Monday, February 28, 2011

Happy 6 months to my little guy

6mths ago today, Kyle was born. He has brought such joy to our lives. Seeing the 2 boys together really makes me smile!

Today also marks the day that he crawled for the first time! I have been saying since 4.5 mths that he would crawl by 6mths. And, this morning - he did~ He only went a few "paces" to reach a bottle - but then he did it again an hour later to get a toy. He also repeated it again tonight! Sometimes he gets his legs going and forgets to move his arms, but he is getting the hang of it!

great news from owly design!

For all you WB ladies - Owly is accepting weddingbells10 as a 10% discount code!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

another owly design product

As I posted earlier, Owly Design is a relatively new Etsy shop.  I got to witness first hand how awesome the drool bibs are. They are well made, cute designs, and best of all - the material she uses is super absorbent, and has a lining inside that keeps the back from getting wet. No more worrying about your little one's shirts getting soaked through the bib - and no more drool rashes on the chest!

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Giveaway! Come check it out!

Owly Design  and I are hosting a giveaway. It's a cool new etsy shop that has handmade baby items (bibs, carrier strap covers, diaper soakers). These items are great! The baby carrier strap covers are perfect for little ones to chew on!
One of my lucky readers will win their choice of carrier strap covers (and there are lots of fabric choices).

HOW TO ENTER:


Please remember to include your email in your comment;  if I can't get a hold of you then your entry will be excluded.

Mandatory Entry
- check out Owly Design 's etsy shop and have a look at the fabric choices for strap covers; come back here and leave me a comment on what your fabric choice would be if you won

Bonus Entries:
- "like"  Owly handmade  on facebook - comment saying I sent you there, and then leave a comment here
- Publicly follow my blog (a day in the life of a stay-at-home-mom)) on Google Friend Connect - leave a comment saying you did so
- Visit Owly Design and leave a comment on my blog as to what your favorite item is
- Follow @Mommawee on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway (and comment here telling me you did)

GIVEAWAY RULES:


Remember, one comment per entry. Your entry is your comment. I will number entries and use random.org to pick a winner
Don't forget to leave your email in the comment, if I can't contact you - your entry will be excluded

The contest will run from Saturday February 26th until Friday March 4th, at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be selected by random.org. Winner will be contacted by email and will have 48hrs to reply back; if not, another entry will be chosen. Open to Canadian and US residents. Good luck!

Friday, February 25, 2011

I am all for breast milk, but .....

..... this just seems wrong to me

breast milk ice cream

I cannot fathom why anyone would want to eat ice cream made with someone else's breast milk. I wouldn't even eat if it was made with my own. And charging £14 for it - seems a little outrageous to me.

Your thoughts?

sleeping arrangements

I always swore I would never co-sleep. Not because I didn't like the idea of snuggling up to my kids, but because I was worried that I would have an 8 year old still in my bed EVERY night.

When Jullien was a baby, I would pull him in the odd time in the wee hours of the morning - I would nurse him and it would buy me an extra hour or 2 of sleep.

As he got older, I stopped doing that, as I didn't want it to become a bad habit.

Fast forward a year, and J started working nights (5pm - 3am) When Julien would wake in the middle of the night, I would soooo long for my bed. So much so, that I starrted bringing him to bed with me so that he would fall back asleep.
J and I both loved the night time cuddles that he would give us. The one rule that we put in place, was that he HAS to fall asleep in his own room. If (when) he wakes up, then he can come join us in our room. The odd time we break the rule (if he is sick, or if he had a long afternoon nap and isn't ready for bed yet when we are) but otherwise, we have been able to stick to it.

When Kyle was born, I found that I loved to bring him to our bed, because it was super easy to nurse him while I slept. It was peaceful, and we both got what we needed. The only concern I had with Kyle, was that Julien would kick/squish or hurrt him some other way when he climbed into bed.

Now that Kyle is older, I don't have those same concerns,  but he sleeps so well in his crib that I don't want to mess with it.

mango mania!

Kyle had his first taste of "real" food on Sunday - some frozen mango in the mesh feeder. Not sure if he liked it or not - he kept making sour faces, but then he would go back for more



Thursday, February 24, 2011

bad mommy award over here

Every mom has moments where they deserve the bad mommy award - and today, I had one.

Kyle was sitting up playing with toys on his playmat, and  wanted to take a picture of him. I quickly got in front of him to take the pic, and just as I was about to "click" he tumbled back and hit his head on the leg of his baby rocker. Oops. He has only recently started sitting on his own, but he is still pretty tipsy - so I normally won't leave him alone.....this reminded me why

the love of a brother

Seeing Kyle's face light up when he notices Julien, or when he hears Juliens voice makes me smile! The love he has for him, the adoration you can see in Julien for Kyle = it all makes me so happy!

outdoor fun

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Ottawa. The  boys and I headed over to my moms to take advantage of the gorgeous weather, and utilize the big slide my uncle built in her backyard.

