Our Trip - Part 1.

Evan and I arrived safely in Victoria - and safely back home. Now I have the opportunity to do a bit of blogging about our trip. I will do it in small segments.

We arrived safely in Victoria on the evening of December 19th. My dad, Evan and I flew out together. Evan did wonderfully on the plane, having his very own seat for the first time. He burst into giggles during take-off, yelling "Again" once we reached altitude.

On Saturday, my mom's friend Penny invited my mom and I to a mysterious event. While my dad took Evan for a haircut, my mom and I were dropped off at said event. We had no idea what to expect, or how to dress. We were told to show up at the Fairholme Manor. What was waiting for us was an amazing brunch at a beautiful bed and breakfast. As an aside, last month Dallas and I spent a weekend at a bed and breakfast scrapbooking. While it was so lovely, this place was AMAZING! Check out the link above. I highly suspect she doesn't do a lot (if any) scrapbooking retreats.

Anyway, our brunch began with homemade granola, fresh fruit, vanilla yogurt, espresso chocolate cake and these amazing White Chocolate Lemon Scones. After savouring more than my share of scones (2) we were offered the choice of a traditional eggs benedict or an eggs benedict prepared with smoked salmon. I chose the traditional while my mom had the smoked salmon eggs benedict. Both were so tasty. I met a bunch of wonderful women over an amazing breakfast. Afterwards, we toured their gorgeous rooms. I'm almost tempted to stay at this bed and breakfast the next time I am in Victoria.

Later that night, my mom and I went to the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. That night, they were hosting Canadian jazz artist Holly Cole. I was really excited for this show, but was disappointed by a lack-lustre performance. I understand that performers can't be great all the time - so I don't hold it against her.

Stay tuned - next blog post will be about the massive amounts of snow and a night spent tobogganing down my parents' driveway.

Guess What Santa Brought Me for Christmas?

Yep - Just in time for my vacation.

Very Funny!

This is quite possibly one of the funniest things I have seen.

Going on Safari

After two failed attempts at a Scrapbooking Retreat, Dallas and I are going on Safari instead.

Well - kind of... While we're not going on a formal safari, it looks like we may share a room with a tiger.

Dallas & Keltie's Safari

Wish Lists - updated

Wish lists have been demanded, and so I obey.

Evan
1. Bristle Blocks I have seen these at Zellers and Elephants Never Forget
2. Puzzles
3. Books
4. Art Supplies - he has markers and crayons
5. Flip Open Slumber Sofa

Me
1. Hand Vac - so that I can more easily clean my car.
2. IPod Nano - I'd take any colour but really like the blue one.
3. Nintendo DS
4. Espe Handbag - any will do, but I like this one.
5. Small Coffee Press
6. Anything by Stila
7. Cuisinart Griddler

Evan's Real Christmas List

So far for Christmas, Evan is getting the following from Santa and me. I haven't decided which will be from Santa and which will be from me.

In his stocking (I guess from Santa)

1. Happy Feet DVD
2. Pewter Ornament (He will get one of these each year)
3. Trainer Underwear
4. 8 Pack of Pip Squeaks Mix 'Em Markers

As for presents under the tree, here's what he's getting:

1. Crayola - Beginnings Scribble and Sing Art Station
2. Play-Doh - Undersea Adventure
3. Leap Frog - Fridge Phonics
4. Discovery Toys - Place & Trace

If anyone is looking for ideas for Evan - anything but clothes and what I bought him....and that includes his number 1 wish of 'Auntie Dallas'

Evan's Wish List

As Evan and I were headed to meet my dad for dinner, we were discussing what he would like for Christmas. In the order of what Evan said, here is his wish list:

1. Auntie Dallas
2. Toys
3. Spiderman
4. Whale
5. Book
6. Dinosaur
7. Turtle
8. Auntie (he didn't specify)
9. Fish

While I would love for Auntie Dallas to come and live with us and be Evan's Christmas present this year - a more practical list from his mommy (me!) will be posted soon!

Dear Evan...

Dear Evan,

Tonight you witnessed history being made...even though you were more interested in reading "The Potty Train." While I do not expect you to become Prime Minister of Canada or the Premier of Alberta (although Premier Evan K. Watson has a nice ring), I hope you will take tonight's message with you throughout your life. I hope that you will not let the seemingly impossible stop you from achieving what you want. I hope that you will not let the nay-sayers influence your decisions. Above all, I hope that you always know that I will support you no matter what. If you have a team of a million supporters or if it's just you and me against the world...you can do whatever you want to do.

