A Sad and Happy Day

Even as I start to write this post I feel tears welling up in my eyes. It's so strange that I'm still so emotional about it, maybe it's the pregnancy hormones or maybe it's normal.

Yesterday we handed over the keys for the old house. The happy and good part of it is we gave the house to good people. People who I would be friends with and people who have a child and a dog and will enjoy the house as much as we did.

The sad part of it, is it's not my house anymore. I will always have the memories of it, which are the most important, but I can't go and picture those memories whenever I'd like. I remember Darryl and I first driving into the neighboorhood and falling in love with it. Or sitting in the Wendy's trying to decide what floor plan to choose. Picking colors and light fixtures, flooring and kitchens. I remember moving in and feeling like we had nothing to put in the house and all those rooms or eating Swiss Chalet. My very best birthday party was the year after we moved in. I remember bringing Emma home and sleeping with her downstairs with her the first night while she had the smelliest gas. I remember the many holidays we had in that house. Making our first Thanksgiving dinner and the best pie I've ever had. Or the first Christmas Charlie Brown Tree and the angel Alexis made for the top, which had a twist tie for a halo. I remember Mom and Dad living with us, and Tammy, Pat, Matt and Shaun. Bringing Shaun home after he was born and the night he screamed like Pavorotti. I remember finding out I was pregnant and sitting on the stairs listening to Sarah McLachlan. I remember decorating Lucas's room or sitting in the backyard in the baby pool to keep cool, while I was so pregnant. I remember bringing Lucas home and setting up the nursing "station" where I would feed him, all the time. Lucas took his first steps in that hallway and jumped like a happy, crazy baby in the door way of the den.



Yesterday as I was cleaning the house I couldn't bring myself to clean off the marks we had made where we measured Lucas's height. The new family can get rid of them, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Goodbye house, I'm hoping you will be as good to the new people as you were to us.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

One of My New Favorite Songs

Fun Winter Day........ The Beginning of the End

I may always love Tuesday becuase of the fond memories I have of my days with Lucas. I am so lucky to only work part time and Tuesday's in not a day I work. Its snowed all night last night and so the drive to work sounded horrible, but Lucas and I enjoying hanging out in our p.j's until that was all done. We did head out to the store to pick up a couple of things and then came home and bundled up to play outside for a while. Nothing special but I love to spend the day with him. I'm so looking forward to my year maternity leave.

It is the beginning of the end of nap time. He was been happy for most of the day he did not have a nap this afternoon. I'm sad, I don't want nap time to be done. Most days he still has a nap, but about once a week he skips it. I do miss having time to myself in the day. I'm going to have to instigate quiet time in the afternoons when naps stop all together.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

The Alien

As this could be it for having kids I'm trying to savor being pregnant this time. It has been a really great pregnancy and have nothing to complain about. It's weird to go through a stage in your life and know that this may be the last time you go through it. That's kind of how I feel about this pregnancy. One of the great things about pregnancy is feeling that baby inside you. I have been able to feel the little bambino for a while. Now Darryl and Lucas can feel the baby too. I feel that baby doing summer salts all the time. Especially in the evening or when I go to bed. I must say I have really enjoyed pregnancy this time (although I may have changed my mind in a couple of months, when I can't sleep because of being uncomfortable =) But for now.... it's great.



Till Tomorrow

Jenn

A Great Weekend

There are certian times of the year that each weekend is busy. Usually in the late spring, early summer when there are lots of BBQ's and garage sales. Next is this time of year when there are Christmas parties and cookie exchanges. I do enjoy both of these times of year becuase it provides balance for the weekends in Feburary when there is nothing to do... Here are some picture highlights of our adventerous weekend.

On Saturday was Lucas's friend Joey's birthday party. Both Lucas and I really enjoyed it becuase Petland came and brought lots of animals with them. Kittens and puppies, bunnies and guinea pigs, lizards and a bird were all for the kids to interact with. Lucas and I both love animals so we enjoyed holding all of them (except the bird, we were not to big on the bird)

Here we are with the Gecko



And with the Bunny. Thanks to Aaron and Lesley for the pictures, I almost look skinny in this picture. =)


Today one of my three jobs was holding a children's christmas party. I though it would be fun for us to go and see what they did, plus we got to see Santa. Which as you can tell by the pictures Lucas is not too happy about. Although it's not as bad as the picture of Alexis and I screaming on Santa's knee. Which we should scan in....



The bonus of the party was there was a huge bouncer that Lucas loved jumping in and going down a very cushy slide. Plus he scored a free gift from Santa as well.

