January 30, 2012 - Crappy Day

Today was one of those days where I just felt crappy.  It seemed like nothing was going right.  First of all the Baby was not interested in nursing today, which is frustrating for me, because I want to nurse him:(  Then I slipped on the driveway, the confusing weather over the weekend has made walking difficult and dangerous.  At the grocery store, I couldn't find several items which I thought were 'standard'.  Then in the car on the way home I opened my Coke Zero and it fizzed all over me. 

The worst part is today is not over, the Girl has both T-Ball registration and Sparks.  The Husband is not home so "I will have to drag the Boy and the Baby out with us! 

At least I got a cute photo of the Baby today.  He is chewing on Sophie's leg and watching the Girl eating her dinner.  The other two pictures of the Girl and Boy were taken when they were supposed to be eating their dinner!

January 29, 2012 - Home from camp!

Today the Boy and the Husband came home from camp.  It was weird, the Girl wasn't that happy to see them, although she kept saying all weekend how much she missed her brother.  The Boy was actually upset when she wasn't glad to see him when he walked in the door.  I think he missed her too in his own way. 

I think he had fun, it's hard to get the Boy to tell you anything about what he does!  I am glad to have my family home, and I am looking forward to a nice Sunday afternoon.

January 28, 2012 - Weird Weather

Today we had the weirdest weather day.  Even the Girl noticed how strange it was.  It snowed (big wet flakes), rained, stopped and was windy, snowed again and it was blizzardy out. The blizzard lasted until late into the night.  Sometimes I noticed the snow blowing up and sideways. This has been one of the strangest winters I can remember in a long time.

Perhaps because I am home and don't need to drive the snow has been light. Perhaps because I am dying to play I the snow with my kids, we haven't had any. I have to admit Christmas shopping was easy without the snow, but it sure didn't feel Christmassy!

Now it is almost February, and even though it is Canada, and winter can happen anytime between October and May, part of me knows that it is essentially ending.  The kids are disapointed in the lack of snow.  I don't think the Boy even wore his snowpants.  I am glad I purchased them nice and early this year!

Many people would disagree with me: they like the lack of snow and the lack of shoveling that goes with it. If we had more snow I could definately rationalize my husband purchasing a snowblower!  Which he has wanted to do ever since we moved into this house.

I noticed that our front bay window was leaking.  At the time it was freezing rain out, and water was dripping down from the top of the window frame.  When the Husband got home he cleaned out the eaves trough and that seemed to have solved the problem.  We recalled that he never cleaned the eaves this year, last year he did this when we put up the Christmas lights.  However this year we did not put up the lights so the eaves never got emptied.  I will be sure to remember that this needs to be done next year!

I spent a nice day with the Girl and Baby.  The Boy was off at camp and the Husband was working.  When he returned home from work he packed up and went off to camp to spend the one night with the Boy.  In the afternoon the Girl wanted to paint and then after dinner she chose a movie that we watched upstairs in my bedroom.  She chose Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 

January 27, 2012 - A taste of winter

It snowed today.  Normally this would not be interesting as it is January in Canada.  But this year we have had more rain than snow and it has felt more like spring.  I am not complaining.  The kids got a snowman making kit which they can't wait to try, but we haven't had snow.  The Girl is learning to skate and wants to go to the park and skate with me, but it hasn't been cold enough. 

So everyone was happy to see the snow this morning.  Now it is 4pm and the snow has melted away already.  The kids are a little dissapointed, they can't wait for snow that hangs around for a while:)

January 26, 2012 - Beaver Camp :( and :)

So, the Boy is going to camp this weekend.  In some ways I am looking forward to spending the weekend with the Girl and Baby, but on the other hand I am going to miss my big Boy.  I love his sweet smile and good night hugs, I know I won't be there to tuck him in for two whole nights.  I will be looking at his empty bed and be missing him.  But I do know that he will have an awesome time at camp, he went for one night last year.  He is looking forward to the independance that going away for a weekend brings (and proabaly less nagging).  The Husband will join him for the second night and then bring him home on Sunday.  I am hoping to get more of the baptism preparations done this weekend, but who knows I might end up baking with the Girl, she has been asking to make cookies and her easy bake cakes for a while now!