Love,

Mommy!

Evan's Halloweens

Well, today didn't start out so well for my sweet boy. Actually yesterday didn't end so well for him either. Since about 8 or 9 last night until 3 pm this afternoon, Evan seemed to be fighting a stomach flu. After some nice cuddles, naps and A LOT of laundry - Evan seems to be fine. I'm glad because this was the first year he had a real costume to wear. Here, we have a short photo history of Evan's 3 Halloweens.


Almost 2 months old - Oct 2006


1 year old - October 2007


2 years old - October 2008

I take it back!

Ever since I wrote my last entry about Evan's new room and how he had been sleeping so wonderfully in his 'big boy' bed...he just hasn't done so. At all.

Starting sometime last week, Evan all of a sudden developed an aversion to his bed. He's only spent a few nights in it since last week and has reluctantly napped in his bed on the weekends.

I'm not sure what is wrong, but I hope it passes soon.

Evan's Big Boy Room!

Evan has been out of a fully enclosed crib for a while now, and has been in a big boy bed for a few weeks now. He's been doing very well in his new bed. While my parents were in town, my dad and I put together his bed frame. I also removed the book shelf that was in his room and replaced it with a toddler friendly storage system. His room isn't very big, but it looks good to me.

This is Evan's bed with his colourful bedding from Ikea. He loves all the animals on his quilt.

This is Evan's dresser drawer and toy shelf - on the wall opposite from his bed.

Right when you walk into Evan's room, you see the growth chart that my mom made for Evan's birthday. On the back is my mom's hand print, Craig and Jodi's thumbprints, my dad's thumbprint, my hand print and Evan's foot print. This picture doesn't nearly do it enough justice. It goes perfectly with Evan's room.

Oh no! Happened?

Along with a 2 year old comes an ever growing vocabulary. I know that Evan has not picked up language as quickly as my friends' children. I am honestly not concerned. Today was the beginning (I am sure) of endless questions from my curious boy!

All day today, Evan would exclaim "Oh no!" followed by "Happened?"...as in "What happened?" Sometimes he said it in a legitimate situation - something happened on a television show, he dropped his crayon etc etc. But other times, it was so random. How do you answer "happened?" when you have no idea what is going on!?

Toddlers are sure funny...it's going to get funnier each and every day.

On another note, Evan starts in the Little Tikes room on Wednesday. Hopefully being in a room of potty-trained toddlers will encourage him a little bit.

Suck A$$ Day!

I had a sucky day! The only good part of my day was picking up Evan from daycare and going to see Erin (& Scott's) sweet boy Oscar. Aside from that here is the order of shit (in one case, literally) that placed itself throughout my day.

1. I slept in. Big. Time. Slept in until the time we normally leave. The ONLY reason I woke up was because Evan was crying. Evan was crying because he had both his legs stuck in one leg of his footed PJs. Thinking back - he kind of looked like a mermaid.
2. I had to dodge questions about one of my admin co-worker's job status. My chief of staff was away today and, thus, not available to field these questions. She is going to lose her job, it is just a matter of when. She just got back from Belize. Welcome Back N**e**n!! Stupid MLA priorities!
3. I had planned to go to Canadian Tire and Ikea tonight, but it was FAR more important to go see Baby Oscar and check in on my friend. Going to CT and Ikea would have been pushing DS too much...and it's a good thing I didn't. Now I won't get to either until at least Wednesday night.
4. While hurriedly preparing Evan's dinner, Evan decided my plain white walls were just too boring. He decided to decorate the wall with a Crayola Pip Squeaks marker. A bright pink marker! Fortunately, they're washable. I didn't even need to scrub. The marks came right off when I sprayed at Evan's artwork with the cleaner.
5. On the way up to dinner, I noticed a wet spot on the back of his t-shirt. It wasn't water. For the first time in a very long time...Evan had a blow out. A HUGE blow out. Now try convincing this kid who is on his was to FINALLY eat dinner that he in fact needs a bath.

I know I am a very fortunate person and life could be a lot worse....but BOY did I have a rough night.

