Pictures

I decided to post a couple of pictures for those lovely ladies that read my blog and don't know me so that they can see my wonderful little man and know who is writing these odd blogs...

Exciting Restaurant Endeavors!

So you think that once your wonderful little baby stops having those massive explosive milk poops that you have a bit of a grace period before toilet training commences without major incidences occurring in restaurants or wherever else you may be that is inconvenient and embarrassing...think again...we were going out for dinner and then on to do a big Costco shop when we had a nice little adventure. I received a call from the day home one afternoon..."Sorry Laura, I forgot to tell you we're out of diapers for Connor. I have some back ups but could you please bring more tomorrow"...no problem, I didn't think anything of it. I go pick him up that night, run home to get Chris and off we go for dinner. Now, my day home always changes his diaper before pick up and I felt his diaper when we got to the restaurant and it was empty so nothing to consider, right?!? Think again. Connor is amazing in restaurants and is talking and playing on his leappad. We're in the middle of eating when he gets incredibly upset and starts trying to climb out of his seat. Thinking that he is cranky and just doesn't want to eat I try and talk him into staying seated to which he gets more upset. I pick him up confused only to get soaked. The diaper has completely leaked, his track pants are dripping and the booster seat is a full puddle. This is always fun and I always wonder how other people approach these situations. I grab my change pad, diapers and wipes and take off to a burger joint bathroom...not always the most child diaper friendly places...and am rewarded with a decently clean change table. I strip off the soaking pants and still mostly empty Huggies diaper and proceed to wipe him off. Now, what do other moms do with soaking track pants??? I looked around and improvised. Grabbed a bunch of toilet paper, rolled up the track pants and squeezed...at least now they aren't dripping, right? So after he's all dry and in a new diaper I take my toddler, pantless, back into the restaurant. Now, we are outside of Calgary at the Okotoks Costco because I like it better, but the problem is I don't know the town or where to get pants without going home. So as we sit there and clean the booster seat and attempt to finish our burgers we are contemplating what the next step is when we realize that we have the skating bag in the car with snow pants! Woohoo! Connor finished the night running around Costco in his snow pants...I'm sure some people wondered why our child was in snow pants and a t-shirt...but I'm also sure other parents out there would look and think...wonder what they went through tonight! LOL

On a side note...the reason the diaper leaked is because it was huggies and ever since Connor was born he has only been able to wear pampers. Perhaps it's his shape?!?! I would love for him to be able to wear huggies since that is what Costco sells but every time he wears them we have a nice little adventure! When I first brought him home I thought I was having these problems because I didn't know how to put a diaper on properly...after 28 months I am now secure in saying that it isn't me!!!

Merry Belated Christmas?!?

So this is my delayed Christmas post! Christmas was amazing this year. Although Connor doesn't fully get the concept, he definitely got the hang of opening presents! From the neighbourhood Christmas party I brought him to at the beginning of December it was evident that he was not a fan of Santa...no matter how positive we tried to portray Santa...he was just a scary fat man in a red suit that Connor would prefer to avoid at all costs. On the way down the stairs on Christmas morning we thought we would tell him that Santa had come with presents for him...the response was "No Santa, no presents" followed by extreme agitation and pointing back up the stairs. For a child that does not like "night, night" this was extreme! We told him it was ok and Santa wasn't there which did seem to provide him with a bit of relief. When we got to the bottom of the stairs and his tent with his new blanket and robot were there all set up he went flying to it without any of the previous hesitation. After spending a bit of time in there incredibly happy with the new find and reminding us on occasion "no Santa" we proceeded to the stocking. He thought that was pretty amazing as well and would pull one toy at a time out and squeal before moving to the next. After that we spent from 8:30am till about 3:30pm opening presents...each present had to be unwrapped, taken out of the box, fully assembled, looked over, and all buttons pushed before moving on to the next one. We did try and take breakfast and snack breaks, although they weren't tolerated for long! Here is the issue...take the two annoying Christmas kids from each house that took charge of wake up duty, put them in a house together and give them a toddler to spoil...it was bound to be a long haul of present openings! It was fantastic, but my husband was covered in paper cuts and gauges from all the toys he was made to assemble during the day! Those boxes are beyond child proof they're almost parent proof! You need scissors and knives to get at them...we are still recycling the boxes since we can only flatten and get so much in our bin every week! Hmmm...how do you know you went overboard??? Is it the excessive recycling or not being able to walk through the house without stepping on something for weeks (Don't worry, with working I enlisted the help of a cleaner that comes every two weeks so we don't live in a pig sty!)?!? So to sum up, Christmas with a two year old was amazing and rewarding and everything I had hoped it would be...and it was nice that my husband decided to do away with the budget and get me a Gucci watch!  ;-)

And yet another long blog break...

I think it was the last post I did that I apologized for the long absence and this has been even longer...I haven't even been able to read some of the blogs of the lovely ladies that read mine and who are anonymous so I can't even send them a quick email letting them know that I'm thinking of them!! All of us got the flu in November and it lasted four weeks...let me just say that having the flu is awful on a good day but having two babies (the little one and the 33 year old one), trying to not take too much time off work, and keep everyone fed is a mothers worst nightmare! LOL! It was bad, but not that bad! With being sick and then Christmas I just haven't had a minute to myself. So needless to say I have enough stories to post 20 blogs! My plan (fingers crossed) is to post a few short blogs so that they actually get finished!

