H1N1 Fun

So after much going back and forth, I've decided I would like to get the H1N1 vaccination, and have Cameron vaccinated as well. Since I'm 36 weeks pregnant, and Cameron is 3, we're both in the "high priority group". We tried to go today when it opened, and there was already a huge line up. I'm talking about 4 hours in line. I physically cannot stand up for that long, so we left without getting the shot.

But the funniest thing happened when we first arrived. I got out of my car in the parking lot, and a man was by his car across from mine. He was talking loudly on his cell phone, raging about the stupidity of people getting the vaccination. His conversation went something like this - "Do you know what's in those shots? Thimerosal, which is mercury! Do you know what that does to people? Why would you put mercury right into a child's brain? You're going to kill your child! These people are all stupid, why would you put that stuff into your child?!"

First of all, I'm thinking to myself has this guy ever eaten a can of tuna fish? Secondly, what was so funny about this, is that he was railing against the evils of putting poisons into your body as he was lighting a cigarette! Oh, the irony. I couldn't stop laughing. This other guy next to me noticed it as well and we both had a good chuckle.

Here's hoping for a happy and safe flu season. Because until those line ups go down, I'm afraid I'm vaccination-free for now.

No More Complaints From Me!

Lately I have been feeling really ready to have this baby, even though I'm not due until November. I guess with all the chaos of moving, working, chasing after a now 3 year old, I was feeling just plain done.

Especially last weekend. I was so tired, and on Thursday night started having these uncomfortable Braxton Hicks, which made me want to be done even more! Then the Braxton Hicks just kept coming. And getting more uncomfortable. And weren't stopping. By Sunday morning, I paged my midwife (LOVE midwives, by the way) and told her that something just wasn't right. By this time I was sure they were contractions, and they were coming every 5-10 minutes or so. She told me to meet her at the hospital in about 2 hours. In case your wondering why 2 hours and not immediately, we had time since there wasn't any other signs of pre-term labour. My midwife also ran through the possible scenarios of what could be happening, right from nothing to worry about, to ending up in a Toronto hospital that specializes in pre-term labour. I was a bit freaked out.

When we got to the hospital, they hooked me up to the machines to monitor the baby and uterine activity. Baby was fine and moving around lots. But it also showed that I was definitely having contractions every 3 minutes that were lasting about 60 seconds each. I started to panic just a bit more with that. They were going to do a test to see if I had a certain chemical present that would indicate I was going to go into labour within the next 7-14 days. About an hour later the results came back and were negative! We breathed a huge sigh of relief.

So what was causing my contractions?

Mild dehydration. Who knew? My midwife practically stuck a garden hose down my throat. Well not really, but I was drinking a swimming pool full of water as soon when she saw I was somewhat dehydrated. After drinking my weight in water, by Monday afternoon the contractions had completely stopped, and I was feeling a whole lot better.

And as for complaining about how I'm feeling and wanting this baby out NOW? Um, no thank you. The scary possibility that presented itself this weekend cured me of that. This kid can chill out for about 2 more months and that will be just dandy with me.

But if he's past my due date, I reserve every right to whine and complain after that.

The Big Catch-Up

Although I'm fairly certain that by this time no one is reading this thing, I figure I should try to post to catch up from the last few months. A LOT has happened.

First of all, we found out from our ultrasound that we are having another boy! We're very excited about having another boy, especially as we are so cheap and will not have to buy a bunch of girls clothing. Yes, we're that cheap. Either way, baby is healthy and fine and now I have to try to find a name. Since this is probably our last child, if anyone wants to take my girls name of Lauren, please feel free.

Backing up about 6 months now, the first two sentences that came out of Ash's mouth when I told him we were having another baby was "Really? Guess we need to get a bigger house." I didn't realize how serious he was about that. Well, he was serious. We ended up selling our house at the end of June, and have bought a new home in Holland Landing (just 10 minutes north of our current home). We move on August 28. It's a detached raised bungalow, with 3 bedrooms upstairs, and 2 rooms downstairs. We're really excited about it and now the fun of packing begins. I can't elaborate enough on how much I detest moving. Especially since I've calculated that this is our 7th move in 8 years of marriage. We will have been at this house for just a month shy of 3 years, which is the longest we've been in one place. I think this new home will have enough room to feel settled for awhile, even though the kitchen will be smaller than our current one. Guess it's a good thing I don't do much cooking.