Self Portrait!

Well, a few weeks ago I thought I might have to replace my digital camera. I had walked into my living room to find Evan holding a glowing object in his hand...my camera. The camera was in a very sad, sad state of affairs. I think the Evan was holding his hand against the lens while he turned it on. Consquently, a "lens error' message came up. After some internet searching, I managed to save my camera. Much to my surprise, my little guy had managed to take a picture of himself before wreaking havoc.

So here it is, Evan's true attempt at a self portrait. It has not been altered or cropped in any way.

My Sweet Boy!

Well, today my sweet boy turned 2.

When he was born two years ago, I wasn't really concerned (yet) about how my life was going to change. I was concerned about what I was going to do with a boy! I was the first of my close friends to have a boy. After all is said and done, I am so happy to have had a boy. We have a very special relationship and bond that is difficult to explain.

Evan was (and still is) such a sweet boy that draws attention wherever we went. On a trip to Victoria, my mom's choir was so enamoured with him that they sang him the most beautiful lullaby.

(look at how small he was)

The first year was a huge learning curve, but we both survived with minimal damage. Here is Evan at 7: 39 am on his first birthday. This was easy to do because at the time, we were still co-sleeping for the early hours of the morning.

In Evan's second year, he started going to daycare and learning life's lessons - both easy and hard. Lessons such as when you have fabulous, long curly hair, other kids will want to pull it. When other kids pull it, the daycare teachers must come up with a soloution.

Even after two haircuts and a few tumbles, my sweet boy still has his 'Happy Feet' (although they will never replace Nemo)

The bottom line is that Evan and I have each survived two years of one another with minimal damage and lots of love and cuddles.

Evan Ken Watson at 7:39 am on September 2, 2008
Officially a 2-Year-Old!

What $50-$60K looks like?

While Evan and I were out in Victoria, my parents' neighbours were building a rock wall to help build up a grassy area for their dog. Now I would say that my friends and I are far from poor, but we're not millionaires either. Every day, when I walked by this wall, I couldn't believe my parents' neighbours were spending nearly $60K on the rock wall. I actually thought of Dallas and Darren who are in the middle of building their own rock wall. Anyway, long story short...here's what 60 thousand dollars will buy you in Victoria. This includes labour performed by not-to-shabby looking landscapers.




Here's a picture of the wall with my dad beside it...for scale.

Our trip!

This is a long post...so get comfortable and get a glass of wine...unless you're Erin... Erin, just drink something festive and non-alcoholic!

Evan and I just got back from our ten day trip to Victoria (and surrounding areas). Evan was so good on the flights. The next time we fly to Victoria (at Christmas), Evan will finally have his very own seat!

On our first day, we arrived to my parents' house and their neighbours are in the process of having this massive rock wall built (more on that in another post). There was a digger there...and Evan just LOVED watching the 'chine hard at work. Throughout the week, he would go up to my dad's office and stand on a small chair and watch the 'chine moving and hauling giant rocks. The man driving the digger was so nice, and offered to let Evan sit in the driver's seat (with the engine turned off of course)

The next day, Thursday, we had our standing appointment with John the hairdresser. I think my hair is a little short, but I am thrilled with how Evan's hair looks.

On Sunday, we had a busy day. We started out with going to the beach to try and see some swans in the lagoon. Last time we tried, the swans were not there...we were no luckier this time around. However, Evan had a wonderful time throwing rocks in the water. Unfortunately, he didn't realize how slippery the mud and muck was, so he fell a few times...hence the poop like stains on his clothes. Of course, I did not have a change of clothes. My sweet boy rode home in nothing more than his diaper.

Later that night, we headed to downtown Victoria for 'Splash', where the Victoria Symphony Orhestra assembles on a barge and performs in the bay.

It was so cool to listen to such wonderful music outside on a beautiful night. Evan was dancing and clapping and showing off his moves to the crowd. One couple commented on how it was 'ballsy' of me to dress him in Edmonton Eskimos gear on BC day (It was B.C.'s 150th birthday that weekend). I jokingly asked if they objected because the Esks beat the Lions a few nights ago.