Tonight while the Boy was packing his stuff, he was faces with a dilemma. He can bring a "teddy bear" to camp. The Boy has been sleeping with his "Bobo" (stuffed build-a-bear monkey) since he was about a year old. Bobo is his favorite, but now every night before I tuck him in, he sets up his bed. He makes sure that all his stuffed animals have a spot on a pillow and hat the blankets are not covering their faces.  His animals inclusde:  Bobo and Buster (stuffed dog), as well as his end of year gift from his grade one teacher (small teddy) and the small Webkinz birds that I gave him after the Baby was born. Remember he has a single bed. When we told him he could only bring one he was a little sad. He even told me that if he took Bobo to camp the others would really miss him. I had to assure him that I would say goodnight to them while he was gone. Bobo is ready for camp, and I am sure he will have fun too:)

January 25, 2012 - I found a dress for the Girl!

Today we found a dress for the Girl.  It was a little more formal than I really wanted, but it has a little jacket (shrug??) to at least keep her shoulders covered in  church.  It is pink and pouffy, just what she wanted.  She had so much fun trying on dresses, she probably would have stayed in the store all day.  We got it from this small store in Shopper's World called Hi Kids.  They had a lot of formal wear for children (boys and girls).  Actually my husband got the Boy's suit from this store earlier in the week.  At least four of five of us have something to wear.  The only person who needs clothing is me:(  You may wonder why the Baby spends so much time in the exersaucer, well he doesn't really.  But often he will spend 10 or 15 minutes in there while I am typing my blogs.  Since normally I also have the camera at the same time to upload photos, naturally I like to take some pictures of him.  Right now, he is talking to the little monkeys on his toy (lower right of the photo) unfortunately, they are not talking back!  He also grabs a hold of the dragonfly and tries to get it to his mouth, he is not yet tall enough (or maybe strong enough to be successful!)

January 24, 2012 - Girls dresses in January!

Today I went shopping for a dress for the Girl to wear to the Baby's baptism in a couple of weeks.  It is January and as far as I am concerned, it is still winter in my town.  Well all of the dresses on the racks were spring designs.  Not to mention they all had spaghetti straps (even for size 5/6).  I was hoping for something with at least a short sleeve.  I did find some dresses, which reminded me of formal dresses (or mini brides maids dresses), but I don't think these are appropriate for her.  So, now I am left with the delima of what to put her in for her brother's baptism.  I suppose she could wear one of the dresses in her closet, but she is such a girly girl that it makes her happy to have a new dress.  Afterall her big brother has a new suit!   Not to mention, that I need something to wear, and I am facing the same problem and the fact that I can't find anything that either doesn't make me look pregnant or shows off all of the cellulite on my ass.  Who is the cruel person who decided that parents should baptise their children (and pose for photos) mere months after giving birth?  It is mean, I have yet to feel or look good for my children's baptism, and this time my weight is at it's highest ever.  All of the clothes in the stores are made for women who are a size 5, which works if you are small, but not if you need a size well into the double digets.  So today I embark on another journey to find an outfit for me and the Girl, I will let you know if I am successful!

January 23, 2012 - Stranger anxiety already?

I didn't think babies got stranger anxiety until they were older.  According to the Baby Center Canada website (http://www.babycenter.ca/), stranger anxiety doesn't normally appear until the baby is 7 months to 12 months old.  But, if it's not fear of strangers I don't know what caused Baby to cry today.  It was a real cry too, with tears and everything. 



The Girl 3.5 mths old



Two of the moms at the Girls kindergarten class peeked into the car seat to see Baby.  Normally he is sleeping when I pick up and drop off the kids, but today he was being stubborn and decided to stay awake.  One of the mom`s peeked into the carseat to see him, and he started to cry.  I calmed him down and assured the mom it wasn`t her fault (he was just tired).  Then another mom did the same thing, and got the same reaction. 



The Boy 3.5 mths old.