We also went home for a visit to Alberta at the end of June and beginning of July. It was wonderful and we had a great time. I would post pictures, but we have changed computers and I haven't set up anything yet with this one. I think when we move we are planning some fancy thing with both of our computers, so I should hopefully post new pics of our home when we get it all settled.

Um, Happy Father's Day?

When I was younger, we bought my mom a toaster for Mother's Day (at least I think it was for Mother's Day). I was at that age where my dad and older brother had to explicitly tell me not to tell Mom that we got her a toaster. Of course, when it was time to give it to her I asked her "do you think it's a toaster?". Technically, I didn't tell her what we bought, I just wondered if she thought that's what it might be.

So today Cameron and I were out in the morning and I stopped at a place to have Cameron make a Father's Day gift. Early in the month, I know, but we had some time to get it done today. Cameron chose to paint a motorbike (surprise, surprise). While he was painting, I reminded him this was a gift for Dad, and that we had to keep it a surprise and not tell him until it was Father's Day.

Of course what was the first thing he did when we got home? He yells up to Ash from the bottom of the stairs at the top of his little lungs "I PAINTED YOU A MOTORBIKE, DADDY!!! IT'S A SURPRISE FOR YOU!!" I could have gotten away with just pretending to not understand what he was talking about, or to make some alternative story up, but I had missed some paint on his elbow which pretty much substantiated his tale. So I told Ash to act surprised when the day comes next month. And yes, Cameron again had to remind Dad at the table during lunch about painting him a motorbike.

There are no secrets among 2 year olds.

2nd Time's Not Quite the Charm

I've only been pregnant for 3 months, but there are some interesting differences the second time around that I've noticed.

1. I'm not as excited to get into maternity clothes as I was the first time around. That's probably due to the fact that I had to get into them a whole lot sooner than before, and not for cute baby-belly reasons.

2. I'm also not excited about buying maternity clothes. I think this will probably be our last one, and I keep thinking about the money I'll spend on clothes I will only wear for half a year.

3. First time around, I was signing up left, right, and centre for prenatal yoga, prenatal massage, aquafit, buying every book, and surfing every baby website there was. This time around, after coming home from a job that is a lot busier and stressful than the job I had when I was pregnant with Cameron, making dinner for the family, and getting Cameron ready for bed, I am done for the night. I have no energy this time around.

4. At this point in my first pregnancy, we had bought our stroller system, pack & play, and had lists galore of items to buy. I don't want to look at baby clothes, but I have done some preliminary investigation into a sit 'n stand stroller. And there are no lists floating around my house.

5. I can't believe there are only 6 months left. This pregnancy is flying by. I should be as uber-anxious to get baby stuff done as I was the first time around, since we have to make our office into the baby's room.

And on the cute-stories-about-Cameron note, he is now at that wonderful stage where he's saying most of his own prayers, or at least what he wants to say 'thank you' for. The other night's prayer went something like this:

"Thank you for cars. Thank you for church. Thank you for bread and water. (then started the looking around the room for things to be thankful for) Thank you for blankies. Thank you for pillows. Thank you for toys. Thank you for Giraffe and Duck (stuffed animals)." Tonight at least he said "thank you for Mommy & Daddy". And there's me kneeling beside him, heart slowly melting.

I love that kid.

The Pregnant Post

Yes. I'm pregnant. We are taking the daring dip in the gene pool once more. I had my first midwife appointment today, and we were able to briefly hear the heartbeat before the little guy/gal moved away. I'm due around Nov. 27.