All in all a fun action packed weekend. Hope everyone else's was the same.

Jenn

Interview Questions

One of the fun things about blogging is that I have have met lots of fun people and a part of every evening is to check what all my "bloggin" friends have written about. Goofball had someone ask her questions and offered to do it for any of her readers. I thought it would be interesting to see what people wanted to know about me, so here are her questions. If anyone else has any questions please ask in comments. If you want me to interview you, also let me know in comments with your e-mail and I'll send you interview questions.

So here are mine:

I see that you sometimes refer to yourself as “curly jenn”… do you have nicknames or do some of your friends or relatives have funny nicknames and what is the story behind it?

I don't really have a nickname. For certain things I do refer to myself as CurlyJenn, it probably started with my gmail account, becuase my very common name was taken. I have curly hair, so that is where the curly jenn came from. I do use one other alias, so that people don't know my real name, like at Old Navy when they want your name to put on the change room or if a telemarketer is calling and that is Paige Robertson. I'd love to see if anyone can guess what that is from. I'll be sure to put it in my next post.


2) I always love it when other people post about a funny misunderstanding or some embarrassing moment. It makes us all so human. So…it’s confessing time: what was your funniest misunderstanding or embarrassing moment?

I do a lot of crazy things, so much so that I'm not really embarrassed by too much anymore. I think the most embarrassing thing I did lately was at a meeting with the dean of health I was wearing a green bra with a light yellow shirt. At home you couldn't really see through the shirt, but once I got under the fluorosent lights you could defintly tell the difference.


3) You work in the medical sector, partly an operating job in a hospital (I don’t know exactly what) and partly teaching. What is the most rewarding and the most challenging in those jobs?


The most rewarding part of being an x-ray technologist in the hospital is the patients. I don't get to work in the hospital that much and miss the interaction with patients. It's nice to feel like you have made a difference in a patients day or that you have had a good interaction with a patient. The most rewarding part of being a teacher is the students. It's nice to see them come from knowing very little about x-rays to being experts at it and being a part of the little world we are part of. The most challenging part of working in the hospital is that it is very physcially demanding. The most challenging part of being an instructor is the politics.



4) How did you meet your husband?

It is kind of a boring story. We met through a mutual friend. Although our first date was fun, we went skiing.



5) What’s the furthest place you’ve traveled? What was your impression of that place?

The furthest place I've traveled is Rome. I loved it. I loved the history and the food. I could leave the crazy drivers out, but everything else about it was amazing.

6) what is a habit you should try to get rid off?

Lateness, it's already my new years resolution. To plan ahead better and make proper commitments so I'm not late.

Thanks Goofball for the questions. If you want me to interview you let me know? Any other things you want to know about me?

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Interview Questions

One of the fun things about blogging is that I have have met lots of fun people and a part of every evening is to check what all my "bloggin" friends have written about. Goofball had someone ask her questions and offered to do it for any of her readers. I thought it would be interesting to see what people wanted to know about me, so here are her questions. If anyone else has any questions please ask in comments. If you want me to interview you, also let me know in comments with your e-mail and I'll send you interview questions.

So here are mine:

I see that you sometimes refer to yourself as “curly jenn”… do you have nicknames or do some of your friends or relatives have funny nicknames and what is the story behind it?

I don't really have a nickname. For certain things I do refer to myself as CurlyJenn, it probably started with my gmail account, becuase my very common name was taken. I have curly hair, so that is where the curly jenn came from. I do use one other alias, so that people don't know my real name, like at Old Navy when they want your name to put on the change room or if a telemarketer is calling and that is Paige Robertson. I'd love to see if anyone can guess what that is from. I'll be sure to put it in my next post.


2) I always love it when other people post about a funny misunderstanding or some embarrassing moment. It makes us all so human. So…it’s confessing time: what was your funniest misunderstanding or embarrassing moment?

I do a lot of crazy things, so much so that I'm not really embarrassed by too much anymore. I think the most embarrassing thing I did lately was at a meeting with the dean of health I was wearing a green bra with a light yellow shirt. At home you couldn't really see through the shirt, but once I got under the fluorosent lights you could defintly tell the difference.


3) You work in the medical sector, partly an operating job in a hospital (I don’t know exactly what) and partly teaching. What is the most rewarding and the most challenging in those jobs?


The most rewarding part of being an x-ray technologist in the hospital is the patients. I don't get to work in the hospital that much and miss the interaction with patients. It's nice to feel like you have made a difference in a patients day or that you have had a good interaction with a patient. The most rewarding part of being a teacher is the students. It's nice to see them come from knowing very little about x-rays to being experts at it and being a part of the little world we are part of. The most challenging part of working in the hospital is that it is very physcially demanding. The most challenging part of being an instructor is the politics.