People always feel badly when they cause your baby to cry, even if it is not their fault. I can`t blame someone for looking at the baby and smiling, most people love babies.  It is definately not their faulty if the baby cries.  I mean our Baby cries alot.  Sometimes it is for the usual reasons, hungry, tired, needs to be changed, but other times he cries and we don`t know why.  Honestly Baby probably doesn`t even know why he is crying!   Afterall, he is only 3 1/2 months old, he needs to figure these things out for himself.



The Baby 3.5 mths old

I posted several photos today.  I wanted to compare my three kids at the same age, they are all about 3.5 months in the photos.  I was trying to see if they looked alike.  The photo at the top of the page was from today.  He was having fun in the exersaucer while I was doing dishes.  Notice his really dirty bib, please understand that he went through about 5 of them today, so I am not a bad mother leaving her child in dirty clothes all day!

January 22, 2012 - Keep it in your belly!

I've been told this is normal. But every mother tends to think issues with their baby are abnormal. I don't know why? With my second I assumed when she cried until she threw up it was reflux. It wasn't and she grew out of it! With the Baby, he spits up all the time!  It is most frustrating when I've just spent the last 5 minutes trying to put his little legs and arms inside a really cute outfit and then I sit him up to put on the bib and he spits up all over his fresh outfit.  Then I start all over again.  Sometimes it seems as though he spits up everything he eats, when in reality I know that he is growing so he must be getting enough to eat.  I am told that this is normal, and that I just happened to have two other kids who didn't spit up regularly so this is new to me.  I guess for now I will just get used to the smell of spit up on my clothes and know that eventually he will grow out of this phase!

The photo on top was taken today, I love how it shows the Girl playing with the Baby.  The smile on the Baby's face is so adorable.  I love how his face lights up when he sees the kids.  It is really amazing.  The other photo (on the bottom) is actually from last night.  The photo is of G.D. with the Baby.  The Baby is really making eye contact with everyone, and I think G.D. enjoyed this little "talk" with the Baby.

January 21, 2012 - Ikea

Today we went to Ikea. The kids love playing in the indoor playground, and shopping is easier without the kids. The Boy was disappointed to learn that while I could leave him in the play room, he couldn't play in the ball pit. He is apparently too tall for the balls. We tried to make him look a little shorter, but the lady at Ikea, wasn't very understanding. Turns out he had fun anyway, which is a good thing. We got to look through the majority if the store without the kids!

Tonight my parents came over for dessert, coffee and to watch the Maple Leafs game. They also got in a good visit with all three grand kids. The Girl gets so excited sometimes and it is hard to calm her down. When she gets excited she starts acting very silly and can't relax.  

The photo of the Girl was taken about 5 minutes after she woke up.  I love her natural smile and beauty.  I am a little biased since she is my princess, but I love how happy she is in this photo.  She is very photogenic and one of my favourite photo subjects.

The photo to the left was taken this morning.  Daddy and the Baby having a nap on the sofa.  I love how they are in the same position with the outstreatched arm. 

January 20, 2012 - Baby accidents

Today the Baby rolled over onto his back. It was completely by accident, but he did it! We couldn't get him to do it again right away, but I know he'll figure it out.

Today while the kids were at school, we went to Lowes to get wood for a charging station that he is going to build. We need a central space to keep all of our electronic devices hooked up and ready to go. Right now, there are a million cables in the kitchen using up our precious kitchen outlets. I can't wait for it to be finished!

January 19, 2012 - Snow!

Today I went to Toronto and met a friend for lunch.  We had lunch at Kuni on Baldwin (http://dine.to/kunisushiya).  They have this very yummy special which we both had and devoured!  I brought the Baby with me and he was his normal charming self.  Of course the day I chose to go downtown was the first big snow(storm) of the season.  At least I got to try out the big wheels on my stroller!  After lunch I visited my old office, it was nice to see my old co-workers again.