We will find out the sex of the baby when it's time (not for about another month and a half), because I thought to myself do I really want to drag a newborn and 3 year old shopping in the winter for girls clothing, just in case? I'm sort of leaning towards it being another boy, but Cameron is certain he's going to have a little sister. Her name at this point according to him is either Peach Yogurt, or Cici. Neither of those names have made the shortlist at this point.

It's Potty Time

Cameron is over 2 and a half years old now. He has shown some of those signs that apparently mean he's ready for potty training. So we've been having discussions about pull ups, underwear, and how diapers are for babies, not big kids. But what kind of a come back can I give when my kid tells me that "diapers are cool, Mom."?

So today we've decided to really start giving it a shot. This morning Cameron and I went to the dollar store to buy some stickers (fishes and cars) and Smarties. When we got home he asked for them, and I reminded him of the rules. 1 sticker for at least sitting on the potty, and 1 Smartie if he actually goes in the potty. He immediately said "I want to go pee in the potty". So up the stairs we marched, me somewhat skeptical. Lo and behold, he actually went pee in the potty!

After his nap we're going to make an aquarium for his fish stickers, and a road for his car stickers to hang on the wall behind his potty.

Anyone have any other tips on how to make this work?

How Canadian of us.

This past weekend we went to the Maple Syrup Festival at Bruce's Mill. Having grown up in Southern Alberta where we don't have maple trees, it was quite an interesting event. I had the idea I would be seeing a bunch of trees being tapped with buckets hanging underneath.

Apparently, maple syrup technology has come a long way. They tap into the trees and run lines out of it that connects to one large main line. The forest looked like a spider web of tubing running through it.

Plus, I found out maple syrup tastes a lot better when it's fresh. A whole lot better.

Tree being tapped.

If you look above Cameron, you can see some of the lines running through the forest.

Cameron was also interested in watching the fire they had going to demonstrate the way maple syrup was made by the Natives.




Cameron with his stick.

They also had a petting zoo, which Cameron liked watching, but was a little wary of the animals when they got too close.

And of course his absolute favourite....

PONY RIDES!!!

First go at the pony rides. He absolutely loved it. It was so cute. If I could keep a pony in our backyard for him to ride every day, I would.

He was not a happy camper getting off the pony when it was done.

So of course we had to have another ride before we left for the day.

Signs of Spring

Ah, Spring. The weather is finally warming up. I can tell because the snow has melted, birds are out, I don't need my duvet anymore.

And about 3 solicitors have come to our door within the last 5 days. Maybe the bitter winter cold that kept them away wasn't so bad after all.

Yes, Spring truly is on it's way.

My Mom Thinks I'm Cool.

I've come to a realization that many people probably already have known.

I'm a nerd.

And I owe it all to my husband who gradually brought out his nerdiness after we were married, and is now bringing the inner nerdiness out of me. Examples? Well, I had no idea until after we were married that my husband liked to play Dungeons and Dragons when he was younger. And, waiting at his parents house (again, after we were married) were stacks of comic books and graphic novels ready to find a new home in our blissful, newly wed apartment. I thought to myself upon this discovery, how could someone so hot be so nerdy?

And then he started watching this little show called Battlestar Galactica. Not the original 70's version with Lorne Greene, but the remake with better costumes and scarier Cylon's. When he first started watching it and asked if I wanted to watch it too, I snubbed my nose at it. Then I watched the first episode and was hooked. Now, I am so frakin excited for the series finally on Friday. We've even gotten a few of our other friends into the show. (Seriously, it's good. Stop reading this and go watch it right now.)

Then for his birthday last year, he asked for the entire series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was on sale. Again, I looked at him and asked him if he was serious. He was. And that started my obsession with the Buffy series. We burned through 7 seasons of Buffy and 5 seasons of Angel in about 6 months.

Enter Ash's birthday in 2009. What does he want to do? Go see the movie "Watchmen". So what am I doing now? Reading the graphic novel.

I feel like that Simpson's episode when Bart has to get glasses, platform shoes, and hair gunk. He looks into Milhouse's glasses at his reflection, gasps and says "I'm a nerd!". Milhouse looks at his reflection in Bart's glasses and says "So am I!".

