Menacing sunrise

Our Christmas holidays have ended. We are now back home safe & sound. (Keeping in mind the "sound" part is actually the screams being emitted from our dear little baby because he is so tired but having a hard time settling, thus I am vigorously rocking him side to side as I type this in hopes of keeping the screams subdued and possibly even lulling him into a nice peaceful sleep.)

The night before we left I was only actually in bed for 5 hours, but for about 4 of those hours I was actually sleeping and almost 3 of them were consecutive, uninterrupted sleep! Yay! I love uninterrupted sleep. It allows me to dream. I actually slept long enough to have a dream that night. My dream was that of being chased by an assassin whose sole purpose in my dream was to hunt me down and kill me! Then Toviel's hunger woke me up (*whew*) But when I went back to sleep again my dream just picked up where it had left off!! So it was a pretty stressful night. But when I awoke in the morning I was chipper and stated to my dearly beloved that I felt like I had a good sleep.

As a result, after my beloved had driven for an hour, he asked if I would drive for a bit and then he would drive through the icefields, which he is better at that I. So I agreed.

As I was driving and the whole world was sleeping, including all my passengers, the sun started to come up. It wasn't one of those peaceful looking sunrises you read about in sappy romance novels, it was one of those spooky phenomenons you read about in...oh....say Lord of the Rings. The sky was turning blood red in front of my eyes. I felt like I was speeding towards Mordor. The more I thought about it, the more freaked out I became. Keep in mind that I have been lacking in the sleep area for quite some time (save for a random delightful night every couple months) and that just a couple hours previously I had been dreaming about running for my life from an assassin.

I think I could feel my blood pressure rising. And I'm sure the amount of cortisol released from my adrenal gland and pulsing through my veins was not good for me. But it was freaky. And I was freaked out. I was freaked out so much that I was actually making little "gulping" noises. Mordor is not the kind of place I'd like to travel to.

I was happy when the blood in the sky turned to happy pink and blue pastels. I never thought a sunrise could trigger such anxiety.

The Prophet Elijah

Merry Christmas!

This morning we all rolled dopely out of bed and headed straight for our Christmas stockings. It was an exciting time for us because this is the first year that Elijah really appreciates the festivities of the season, including the presents and stockings.

Elijah opened up his stocking and pulled out 3 wrapped gifts. (We wrap all the stocking stuffers because I think it is more fun that way.)

A little background:
Elijah is very fond of the movie "Cars". He has seen it several times and talks about it and the characters on it a few times each day. So we purchased 4 cars figurines (Lightning McQueen, Sally, Mater, and Filmore) for Elijah's stocking because we are suckers for that sort of thing.

So Elijah pulled out 3 very well-wrapped gifts. The first one he picks up and says to his dad, "I'm going to unwrap Mater, okay?" and he proceeds to unwrapped.....Mater the tow truck! Wow! How did he know? Seriously! How did he know? He didn't know I had bought these characters because he was asleep in the stroller when I bought one of them, and he wasn't with me when I bought the other 3, and they were all hidden very well before today.
Hm. Lucky guess.

The next stocking present he grabs he says, "I'm going to open Lightning McQueen!" I'm smiling because I know Lightning McQueen is in his stocking. He starts ripping the paper off to reveal.....Lightning McQueen!! Double Wow!!! What a smart kid!

The next present he says, "I'm going to open Sally, okay?" And what does he open? You guessed it! Sally! How did he do that?

The he reached into his stocking and pulled out some more presents. He opened up a couple hotwheels motorbikes and a really cool John Deere digger that I spent too much money on but thought it was really cool and just had to have it (for my son, of course).

The last present he opened he said, "I'm going to open Filmore!"

My jaw dropped! I was flabbergasted!!

First of all, he guessed each one before he even started opening them! And he guessed them all right! And Filmore isn't even one of the prominent characters! He should have guessed Doc Hudson, or Sherriff! But not Filmore!

How did he do that??

I'll tell you, I'm a little freaked out. He IS prophetic!

I just hope he doesn't call down fire from heaven.

