16 months + 30 weeks

Welcome to 16 months, Mr. Simon! (Notice my lovely lack of lap for story time.)





I'm at 30 weeks. That means just 10 weeks until Schmoo 2.0 (or more... or less, babies are funny that way). Hard to believe he or she will be here that quickly!

Mrs. Dash

I LOVE to cook... when I have time. When I don't have time, it's a huge weight that looms over my head all day. My brain constantly asks what will I make for supper that's easy and quick and nutritious and yummy and that Simon will like?
This fall, I plan to be quite busy. Full-time teaching + last 10 weeks of pregnancy + house showings + hopefully packing and moving = brain overload.
SOLUTION: Dashing Dishes
On Monday, I went to a community center (which happens to be in the area of town I really hope we'll be moving to), donned my apron and bandanna and, in just 1 1/2 hours, I prepared 16 yummy, nutritious, quick and easy meals for my family for the fall. These scrumptious meals include: spinach pasta bake, Asian bistro chicken, fiesta pulled chicken, Greek shrimp, Korean style ribs, melt in your mouth beef, 2 Mexican pizzas and marinated chicken.
I was tickled that I was able to use ingredients I would never buy (rice vinegar, Hoisin sauce, pickled ginger, frozen spinach, etc.) I'm salivating at the thought of this month's meals.
On top of all that, I also bought a super large pork tenderloin at Costco, cut it into slab and wrapped those slabs in bacon. I have 16 of those little morsels of goodness in my freezer too.
I think my freezer is ready for me to go to work. (It'll be a pain to move all that food to our new house though.)

Lunch Buddies

Fergus is not allowed on the table. However, he does like to sit on a chair when we eat.

Pity Party Erased

I just erased a very self-pitying blogpost about the tragedy of my upcoming return to work. I was reduced to tears this morning as my little man gave me a big bear hug and snuggle because I'm going to miss him so much. I'm heading off to Dashing Dishes tonight to prepare 16 frozen suppers to ease my supper stress for the next month. (I plan on doing this monthly until the baby arrives).
Instead of belly-aching, I'm going to focus on the blessings God has given me!
-I am blessed to be the Mama of one, almost 2 little ones. Simon is my pride and joy and I can only imagine how big my heart will grow when Schmoo 2.0 arrives.
-I have the most supportive husband in the world. He is willing to pitch in with housework and parenting tasks. He's also the best hugger on days when I have pity parties.
-I have a fabulous job that I love. The only snafu I have this semester is silly Science 9 but, if I could teach Remedial Math and Food Studies 30 at my inner city school, I should be able to manage one unit of Science 9 in a bedroom community school.
-I have great childcare lined up. Simon loves his baby-sitter (as do I) and we're sharing her with a family that I really like. This way, Simon will have 2 little playmates to explore his world with.
-I just made yummy cookies. I spent the morning with my sweet Mom. Fergus is my purring cuddle cat sitting on my lap.
Really, how can life get better then this?
Begone pity party... I don't need you!

Jam face and a sad countdown

I think I just mentioned Simon's passionate love of his Tigger. This morning, he refused to part with the wee stripped beastie and so, Tigger is now covered in jam. Blech! (Fortunately, we have multiple Tiggers so, when jam-face Tigger is taking a bath, Simon still has 2 other Tiggers to keep him busy.)

I'm getting kind of sad thinking about my upcoming return to work. I've really enjoyed my extended mat. leave and summer break. I feel reality looming on the horizon and this stirs up all sorts of anxiety and sadness. Most of the time, I push those feelings down, put on my rosy-coloured glasses and live in the present. With just 10 days of bliss left, that is getting harder and harder to do. Sigh...

How in the world do those American girls go back to work after just 6 weeks? (I could barely function after 6 weeks let alone work. My goodness, letting me loose in a grocery store was scary enough, I'd hate to imagine trying to educate children in my sleep deprived state.) Why can't I move to Sweden where Trevor and I would still have 8 months left of our parental leaves?

Ah well, 10 weeks of teaching and then, I'm off on maternity leave again... because I'll have another BABY! YIKES!

A Colourful Cast

Simon has an ever-increasing army of "best friends". It started with his Tigger. We bought it for him when we went to DisneyWorld when I was pregnant with him. Something about the soft orange fuzz and the extra chewable tail has endeared him to my sweet son. (Lucky for us, you can buy extra, exactly the same Tiggers at SuperStore for $3).
Another one of his "best friends" is Ernie from Sesame Street. We don't own any Ernies but, we do get our daily dose of Sesame Street after nap time and Simon dances and giggles with glee whenever Ernie shows up. We've been taking a lot of Sesame Street books out of the library. This leads to Simon kissing a lot of pictures of Ernie.
Simon's newest "best friend" is an Ernie influence. To be like his role model, Simon has started carrying around a rubber duck. Last night, he slept with a rubber duck and his Tigger. He was a pretty happy dude. (I included this video because it is AWESOME. It is AWESOME because it has both Ernie and the duck. All it needs is a cameo from Tigger. It's also the song that is forever stuck in my head... sigh.)