At least I can take comfort in the fact that the sci-fi stuff I like is all critically acclaimed. And that I'm not a Trekie. That's just crossing a certain line that you can never come back from.

Things You Don't Want to Hear Your Dentist Say.

Ash had a cavity filled at the dentist the other week. The dentist came in and started to swab his mouth with the freezing stuff.

Ash: Um, isn't the cavity on the other side of my mouth?

The dentist pauses, reaches for the chart and examines it for a few seconds. Then starts to swab the other side of his mouth.

Dentist: It's been a long day.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

We live in the end unit of a townhouse (freehold!). We had the best neighbours right next to us when we moved in. They were a family with 3 boys and a dog, and we never heard any noise from them at all. And believe me, these were 3 active boys and a pretty yappy dog.

Last year they moved away and a man moved in next door. We don't really know him too well as he is not home that often. And thank goodness for that, because this guy is a thumper. We can hear him stomping and thumping around, especially right around the time when we are hoping to go to bed. And the other day, we were lying in bed reading before going to sleep when we both could hear this strange noise. I thought it was music until my kind husband pointed out that no, it was our neighbour snoring.

Ewwwww.

Okay, seriously. How loud do you have to be snoring for us to hear it? I mean, in the whole 2 years the other family was living next to us, we didn't hear a peep. And now I can hear this guy snoring?! Maybe I should anonymously drop off some of those Breathe Right strips.

(As I'm typing this, I can tell that he is home. I can hear him thumping around again.)

It kind of makes me wonder what he might be hearing from us.

Happy Dalton McGuinty Day!

Hooray for election promises! Ontario is now celebrating our 2nd Family Day. No longer do I have to grit my teeth in envy when my family tells me about what a wonderful long weekend they are going to have in Alberta. Now I can have my very own wonderful long weekend as well!

This weekend was Cameron's move into a "big boy" bed. He has only fallen out of it once at night. We have placed pillows and his old crib mattress on the floor when he sleeps to help cushion the blow. However, it is still funny to come into his room at 5:15 am to a confused toddler who says "Oh, I fell off my sheets onto my crib!". He has yet to realize that if he doesn't want to stay there, he can get out on his own. I'm sure he'll figure it out soon. Which I'm not looking forward to.

And yes, this weekend was Valentine's Day. This month will be around the time that 10 years ago Ash and I met and started dating. And this year will mark the first time I have completely given up on that holiday and gave Ash the best V-Day present a guy could hope for (not that present); I told him I really didn't want to do anything for it. And I meant it! His birthday is exactly a month from Valentine's Day, then my birthday in May, then our anniversary in June. That's too many significant holidays to have to celebrate in a row, in my opinion. It's hard enough coming up with gifts for this guy.

2 Birds with 1 Stone

So I was tagged in the Facebook's 25 Random Things that is going around. I figured since it took me so long to come up with something, I'm going to post it here as well.

So enjoy the weirdness of me!


1. I used to pronounce mayonnaise as “mah-naize” until I was a teenager and someone told me I was saying it incorrectly.

2. When I had my learners permit, I would only drive on the Westside of Lethbridge for about a year because I was too afraid of the traffic. I wish my 14 year old self could have seen my driving in downtown Toronto 10 years later.

3. When I graduated with my BSW, I swore up and down that I was done school.

4. When I graduated with my MSW, I swore up and own that I was done school.

5. I’m kind of contemplating whether I would want to eventually teach Social Work, and am wondering if 10 years down the road I should try for my PhD.

6. I am so jealous of stay at home moms.

7. I put the timer on whenever I cook any type of pasta, even 3 minute Ichiban.

8. I think I “hit the wall” about 6 months ago when it comes to cooking dinners.

9. If I knew how much fun kids were, I probably would have had one sooner.

10. I love sleep. I counted down my pregnancy by how many weekends I had left to sleep in.

11. I hate clothes shopping with a passion. If I was in better shape, I’d probably love it, so I guess being fat saves us money.