For some reason the TTC has not renovated Yorkdale subway station to make it accessible.  Travelling alone with a stroller can be difficult.  Most subway stations have elevators which make it easier for those who need it.  As a Mom with a stroller I like to take advantage of this to get tot the station platform.  At the Queen's Park station (where I got off) they have an elevator from the platform to the concourse and then from the concourse to the street level.  The Yorkdale station (which is attached to a very nice and large shopping mall) does not have elevators to the platform.  Additionally to get from the parking lot to the station, you need to go up a short flight of stairs and then down one flight.  Then to get from the ticket booth level to the train track level you need to go up a very long flight of stairs.  By the time you get to the tracks you are sweaty and exhausted (especially since I was all bundled up in preparation for walking across University Avenue in a snowstorm! 

I was surprised that several people stopped to help me, I was expecially touched when a man coming down from the tracks (while I was on my way up) actually came up the stairs to help me up to the tracks.  My stroller is easier to take on the stairs than most small-wheeled models, but having the help was definately welcomed.  So to the TTC: please update this very outdated and busy subway station and add an elevator from the street to platform and then to the tracks! 

Today's photo was taken late at night, when I remembered that I forgot to take a photo of the Baby during the day!  He is sleeping and shortly after I took it, I fell asleep too.  It was a busy day with lots of walking and a stressful drive home after the snowstorm!    People always seem to forget how to drive when it snows, they loose all common sense!  But this is a topic for another blog!

January 18, 2012 - Belly Time

I have to admit that when it comes to putting the Baby on his belly, I am not very consistant.  I actually almost dread doing it, and between feeding, pumping, holding, changing and caring for the other two kids, there is very little time left in the day.  I know these are excuses, but if he doesn't get enough belly time will this really hinder his future development, or will he just not know how to roll over?  My Husband and I joked around that if he didn't learn to roll over, he might walk before he learns to roll.  Then the Husband made a comment that if while learning to walk he falls on his stomach, he will not be able to get back up!  I know eventually he will figure it out, so for now I am a bad mommy for not getting him on his belly often.   As I type this, he is on his back on the playmat, but he was on his belly and he cried and cried.  Does anyone know a baby that actually enjoyed belly time? 

January 17, 2012 - Peek-a-Boo

Today we took a tour of the daycare centre that the Baby will be going to when I go back to work.  I don't really want to think about going to work, as I am enjoying my maternity leave and the time with the kids, but I know all good things will eventually come to an end. 

The centre was nice, it looks like the Baby will have a good time, and hopefully learn something.  I also like that it is close to the house.

Today's photo of baby is the one on the left.  I wanted to post it because it shows him in a different light.  Normally I post all these cute photos of him smiling or staring lovingly into someones eyes.  This is what he looks like at 11:00pm when he has been fussing and not sleeping since 7:00pm.  Notice that he had spit up on himself and on the Husbands hand.  This was also his second wardrobe change that evening, (actually there was one more change later, before he managed to fall asleep).

The photo on the right is of the Girl at her second skating lesson.  She is more excited than normal because Daddy is on holidays and could make it to her lesson.  Today I aslo had one of the biggest oops as a parent.  The kids had swimming lessons after school, and I forgot their swim suits!  I opened the bag and immediately remembered that I didn`t pack the suits.  Crap!  I was embarrassed and kindly asked the receptionsist if she had any `lost and found`suits that I could borrow.  She had one for the Boy, but the only girls one she had was a size 2.  The Girl was able to squeeze into the suit (it was really tight on her) and enjoy her lesson.  She only made a few complaints about the wedgie that she had for a half an hour!  Note to self: pack swim suit bag on the weekend when I have a few extra minutes, not on Tuesday morning.

January 16, 2012 - Zombie Brains

The Husband is on holidays this week and the kids were off school today.  We couldn't think of anything interesting to do, so we all slept in.  I actually feel great from the couple extra hours of sleep, and the Baby slept from 11pm pretty much to 7am.  I think I fed him once, but it doesn't count if I didn't acutally have to wake up to do that. 

Today's picture of Baby has him wearing a cute pirate themed outfit.  I love the matching hat and shoes.  Too cute.  I remember when I got this outfit for the Boy and it is hard to remember that he was that small. 