The unexpected gift of sleep

Often when travelling with young children/babies, there is a lurking fear that the change in scenery and sleeping surroundings will cause everyone in the nearby vicinity to be unable to get a good nights sleep.

Well, we have been at my parents house for 4 nights thus far. And I can't say that any one of those nights have been terrible. In fact, I can say that last night has been quite the opposite. I slept pretty good. So did Baby T (obviously if I slept good, so did he). He even slept an entire 4 hour stretch!! And therefore, so did I! Woohoo!!!

Baby E typically wakes up early in the morning to utter some whimpers and whines and beg for snuggles and such, even though when he wakes up he is inevitably being snuggled at the time. This morning however, I heard neither whining or begging.

We all just slept peacefully. As a result, we missed church. Oh well. We go to church every week. How often does a good nights sleep come along? Not often at all. And this is probably the only Sunday in the entire year that it's okay for us all to miss church.

Thank you Baby E and Baby T for the wonderful gift of sleep!!!

Dental Delight

Elijah went to the dentist today.

Well, technically he didn't actually see a dentist, rather he saw the more important hygienist. And this hygienist happened to be his Auntie Monica.

Elijah LOVES Auntie Monica. This made the "chair ride" and playing with the "tools" much more fun. And boy, was it fun. Elijah enjoyed going up and down and laying back in the dental chair. He enjoyed using the vaccume to suction up the water. He even let his auntie count his teeth with her tooth counter and mouth mirror. It was a hit! My son likes going to the dentist now! And he even got a Lightning McQueen toothbrush and some toys to take home.

We played with the chair so much, that the motor started to smell funny (although we thought it was something burning in the lunch room at first) and the chair just eventually stopped working. We left my sister in her office with a busted chair raised to the highest position. I just hope to goodness that it just needed a rest and didn't break at all. I don't like to think that my son broke a $40,000 peice of equipment. But even if he did.....he LIKES going to the dentist!! And that makes it all worthwhile!

Have yourself a merry screaming Christmas

I think Toviel has it in for me. We are leaving in 6 hours to embark on our first long whole-day drive (9 hours without kids - who knows how long with them?!) with 2 children and he is wiiiiiiiiiide awake, cooing at everything, smiling and laughing at whatever he can, and screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaming when we lay down in bed.

It isn't odd for him to be awake so late. He is a night owl, and he comes by it honestly. But tonight to my delight he was asleep by 9 p.m.! At 9:40 p.m. he awoke and cried while I tried to coax him back to sleep for 45 minutes.
Apparently he was just "napping". I would have tried longer to get him back to sleep, but my ears couldn't take it anymore. Isn't ear pain and ringing a sign of irreversible hearing damage?

I am excited to demonstrate my son's screaming capacity to some of my family this wonderful Christmas season. It is unsurpassed! I don't know how he does it! And it takes next to nothing to set him off - a hat placed on his head, being rocked back-and-forth instead of side-to-side, the crinkle sound of a crinkle book when he's not in a crinkle mood, and so on.

Cris says Toviel's going to be told all his life that he's too loud. I think he may be right. Like father, like son. (although Cris doesn't scream and is not at all finicky!)

I Am Not Crazy

I have a little 5 month month old baby that I am nursing. I also have a little 2 year & 8 month old baby that I am nursing. Yes....Elijah is still nursing.

This is called "tandem nursing", and no, I am not crazy. Elijah is not too old to be nursing. He likes to nurse. It is comforting to him. And it is good for him, both emotionally and nutritionally. And when he is sick it is a lifesaver! I don't have to worry as much about him getting dehydrated.
I am not crazy, and neither is my son. And here is why...

FACT 1: Elijah benefits nutritionally.
If cows milk is so good for humans, wouldn't you think that human milk would be that much more better? Cows milk for cows, human milk for human. Human milk was designed specifically for humans, full of antibodies and all those omega 3 things that you hear about that are so important for the brain.

FACT 2: Elijah is sick less often than if he weren't extended breastfeeding. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) also says that children weaned from the breast before age 2 are at an increased risk for illness.