It was a little too slippery to start at the top ofthe slide, so wewent from the halfway point.  Julien had a blast, I even took Kyle down twice - not sure that he enjoyed it, but he didn't scream or cry - so that\s good! The neighbours even came over with their grand daughters!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Another book fav for Julien

Another one of Julien's favorite books right now is a hallmark story, called SnowPlace Like Home. It's a short book about some snowmen kids that fix a candy machine - he loves it! It was a gift last year at Christmas, and it is another of his favorite stories!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

cake decorating

Growing up, my mother made our birthday cakes (well, until dairy queen was discovered); she made cakes for special occasions (halloween, christmas, valentines day, easter, anniversaries)

Every year in school, she would make a cake for us each to take into our classrooms for holidays (christmas, easter)
It always meant a lot to me, and even now if I run into acquaintances from elementary school, it is one of their favorite memories (that when my dad brought our dogs in and hooked them up to a sled and pulled everyone around the soccer field!)

I started baking when I was young; I would decorate cakes to the best of my ability (which usually meant that icing would be slathered on REALLY thick, and I would attempt at piping a border on the cake itself) I made a few cakes for friends (bridal shower and bachelor party)



But when my son was born, I really got into it.

It started with his christening cake - I loved the one my mom made for my brother and I when we were baptized, so I wanted to make the same one



I planned his birthday cake MONTHS before his birthday. I wanted it to be perfect - so much so that I actually threw out the first cake (it wasn't what I had in mind - but there was also somerthing wrong with the icing - really grainy and gross). But, when I made the new one, I was really pleased with it - we always called him our little monkey, so it only seemed fitting that he have a monkey cake


Next came J's 30th birthday cake




After that, I started making occasion cakes as well - here are a few of them (these are both from 2010)




I made a bachelorette cake (my cousin was "hosting" and asked for it)



Julien's 2nd (fire truck) and 3rd (train and school bus - yes, there were 2)birthday cakes are here



and finally, Kyle's christening cake - the same one I made for Julien



There have been other cakes as well - a giraffe for one of my girlfriends; a wine bottle for my FIL, some bunny rabbits at easter etc.

I am now in the process of planning Julien's 4th birthday cake (he waants a pirate ship - and I may also do a treasure chest to go with it) and Kyle's 1st birthday cake (I call him my little bug, so I am thinking a ladybug pan)

Sunday, February 20, 2011

reading

As I mentioned in a previous post, Julien loves to be read to at the moment. He goes through phases of loving books, to not sitting still. Even so, I try and read at least 1 book to him everyday.

Then we have days like yesterday, where he grabs almost every book we own and brings it over to be read.
At the moment, he has 2 favorite books - and both contain 5 stories. The first is the big red book of  beginner books, which I posted about a week or so ago.

The 2nd is actually a book that Kyle was given when he was born, and it's called I Love You, A keepsake collection. It contains 5 stories, 3 of them I really enjoy, and the otehr 2 are ok - Julien likes them, but they aren't my favs.

The last one in the book is quite simple, each page has 4 lines, about mama loving a certain animal. The last page, is my favorite

Your my star, my moon, my sun - mama loves you little one!

cute things they say

Last night, Julien crawled into our bed. It was empty, J was with a friend and I had been feeding Kyle. When I came in, he just looked so cute. I had to move him slightly so I could get comfortable, and I gave him a kiss; with his sleepy eyes closed, he gave me a kiss. I told him I loved him; he told me he loved me. I told him I was glad that I was his mommy, and he rolled over to go to sleep,and right as he was drifting off, he told me he was glad I was his mommy, too!

It melted my heart!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

brotherly , err love?

I have discovered that if I leave Julien and Kyle alone in a room together, it's never a good thing if I hear Jules laughing.

I went downstairs to take some muffins out of the oven, and Kyle was in his exersaucer, Julien playing with his cars.

As I am coming back upstairs, I hear Julien laughing, and wonder what I will find as I enter our family room. Well, apparently Julien wanted to show Kyle his brotherly love.  H ewas standing on the exersaucer, with one leg on either side of kyle's body. Rocking it back and forth.

Kyle was flailing back and forth and didn't really know what was going on. Julien told me that he wanted Kyle to go on a ride, just like he did at DisneyWorld....

