Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

The Snow is Melting

Yes literally the snow is melting, it snowed here last night and the snow outside is melting. With the help of Lucas and Emma playing in it.

But also figuratively. I made a new CD for the car last week and on it I put Landslide by the Dixie Chicks. One of the lines in that song is "Can I handle the seasons of my life" The past summer/fall has been very hard for my little family. The stress of the house, thinking about having to borrow money from my parents, was very hard for me. We were in a big pickle and I am the type of person that wants to get myself out of it and not depend on anyone else. Which I know can be a downfall, but just the way I am. Even though it was warm outside it was the winter of the year for me.

I guess the thing about life is that if there are not hard times. Times that make you cry and frustrated. Then the good times don't seem as good. Today has been great. It's probably just a plain old day, but with Lucas cold on the weekend and the stress we had been feeling this fall, it makes it seem so great. We snuggled in bed this morning, had pancakes for breakfast, played outside in the snow, tickled and made Lucas laugh. Then we headed out to Walmart and bought a 24 piece puzzle and Lucas loved it. We must have done it 5 times before nap time. Then when I said it was nap time, there were no objections or crying. Now I'm drinking tea and having an excellent chocolate bar.

I know the battle is not over with the house, there is still lots to do. But with a happy, healthy kid things seem manageable. Plus compared to trying to sell a house atleast I have control over all that needs to be done.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Monday, October 29, 2007

ABC's

Lucas and I went to a Halloween Party this year and they had a great alphabet toy. Lucas has been quite good with saying his ABC's but doesn't really know his letters yet, so I thought this would help.

Lucas's favorite part is the little red button that plays the whole ABC song. He plays it over and over and over again.

After listening to it for the 20th time. Darryl says "Well you know what they say about repetition" I say yeah, expecting his to come up with something brillant about how it's good for the brain. Instead he says " It is certainly annoying."

Ha, I do love my husband.

Till tomorrow

Jenn

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Pregnancy #2

Yesterday in my e-mail I got an update and it's my 17th week. 17 weeks already. Holy crap this pregnancy is going by fast. It's too bad becuase this may very well be the last time I'm pregnant (especially if it's up to Darryl, which is 1/2 is=). You want to savour every moment. I'll only live life once and this may be the last time I'm pregnant. In the future I'll get to live vicariously though others, but it's just not quite the same. So I thought I'd decidcate a bunch of posts to this pregnancy.

So far the the first 17 weeks have been easy compared with my last pregnancy. No throwing up, a little more tired then normal, but nothing horrible. I think one of the other things that is so different this time is that I already have someone to take care of, so that comibined with feeling well, it's easy to forget I'm pregnant. My belly did get bigger much faster this time, therefore I started wearing maternity clothes much faster. I've also been felling kicks for a couple of weeks as well, which is much sooner then last time.

Allie asked a couple of questions in a previous post. Had we told Lucas. We have told him recently, so that he will be more cautious of "mommy's belly" but he really doesn't get it. The other day we were on the swings and he told me Lucas had a baby in his belly. A couple days after that he told me I had a baby jaguar in my belly (after his new favorite character Diego, best buddy).

One of the other questions everyone wants to know is if we are going to find out the sex. Darryl and I haven't really decided. With Lucas we didn't find out. Although I "looked" like I was having a boy, at least that's what everyone told me. I had prepared myself for having a boy, becuase (sorry Lucas) but I REALLY wanted a girl. Now that I have gone through the experience, I love having a boy now and think I may even want another one. Teenage girls seem so hard. I think it would be nice for Lucas to have a brother, they may have more in common then a sister. But part of me would still love a girl, so whatever comes will be just fine. So the question still remains, do we find out or not? What do you think, what did you do, were you glad?

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

New Past Time

Thanks to Goofball for this great way to waste time and donate rice to people who really need it. It's totally up my alley. Learning and helping the world. What could be better. Besides it amazing how the brain takes words and uses my French and medical skills to try to figure it out. Cool!

I have a sick child, he has a wicked cough and a fever, so I have watched hours and hours of Diego today. Nothing of any intelligence to write other then maybe a few Spanish words I have learned.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Monday, October 22, 2007

Voicemail or E-Mail: What do you prefer

Darryl and I were having a conversation about communication and the generations. Like I have somewhat eluded to on this website we have been dealing with a company and one of the people there needs a list of "rules" when it comes to e-mail. Darryl and I both prefer to use e-mail, you can answer it when you like, reference in the future. Many people refer to it as a generational thing. I am a "millennial" and so sometimes we have trouble communicating with X'ers or Boomers. I am also below thirty which this article makes reference to so that may be part of it as well.