FACT 3: Elijah has a risk of having fewer allergies, especially asthma.

FACT 4: Nursing Elijah makes him smarter.
Children breastfed for a long time have higher IQ's than their less fortunate peers. We had a friend tell us he thought Elijah was 4 because he was so articulate.

FACT 5: Meeting a childs need for dependence helps them become more independent, and they will do so in their own time. I do not need to help this happen. This is just like a developmental milestone, just like learning to walk or talk. It happens naturally when a child's needs are met. And that is the best way for it to happen. Babies who are not rushed through any attachment phase (which includes nursing) and not weaned before their time actually become more independant.

Both the AAP and the World Heath Organization (WHO)say there is no upper limit to the duration of breastfeeding, but the AAP says that children should be breastfed until at least 2 years of age. So does the WHO.

This information is all confirmed here on the Kellymom website

Dr. Sears (a well known pediatrician and father of 8) says it is a lucky toddler who can breastfeed until age 2. He states in " The Discipline Book":

"We have noticed that children who have been weaned too early show what we call diseases of premature weaning: aggression, anger, more tantrum-like behavior, anxious clinging to caregivers, and less ability to form deep and intimate relationships. Breastfeeding seems to mellow out the aggressive tendencies of toddlers and restores balance into their behavior." (p.22)"

And:

"...infants who are not prematurely weaned, are positive kids, not at all the negative persons or the terrible twos commonly portrayed in baby books and child magazines. In my twenty-two years in pediatric practice I have noticed that the most well-behaved children are those that were not weaned before their time....
...With early weaning you lose a valuable discipline tool. Attachment mellows toddler behavior. We believe that much of the toddler misbehavior such as anger and aggression, and behaviors that are passed off as "normal twos" are really behaviors of premature detachment...
...[We should] allow the child to separate from the parent instead of the parent prematurely separating from the child." (p.55)

Do I find the toddler years challenging? Most certainly yes! Elijah still has a few tantrums here and there. But his favorite word is not "no" and it is so easy to get him to do clean up his toys and even help me prepare supper and wash the dishes. He is not the defiant stubborn two year old that I see in most other two year olds. He is fairly compliant, even though I feel like a total screw-up in parenting. And I chalk that up to him having his attachment needs met and being respected by his parents - two easy things that are easy for me to do.

I was going to wean Elijah when he turned 2, but upon contemplation, I realized that was giving him the bare minimum recommendation of 2 years. And he wasn't ready. He was definately not ready. Even though I'd like him to be ready.

If God intended breastfeeding to last only the first 6 months of a baby's life, then He would have created a "Formula Tree" that gave us formula for babies, and babies would be hard-wired to wean before their first birthday.

So don't raise your brow when you see Elijah nurse or hear him talk about it. Don't mind him when he nurses his firetruck or his stuffed bear. He will wean when he is ready. And dear God, please make him wean before he's five.

Size really does not matter

Today Toviel (4 & 1/2 months) is looking rather smashing and cozy in his cute sweater and flannel lined jeans. I would post a picture, but as I've said before, I don't know how to do that and I haven't got the time to learn right now.

What strikes me as funny is how many different sizes of clothes he is wearing right now.

a) A onesie - size 12 months

b) Flannel lined jeans - size 6-12 months

c) sweater - size 3-6 months

Which item of clothing fits him the best? The size 12 months onesie.
Which item of clothing fits him the biggest? The size 3-6 months sweater.

See? Size does not matter!

My dependancy

I never realized how dependant I was on my baby sling until I found myself at Superstore yesterday with NO sling.

I was paralyzed with panic, unable to move, as I thought over and over again, "How could I do this? How could I forget my sling?"

I had to take deep breaths. Deep deep breaths.

We survived...even though I was ridden with guilt at having to leave Toviel strapped in his carseat, staring at the boring ceiling for almost 2 & 1/2 hours with just a small nursing break inbetween (remember we have an hour of driving just to get the groceries and return home). Poor little fella.

14 More Sleeps

Christmas is just 14 sleeps away! Fourteen!! I am so excited!