Oh the joy - what else do I have to look forward to. Although, I guess I should be thankful that in almost 6mths, Julien hasn't injured his brother.

yummy beavertails

As I have posted in past years, we are lucky to be home to the largest skating rink in the world - the rideau canal.

Every year, the first 3 weekends in February the city puts on a winter festival, called winterlude. There are lots of outdoor activities to partake in (skating, snow slides, ice sculptures) and one of the best things about winterlude, is enjoying a beavertail.

Beavertails are available year round (there is a stand in the market, and a shop at st. laurent centre); but, really - there is no better way to enjoy a beavertail than out in the cold on the rideau canal. It is one of the treats that I (and Jules) look forward to every winter.

Here are a few pics from our journey yesterday



Monday, February 14, 2011

The Big Red Book of Beginner Books

Julien received this book for Christmas. It is his new favorite book. It is comprised of 5 different stories, by 5 different authors.

His 2 favorite stories in the book are "stop that ball" and " I want to be somebody new".

I love that he has a passion for books. I am big into reading. IAs long as I can remembe I have enjoyed it.
Babysitters Club, Sweet Valley, Nancy Drew. Those were the 3 series that I read growing up. Once I started high school, I started reading Christopher Pike and R.L. Stein (fear street).

I am hoping that if I continue to read with him, that his love of reading will continue.

cheerios

I love cheerios. I loved them growing up, and I still like them now as an adult. Some days I will fill a bowl with honey nut cheerios and just have a snack without milk on them.

I want my kids to have a healthy breakfast. I don't like the idea of plying them with a bowl full of sugar to start their day. So I will often give Julien cheerios for breakfast. He has now discovered honey nut cheerios, but he still loves his regular ones.

Kyle's Christening

Yesterday we had Kyle Christened. Here are a few photo's





Saturday, February 12, 2011

mmmm - yummy cake

At a Christmas party, my cousin brought these delicious looking balls. Upon further investigation, I discovered they were "cake balls". I had never heard of them before - so she gave me a quick rundown on how to make them.

I looked them up on google a few days later.

I love cake. I love chocolate. I love icing. I love to experiment and make new things. YAY!

So, with valentines day coming up - I am hosting a "playdate" for some girlfriends and their babies; I decided to attempt them.

Julien and I made a pink cake and baked it.

The next step is to crumble it up into tiny/fine pieces. Then, I will add some frosting to it and mix it all together. The next step is to chill the mixture, and then roll into balls. Then I will chill them again, and dip them in melted chocolate.
Now, had this not been a last minute decision, I would have bought coloured chocolate wafers to melt. But, since it WAS a spur of the moment choice, I will be melting chocolate chips that I thin out with a little bit of oil.

I will take a picture of the final product! Wish me luck that they turn out!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

after 15 years

the Rick McCallum Memorial Golf Tournament is coming to an end. This years tournament has been cancelled.

ACFO (formerly APSFA) started the tournament in honour of my dad after he passed away in 1995. HE was the acting president at the time of his death, and they wanted to do something in his memory. All the funds raised went to the Ottawa Heart Institute, and the Institiute Alumni.

Throughout the years the tournament was held, they raised almost $200,000 to be donated.

Sadly, the 2010 tournament was the end.

Monday, February 7, 2011

what;s going on with my little bugga bugga?

He really hasn't been himself since he had his little cold before we went away., He was cranky the majority of the trip (which is understandable, he didn't adjust very well to the hotel and we had VERY busy/sstimulating days) I thought that after a few days back at home things would get back on track, but they are actually worse.

He has been incredibly gassy (poor thing) and not sleeping well at all. We attempted to sleep train again on the weekend, and it didn't go well. After 2.5 hrs of SCREAMING (and us doing our check ins) I finally picked him up - I couldn't stand it anymore. He snuggled in close and kept staring at me (to make sure I wasn't going anywhere I assume) and then he fell asleep. He slept OK that night, but was up probably 4 times. Last night, however, the longest stretch he gave me was 2 hrs. 

He is acting much like he did before he cut his first teeth - however he isn't showing REAL signs of a new tooth (gums aren't terribly swollen etc).

If only they came with directions.

catching up

A great friend came over this morning with her 10 mth old son. It was great to catch up - we don't live far but seem to only get together every couple of months.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Happy anniversary to us!

5 years ago, J and I got married. It was a beautiful day in February . We chose the date hoping that we might have some snow on the ground, and make it gorgeous for pictures. However, we had been experiencing warmer than average temperatures in the week leading up to the wedding - the snow on the ground had melted, and there was to be no snow on our wedding day either.

It did, however, start to freeze rain later in the evening.....

Love you babe!

caledonia soapworks

I discovered a new store a few weeks ago. Caledonia soapworks.