For this person that we have been dealing with who doesn't use e-mail often here is my e-mail rules. I would love to send it to him, but that would be a little preumpustious. With the rules: do you agree or am I crazy, any extra I should add?


1. E-mail should be short and to the point. I even have trouble with the "small chat" that usually becomes at the beginning of a conversation. When I write e-mails I like to give the direct information not, hi how are you, how's your day...

2. If your e-mail is going to be longer then 2 paragraphs then call me instead it will be fast for both of us. Most people in my generation don't mind talking on the phone we just want to do what is fastest. Unless of course you are sending it to more then one person, then e-mail is still the best.

3. If your e-mail is going to be lengthy, but it still is the most time efficient, be sure it's easy to read: use bullets, paragraphs etc.

4. I agree with the article if I get someone's voice mail. I'll hang up and send them an e-mail instead.

5. Use spell and grammar check. Which I'm sure my mother is groaning about right now, and even though I'm not perfect at it, I still try. Unless you are sending from a blackberry be sure to capitalize what needs to be. If you are not using Firefox 2.0 it is the greatest for spell check.

What about you, any other rules?

Till tomorrow

Jenn

Friday, October 19, 2007

Opinions: Need Some, Giving Some

So I'm looking for some help and would like to let you know about a couple of new great things.

First I would love to know people's opionions on financial advisors. Who do you invest with? Your bank, Edwards Jones, Fidelity Investments, Investors Group? Do you have any opionions about any of these? Most of the blogging financial websites I've found say to invest yourself, but I need someone nagging me to invest, I'm just not sure who to chose........ I would love to hear what everyone else does? We were thinking about going with Investors Group, but have run into someone who we didn't like, so I'm not sure what to do?

So now that I have solicted some advice from you here are a couple of things I ran into today that I love. First off this game. A neighboor bought it for Lucas and we have bought it for some else as well, but there are very few board games for toddlers and preschoolers that is not some sort of memory game. This game is great for learning shapes, ABC's, colors etc. Love it!



The second thing that I really like today was Bake Bread at Home. We bought ours from Superstore and it was delicious! Made the house smell great, had great taste and good crusty crust. =)

Enjoy your weekend.

Jenn

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Good News

The house is sold. We won't lose the new house. Yeah!! Even though I've gained 5 pounds I feel 50 pounds lighter. YEAH!!

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

PS I love the Office

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Monthly Newsletter: Month Twenty Six

Dear Lucas,

As I write this letter I am quite frustrated with all of the non-sense you have put me through in the last couple of days. You are definitely going through a stage where you are having trouble showing your emtions or your testing boundaries or something, but you will get so mad and scream and cry about the craziest things. Especially pajamas. You have this favorite pair of pajamas but if they are dirty or you've just worn them for nights and nights before and I don't let you wear them you scream and cry. As a parent I'm not sure what the right thing is to do. I don't really care if you wear dirty pajamas to bed, but I also know I need to set boundaries for you and that you can't always get your way. Someday as you grow up and you read these letters, especially if you ever become a parent you may get a glimpse of what I'm talking about. It's hard to be a parent. It's hard to know what the right thing is to do. It's hard to listen to your kid scream and cry over something you consider stupid, but know if you give in they'll do it again and again.

As I'm sure your life is and will be and my life is and will be and most everyone's life is and will be is a set of stages. Stages where we learn things and grow. Stages where we go through hard times and then good times again. I guess if we didn't have the hard times we wouldn't appriciate the good times as much.

Other then the last couple of days the month has been excellent. Even in the last couple of days most of the time you are superb and so much fun to be around, just a hard stage for my parenting skills. You still laugh alot and are a super happy kid. You have learned to love playing hide and seek. Although it is always Daddy or I who are hiding and you are seeking. But you'll find us, shriek with delight and say " Mommy hide again".

Your singing continues: Twinkle, Twinkle, Einsy Winsy Spider and Row your boat are old favorites now. You are attempting to master your ABC's, but cannot get the last words out although Dad is so proud you say Z the Canadian way. And LMNO P does sound like animal pee. But you continue to impress me with your smarts.