January 15, 2012 - ET is a sad movie

Today we took the kids to visit their Vavo.  This is our normal Sunday.  The Husband and the Boy go to church.   Then we all go to see Vavo.  It makes for a nice Sunday afternoon.  Today's photo (15/366) is of the Girl and the Baby with their cousin. 

When we got home we decided to watch a movie together.  We decided on ET, the kids hadn't seen it yet, so we figured it would be a good movie to watch together.  I had forgotten how sad ET.  Attention: spoiler alert, if you haven't watched ET please don't read below, I don't want to give anything away. 

January 14, 2012 - Walmart and Costco

 It is a fact of life Walmart and Costco are extremely busy on Saturdays.  Every Saturday.  So why do we always go on Saturday?   Then we wonder why the lines are so long and the aisles are so crowded.  There is one thing that I have noticed since being off work on maternity leave. 

January 13, 2012 - My favourite thing!

Today's photo of the Baby (Day 13/366).  I am now 4% through the year's challenge.  The Baby has so many great expressions that it is hard to choose. 

The rest of this blog is about my stroller, one of my favourite baby gear items!

January 12, 2012 - Baby Food and the Batallion

Today we gave the Baby rice cereal for the first time.  He was so excited when he saw the food.  It was like he knew what was coming.  This helped me feel better about deciding to introduce cereal today (he is now nearly 3 1/2 months old).

I made the rice cereal myself.  I never made baby food for my other two kids (besides mushing up a banana here and there) and for some reason, I feel that it is the right thing to do now.  I guess I am older and wiser.  Or just older and a glutton for more responsibility. 

The cereal was pretty easy to make, I ground some long grain brown rice in a food grinder (I purchased a new coffee grinder for this purpose because it is probably too early to introduce coffee flavour in the baby cereal).  I ground the rice until it was pretty fine.  Then I boiled some water, added the rice and stirred constantly for 10 minutes.  It ended up being like thick cream of wheat.  We took a couple of teaspoons and added some breast milk until it was pretty liquidy.  Then we fed it to the Baby.  As you can see from the photos, he was pretty excited, and then the excitement turned into disgust.  He probably less than a teaspoon, but it seemed like the taste was alright, he just wasn't sure how to swallow it.

This evening we went to see the Brampton Batallion play the Belleville Blues (OHL).  The Boy won 4 tickets for demonstrating the virtue of hope last month at school.  So he was pretty pumped to go to the game.  Since my husband had a meeting, I went with my parents and bought a single ticket for me and the Baby.  The kids watched a lot of the game, the Boy seemed to enjoy it the most.  He especially liked the fights and he got really excited when two players almost started a fight right in front of us (we had second row seats).

The Girl was excited to open the bag of cotton candy and realize that she had it all to her self!  Then we had to help her work off the sugar rush that she had during the second intermission.  It's great to go to these games and support the home team.  Not everyone can affoard to go to an NHL game (especially a family of 5), so having this team play a few kilometers away, and that the tickets are really afforadable is amazing.  I will always try my best to go to at least one game a year, it's a lot of fun! 

January 11, 2012 - Sunshine and Siblings

Today was a quiet day.  It was beautiful and sunny outside.  Another lovely January day!  I enjoyed my walks to the school and the Baby enjoyed his naps in the stroller.

I opened another of Baby's Christmas gifts today.  It is the Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Soccer Ball.  It is really cute and the Baby smiled while the songs were playing.  I think when he is a couple of months older he is really going to like it. 

January 10, 2012 - Skating, Swimming, School and Smiles!

Last night was the first night I pit the Baby in his crib. He lasted only 45 minutes, it's a start!

When I registered the kids for their winter activities I probably didn't really think about Tuesdays schedule too much. Now that it is Tuesday, I am wondering if there is too much going on so early in the week (Sparks, skating, swimming and Beavers all in three days!)

January 9, 2012 - School is back in session

Today was the first day back at school.  The Boy got up and dressed and ate his breakfast without any arguments. I think he really missed his school friends.  Today was also the first day of Sparks for the Girl, which reminded me that I still had to sew the badges on her sash!  I enjoyed walking to the school and the Baby got his regular naps in the stroller. 