12. Except that every 5 years or so, I get sucked into buying a gym membership that I don’t end up using.

13. I love my calling as a Laurel’s teacher in church. I think I wish I was 17 again.

14. I am totally and utterly in love with my husband still after 10 years of being together and 8 of those being marriage (in June).

15. I think I would have had a nervous breakdown moving to Toronto if we didn’t have Ash’s awesome friends.

16. I want to take singing lessons because I haven’t sung in about 10 years and my voice sucks.

17. Working at the movie theater made me a movie snob. Who greenlights some of these things?

18. I think I’m also a music snob too.

19. If I get a craving for something, it will be in the back of my mind until I get it. Which could be months later, but it’s still there.

20. I love to read but have a hard time finding new books.

21. My family is the most important thing in the world to me.

22. I want to have at least 2 more kids.

23. I lean towards savory foods rather than sweet.

24. I hate any sort of debt – I feel obligated to pay someone back a dime I might have to borrow from them.

25. Both of our cars are Toyota Corollas.

Got Cars?

So as most people know, Cameron has a little bit of an obsession with cars. Just a bit. He asks for them individually by name (yesterday's example - Where's my Audi?), and has to take them EVERYWHERE. Even to bed, and yes they have to be the specific kind he wants right at that moment. The other day he found a Hot Wheels car that he hadn't seen before. It was was a '62 Chevy. He took a good look at it and noted that it "looks like an Impala". Seriously, this boy's grandfathers are both giddy with happiness.

Tonight Cameron asked to watch "Maximum Destruction", which is one of his favourite monster trucks on the tv show Monster Jam. When we told him that Monster Jam was not on, he then asked to watch "Two Guys Garage", or as he calls it "Two Guys and a Garage". My two year old's favourite shows are all on the Speed Network.

Treehouse, get to the back of the line.

"So Dad, did you know that through 1958-1996 Impala sales were more than any other full sized car in the history of the automobile?"

I need some help.

Eveyone else's blog is so much prettier than mine! (read that last sentence with a whine in your voice)

I have been trying to figure out how to spiff up my blog, but I am not having much luck here. First of all, I want to put up pictures of our family, but I can't find any of them. Seriously. I have about 50,000 of Cameron, some of Ash and maybe 3 pictures of us as a family. I guess I need to get that new camera figured out and go to town.

Anyone have any quick hints on how to gussy up this page?

Kids 'n Wigs

Is there anything cuter (or somewhat disturbing) than kids in wigs?

Here's Cameron and his cousin Miles:

And the icing on the cake, my niece, Hazel:

Apparently this was my great-grandmother's wig.

Pride truly does cometh before the fall.

My teeth have always been one thing that I like about myself. They are perfectly straight, and I have always been somewhat proud that I only have one filling in my mouth. The only thing I could probably say is that I need to get out those whitening strips again, but other than that, I love my teeth. And really, for the amount of money my parents shelled out for braces, why shouldn't I love them?

This week I had another dentist appointment. I was ready to be heaped with praises on how great my teeth were once again. So when the dental hygienist started paying particular attention to a few of my molars, I got a bit nervous. I definitely knew it was bad when she started to ask me some questions.

Her: "Hmmmm. So, have you had any pain or sensitivity with your teeth lately?"

Me: "No."

Her: "Really? Nothing around here, perhaps?" (poking around those molars)

Me: "Nope."

Her: "Well, I think I'm going to have the dentist come in to take a look at you."

Crap. That is never good. Sure enough, I find out that I have not one, but TWO cavities AND a possible third! On top of that, they are also "monitoring" another tooth. I was totally mortified, crushed, and was really hoping the other patients weren't listening to our conversation (you know how dentists offices are set up so that you're not in a room, but one giant room with 3 partitions).

Me, once they broke the news: "So, basically what your telling me is that my mouth is falling apart."

So there it is. My once glorious set of strong, beautiful teeth are full of holes. How the mighty have fallen. Now what do I have that I totally love about myself? The list of options seems to be getting smaller as I get older.