The biggest reason why I am excited is because I can't wait to see how Elijah responds to the Christmas festivities this year. He is at such a fun age. And I can't wait to give him his gifts. I am sooooo excited!!

I, however, do not believe that I am half as excited as my sister. My sister is a Christmas freak. She looses all ability to reason on Christmas morning. She is like a little child on Christmas morning. But she's 35. She is the reason why I was never able to sleep in on Christmas morning. Ever.
I would get woken up at 5:30 in the morning by her. "Merry Christmas!!" she would say quietly and then add that she waited as long as she could to wake me up. We would open our stockings together and sometimes she would coherse me into helping her wake up my brothers (who never responded as nicely to the early morning call as I did).

Yes, my sister is a giddy child on Christmas morning. We will be celebrating the Christmas season with my family (mom & dad, sister and her hubby) in Prince George this year. And although I love my sister and her excitement, I am happy to report that we will not be sleeping at her house, so I hope to sleep in a little later than 5:30 am.

I am one of those "Let's wait to open our gifts to prolong the anticipation" people.
In fact, as a child I had to spend one Christmas away from my family. When 6 pm rolled around (back in the days when the cheaper long distance rate was after 6 pm) I got a call from, you guessed it, my sister. She wanted to know what I got.
And I couldn't tell her, because there under my little 2 foot tree was all my gifts - still wrapped. She made me open them up right then. I wanted to wait a little longer. (I think part of it was because that's all I had that year for Christmas. No family or friends around - just gifts.)

This year my wake up call will likely be Elijah - as it is every morning (no 5:30 am phone calls please, Monica). Only on Christmas morning I won't be so ticked off that morning has already arrived.

Some "forwards" are funny.

I received a "forward" in my inbox the other day that made me laugh. It was actually funny enough that my internal laugh overflowed into the external making me laugh out loud. And so I will share it with you:

God is sitting in heaven, when a scientist says to Him, "Lord, we don't need you anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing. In other words, we can now do what you did in the "beginning".

"Oh, is that so? Tell me..." replies God.

"Well," says the scientist, "we can take dirt and form it into the likeness of You and breathe life into it, thus creating man."

"That's interesting," God says, "Show me."

So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil.

"Oh no, no, no...." interrupts God, "Get your own dirt."

What to do with all that money?

Cris was not feeling well this morning. It is near impossible for him to rest while we are home, so we packed up and headed out. We ended up going to Chinook Mall because it's too cold out to be outside.

It was in this mall that I saw the most ridiculous Christmas decorations I had ever seen. No, wait, those inflatable snowmen and santa clause's that some people put up in their yard are the most ridiculous decorations I have ever seen. What I saw today was a close second.

In the middle of mall they had hung these huge snowflakes with lights in them. These snowflakes changed color. I had sat down there to nurse Toviel because it was a convienient place just in front of our exit where our car was parked, when I heard over a loudspeaker, "Ladies and Gentlemen! The Chinook Mall is proud to present ....." I didn't hear the name of the presentation. Then the music started and the snowflakes started to change color in sequence and then spotlights turned on and were shining down on these ginormous silly snowflakes. What struck me as funny was that people were stopping and raving about this "show" in the middle of the mall. I overheard one man say, "Oh...have you seen this?" to his presumed wife. Then he continued, "It's beautiful!!" You'd think these gawking people were standing in the bottom of the Grand Canyon or touring around The Bay of Fundy. Beautiful? Hmmmmm. I don't know. Northern Lights are beautiful. Ocean shores are beautiful. Mountains? Beautiful. But these snowflakes? Um....

I DO really like Christmas lights. I think houses lit up are pretty. But I think the fact that this was SO BIG and in a mall, it just seemed to be, well, foolish. I explained to Elijah that there was just too much money in North America.

What's Up, Chuck?

My first born is still sick. Food is coming out where it normally just goes in, and food is coming out frequently where it normally comes out only once a day. Poor little guy.

This morning he refused to nurse. That's when I got real concerned. (That, and he hardly had the strength to talk or walk.)