(We're thinking that the baby might "give" Simon an Ernie when he/she gets here. Did any of you give your first child a gift from the baby? Did this help ease the dethronement at all?)

Boy-Mania

We just got back from lunch with some friends. We all took our little boys to DQ. It dawned on me just how many baby boys around Simon's age that we know. It's like 2009 was the year of the boy. I think our 2-3 year old Sunday School teacher may retire when she sees the crew she has coming in the next year and a bit. Yikes! I wouldn't blame her one bit! It's a good thing that Simon will have a pile of little guy friends. I pity this group in Jr. High when there are maybe one or two girls to flirt with between the lot of them.

On the same subject but, a completely different note, I just finished reading A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. It took me over a week to read because it was such a hard story. I'm still upset when I think of these lonesome little orphan boys who wound up fighting in the "army" in Sierra Leone. They were pumped with drugs, given guns and forced to go and shoot the enemy. The brainwashing and abuse the author went through was atrocious. As a Mommy, I held my little son a lot closer this week and continued to thank God that we live in such a safe place. Unfortunately, Ismael was one of many, many children to whom war and atrocities happen to. I don't know what I can do to help other then to hear their stories and to pass them on.

Sort and Shuffle On Out

Every couple of days or so, I open up a cupboard, a closet or I pick a basement shelf. I systematically go through it. I sort between 3 piles: keep, throw out and recycle (thrift shop style). This has led to all sorts of odd things ending up in our dumpster. This has also led to a lot of junk going to Sally Anne (really, do people really want this stuff?) This has also led to a lot of personal satisfaction. This also means that we are getting rid of "stuff" and hanging on to that which we love, need or have to have. It feels good to purge.
Obviously, making our house neat and tidy is the first priority (come on people, please buy our house). Also, this will make it easier to move. Lastly, it feels good to purge.

If you're interested in some great re-org tips, check out 2 of my favorite new blogs:
http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/
http://orgjunkie.com/

Bestie

We met 26 years ago (yeesh). She was the nameless My Little Pony and I was the clumsy My Little Pony (odd how 5 year olds define themselves). We became best friends in grade 4 when our original best friends left us for each other. Turns out to be the greatest break-ups of our lives.
It's fabulous to have someone who knows me so well. We're very different and those differences compliment each other in ways that are good for us.
It was great to spend the week holidaying with her and her sweet man. One of the best things about our friendship is that it feels like we just saw each other yesterday. There's no "catching up" or awkward re-acquainting. Instead, it's just sitting down with my best friend.
I loved spending the week in Canmore with her. It was good to have her see a little more of Simon.
It's crazy to think that the next time I actually see her, Simon will be walking (cross fingers) and I will have another baby in my arms.

Just a Memory

We spent most of our holiday with Simon strapped to Trevor's back. We tried walking up and around mountains every day. We had a fabulous time with Shiya and Marshall. We relaxed by the condo's pool in the afternoon when Simon slept. Simon was a super traveler. We played him out and he slept hard. Here are some of our more favorite pictures of the week.

Mountain High

We've been in the Rockies since Sunday. Simon was a delightful little traveller. He even tolerated his Mommy's foray into IKEA. :) He's sleeping hard and napping well. This makes everyone happy.
We're staying at a condo with my best friend, Shiya and her husband, Marshall. They've been great adventure buddies and it's been great catching up.
Highlights of our week so far have included:
-shopping at IKEA
-supper (and dessert) at Cheescake Cafe
-rainy welcome hike to a simple little lake not far from where we "live"
-Shiya and Marshall
-swimming everyday in our pool
-free pancake breakfast and a hike around town
-Banff - we skipped all the downtown shopping and hung out at the waterfall for a bit then, we took Simon on his first gondola ride (he was in love with the gondolas... we had to spend quite a bit of time watching them come up and go down the mountain)
-being bitten by a squirrel - it was just my toe and it was more funny then anything
-walking the ridge with our squirming son to get to the actual peak of Sulfur Mountain
-hiking Grassi Lakes trail with Auntie Andrea and Uncle Kyle - this also involved some intense splashing in the lakes

We've only just begun. We're currently relaxing by the pool as Schmoo Bear catches up on some much needed sleep. He plays hard, eats like an adult and sleeps hard. Life can't get much better then this! I'm excited to see what other adventures our little family can get up to.