Photos

I am a bad mom.  Well, I don't really think I am but I feel like it about this one area.  Pictures.  Ever since the Hubster's surgery, I have been remiss about taking pics.  I realized that my baby girl's first birthday is the last time I really took pics.  I also went back to work in this time so it's just been so busy.  I have taken one or two here or there, but really want to pick up the pace and snap some shots.

Digital photography is wonderful, because you can take a thousand shots and keep only the ones you like.  If I only take four shots I am somewhat limited in my choices...not that I always only keep the best pics, but I can have a choice.

I am committing to myself to get my camera out of the back of the closet this weekend, dust it off and get it fired up.  It's about time I got back in the swing of things.

All Jammed Out

I like making homemade jam.  I had taken a few years off from making it - I just kept missing the strawberry and raspberry seasons, but this year I was determined that I was going to buckle down and finally get back to making jam.  I went and bought a large amount of strawberries and raspberries when they were ripe and got to work sterilizing jars, boiling fruit, and jaminating.  I know that probably isn't a word but don't you thinkit ought to be?  Jaminate - the art of preparing homemade jam.

As I was making Ryan's daily PB&J sanwiches...he eats one for breakfast and one for lunch...don't get me started (he's 17 and while the thought of eating the same thing twice a day every day is unfathomable to me, I let it go)...I realized we had no jam in the fridge.  Down to the basement pantry I went to grab another jar and found that we only have 3 jars left.  3?!?  I made over 30 jars of jam.  Just 6 months ago!  How is that even possible????

I myself am not a jam eater...I have a 1/2 tsp very rarely mixed into a sugar free plain yogurt but otherwise find it way too sweet.  That leaves the Hubster, the trash compacter...ummm I mean Ryan, and my little Jilly, who at one is hardly a contender in a jam-off.

Seriously...how does one family go through 30 jars of jam in 6 months?  And how the heck could we have afforded to buy it at the grocery store - that stuff's $4 or $5 a jar!  OMG!  Of the three we have left, I opened the large jar of raspberry, we have a small jar of raspberry and we have a large jar of cherry jam...which Ryan doesn't like, so we'll be running out of jam in the next week.  Holy bananas!

Tonight I will spend more time reorganizing the pantry because I just cannot believe that we have no more jars hiding somewhere.  If not, I'll be scouring the flyers for sales and will stock up when the price is right...clearly next year I need to make twice what I did this year! Sheesh!

All Shopped Out

Well, we went, we shopped, we dropped.  We spent 8 hours on Thursday and seven hours on Friday shopping, shopping shopping to complete our Christmas list.  In the end, we purchased all but 2 gifts...one because we had a good idea that was more expensive than we realized, and the other because we have a couple of thoughts and didn't see anything that jumped out at us for that person.  We will be trying to complete all shopping by the end of the weekend next week...then the wrapping begins.

I realized that I often shop for similar things for people.  It's not super exciting but I guess I figure out what works and just keep on going with those ideas.  Do people like that?  I don't know - I hope so.  I know for me, if I get gifts that I like and the person buys the same kind of thing year after year then I am more than happy.  If it is something that I have no use for and I keep getting it...well, I say thank you and appreciate the thought.

So I guess I answered my own question -if I know the person well enough that I buy something they like...like earrings, they won't mind getting them year after year.  This is why Christmas is so stressful!

I do love to give gifts that I think the person will like - it's fun to watch their faces, although I am a little too invested sometimes and reactions don't always line up to my expectations - that's my issue though!

Do you stick to a budget?  We don't have a grand total budget but we do budget a certain amount per person and try to stick to that...it's still a lot but we don't go crazy the rest of the year so it all works out!

My little bean is awake from her nap so I must go!

Happy shopping...I just might be finished before Dec 1st - that would be AMAZING!

Shhhh....The Holidays Are Coming!

First of all, to all of my US friends

I hope it's a wonderful day and weekend with family, friends, good food and good times.

Now, seeing as I am in Canada, I normally would just go to work and do my thing and know nothing about the US holiday, Black Friday or...Cyber Monday, buuuuuut the internet and media have ensured that not only do I know more about them, I can partake!  Yep, right here in Canada we now have Black Friday sales...some pretty good ones too.  Do I think it's a bit ridonkulous to adopt a US shopping day for no reason at all...well, yeah I do.  That said, if I can find cheaper items for my Christmas list, why the heck not?!?