Yes. Elijah, now just over 2.5 years old is still nursing. And no, he is not weird and neither am I. And yes, there is enough breastmilk for the infant nursling. He is almost 15 pounds at just 4 months. But I will rant on about that in another blog entry.

So we trapsed on over to Alberta Children's Hospital. The brand new one. We didn't see much of it, but talk about wonderful staff. If I ever have to go to the hospital I want to go to that one. Do you think they'd take me?

We waited for about 3 hours just to hear that I was doing everything right and not to be concerned that this has been going on for 5 days. Apparently that is completely normal. Why didn't the Health Link nurse tell me that? Because they don't want to be liable, that's why. Every time I've phoned Health Link, I get the same answer....I should go to emergency to get checked out. Health Link Schmelth Link.

Elijah fell asleep on the floor tonight around 7 pm - three hours earlier than normal. And Toviel loves his big brother so much that he joined him not too long after that, waking just a couple times for a snack from the 24-hour milk bar.

So Cris and I have had an amazing, well needed, almost kid-less evening. We popped popcorn, ate some candy, watched an episode of CSI that I recorded weeks ago and haven't had the chance to watch, kissed a lot......and.....*stuff* like that.

When the kids are away, the adults will play.

Tip # 371

When driving to another city, 45 minutes of highway driving one way, to pick up a few groceries and have a fun day with toddler while hubby is out of town, remember to bring money. And your wallet containing bank/credit cards.

More Prime Rib Please

This past summer my dear sweet husband did some volunteering for the local Community Centre. They were so very grateful that they gave him a gift certificate to Smuggler's Inn, a fancy restaurant in Calgary.

Yesterday we decided to use the gift certificate. So we trapsed on over to Smuggler's Inn and ordered ourselves a couple prime rib meals. Now, I'd have prefered a burger, but they didn't have burgers on the menu (Cris says I'm a cheap date). And since prime rib was their specialty that's what we ordered.

The smallest meal was a 12 oz prime rib. TWELVE ounces!! I wanted to split one, but I was met with "No way man! I want my own!!" when I posed the question. So we each got our own. Included with this was an all-you-can-eat soup and salad bar.

Mmmmmmmm.

After stuffing my face with salads of different sorts, our prime rib arrived at the table. Cris ordered a medium-rare and I ordered well-done. I was looking forward to a steak of sorts. You see, I've never had prime rib. So I was expecting some sort of a steak. But what was put infront of me was basically an entire small roast. All to myself - except a tiny peice that I gave to Elijah.

It tasted pretty good, but only because it was free. My mom makes way better roasts than that. Fourteen times better at least. They are juicy with endless amounts of gravy and ketchup. My prime rib came with only a spoonful of gravy and no ketchup.

Cris' prime rib tasted quite different due to its uncooked nature. It was soft and juicy, not dry like mine. I forced myself to eat one little bite. I have a hard time bringing myself to eat raw meat (I know it's not raw, but in my mind.....it's raw), so I just pictured a peice of brown, well-cooked meat, closed my eyes, and ate a bite. It was yummy. But also revolting at the same time.

Cris ate his entire 12 ounces, save for the bite I ate and a little bit of fat he cut off. And he was very full. I think he's still quite full a day later. I, on the other hand, was snacking on some of Elijah's organic chocolate cookies on the way home (after we stopped at the airport to pick up a friend).
I brought home most of my roast. Elijah and I will eat the remaining 10 ounces (with some ketchup) over the next couple days while Cris is out of town.

The "Ups" - Sitting Up And Throwing Up

Toviel is 4 months and 3 days old.

Yesterday he surprised us with his sitting alone skills. It was Cris who discovered it - that Toviel can sit by himself for 3-4 minutes. All by himself. Then after a couple minutes he starts screetching and distorting his face in anger letting us know it's not cool to use him for entertainment purposes for more than a couple minutes. 4 months and 3 days old! Actually, since it was yesterday he starting doing it, he was just 4 months and 2 days old! And I can boast. There is nothing wrong with Mommy Pride. And that's a good thing, since I am FULL of it!