January 8, 2012 - Christmas Tree and Scrapbooking

Today was Sunday. The last day of the Christmas break (thank goodness!)  I can't wait until they are back in school and we are back to normal around here.   The tree is still up and I have until Tuesday night to get it down or else I will have to take my own tree to the recycling centre.  I'd rather avoid that!! 

January 7, 2012 - January Sunshine

Today was another beautiful day.  I made the kids walk to the mall today to pick up more photo paper from Staples.  The Baby slept, and the other two complained that they were tired or their feet hurt.  All in all it was a nice Saturday. 

The Boy and the Baby were having some quality time after dinner and they posed for a couple of photos.  The Girl was still casually eating her dinner.  She actually finished it tonight with only 4 or 5 reminders to eat her pasta!

Then they watched ``Monster House``, I have to admit it is probably a scary movie when you are five...oh well!  Hopefully there aren`t too many nightmares tonight!

January 6, 2012 - Holidays are (almost) Over

Thank goodness the Christmas vacation is almost over. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but two weeks of fighting and yelling isn't really a vacation for anyone. I'll be glad when the house is back to our routine, even of the kids each add additional sports to their after school activities starting next week!

The house is slowly getting back to normal, I am packing up the Christmas decorations which seem to increase in amount every year. Why is it that we have so much decor for just 6 weeks of celebration? I wish my house looked more decorated the other 10 1/2 months of the year!

Today was a beautiful mild day for January. I guess we have global warming to thank.  I actually took the kids to the park and they played on the swings and sliders. For the first time ever we were concerned with getting our winter boots sandy from the playground - something seems off about that. Anyhow, I got 20 minutes to read my book and the Baby got a 45 minute nap in the stroller and proceeded to sleep for another hour after we got home. Which is unheard of for the Baby! All in all it was a great day.

January 3, 2012 - Ballet and Costco

Today started out slowly, I didn't want to rush the kids.  Also it was super cold, and I didn't think taking the three month old out in -25 wind chills was a smart idea.  I knew that we didn't have anything planned until 5:30pm when the Girl had a ballet class.  The local recreation centre offered a "try it" ballet class and she was interested, so I signed her up.  I also wanted to go to Costco to pick up a few things.  We left the house around 3pm and went to Costco, we walked around the store, gathering the items we needed (and a few extra ones).  I got to the check out and started unloading, when the Baby started to cry.  This seems to be a pattern with the Baby.  He is fine in the store, but never wants to leave!? 
We checked out and loaded up the car. Of course, the Boy was thursty and the Baby was still crying.  I drove to McDonalds, while the Boy gave a bottle to the Baby.  At McDonald's we had a snack and then went to the Ballet Class.
The Girl liked the class, so now we will probably sign her up in the spring for a full set of lessons.

January 5, 2012 - Day camp and Little Ceasers

Adorable sweater and pants (Chirstmas gift)

Today the Boy and the Girl had a day camp at one of the recreation centres in the city. The classes started at 9:00am and it was about 20 minutes away. After nearly 2 weeks of sleeping in and going to bed late, having breakfast at 10am it was hard to wake them up!

The Girl is always hard to wake up. I actually have to wake her about 3 times before she gets up. Then she spends about 15 minutes in the bathroom. After that it takes her another 15 minutes to get dressed. I can't wait until she is a teenager:)

I spent most of the day at home quietly with the Baby. I decided to go out after lunch with the Baby. We went to the mall and then to get the kids.

The Boy and the Girl had so much fun at day camp. The Boy was in a cooking camp. He was very excited about his apple tart and the stir fry. Which reminds me that I have to eat he leftover stir fry that he brought home for me. (why couldn't he have left over apple tart?)

The Girl did crafts and played soccer and hockey at her camp. She made a t-Rex which will have a special place on the kitchen art wall. She also made a rice krispie treat snack in the shape of a crown.