4) How did you meet your husband?

It is kind of a boring story. We met through a mutual friend. Although our first date was fun, we went skiing.



5) What’s the furthest place you’ve traveled? What was your impression of that place?

The furthest place I've traveled is Rome. I loved it. I loved the history and the food. I could leave the crazy drivers out, but everything else about it was amazing.

6) what is a habit you should try to get rid off?

Lateness, it's already my new years resolution. To plan ahead better and make proper commitments so I'm not late.

Thanks Goofball for the questions. If you want me to interview you let me know? Any other things you want to know about me?

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Wordless Wednesday

5 piece set

Moving is a good time to get rid of a lot of things you don't use anymore. When packing (or putting things away) I'm always questioning am I going to use this again. Or when was the last time I used this? Or does this still go with my "decor"? One of the things that doesn't go with my decor is one of the first dishes I ever bought, but these dishes have such a great story I don't think we'll ever get rid of them until I die. Here's the story:

When I first moved out west, I didn't have a lot. All of my belongings fit in a suitcase and two boxes. But was working, so slowly I would buy more and more stuff for the apartment. I remember debating one weekend, go skiing or buy a microwave?? One evening I went out with a friend to Eaton's who was going out of business at the time. At the time everything was on clearance and you couldn't return it. I was looking for some new dishes and they had some on sale. I bought a Pfaltzgraff set in green and blue.

If I recall correctly it was about 45 dollars. On the front of the box it was quoted as a 5 piece set. Well I was quite surprised when I got home to find out that I only had bought 5 dishes. I thought a 5 piece set would be 5 bowls, 5 plates, 5 mugs and 5 side plates. I thought 25 dishes on clearance would be 45$, not 5 dishes. Plus I couldn't return them. The problem with just starting out was that we didn't have a lot of money. So I couldn't go out and buy matching sets. I use to make pasta in my one pot pour it in the bowl, put the plate of top and then cook the sauce in the same pot. It's amazing that in 8 years I have accumulated SO much more stuff.

So now with all our brown dishes we have one set of these blue and green ones, that I just cannot throw out....

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is start of my mothers last year in her 40's. Yesterday we had a good dinner celebration, although Lucas was kind of whiny until he finally ate (although the chicken fingers at The Keg are not high quality). Then came back here for some cake.





Happy Birthday Mom, I hope you had a great day.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Fears

Last night Lucas is talking about what he is scared of. His two biggest fears are:

Spiders and Puma's.

Can you tell he watches lots of Diego? For those of you who don't watch Diego, usually the puma or a hawk is what most of the animals are scared of. =)

Jenn

Monthly Newsletter- Month Twenty Seven

Dear Lucas,

Today you turn twenty seven months old. As these monthly birthday's pass we don't do anything special for them, except I am sure to write you this newsletter. This month has been quite good. Although some times I feel like we are in the terrible two's, most of the time I'm thinking this has been lots of fun. Even yesterday you suggested going to the zoo, becuase that's what you wanted not because it was what I suggested.

I also think you are quite well behaved. Of course you throw your temper tantrums like most 2 year olds do, but when we are out you are quite good to reason with. I don't have a problem letting you walk around the toy store, where I see many parents who won't let kids out of the cart. Not that I judge them, I may not let the next one out of the cart.. Where you get upset is usually at home and usually with wearing clothes. "I don't want to wear that shirt", or " I don't like those pajamas". But other then you wanting to wear Diego morning, noon and night, you are a great kid.

One of the things that seems to have developed more this month was your sense of humor. You quite enjoying laughing at yourself. Whether it getting the giggles in the tub because you farted and made lots of bubbles or coyly laughing at me when I peek at you in the morning. You are learning what is funny and how to be funny.

This month has had lots of changes in store for you. We moved from the old house to the new house. You have adapted surprisingly well. Not once have you asked to go back to the old house. I guess a big part of it is that we are finding all the toys we had packed up. It's like a mecca of new toys. Even the "baby" toys are fun for you. We spent and hour going through a box of them the other day. The other change we made with this house is your big boy bed. You have taken to it really well. Only one night have I found you in the middle of your floor rather then in your bed. I think you enjoy the extra space in the bed. I like it as well becuase I can lay in the bed with you, rather then on the hard floor.