I would post a picture of my cute 4 month and 3 day old baby sitting up alone, but 1) I don't have access to the computer I need to take the picture off the camera because *somebody* has important computer things to do, such as work on masters. And 2) I don't know how to post pictures. I'll figure it out someday though.

My other little nursling is sick. This evening he threw up. After eating an orange. Ever throw up after eating an orange? I have. And I believe with all my heart that is the worst food to throw up. At least that has been my experience. Elijah demanded to know what had happened. "What'd I do up there on the bed?" was his question....over and over again. So we had to explain barfing to him. So now he has a word and an explanation for it and everything is good. I just checked on him about 5 minutes ago and he is very hot. I'm 93% sure that he has a fever. Poor little guy.

I hope he's feeling better tomorrow. Tomorrow we start Christmas! The tree is going up and the music is coming out. And we have egg nog, Christmas oranges, Clodhoppers, and chocolates to see us through the day! Woo hoo!!

Ode to the TV

It used to be at the day's end
I was a very faithful friend.
We'd sit together and spend some time
Watching shows that were so prime.

Now you barely get a glance,
We no longer do the tv dance.
You're hopes and dreams have been shattered,
The pieces of our friendship scattered.

The thing you feared the most came true -
I no longer have any time for you.
You're locked in a cabinet, you're covered in dust,
The way you are treated is so unjust.

Perhaps one day things will turn around
We'll re-establish our time, our friendship re-found.
Until that day you will sit by yourself,
So alone and rejected on your tv shelf.

15 Little Known Facts About Me

15 little known facts about me that may be surprising to you....

1. I have been a passenger in the back of a police car - and it wasn't for fun.

2. I had a 'pretend' friend when I was a child. His name was Brian. We would only play together outside, mostly hiking up pretend dangerous mountains.

3. The only Junior High (Grade 8-10) courses that I completed were Grade 8 Math and Grade 8 English. The rest I just took small portions of or just wrote the final exams without even taking the course.

4. I took English 11 twice and got an "A" both times.

5. I have never been offered illegal drugs.

6. There was this guy I had a crush on. He didn't have a crush back. So I prayed to God daily for over a year that this guy would fall in love with me. And he did (sucker!!!!).

7. I have been taken to the hospital by air ambulance and told by the attending physician that when he returned to the hospital to do his rounds 6 hours later he expected me to be dead.

8. I find cheesecake revolting.

9. One time when I was lost in Vancouver I met a man on the beach and somehow ended up at his apartment. Alone. With this stranger. I fell asleep on the couch and when I woke up and finally contacted my friend he drove me to my friend's house - an hour away. I'm lucky he was a good man.(yeah....I was stupid.)

10. I had a cougar's head in my lap once. And yes, the rest of the cougar was attached to its head and it was a live cougar.

11. A surgeon once operated on me during his lunch break.

12. Donny Osmond has kissed my hand.

13. I would love to play paintball regularly.

14. I want to be a pilot someday.

15. When I had my learner's license, my mom told me never to drive alone and my dad told me to never take my eyes off the road. I did both at the same time and totalled a Nissan Micra and took out a lilac bush.

99 cent undies and other great deals

Today I took Elijah & Toviel to the mall. My reason for wanting to go was because it was -25C or something like that today and I needed to stretch my legs and at the same time Elijah could go to the "Kids at Play" place in Market Mall. He loves it there.
I also feel it is my solemn duty to show people how cool baby slings are. Every baby deserves constant contact with their mama and slings are the perfect way to do that. And the mall is the perfect place to show that. I will demonstrate later on.

Everything was going great until the mall was in view. It was then that I realized I had picked a Saturday to go to the mall. Not only that, but it was exactly one month until Christmas and people have started Christmas shopping in hoards. I forget that basically everyone has Christmas shopping to do because I finished mine in September. Yes, that's right - September. I'm all done. No stress for me!
Needless to say, my choice and time of activity for the day was not the brightest. I was worried I would not find a place to park in the heated underground parking and have to take my little baby out into the cold. But I found a spot just 2 spaces away from the door that links the underground parking with the mall. God bless the people who invented special courtesy parking spaces reserved for pregnant women and parents with infants. God bless them.