We stopped at Little Ceasers on the way home. I haven't had the crazy bread in a long time. A new location just opened up near the house. The kids loved the pizza and the crazy bread. The service was good. They had hot 'n fresh pizza ready to go. Of course the one I wanted was not so "ready" it was 2 minutes.

After dinner the Baby spent time in his Exersaucer. He was smiling and checking out all the toys. I got some adorable photos of him in the toy. He was also wearing one of his Christmas gifts today. One of his Aunts got home an adorable sweater and corduroy pants.

January 4, 2012 - Imperfect Wellington

Today was spent cleaning and cooking. My parents came for dinner. It's always nice when they come over, the kids love it. The Girl got to do a puzzle with her grandfather and the Boy managed to convince him to help set up his Wall Tracks in his room. The Baby was sweet with his grandparents and smiled and coo'ed at all the right moments.

I tried a new recipe. I made beef wellington from Gordon Ramsay's cookbook. It didn't turn out perfect., but it was yummy:)

January 2, 2012 - 100 Pieces

Today I braved Toys 'r Us because they had a sale.  Bringing three kids to the toy store is not a wise idea.  It is almost impossible to leave the store without buying more than you intended to purchase.  I was going to buy a exersaucer (Evenflo Exersaucer Triple Fun - Jungle - Evenflo - Babies"R"Us) for the Baby.  I checked it out online, but the shipping rates seemed unreasonable, so I figured a quick trip to the store would be the way to go.  The Girl had a gift card from her birthday, so she could get something.  But the Boy didn't have his gift card.  Actually, I intentionally left it at home so that he could use it later in the spring when the stores had the good stuff back in stock!
So I found the exersaucer and the Girl picked out a cute RC car from My Little Ponies.  The Boy saw these Angry Birds toys, I managed to talk him out of the bigger one, and therefore only set myself back $10.  The RC car of course maxed out her gift card (well, went a tiny bit over). Then when you added the cost of the battaries needed to play with it, I was well over the card.  But what can you do?  At the check out the register stopped working, and the Baby started crying, so I had to change registers, the exersaucer box was big and bulky and the Boy and the Girl were very interested in the ride on machine with Pooh and Tigger in a boat by the exit to the store (so they were no help!).  Anyhow, I changed registers and cashed out, while the Baby cried.  The I drove home while the Boy fed the Baby a bottle (it's nice to have that kind of help sometimes:))
One of the great features of this particular exersaucer is that it folds up for easy storage and travel.  So you can imagine my surprise when I got home and opened the box, there was about 100 pieces in the box which had to be assembled.  It took me most of the afternoon, but I got it together, thanks to the help of the Boy.   The first time I put the Baby in the fully assembled exersaucer he cried of course.  I know he will like it later once he is just a tiny bit bigger. 
The lesson I learned today, is never take your kids to the toy store unless you intend on either buying them a toy or leaving the store with crying children!

January 1, 2012 - Resolutions

This is the first day of the new year.  It is also the first entry in my blog.  I hope I can maintain this throughout the year.  I have never been a great writer, but I hope with some practice I can improve.  Being a better writer would be a great new year's resoloution!  

Today the Baby is three months old.   It is New Year's Day and only nine months left of my maternity leave.  I can't believe how big the Baby has gotten over the last three months. Sadly I want him to grow and become a little boy, and also I want him to remain my baby since I know this is my last baby.  Over the first 3 months of his life, the Baby has learned to smile (November 1, 2011), coo (December 12, 2011) and laugh (a real belly laugh, December 28, 2011).  

Before the Christmas break the Boy (7 years old) received an award at school for best demonstrating the virtue of hope.  That is a great accomplishment for the Boy because he had a hard time adjusting to his new school.

The Girl(5 years old) is my "mini me" in just about every way.  I have been told that she looks like me...LOL.  She is also my little helper, she really helps me around the house, with baby stuff, laundry and cleaning.  She is also really good at letting me nap with the Baby in the morning if I had a rough night. 

I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for my family.    This year I am going to challenge myself to take a photo every day of Baby, so that at the end of the year I can look back at how he has changed.  Since I have three kids, I will also post photos of them, don't know if I'll get one every day of them though!!