The hubster and I both dislike crowds.  The last music concert we went to was Blue Rodeo about a decade or so ago!  We stay away from Walmart on a Saturday afternoon if we can at all avoid it because the insanity is too much!  To get Christmas shopping done and avoid crowds is a lofty goal, so we started something about 5 years ago that works for us and provides some 'us' time too.  We book off 2 days in November, make a giant list, map out our stops and do all of our shopping in 2 days.  Yep - it's insane and tiring but the feeling of getting home on day 2 and dropping everything and knowing that we are 99% done (we always forget something small!) is incredible!

Today and tomorrow are those days for us.  We made our list last night and are aiming to hit 6 stores and a mall today in the east end of the city.  Tomorrow, we head west to another mall, 2 more stores and anything we missed in between.  We think we know what we are getting each person and that's the hard part so cross your finger for us that all we have to do is find the specific items and hand over our money!

Fashionista Anyone?

Let me start by saying that if you know me well, you are probably laughing that I am posting anything about fashion.  Yep I am that mom who wears long underwear under dress pants for work because I get cold.  I wear ear muffs even though they look ridiculous.  I wear t shirts everywhere!  Until recently nothing fit me properly in my closet...now some stuff does fit (although not all!)

Anyways, I came across the coolest video last night and upon watching it in awe, I looked at the website it came from.  It's called Wendy's Look Book and can be found here.  Let me say this girl has got style - and even I can see that and admire it!

The video is about wearing a scarf - specifically 25 Ways To Wear a Scarf.  Scarves are very popular right now and even I have a few of them.  I always wear them the same way and sometimes wish I could 'dress them up' or do something different.  In addition to being very informative, the video is kind of entertaining and cool to watch.  There is sound but it's not absolutely necessary.  Enjoy!

**runs off to find a scarf to practice**

Ring Around The Roseola!

You have to love childhood.  I am sure we all block it out eventually but my gosh, kids get sick a lot while developing their immune systems!  The Hubster, my son and I all have rockin' immune systems.  I am not trying to tempt fate here, but we rarely get sick and when we do it's usually mild or a quick thing (knock on wood).  On the other hand, my poor Jilly has been sick off and on for almost 7 weeks.

Last night I got a glimpse into what's up with her now.  She had a fever all weekend of 103, mild diarrhea, rubbing her eyes, her eyes rolling slightly up, runny nose and not wanting to drink or eat much.  Dougie Howser was not helpful but we know that kids get viruses and as long as that was what it was, we would keep on doing what we were doing (you know, not sleeping, getting slimed and pulling out our hair...normal stuff)

When I picked her up from daycare last night she had been about 36 hours fever-free.  She was still quite fussy, so once dinner was on we sat and rocked.  I tickled her belly and noticed slight bumps.  Upon looking I found a very light rash covering her entire front and back.  Oh boy.  Being the search-queen that I am off I went to my friend Google to type in 'baby, high fever, rash'.  The very first thing that popped up was 

Roseola

Here are the symptoms.

The time between becoming infected and the beginning of symptoms (incubation period) is 5 to 15 days.

The first symptoms include:

• Eye redness
• Irritability
• Runny nose
• Sore throat
• High fever, that comes on quickly and may be as high as 105° Fahrenheit and can last 3 to 7 days

About 2-4 days after becoming sick, the child's fever lowers and a rash appears. This rash usually:

• Starts on the middle of the body and spreads to the arms, legs, neck, and face.
• Pink or rose-colored,
• Has small sores that are slightly raised

The rash lasts from a few hours to 2 - 3 days. It usually does not itch.

I have to say it is almost IDENTICAL to Jillian's symptomology.  I am part of on online Mommy Group and went off to post that I think Jilly has Roseola.  As soon as I opened the group page I found a post by an online friend who I'd recently met.  Her daughter was diagnosed with roseola...the same day!  The girls had been feeding each other Cheerios 7 days before that.  According to everything we have both read the icubation period should have been longer (since both girls developed fever within three days) but I don't think it's a coincidence...I think they shared more than lunch!  Ah childhood...when it is still socially acceptable to stick your fingers in someone else's mouth! ;)

The plus side is that once the rash appears, it is no longer contagious and the rash is not known to be itchy or uncomfortable (thank goodness for small blessings!)  So while she still has a bit of a cough and runny nose, I am hoping that this is the first step towards her finally getting healthy...fingers crossed!