We mosied around the mall and Elijah & I played at "Kids at Play" while Toviel napped in his sling.
Later, somehow I ended up at The Bay. The Bay strikes me as one of those ritzy stores that charges more than the other stores do who sell the same product. I don't buy often at The Bay. But we do stop in to play with the toys. Although today we never did end up looking at the toys since Elijah fell asleep in his stroller, so I meandered around. And I found the unlikeliest deals at what I thought was the unlikeliest store!

I found 2 pairs of dress pants (I have none, so this is exciting) on a clearance of a clearance rack. These pants are regular $50. I got them for $9. And, may I boast that they are a size 4? I only point this out because I just grew and gave birth to my 2nd child just 4 months ago. 4 months ago.
And what's this? A bin of ginch on sale? Hmmmmm...
I believe it was Warrick on CSI who said there was nothing sadder than tattered undies. This was my chance to rid myself of my old tattered undies and get new ones!! Joe Boxer ones! Regular $8.50, on for, brace yourself, $0.99! Score!!!!!!! Cheaper than Fruit of the Loom!
I bought 12. (I didn't want to go overboard or anything.)
Anyways, the bin was right by the checkout. And the checkout had a consistent line of 15 people waiting to buy their stuff. And all these people had nothing to do but stare at me as I selectively chose which underwear to buy. And they did. All of them. But that's okay, because I got undies for $0.99 each! Ninety-nine cents.

Back to the sling thing. Whenever I go out people gawk at my infant in his sling and smile and say things like, "What a good idea!" (as if it's a new concept) or "Where did you get that?" etc. A couple people have said "Oh that's so cute! Look at that baby in a bag."
Baby in a bag????
Anyways, today three people approached me and asked where they could buy a sling like mine for an expectant friend or relative. So I told them and went on to say its wonderful and how a crying baby is usually instantly soothed when folded up and plopped into a sling and how nice it is to be able to carry on some of your normal daily tasks while still carrying your baby. I promote slings. Maybe someday I will even start making slings for people. Slings are great. And I'm happy to advertise that.

When I finished talking to the last person who asked me, I thought to myself, wouldn't it be great if these people would ask about Jesus instead. "Oh! What a great idea! Where did you get that Jesus? I want to get one!"

Perpetual Motion

Today I took the boys to an AP Playgroup that we sorta joined in the fall. Today was my second time going. I'm not a very faithful attender.

When we first arrived, Toviel was sleeping. When I brought him into the house he was still sleeping.

Rule #22 in my parenting style is "Never wake a sleeping healthy baby."

So I left him sleeping and just set his bucket car seat in the corner of the room.
Elijah spotted the playdough on the table and plopped himself down to play with it before I even had a chance to take my sweater off.

Here's where perpetual motion comes into play. I took off my sweater and was standing beside the table talking to Elijah and to another mom. After about 2 or 3 minutes, I realize that I am swaying, rocking and bouncing my sweater up and down. Am I trying to lull my sweater into a deep sleep? Or am I attempting to soothe my screaming sweater?
I feel so weird without a little one in my arms. I have come to the conclusion that I am in a constant state of motion except for when I am sleeping. This has been brought about by years (well....2.5 years) of motherhood.
Toviel has spent most of his life in my arms, or in a sling I'm wearing, or strapped to me with a wrap. And he loves to shake and move. And now, I cannot stop myself from moving.

So here I am at this playgroup with a bunch of people I have either just met or have met 1 other time, rocking my sweater to sleep. Where's my baby?? Wake up baby! I need you so I don't look so stupid!

Out of the mouths of babes

We were coming home from grocery shopping the other day and were waiting at a traffic light to turn left. A truck pulls up beside us and my dear sweet innocent 2 & 1/2 year old son says in a very excited voice, "Hey mommy! Look at that stupid truck!!"

Note to self: Watch what you say infront of the boy!

My true identity exposed!

So, I was curious the other day and I googled my name.

I know. That is a little weird. But I actually did find something about me (sorta) on the big ol' net. It was an article my mom wrote years ago.

Yes. My mom has had several works published. A published writer you could call her. And I found an article she had written for Mental Health in B.C. plastered all over the internet...

(click here)
Nourishing a Body With Self Esteem, by Doreen Dunn

My question is, who are those people in the picture?

My true identity has been revealed! Yoink! I am really a beautiful oriental woman with high cheekbones and long black flowing hair.
I spend most of my time disguised as a superhero with white skin and red hair.

My superpower?

I make milk.

Sprite Sun Fizz

Years ago, Cris and I were watching TV in our little rathole, when we saw the funniest commercial we had ever seen. It was a Sprite commercial. It started off posing as an orange drink commercial, like those "Sunny D" commercials. Sooooooo funny. We saw it just that once. Often we would eagerly turn on the TV in hopes of seeing that commercial again, but instead we had to resort to laughing at just the memory of it. And believe me, we did. Over and over. And no one else got it. They had no idea what we were talking about. But behold! A couple weeks ago we were filtering through some google videos and stumbled upon some funny old commercials. My eyes got wide. "Do you think they'd have....." Cris knew exactly what I was talking about (we are so intune with each other) and was saying, "Uh huh! Uh huh!" before I got the chance to spit the rest of my sentence out. We found the commercial. I felt a little internal leap as we started to watch it! My life long ambition of finding this commercial somewhere, somehow has now been fulfilled!! We watched it. And we laughed and laughed and laughed. Once again. Now maybe it's not as funny to you as it is to me, but it has GOT to be even just a little bit funny to you!

Mommy Crack

Today I was at a baby shower. Babies are popping up everywhere. Or popping out, I suppose.

Well, it wasn't until I got a funny look from another woman that I realized what I was doing.
I was holding my beautifully precious new baby (well, 4 months old new) and sniffing his head. A lot.
sniff. sniff. sniff. sniff. sniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiif.
Then I was giving his head really small and really fast kisses. I was repeating this over and over, sometimes taking a sniff of his head while I was planting little kisses on his bald head. And upon realization of what I was doing, I just couldn't stop! I just smiled at the weird looks and continued on doing it.

Anyone who's had a baby knows this addiction. Little babies smell so....wonderful. They have that lovely milky smell. I even love to smell my little one's breath by sticking my nose right in his mouth. It smells....almost soapy. Milky soapy.
So yummy!

I tell you, it's Mommy Crack.

*sniff* *sniff* *sniff* *sniff*

My candid blog name

As you can see, I have named my blog "Candid Confabulation".

Many years ago someone once said to me that they appreciated how candid I was in conversation with them. I can't remember who said this or when it was said, which upsets me a little. I wish I had known the context in which this was said. But I can't remember. Not really. I have an inkling that it was someone at St. Paul's Hospital during my glory days (I was once famous among a small group of medical professionals).

Anyways, I realize that I am quite candid....all the time. I think it's because I'm too stupid to censor what I say. Or maybe I just don't care to. I'm not sure. It doesn't matter. The fact is that I'm candid. Sometimes maybe a little too candid.

I realize as far as "confabulation" is concerned, this is rather a one-sided confabulation, but...whatever. This also doesn't matter. I like the aliteration that the "c's" provide.

I could have a blog too!

Everyone in the house is sleeping except me. I was just reading someone else's blog, when I asked myself "Hey, why don't I have a blog?"
I have things to write about that could interest other people. Take for example, the huge tree in our backyard blowing over and hitting our house. I could write about that. That could be interesting. My life is (sometimes) more than just poopy diapers and sticky fingers.

I don't think of myself as incredibly funny or witty like some other people who write blogs BUT someone did write something in a recent birthday card about me often catching her off guard and saying something funny that has her laughing for hours. So this blog may occassionally be somewhat fun to read.
Maybe.
I know my mom will at least get a kick out of it. Right mom?

I have no idea what to name my blog since it's only been about 10 minutes since I decided to create a blog. I'll have to think about it for a while.....
Hmmmmmmm.....
Oh...the baby is squeaking. Saved by the squeak.