Our biggest adventure this month was probably your weekend spent with Grandma while Daddy and I jetted off to NYC. From what I hear you were well behaved. I was a good mommy and only called once. During the phone call you were showing me some of the new toys you got from Grandma and Pop and would say "look it, mom, look it." Which made all of us laugh very hard because you don't quite understand the phone concept yet. On that trip Daddy and I also lost our camera that's why we don't have alot of pictures to post in this newsletter.





Although I so enjoyed our trip it was so nice to come home to you and hear your voice. I forgot how it sounds so quickly. But it was the sweetest noise ever. So while we wait for a new camera it's going to be video bonanza's.

love you

mommy

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Eating for Two

I got this in my e-mail today and thank god!

BabyCenter
My Pregnancy This Week

Hello, Jennifer !

At 4 1/2 inches long (head to bottom) and 3 1/2 ounces, your baby is about the size of an avocado. In the next three weeks, she'll go through a tremendous growth spurt, doubling her weight and adding inches to her length. The patterning of her scalp has begun, though her hair isn't recognizable yet. Although closed, her eyes are moving (slowly), and she's even started growing toenails. Her fingernails and toenails will continue to grow, so don't be surprised if she needs them trimmed soon after birth.


Thank God becuase this is what I ate yesterday:

1 cinnamon raison bagel for breakfast, apple juice
Lunch: pork chop, 1/2 potato, 1/2 c. carrots, 1/2 c. beans., coke
Post Lunch snack: 3 ( I repeat 3) sandwichs
Dinner: 1 piece of pizza, milk
Dessert: 1 yougourt
Pre bed snack: a huge bowl of chocolate crackle ice cream with raspberries and half a bag of chips with gingerale

Thank god I'm eating for 2 or I'd be a pig, or maybe I'm both.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Monday, October 15, 2007

The Best Compliment

A couple of weekends ago I made an apple pie from the apple's on our tree in the backyard. I made this for my mom and dad. My dad is somewhat of an apple pie connoisseur, he eats it at many restaurants. I was not really out to to impress him, but just use up the apples we had. In the end my dad said it was THE BEST APPLE PIE HE'S EVER HAD. The best compliment... So I thought I'd share the recipe with the world. It's from my favorite recipie website: All Recipes.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup water with a bit of vanilla (but totaling 1/4 c.)
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • Sprinkle of nutmeg
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
  2. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
  3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.
Pouring the liquid over top makes the top all toffee and chewy goodness. The best apple pie ever.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn




Friday, October 12, 2007

Fun Times at Chez Jenn

So I haven't posted a whole lot of pictures lately. Why you ask, becuase with all the house selling craziness, that is almost over, (you can read more about it here) I haven't been the best blogger. So as we took all the picture off our camera for our NYC trip I decided to post a couple of the best ones. I'm still madly in love with my super good camera.



Here is Lucas playing outside on a fall day. He was getting brave and going down the slide head first. Plus don't you love that hoodie he's wearing. I bought it for 8 dollars at a used kids store. It's a nice Gap one so it's great quality.


Darryl and Lucas having fun. Darryl has always been such a great dad but there have been a couple of instances in the last couple of days that amaze me at what a fun interactive dad he is. Even as I type this Darryl is upstairs trying to teach Lucas "a" words.




Okay this picture is a classic. I am also amazed at what a great Grandmother my mom is. Like I said with Darryl, I always knew she'd be good but sometimes I am amazed at how good she is with Lucas. Here she is riding around on his plasma car with him. Which I can tell you from experience in no easy feat to ride it endlessly. Yeah for Grandma.

I hope everyone has a great long weekend and remember's what they are grateful for.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Getting Fat - But For a Good Reason

Well it's a good thing I kept all my size 10 pants I had before Lucas was born. There is a new baby on the way for Darryl and I and I'm digging out all my old size 10 pants to wear. I was one of the lucky ones that lost lots of weight from breast feeding and became a size smaller after having Lucas. Now I am wearing all the size 10 pants becuase I am getting fatter. I am at the stage where I want to get a shirt that says: Yes I'm pregnant!

The new baby is due on April Fool's Day. Which seems kind of appropriate based on this pregnancy. Other then the fatness I've had very few symptoms. No nauesea or morning sickness. I actually didn't believe I was pregnant until I saw the ultrasound and there was a baby heart beat in there, but there is and in 6 months there will be a new addition and I'll be living Haley's life.