The next day, we took the ferry from Sydney to Anacortes, Washington. From there we drove to La Conner, a VERY small town, and checked out their shops and galleries. We were going to get a hotel in Mount Vernon, but that turned out to be a small, dumpy industrial town. So, we kept driving to Bellingham. The next day, my dad took Evan to a fantastic nearby park, while my mom and I partook in some serious shopping. We hit the Wal Mart store for some cheap underwear, make-up and Evan's latest obsession, a DVD copy of Finding Nemo. Afterwards, we headed over to Ross Dress for Less. It's kind of like Winners but CHEAPER. I got a pair of Liz Claiborne Pants ($22.99), a Dockers Skirt with shorts underneath ($7.99) and a collapsable toy bin for Evan ($2.99). My Mom picked up a Carter's reversible fleece jacket ($13.99) for Evan. Later that day, we headed up to Mission, B.C. to visit with my Uncle Brad and his wife Judy and my cousins Brittany and Douglas. We came back to Victoria on Wednesday afternoon and took it easy for the rest of the day.

On Thursday we went to Butchart Gardens. It's so pretty and so different everytime I go there. All the flowers and shrubs seemed to be exploding! I didn't take too many pictures as I was admiring the flowers and Evan was enamoured with the various water features.

Today, my mom dropped us off at a local park before she went to do errands. I had planned to play with Evan and walk home. No more than 10 minutes passed before Evan let out this blood curdling cry/scream. He had been stung by a hornet or wasp. When I picked him up, he got stung again. I forgot those FUCKERS (pardon my french) just keep biting. So I abandoned the stroller for a bit and ran away from the scene of the crime. Long story short, we did a lot of walking to get some Benadryl (no success!), and wound up waiting for my mom to come home to drive us to Rexall. Not exactly a great way to end an otherwise wonderful trip. The flight home was good, Evan was excellent and was very happy to see his 'Bu-Pa' again.

Me...I'm just happy to be back in my own bed again!

Why Carrie's House is Under Water...

When One Spoon Just Isn't Enough....

Well...I did want him to hurry up and eat this morning.

Street Performers'

On Sunday, we met up with Lily and Carrie to take in the Street Performers' Festival. After dodging some rain and watching some talented break dancers, we finally were able to settle down at an outdoor performance - the Yo Yo Show.

You would think a show involving yo-yos, hula hoops and a unicycle would be enough to entertain a 22 month-old boy. Not so. Instead, Evan entertained himself (and many people around us) with this....

and then this....

*sigh*
only my son....

Happy (Belated) Canada Day!

 

Anyone Remember?

If the cat in this cartoon were black I would say it was Toffee (my brother's psycho cat).

This cat is so evil...I LOVE IT!

Tell Me About It

This was in my inbox this morning - an excerpt from a mom & baby horoscope for Evan and I.

Fourth of July fireworks may not be relegated to the sky this week. The stars may be making you or your baby feel a bit more emotionally charged than usual.

I needn't say more.

Everyone's First Post

So, it's been about 3 years since most of us have started blogging. Some of us have fallen off the wagon - ahem, Tara and Erin. Some of us have become parents...some even more than once. Others have graduated post secondary and moved on to bigger and greater things. I thought it would be fun to post everyone's first blog post. Ahhh - the memories.

My First Blog Post
Don't give into peer pressure unless...
your friends want you to!!!Alright, after several weeks of being kept up to speed on Dallas' life as new mommy, and catching up with the eternally busy but just as sweet Erin, I have succumber to the pressure and started my own blog. Besides, it is the only way I can comment on my friends' blog entries. And if anyone has anything to say about mine, they have to join too!! Ha Ha!! You see how it comes full circle.Anyway...I don't have much to say because my brain is operating very very slowly today. I didn't get much sleep last night and there isn't enough caffeine in the world to shake me awake right now. Who knew that people would be so celebratory about Alberta's Centennial?? Well, they were celebrating up 105 Street until 3 in the morning!!!As far as I know, Robert and I have no plans tonight...unless you consider falling asleep watching a movie 'plans.'

Carrie's First Post
Saturday, August 20, 2005

Welcome to our site! My brother says this is very easy to use, but I'm finding it to be a bit testy. Perhaps it's easier with a glass of wine....