My Princess Turned One (awhile ago...)

At the end of September, my sweet girl turned one.  I thought I'd share a few pics of that today since she's so gosh darn cute.

First off, the star of the day wearing the tutu and hair bow that I made along with the onesie that I decorated just for her!  


Although she looks very happy here, I can tell you that that tutu stayed on for precisely 3.5 minutes and she spent the rest of the afternoon in her onesie.  A prima ballerina she is not!

Here is my second attempt at a fondant cake - it's definitely not perfect but I was pretty darn pleased with it and it tasted AMAZING!  The top layer was cherry chip and the bottom layer was chocolate. The icing was homemade marshmallow fondant over top of homemade buttercream icing...not calories there!

My darling girl got her very own buttercream/cheery chip cake to do with as she pleased.  

She started tentatively...

And then said "What the heck..."

Nom Nom Nom 

It was a great day.  We had lots of laughs, Jillian didn't vomit (after all that icing I thought it was a distinct possibility) and she got to open some wonderful gifts.  (Okay I opened them - it's very awkward opeing a whole pile of gifts that aren't yours when the recipient has no interest in them at all...just sayin.)

Snot Shoulder and Other Sicko Randomness

Anyone with kids, especially young kids may know the phrase 'snot shoulder' and what it entails.  You don't really have to have uttered the phrase before to know the all too familiar crustiness that encompasses one or both of your shoulders at any given time.

My baby girl has been sick for 6 weeks.  She started off with a cold the week she started daycare.  I would have suspected it was daycare related except my son had previously been sick, infecting me who in turn infected my hubby and daughter.  Families share everything, no?

Anyways, my son eventually rid himself of the bug, and the hubster, who had still been recovering from surgery luckily beat it quickly.  I was sick for over 4 weeks, with it changing every five or sick days to remove one symptom but add another, like a sick version of a Mattel game.  My poor pricess however has gotten the worst of it.  I *think* she had the same bug we all had, but has since picked up more by being in the company of other drippy nosed, touchy feely kids - it happens and daycare and school are the prime breeding grounds no matter how clean they are!

She eventually was dx'd with an ear infection, got Amoxicillin for that, felt better for three days and then the nose faucet started up again.  I took her back to the doctor once more when she just seemed to be getting worse thinking maybe the ear infection hadn't totally cleared but they said it was just a virus and that her ears and chest looked/sounded fine...that was two weeks ago.  This past Friday I picked her up at daycare and she had just woken from her nap in a feverish state.  She fought a 103 fever all weekend, with us alternating tylenol and advil every four hours each.  She had moments where she was happy but spent a lot of time laying quietly in our arms.  We got the snot shoulder on every shirt we wore...I stopped trying to avoid the inevitable drench.

By yesterday, the tylenol and advil were no longer reducing the fever and she was lethargic with her eyes rolling upwards now and then.  Not a febrile seizure, but almost like she couldn't keep her eyes open at all...and the light seemed to bother her.  Off to the ER we went (since no clinics were open).  We only had to wait a total of 2 hrs (which is pretty good) to be told that she is just battling a virus.  The dr didn't even look in her mouth or at her throat.  Of course it didn't help that they upped her tylenol dose when we'd gotten there and that little boost was all she needed to be the happiest acrobat baby in the ER, flinging herself upside down and smiling for all.  Yep...good old Murphy had shown up to show us that even though she was ashen and lethargic at home, bring her out and she's a little clown.

I don't think the doctor took us too seriously, but it didn't help that he was Dougie Howser who felt it appropriate to lounge back on the exam table (like a full lounge backwards into the corner, legs up and head against the wall reclined) while talking to us.  We got the impression that he felt we were just overreacting to a low grade fever which pissed me off - We've been around the block - we know the signs of when a baby needs some medical attention or at least a thorough exam.  Anyways, long story short, no diagnosis, it's just a virus.  And a LOT of snot.

The plus side...I normally try to re-wear things a couple of times if they are still clean, but lately I don't even have to check them...they all go into the laundry basket!

Happy wiping!