I read a FB quote this morning that got me thinking about children and blogs...
"Before you were conceived, I wanted you.
Before you were born, I loved you.
Before you were here an hour, I would die for you.
This is the Miracle of Life"

Happy Friday and more posts about the turmoils of working motherhood to follow shortly!

Time constraints of life!

I apologize for the absence...it is kind of sad when you realize that someone with a newborn is managing to update more than you are with a 2 year old! It has been nonstop for the last couple months and I'm on the border line of getting the flu...I think just from exhaustion! I've felt like I'm about to get sick with a bit of a sore throat, tired and achy for probably a month now but I don't know how to slow down. It seems like the busier I get with work the more I try to make up for it with my toddler. I know most people require the two income household these days but I think from growing up in a home where my mom was always at home with us makes me feel like a failure sometimes. I know that is ridiculous because I also have career ambitions and was very academically focused for most of my life until Connor. As I work through lunch to ensure I can get enough done not to be late to pick up my handsome little man, rush home with him to make dinner and play and then spend the rest of the night cleaning, playing, bathing and bed time (which is still a long process for us) I feel like I should be able to do more for him. I should have time to take him out playing or something. My weekends are jam packed with as many kids activities as I can manage with grocery shopping and the other chores I have to achieve before its back to work on Monday. He's getting so big so fast and I feel like I am missing it!!! I keep being told maybe it would be better to work a couple days a week but there are a lot of flaws with that too. 1. The price of the day home for full or part time would be the same, 2. I'd like to get some debt paid down so that with baby #2, whenever that happens, I can stay home if I so chose without money dictating my decision, 3. I'm a little selfish, I don't want to sacrifice on a bunch of things...I want to do trips and take my kids to Disneyland and join all the mom and baby classes that my heart desires, 4. I may be a little OCD because I want to be good at it ALL!. I want to be the working mom that can sign up for all the neat classes, bake fun things for the holidays, keep the house perfect but not freak out when kids pull out every toy and spread them throughout the 2,100 square feet house...isn't that what the world seems to expect from moms? Be able to be the ideal mom, house wife and employee???

Calgary Toddler Fun

I've talked to some women that don't know where to go with their toddlers...Calgary is full of places designed for the little beasts so I thought I would list a few and what I thought of them...

1. Gymboree - This will always be at the top of my list for toddlers because we spend so much time there and you can bring other children with you (up to age 5) for a family class if you have more than one child. It’s great for very active children as well as more mellow kids. You can go to a play and learn class or a music class and open gym time is great to get rid of some of their pent up energy!
2. Zoo - we purchased an annual pass and find it a great way to get outside. Connor loves to make various animal sounds and just finds it amazing. I always pack snacks and drinks and either bring the stroller or the wagon depending on whether I think he may want to nap (less so now that he two but he frequently napped in his stroller at the zoo when he was younger).
3. Calgary Corn Maze - Went there a week ago for the first time and I wish I had known about it before. The place is great; it has playgrounds, petting zoo, tractor train rides, as well as the corn maze (I was told that you should wait till their older to take them in because it can take quite a while but the rest of the place was enough to entertain Connor for a few hours)
4. Calloway Park - Great place to take a toddler in the summer as I was amazed at how many rides they have for the little ones. Connor is a little crazy so flying around on rides resulted in lots of giggles and "weeeeee"'s! (I also would bring drinks and snacks with us and always brought the wagon with the cover because it is hot with very little shade)
5 - Tommy-K-Play - Fantastic for a toddler but until they are probably closer to 4 (depending on the child) you will need to wear something comfy and climb around with them because some of the spots you will need to lift them up for them to keep going. It is basically a large climbing apparatus with tunnels, slides, etc. They do have a toddler play area but it doesn't contain many toys and the battery powered toys are not usually working.
6 - Mom and baby coffee shops - These are all across the city! It is a great place to meet other moms and have a coffee while your little one explores wooden kitchens and playhouses.
7 - Swimming classes - There are classes all around the city at different times (so good for working parents) for all ages. Connor has taken two sets of lessons now and loves the pool.
8 - Sportball classes - We have registered for Sportball starting in November. So I'll have to update on this then but it is basically a ball sport introductory class covering 8 different ball sports including soccer, baseball, basketball, etc.

I know there is a lot more out there but this is what we have done with Connor (or will be doing soon).

Busy, busy, busy....

I think its a standard North American answer to "How are you?" - "Good but busy!". Our lives just seem to disappear. I envy Europeans and the more laid back attitude on life. I can't seem to get half the things done that I need to do and I'm a fairly organized person. How do others do this work/parent thing? I get to work at 7am (so I can handle day care pick up), usually end up working through lunch (because we're busy!), rush out at 3:45 to get to the day home at 4:15, go home, cook dinner, run after a toddler playing or swimming or at Gymboree class, and then hopefully cuddle him to sleep at 9:30. Somewhere in there I do laundry, the dishes and all your normal household stuff. Now we are into birthday season for my prenatal class so I have one or two birthday parties a weekend for the month, plus Halloween and the Gymboree party as well as Connor's 2 year photo shoot. I need about 5 more of me to handle this!!! But I'm not alone so how the heck do you women do it without getting cranky by Friday!?!?! Maybe I'll pack up my family and move to Europe and see if I can adapt to the lifestyle?!?!?!