Mom and Alexis did buy me a beautiful maternity winter coat, it's red and cordoroy.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The Winter is Going to Be Over Soon

Well after a horrible time over the past 3 months I'm hoping that winter will be coming to and end in the next month or so. The stress level is still high, but we are getting some resolutions. Slowly. Slowly the snow is melting.

There will be more posts in the next couple of days as they are my days off and I can catch up on some sleep. I will also spend more time trying to find the camera we left in the taxi in New York, if anyone has any ideas that would be great.

till tomorrow

Jenn

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Last Day

Well it's our last day in NYC, it has been a blast. So good for Darryl and I to get away.

Today we went to Chinatown and it was a wild experience. Again I'm on the clock so I can't go into detail, but it feels like a whole new world and lots of people out there "wanna buy a watch". The good thing is you can get tons of good deals.

We saw the Color Purple tonight with Fantasia, although I'm not neceassarliy a fan of hers, she did great!!

Till TOmmorw

Jenn

Saturday, October 06, 2007

NYC Day 2

We'll yesterday continued to be an eventful day. We went to the very cool apple store on 5th Ave. I'll add a picture later, when I'm not on the einternet clock. But you can google it sooner if you'd like. Walked up and down 5th ave and Madison and Lexington. Did some shopping, but those are usually higher end stores, so not to to much shopping. Darryl was disapointed that the apple store was sold out of itouches. You can google that to if you don't know what it is.



We also went to the MoMa and it was great! I love to see paintings. It's amazing that that painting is the actual one and some genius was once standing infront of this canvas.



We did go to the top of Rockerfeller Center but it was really hazy, as you'll see in the pictures we add later. I did do a bit of successful shopping, but our feet were killing us by the end.



We did enjoy dinner at the Shake Shop. But my clock is running out so I'll post more later.



We didn't bring Lucas with us, he's at home. We can do a TON more without him. If the people who are taking care of him read this, give him a big hug I miss him desperatly.



Till TOmorrow



Jenn

Thursday, October 04, 2007

NYC: Some interesting observations

We've only been here for 5 hours but here are some things we've noticed already:

1. The Jewish people. I don't know if this is common or not but I can't believe all the men walking around with yamaka's. Not sure if a holiday or just alot of Jewish people, but I'm not use to that living in Calgary.

2. We had an excellent meal. I will be tasting the garlic for the next day (doesn't that sound yummy dad). It was one of those meals you just had to finish even though you were full becuase your taste buds were willing you too.

3. We say a paddy police car driving backwards down the road.

4. There is a funny smell.

5. Lots of people here have dogs. I was really surprised at how many were out walking there dogs. Not just little dogs but big dogs too. Although people seem to pick up the poop, becuase I haven't seen any of that.

6. Garbage on the street. There is no "out back" for resturants, so alot of it goes in "cages" at the side of the street. Odd.

7. We had dinner outside tonight becuase it is so nice there (I hope all of you at home are enjoying the snow =). A guy came up to me and told me to move my bag off the chair beside me, that was closest to the sidewalk. I was a little skeptical at first, but he said someone could come and steal this as quick as anything. He was so right, but it was still a strange experience.

8. Building Up. Even car dealerships have cars piled upon cars. You can't expand out but up....

K i think that's all for now. There may be more tomorrow.

Enjoy your long weekend.

Jenn

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Fabulous Fall

Today Lucas, Emma and I all went to the offleash park. With our crazy house crap that is going on I'm having trouble doing things that were part of my "pre-stress" life. One of those things was taking Emma to play where other dogs play and run around and have a blast. With Fall here it's great to walk in the leaves and I forgot how much Emma loves the park. She jumped like a gazelle through the long grass, hunting mice. She chased dogs and caught her frisbee out of the air. Lucas also enjoyed the fresh air and dogs. I do love fall.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Monday, October 01, 2007

Tantrums

Oh me oh my. So we had our first major tantrum ever. Luckily it was here in the house rather then out at a store. But my god, there must have been crying for 25 minutes. It all started because he didn't want to wear pajamas but wanted to stay in his clothes. In hind sight I should have just left him in his clothes. But once I said no, he had to wear pajamas, I couldn't go back on it. I didn't want him to think if he cried and went on I would change my mind. At one point I thought he was going to throw up. But he didn't. Although I wasn't really sure what to do, what do you do during a tantrum. Try to calm them? Ignore them? Leave the room? I did try all of the above and eventually it seemed to subside. By the end of the night he was out like a light, exhausted from all that crying, and wearing his pajamas. =)

Till Tomorrow

Jenn