They have a mama and baby line, and I decided to purchase the gentle baby bum barrier cream and  gentle baby bum body butter.

No matter how much cream I used when changing Kyle's diaper - he almost always had a red bum. I wanted to do something about it, and I am VERY happy to report that fter only using it for 2 days, he no longer has a red bum. A little  goes a long way, and after the first few applications the redness was gone. YAY!

Kyle also has very bad eczema - his legs, arms and back are covered in it and his skin is always SOOOO dry. I had been using Aveeno creme to keep it somewhat under control, but it was still pretty dry.

After 2 days of the body butter, I am again happy to report that there has been a massive improvement.  His skin no longer feels scaly. I will admit that when I first opened the jar, I was a little apprehensive based on the texture - but once I rubbed it between my palms it got super smooth and went on soooo easy - and again, a little goes a long way.

I will definitely be recommending these products to new moms!

Thank you Robin at Caledonia Soapworks!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Disney family vacay 2011 - We are HOME!



We arrived back home on Tuesday evening. We had a lot of fun; it was exhausting - I told hubby that I don't remember being THIS tired when we were there, and we did a lot more walking etc. He reminded me that we didn't have kids with us and were actually able to sleep at night!
Take off:




Here is a rundown of our trip:

We headed out on Jan 25th (myself, hubby, DS3 and DSinfant, MIL and FIL). We arrived at the hotel around 600pm - by the time we were in the room (bay lake tower 2br suite) it was about 7pm. I had a VERY cranky baby on my hands, who was soooo overtired and wouldn't settle. He had been up the entire night before and the same pretty much held true for the night we arrived.

The suite was nice to have, lots of space for our oldest to run around. But I found the rooms to be quite rundown. Stains on the couch and carpet; tiles cracked in the bathroom etc.

I was a little disappointed that nothing was done for our anniversary - I thought maybe a bottle of champagne or something - but nope. The next day when we got in from the parks we did have a card with a 20% off coupon for photopass, but thta was it. I guess we were spoiled on our honeymoon when we were upgraded .....
Wednesday we headed to MK and hubby and IL's walked onto pretty much every ride. I think the longest wait was 5min. I had to stay off and deal with overtired screaming baby pretty much all day.



kyle and mama waiting for the others to get off a ride

We had lunch at Tony's, it was ok - not as good as when we were last there (5years ago). Dinner DTD at House of blues (again, it was ok - but nothing too spectacular). Headed back to the hotel and went to bed.

Thursday morning we had brekky at Crystal palace - we were able to get into the park before opening since we had brekky reservation! It was nice and we got some shots of the castle without too many ppl in the background. My breakfast was great - they had pumpkin muffins which I fell in love with on our honeymoon. ODS loved the characters!



We then went back into the park and since baby was co-operating, I was able to go on haunted mansion, small world and pirates! The 4 of us headed back to the hotel for a little while and met up with IL's for dinner at coral reef.

They greeted us with the offer of complimentary champagne to celebrate our anniversary - which was nice - and it was a great champagne! Our food was pretty slow to arrive though, and I ened up leaving half way thru the meal because of cranky baby and ODS who was falling asleep at the table.


Friday we headed to animal kingdom - baby slept for most of it and I was able to go on a few rides with ODS so taht was nice. I did have to forego the safari though as he was screaming and I was worried that it would a) scare the animals and b) ruin it for everyone else. Had lunch at rainforest and it was great! Just as good as I remembered!







Saturday we headed to DHS - didn't do much there, not much interest for any of us..

Saturday night the 4 of us headed over to MK to watch the fireworks - it was awesome (even though we could see them from our balcony, it's much better in the park - the show they put on at the castle is amazing also)

Sunday we had lunch at t-rex - again, food was terriffic - but it was SUPER loud and hard to hear. Good experience though. Headed back to the hotel and relaxed for a few hours. I headed to the pool with the baby while ODS and hubby napped. After a quick bite in the room we all headed over to MK to watch the fireworks. It was EMH so we were able to stay late. Got to experience Peter Pan's Flight - and I must say, out of all the kids attractions I think it is my fav! Pooh hold up a close 2nd.



Monday morning the 4 of us headed to epcot for nemo and figment. Enjoyed our first frozen lemonade (delicous) and then back to the hotel. ODS went to the pool with his grandparents and hubby and Istarted to pack for home. Monday night dinner at chef mickeys - and I was quite surprised at how good thefood was. ODS had a blast with teh characters also!



I went back to the room with baby and the others went to the arcade!


We will probably always do breaky at CP; and we will now have to add in Chef Mickeys also.



WE had a lot of fun, and can't wait to do it again when YDS is probably 2.5 (so in 2 years)