Dallas' First Post (the person who started it all!)
Thursday, August 11, 2005

Too much time online...
It's 10:45pm - why am I not in bed? Paige is sleeping, Darren is sleeping...I definetly spend too much time online. I got this brilliant idea that I should start a blog. Yes, a form of communication for my loved ones to read up on my daily activities.So today, I scrapbooked all day with my sister in law Heather. It was fantastic! We are also finalizing the paper work on the new house. We are getting the mortgage sorted all out. We sign all the papers for everything on Saturday. Conditions will be removed, and we'll be officially building! I am so excited - We'll have a garage, and a dishwasher!!!

Jenn's First Post
Saturday, September 03, 2005

Jumping on the Bandwagon
Well, kids. Here is is: My new blog.... I'm going to try it out and see how it goes. LOL New fads are always so much fun. Let me know what you want to hear about and I'll tell ya- I love to talk ... especially about me!

Tracy's First Post
Sunday, October 30, 2005
We Are Blog ! Finally .....
..... A blog name that wasn't chosen by someone else! When they said get creative they weren't kidding. So welcome to our blog. We now have one of these because I wanted to reply to Carrie and Bryan's (kind of like a package deal - :-) .. ). I think this will be kind of fun actually. Getting someone to actually read it will be the challenging part. And the fact that it's testing my typing should prove to be interesting as well. You should see some of the stuff I put on the computer at work .. ! It's a little late in the evening, and I have to turn the clock back an hour before I go to bed. Hey does that mean I can stay on the computer for an extra hour ?? Like a deja-vu thing ? No ? LOL. I spend enough time on computers in a day .. what am I thinking ?? Friday afternoon was a riot at work. Silly putty and the word "dick" do NOT belong at the workplace. Use your imagination ... yeah that's pretty much what it was like. LOL. Sometimes you just have to be a little crazy. Then again, somewhere in this world a full moon was smiling down on us. Yeah .. that's my story. I'll finish turning all my clocks back, and update this tomorrow. Oh yeah, I have to reply to Carrie's blog ....

Evan and his favourite Uncle

Evan and his favourite uncle on Father's Day.
 

Too Funny!

Maybe I am a little biased, but this kid reminds me of Evan and his personality.

Supermodel (You Better Work)

Play this song before you scroll to the pictures...you'll see why:




Work those heels Evan!!!


My little Tinkerbell - Robert would KILL me!!

Yet another daycare update!

Well, I found out something on Friday that made me feel a bit more at ease with my decision to move Evan to a different daycare.

His favourite caregiver at his current daycare, Amanda, told me on Friday that June would be her last month at the daycare. I guess she and her family may be moving out of country. She said she wanted to be sure to exchange e-mail addresses because she wanted to get updates on Evan. I feel somewhat relieved. It was severing the bond between her and Evan that had me most anxious...and as it turns out, that bond was going to have to break at the end of June...no matter what I had decided.

That being said - I will miss her terribly as one of Evan's caregivers. He adores her and gets jealous when other children cuddle up with her. Sometimes, he asks for her when we're at home.

How to Sunburn Your Hands 101

We've all done it. I think at one point or another, we've all burnt the tops of our feet...and suffered the grave consequences.

This past weekend, I managed to sun burn the tops of my hands. How does one do this you ask? Well, first you push Evan around in a stroller at the Rainmaker Rodeo for nearly 9 hours! What is even funnier is that I applied sunscreen to my face and neck and then I WASHED the sunscreen off my hands.

Lesson learned.

The Rainmaker Rodeo and Parade was so much fun. We managed to meet up with Dallas, Paige, Blake and Jackie at the parade. Evan and Paige sat so nicely on the blanket and collected all the candy that was thrown their way. Paige would obediently give the candy to Dallas or I. Evan would throw his pieces back in the parade route. I guess he was just copying the people throwing candy.

After the parade, we took the free park 'n' ride to the fair grounds. Evan took his very first amusement park ride with Paige.


After the ride, and exploring some of the activities, we settled in to watch the Monster Truck show - which I KNEW Evan would love. The show was supposed to start at 1 pm. It didn't start until nearly 2 pm...and by then Evan was asleep. My son slept through two monster trucks driving right in front of him. After the monster trucks had destroyed a few cars, we headed over to the rodeo. Paige and Evan had so much fun. They were jumping and clapping and cheering the cowboys and cowgirls along.


After the rodeo, we looked at a few more of the exhibits and put Paige and Evan on one last ride before we called it a night. Evan didn't nap that day - and this is what he was like when we reached Whitemud Trail.



WE got home at around 6:30 pm, had dinner and Evan was in bed by 8 pm.

He slept in on Sunday until 10:30 am. What a treat for mommy!

UPDATE - Daycare Dilemma

So an update on my daycare dilemma.

At 2 pm today, I received a tour of the Oliver Centre and an outline of their program. They even have a Red Seal Chef on staff that prepares 2 snacks and lunch. I decided to arrange an appointment to do their intake process - application, deposit, etc etc. Starting July 2, Evan will be at a new daycare. I will miss his caregivers at Mill Woods Kinder Kare - they've done such a great job with my boy - I know he will do well at Oliver.

Thanks to everyone for providing advice. Looking back, I really don't know why I struggled so much with this decision. I guess, in my heart, I am afraid of making the wrong choice for Evan...but in my head I know that, in this situation, he will be fine no matter what I had decided.

Help - Advice Needed!

I had a wonderful weekend with my dear boy and our dear friends...but I will blog about that later.

I need some advice. I would put this forward to either of the parenting message boards I belong to, but I think this is a situation where the opinions of those close to me would matter more than those of strangers. I DO want advice from all of you...moms, not-quite-yet moms, moms with their kids in dayhomes, moms with their kids at home... You get my drift.

Today, I received a phone call from the Oliver Centre, telling me that they had a vacancy for Evan beginning in July. This is a daycare that I put Evan on the waiting list for when he was just a few weeks old. In July 2007, as I was getting ready to go back to work, he was number 52 on the list!!! Evan has been at Mill Woods Kinder Kare since September 2007 - and I have absolutely no complaints about this daycare. I would whole-heartedly recommend this daycare to anyone. BUT Oliver Centre is the daycare I have wanted him in since I first visited the centre.

Having Evan in a downtown daycare would be great - because while we are currently living in Millwoods...that may not always be the case. However, I will likely always be working downtown - as I have been for the past 7 years and counting. It just seems that having Evan downtown - in addition to it being in a highly coveted daycare (nearly 2 year waiting list) - would make our lives a lot easier.

This isn't a bad decision to make - no matter what, Evan will be in a great daycare.

HELP ME! I told them I would let them know by Thursday (May 29) morning.

My Scrapbooking Creations

I FINALLY found my camera's USB cord that Evan had hidden! I just had to share some of what I accomplished on my Scrapbooking Retreat. I didn't finish Evan's first year album, but I got a good start. I'm pretty proud of what I did.

My favourite time of the day

My favourite time of the day is Evan's bedtime...and not for the obvious reasons.

Evan and I have what I consider to be a very special bedtime routine that I treasure. I turn on 'The Spa' music channel on my digital cable to help slow my active boy down. We sit in the chair and read several stories, but we always end off with 'Goodnight Moon'. After we finish our final story, we spend a few minutes cuddling to the quiet soothing music. Evan wraps his arms around me and lays his head on my shoulder. After a few minutes, I take my sweet boy up to bed where he snuggles up with his bear and I tuck him under the blanket my Aunt Janice made especially for Evan. I kiss him goodnight and tell him I love him.

I know this routine can't stay the same forever. Eventually, Evan will want nothing to do with sitting in my lap, reading stories or cuddling to quiet music. For right now he likes it, and I love the quiet time we share together before he goes to bed.

Great Weekend!

Well, this weekend did not start out so well - but ultimately, it turned out to be a great weekend.

On Friday night, out of the blue... Evan started puking - A LOT! We each had 3 wardrobe changes and one shower. At that point, I wasn't certain that we would be attending any of our weekend plans - Farmer's Market, my HOTM, staying the night at the Will's and Paige's 3rd birthday party.

On Saturday, Evan woke up a 9 am. After a stomach friendly breakfast - oatmeal, water and applesauce - we headed to living room where Evan just was not his usual playful self. In fact, he fell asleep at 11 am! I thought for sure that our weekend was shot. At about 12:45 pm - Evan woke-up to his favourite show and started dancing. At 1 pm, I fed him lunch and his appetite seemed to have returned somewhat. As Evan ate his lunch, I pondered and pondered whether or not to go ahead with our plans - minus the Farmer's Market. I decided to go for it. I quickly ran around the house, packed up my scrapbooking stuff, and some overnight items and we headed out the door at 2 pm.

I'm so glad I did.

I, as usual, really enjoyed my scrapbooking with Dallas. I had a wonderful dinner and was suckered in my playing with Darren or Dallas' Nintendo DS (I TOTALLY want one!). Evan was back to his old playful self - with a few bumps in the road that required time-out.

Today, I woke up early and got ready for Paige's birthday party. After a yummy breakfast, we headed to Millenium Place for the celebration. Evan had so much fun swimming and playing in the play area. Lunch was very yummy too. Evan apparently likes eating spinach dip! Go figure! After lunch and cake, all the kids headed back to the play area. We finally left at around 2:45 - and I could tell Evan was worn out. We didn't even make it to Baseline Road before Evan fell asleep.

Considering it was such a busy weekend - I feel rather refreshed and revitalized! Thank you to everyone that was a part of this wonderful weekend!

A weekend away!

So this past weekend was my first ever weekend away from Evan. He stayed with Craig and Jodi and I went to a Scrapbooking retreat at Pigeon Lake. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it might be. My family fully expected I would call to check in on Evan...but I didn't. Not really. I called my dad once I got to Pigeon Lake to make sure he didn't have any problems picking Evan up from daycare. Otherwise, I just figured everything was fine unless I heard otherwise.

I had so much fun and learned so much at the retreat. I got five page layouts done and finished 4 page designs from my HOTM club that I missed in February and March. I was kind of hoping to finish Evan's first year album, but I've been told that compared with other people's first scrapping retreats I got a lot done. When I have a chance, I will post pictures of my completed pages. I'm really proud of what I did and thankful to my table mates for helping me. I didn't just scrapbook - I treated myself to an hour long massage on Saturday. The best part is - 100% of it will be covered by my benefits...so it ultimately won't cost me a thing.

After a hairy drive home, I went to pick up Evan from Craig and Jodi's. I have to tell you there is nothing better than having your son run into your arms after being apart for the weekend.

Evan's New Bed

As mentioned in a previous post, I have been slowly gathering stuff for when Evan moves into a big boy bed. Along with the popular vote - and my gut feeling - here is Evan's bedding:

This is the bed frame we've chosen for him: Evan won't be moving into his big-boy bed anytime soon. I still need to babyproof his room a bit.

Here's some food for thought. A co-worker of mine was asking if I would get a guard rail for his bed. When I hummed and hawed - because honestly, Evan hasn't fallen out of bed anytime he's slept in a twin or double - she said, "You know, it's surprising the we as adults don't fall out of bed at night." Interesting. What is it that prevents us grown ups from falling out bed each night?

Have a good weekend!

Crazy Cow

For some reason, and as annoying as this video is, Evan LOVES this video. He starts laughing, squealing and dancing whenever it comes on the television.

Robert thinks the townhouse is haunted....seriously!

Late Friday evening, we were in the living room watching 'Hannibal Rising' when I thought I heard Evan cry out. I double checked with Robert and asked if he heard Evan cry. When Robert confirmed that he had indeed heard Evan cry, I went upstairs to check on him. When I peeked into his crib, he was sleeping soundly on his side.

I went back downstairs and again asked Robert if he had heard Evan cry. Robert, again, confirmed that he heard Evan cry. We both just wrote it off as Evan crying in his sleep from a bad dream.

On Saturday afternoon, Evan and I were napping together in the main bedroom and Robert was napping on the couch in the living room. Robert tells me that he was awoken from his nap by me calling his name loudly and distinctly. He bolted upstairs only to find Evan and I sound asleep.

So now, Robert thinks the townhouse might be haunted. I'm wondering if he might be right.

Djur or Snurr

I am slowly gathering stuff for when Evan finally moves into a big boy bed. I need some help. I am torn between two different bedding sets from IKEA. I need your vote. Evan's room has white walls and beige carpeting. He has a roller shade in navy blue and his bed will either be white or a medium stained wood.

Do you think I should go with this one that comes with two pieces, including a comforter cover with a different design on each side.... or this one that comes with three pieces...same design on each side of the comforter cover. The stripe is actually red and, although you can't tell, there is a white squiggle running up and down the blue stripe.