:

Enjoying the outdoors:

After several consecutive days of no nap, sometimes she just crashes:

This is what it looks like when a hurricane is trying to blow my neighbours' tree over (check out the quality of the light - the oranges seem weirdly intense):

Daddy made homemade sushi (and tempura) - wow!!

It disappears quickly, seaweed and all:

Sister hugs:

Speaking of crashing ... (check out the undies!!!):
Two kids with colds = no rest for the Mama:
Big boy with his present from Great-Grandma Martha!
Planning his strategy:
Score!
Nate gives up and starts to play golf:
... and basketball:
The boy and his Mom:
After months of rinsing hair with kids screaming bloody (and thinking the whole time that these things would be a waste of money), I finally broke down and bought the stupid bath visors. And they work!!!
Mela diligently rinsing her frog:
And finally ... caught in the act:

Having it all

As most of you know, it appears as though there is an increasingly good chance that my business partner and I are opening a children's retail shop this fall (what the WHAT?!).

Never really something I wanted to do (don't like, 98% of retail stores go out of business?) but I do have a deep and abiding love of baby products and really do believe that you have to carpe the diem if you don't want to spend your entire life in a taupe cubicle working on projects that proceed at the glacial rates and have a good chance of never actually doing any good.

And if you actually want to see your kids a bit while they're growing up.

So in case you're wondering, here's a day in the life a mom entrepeneur:

Woken up by 60 lbs of elbows and knees "hopping on mama," cook breakfast while starving children wail about intense hunger, gulp a microwaved cup of yesterday's coffee, change everyone out of pjs, change stinky Nate, clean up oatmeal blast radius, take quick shower (with Nate standing in bathroom calling me the entire time), towel off in time to break up a fight, discover kids have dumped almost an entire bag of raisins on the kitchen floor, change stinky Nate again, blow dry hair for the first time all week while referring battle over precious marbles by yelling from bathroom, try to find a magical outfit that looks professional, stylish, and weather appropriate but also hides the flab from having two kids, make a lightening-fast lunch the kids might actually eat, hold sobbing mela for 10 mins due to some minor squabble, change Nate again and just stop putting his pants back on, take out now-full garbage full of rank diapers, dig through purses and briefcases full of animal crackers, wiki stcks and dinky cars to find sole tube of lipstick, clean up blast radius from lunch, change noodle-covered outfit, read books to kids, put Nate down for nap, frantically try to tidy most offensive clutter for babysitter, babysitter arrives, hunt for heels, drive to important presentation, rehearse in waiting room ...

And was just told that we don't actually need to appear in front of the committee after all.

Now heading home to put on Robin Hood and sweatpants ...

Party Time!

Had Nate's birthday party this afternoon.

Instead of our usual big bash, though, we stuck with beer and pizza with family on the patio. We were supposed to start our lease on the shop today (if it hadn't fallen through) so wanted to keep it very low-key.

As it turns out, you still have to clean your house and all that stuff (make an ice cream cake!) so you really don't save that much work.

But it was nice to have it a little more calm than usual, especially since we stuck to the only-invite-as-many-kids-as-your-child's-birthday-number (e.g. 2). Nate still had a couple fits but who wouldn't, when your arch-nemesis touches your birthday digger.

All in all, it was a wonderful day in the sun.

Say click:

Nate unwraps his birthday present from his buddies (with a little help):

Clearly a good choice:

While the men assemble the basketball net from Grammie & Grandad:

Hours of fun with the new net (and enough balls for all the kids!):
Party on the lower deck:
I think it was around this time that Cohen told Mela he'd marry her:
Perfect weather:The couple discusses their plans while the monkey hams it up:
A tiny caterpillar shows up just in time to console Mela from a tumble:
Fascination:
Pizza picnic:
Cake time!
Nate spots the cake:
Finger dipping:
Nate checks out his new counting book from Nana:
Nate is instantly satisfied with his new mp3 player:
Mela and Cohen combine forces to transport the two year olds:
More play time:
Any day is a success that ends with watching "fishes" with your sister: