Summer Project #1

This is our house when we bought it.


We had College Pro come and paint our house. We are pretty happy with the results. This picture actually is from day 3 of painting, they weren't quite done with the second coat etc. but you get the idea anyway.

Swimming

I finally had the opportunity to try out Malcolm's life jacket. We ordered it from MEC and it's special for babies. Click here to see the website.
Well, it's definitely cute, and it seems to work well. He was a little unsure of it, so we will have to keep trying until he gets a bit more comfortable in it:) He spent most of the time chewing on the buckle. Cute.

Weeding made easy

So I have always hated weeding, and have bought many things to help make it easier. Such as the garden claw which by the way, is not a whole lot easier. Well I was on the GCC website one day (see link to the left), and I saw this video for a Hula Hoe. I showed it to Jeff and he said we had a similar tool in our shed. Well I used it and it worked so well! Two minutes every day and my weeding is done. Now if the weed is really close to a plant, you do have to weed it by hand, but this sure helps for the in between areas.

Once again, Click HERE to see a video of the tool in use.

More Canada Day

Malcom and Mommy, with the stage in the background.
Malcolm with Grandpa Gonyou and Mama Kiss
Grandpa Gonyou and Malcolm hanging out.

So we had fun at the park today. We got there just at the end of the program. Just in time to re-affirm our Canadian citizenship. I think Malcolm really enjoyed that part;)
Then we got in line for cake, and that's what I was the most excited about. All the dignitaries that had been on stage were serving cake, so people like the mayor.
And then we bought some lunch and found a quite shady place to eat. And then we walked around a bit. Next year when Malcolm is a little older I think we will do a lot more there. They had all kinds of kids things set up. And of course the fireworks will be tonight. But I think that's a little much for a 3 month old to handle.

Happy Canada Day

I swear he was smiling right before I took this picture.

Today is Malcolm's first Canada Day. Unfortunately daddy is away on a business trip. So we are hanging out with Grandpa Gonyou and Grandma Chris (or Mama Kiss as Indiana likes to call her). In a little while we will be heading down to Deifenbaker Park for the celebrations:) More pictures to follow.

Billy Mays

Never underestimate the power of a bump to the head.

http://www.examiner.com/x-8357-DC-TV-Examiner~y2009m6d28-Pitchman-Billy-Mays-dead-at-50

UPDATE: It appears that maybe it wasn't the bump to the head.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/entertainment/2009/06/billy-mays-autospy-reveals-heart-problems.html

2 celebrities, 1 day

When I was a kid, I used to watch Charlie's Angels when my parents weren't looking. I didn't really understand the show. But I LOVED Farrah Fawcett's hair. My Aunt Jane had a tape of "The Burning Bed", and every time we went there to visit, I would ask to watch it. I really liked her growing up. So it is a sad day indeed that she lost her battle with cancer. I hate cancer.

I used to LOVE Michael Jackson. I thought he was the coolest person ever. I couldn't understand why my mom wouldn't let me buy a Michael Jackson t-shirt when I was 8 years old. I loved Thriller, Beat It, Billy Jean. I loved it all. NOw he got creepy later on, with all the surgeries and what not. And let's not forget the allegations of sexual abuse, and the trials. Not his finer days. However, the Jackson 5 and the early Michael Jackson years did change music as we know it. So it is also a sad day that he died of cardiac arrest. (If the 11 minute old news is correct of course)

So let's mark June 25th as a sad day indeed.

Waskesiu

We have always held to the belief that kids are portable. More difficult than moving just yourself, but portable. So when we got pregnant we planned to still do the things we wanted to do, just in a different way. Some people support us in this, others think we are crazy. But as Jeff's co-worker said, "You gotta keep living your life."
So we went to Waskesiu this weekend with our 2 month old. We didn't camp, instead opting for a cabin in case he cried during the night. Which of course he did:)
We brought the bouncy chair, a floor mat, a play-pen, a carrier, and a stroller. And we were just fine. We have a Chariot, and that thing can go just about anywhere. We hiked the trail to Kingsmere Lake, and the Chariot made it fine over the tree roots, stairs, gravel etc. No problem.
We had intended to canoe today, with Malcolm's new baby lifejacket, but there was a thunderstorm, so we will save that for another time.

Sunday afternoon

We went to church today, then out for lunch at the mall. Did a little shopping, came home, napped. Grandma Ruth came to visit, napped some more, and now I have a happy little boy playing on his baby Einstein mat. Can't get much better than that.

smiles

Malcolm was really excited to go on his walk last night.
He is really starting to interact more. He smiles, and coos, and kicks his feet and tried to hit things. He has started to grab his soother and throw it. But then he want it back and he can't get it. It's really quite entertaining:)

Cooing

This is a short video of Malcolm in his swing tonight. It might make you dizzy to watch it, but the noises he was making were so cute!

Coffee

A long time ago, like probably 10 or so years, I quit drinking coffee. I used to have coffee all day long. But it was hurting my little tummy, and what not. Also when I cut all caffiene out of my diet I lost like 10 pounds. Now since then I have gone through stages of having Tim Hortons french vanilla to stay awake during school. And then sometimes the odd Starbucks, especially at work. Since I got pregnant, I think I had Starbucks twice. I mostly drink tea, and it's been mostly decaf lately.
We don't even have a coffee maker.
Well since we have had Malcolm all that has changed. When I take Jeff to work, we stop at Tim Hortons to get him a large double double and muffin ($2.74), and then on the way home Malcolm and I stop at Starbucks to get mommy a Grande White Chocolate Mocha with Raspberry. This is costing us like $8 a day. And the days I sleep in and don't drive Jeff to work, I don't know what to do without my coffee.
So we decided it's time. I went out on Saturday, and called my sister from Starbucks. She used to work at a coffee shop and really is a bit of a coffee snob. I got all the info I needed over the phone, and bought a coffee grinder, coffee and a coffee press. My coffee this morning was WONDERFUL!! (P.S., I only drink it in the mornings, never after 11am. Don't want to be the reason Malcolm doesn't sleep at night)

Coffee grinder + whole coffee beans + Coffee press =
two happy parents.

Trying to catch the first smiles on camera

This is the closest I got to catching a smile in a still photo. In the video I caught just the end of a smile and then a lot of squirmyness.

Laundry

With a newborn it is a struggle to get household chores done. You have to schedule your chores around feeding's, and cuddles and diaper changes and fussy times. And then everyone thinks you should sleep every single time the baby does. And sometimes there just isn't any time.
So today my mom came by in between feeding's and I thought I would quickly get some work done. We went through all 5 of our 0-3 mo sleepers yesterday, so i really needed to get the baby laundry done first. And since we are on a tight schedule (get as much done before he starts screaming to eat again), I was rushing. I have a little pail in his room that I have water with washing soda nad borax in, and I throw any soiled clothes in it, and washcloths, so that the stains don't set. This is the first thing I take down, and I throw the whole thing in the washer and run a rinse cycle before washing it. So I'm rushing down the stairs, and I forget that the lid isn't water tight. And yes you guessed it, I spilled poop water all over me. YUCK!!!!!

Family

Just thought I would share a particularly cute picture of my boy.


This past week and a bit has been very busy. My sister and her two boys came into town last Friday, for my baby shower on Saturday. The Saturday shower was very fun, and busy. Lots of guests. I was so happy to see everyone and really appreciated getting to visit:) A big thanks to Auntie Heather for organizing the shower, and Nana Cher for helping out, and letting the shower be held at her house. We also got to visit with Uncle Cory and his kids on Saturday.
My brother also flew in Saturday morning, and thus started a week of hanging out with the three baby boys. Indiana, Aleksei and Malcolm.
For Mother's Day we went to St.James, then had lunch at my mom's, everyone took a nap after lunch, then Jeff, Malcolm and I went to the Robertson house to have supper with his mom, Aunt and cousin. After a walk, we then stopped in to see my step-mom before going home to bed.
Then each day Malcolm and I would head over either to my mom's or my dad's house and hang out with Tim, Gab and the boy's. Indiana got to spend lots of time with his "new cousin", and he loved telling everyone about it. Aleksei enjoyed many of my shower gifts that are too old for Malcolm, but just right for Aleksei.
Alex came the following Saturday, and we had supper at my dad's house. Then Sunday was church at Dad's church, and family pictures in the park. Then we went to mom's for supper and hung out.
And today Gab and Alex and the boys went home. Tim leaves tomorrow.
It's been so nice to have them here and to visit. And I wish they could all stay another week! And I think Malcolm has loved all the attention.

Happy Derby Day!!

I think Jeff and I will probably follow the Kentucky Derby forever now. The Kentucky in us comes out today. Jeff is out placing our bets right now. Tonight for dinner, Kentucky Burgoo and Derby Pie compliments of Jeff's mom. We would have mint juleps too, but I can't drink right now.

the first of many videos

We have taken many video's of Malcolm so far. But really they are just of a squirmy little baby, and maybe not everyone would find them as enjoyable as we do. This one however seems to encompass a wide range of his cutest facial expressions.

Saving $$ and the environment.

So I've been reading another blog called the Grocery Cart Challenge for a few months now. There is a link to it in the left of my blog page. (If you are reading this on facebook, go to original post, and it will direct you to my blog page. http://bluegrasscanucks.blogspot.com )
There are a lot of money saving ideas on there, and some good for the environment ideas too. We have been trying to be good to the environment through recycling and composting. Despite the eye rolls we get from our parents and friends. We have signed up for curbside recycling, as then we can recycle more things like plastics. We compost anything we can, so now we only have 1 bag of garbage a week. (Well more now that we have diapers.)
I have recently decided to use some of the ideas from the GCC. I have started to wash my ziploc bags. I have strung a line over the kitchen sink where I hang them to dry.
I made a home-made stain remover tonight, that seems to work well with the laundry. And I also made my own laundry detergent. It's phosphate free, and will cost about a penny a load. I do realize there is a lot of water in the recipe, but it should last me about 6 months. We will see. I am even going to hang a clothes line this summer.
I haven't had to do this yet, but there is also a recipe on the GCC site for homemade all purpose cleaner.
Tomorrow I think I am going to make my own garden pots and start some seeds.
I'll let you know how the laundry stuff works out.

Moments

Moment that made me smile today.

Moment that made me want to cry today.

Thank-goodness the snow is almost melted already. Stupid snow.

Public Health Nurse Visit

Today was our visit from Public Health. For those of you who don't live in Canada, this is a routine visit they make to your house after you have had a baby. Especially for first time mom's. They just come out and give you all the info on immunizations, current safety standards for car seats etc., check on how feeding are going whether it's breast feeding or bottle feeding. They weigh and measure the baby. It's kinda nice.
So today Malcolm is well past his birth weight. The goal is usually to reach birth weight by 2 weeks. He was 8lb 1oz at birth and today he was 8lb 6.5oz. That's fun:)
Everything checked out on assessment, he just appears to be a healthy happy little boy:)
Oh and as for me, my swelling has gone down just enough that I finally got my wedding ring back on. Not my engagement ring yet, just the wedding band. But I can't get it off again. At least it's not cutting off circulation to my finger though!

We had our first family photo shoot on Sunday, so I posted one of the pictures here. Our photographer is still working on the images, so I don't have a whole lot to share yet. There will bemore to come.