One of my favorite things about you is your talking. You have a really great vocabulary. And when you are happy you love to talk. While we are driving around you talk about the "huge" scrapers or the "giant" cranes. We look for deers at night and concrete mixer in the day time. But all grandma's talking, rubbed off on me and has now rubbed off on you. We are a family of constant commentary.

love you pumkin

mommy

Fun Day Friday

Today when Lucas suggested we go and do my favorite Lucas activity I was all over it. Even though it was later then when we usually go, I'm almost always game for the zoo. I've said this 10 times on the blog before but man are we lucky to have a zoo in our city. Each time we go we see different animals up and moving around. Last time the squirrel monkey's we jumping around in the trees and playing with each other. This time they were huddled in packs sleeping. This time around we saw lions eating, hippos swimming and camels close up. But the best part was probably the baby elephant. It was adorable. I was really surprised at how small it was. I am really glad that Lucas has taken to all things animal. Maybe when he grows up he too will be an animal rescuer, like Diego.

The part that did not go too well was the throwing up. Since we went a little later we had to eat our lunch at the zoo. All the sudden Lucas burps and then starts to throw up everything he has eaten. Good thing my mommy/health care worker skills kicked in fast because I was back and forth bringing as many napkins as I could. In the end he was fine and once we had him cleaned up he ate another half of a hotdog... kids are certainly resilient...

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Ahh It's Back

This week our camera that we lost was on sale, so I went out and purchased another one. It feel so good to have our camera back. The blog will be littered with pictures again, becuase we have been missing lots of exciting things. Sunday I went shopping as I haven't bought any " house " stuff for ages, so here's a treat. We were at IKEA and I bought this mirror. It's a beautiful full length.


This is Lucas's big boy bed. The one he fell out of the other night. Also an IKEA purshase. His favorite part is the Diego sheets.



Here's Emma's favorite spot in the new house. Sitting on her dog bed at the front door looking out the window. Whenever we don't know where she is she's checking out the half action outside the front.


The lights over the island. They were not the ones we orginally picked out but they turned out great.


Yeah for pictures =)

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Introducing #2

Last week we went for our 20 week ultrasound for this pregnancy. Here are some of the many pictures. It definitely made me more excited to meet this new little person. For those of you without ultrasound eyes, the body part is at the top of the picture.





Till Tomorrow

Jenn

My Sister Will Appriciate This

Yesterday Lucas and I were out and about and I saw a little Toblerone bar. Both my sister and I are big fans. So I bought one and gave Lucas some. Lucas proclaimed from the backseat

"Look mom, chocolate pylons"

Such a boy.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Good to the Bone

Our best friend family was over for dinner last night and we all had a really great time. The boys played down stairs in the basement, while the adults got to visit upstairs. Tammy and I had spent the afternoon shopping, but we still managed to have lots to talk about. I was reminded about this story concerning one of her children and since I should have these blogs forever and ever, I thought I'd write it in here.

It has become a tradition since Matt was a little kid that I would take him out before Christmas and help him buy his parents and brother christmas presents. We usually treat ourselves to MacDonalds first and then do some shopping. One of the first years he had a pretty good idea of what to get his dad but not so much what to get his mom. After stopping at the toy section to buy his yonger brother a toy piano and then heading over to the electronics section to get his Dad a 50$ video game, we wandered around the store looking for something for his mother. At one point he says to me, remember those flowers we saw, I want to get her those. So I start to walk to the front of the store where I figure the poinsetta's are. No, Matt corrects me, he wants to go back to the craft section. So we head to the back of the Walmart and there he picks out 88 cent flowers for his mother for Christmas. So his brother got a 20$ piano, his dad a 50$ video game and his mother 88 cent flowers. But he knew they would all love their gifts, and how much each of them cost didn't really matter.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Rememberance Day

I personally had a great remembrance day. Although other then wearing my poppy I did not do too much to "remember". So I thought I'd reflect about it a little on the blog today. For my generation, war is kind of sensationalize on TV. We see stories of it in the news and hear the heartbreaking stories of really young men dying in places we cannot even imagine. But I really feel like I have very little knowledge of what it is really like. I'm sure I will learn more as I grow more, but for the moment I'm not really sure, other then the sensationalized story I get from TV what it is like.

Although there are some real people I know who lived through wars. First off my Pop, my dad's dad. He fought in the second world war. Although I don't know a lot of the stories of what it was like I do remember the black shrapnel he had in his hands. Looking at those hands, knowing they must have gone through a lot. The second person that is close to me is my Opa. Who was a young boy when the second world war was happening. He lived in Holland when this was happening and he has told a few stories of what it was like to live there. He talks about being so hungry he would jump into a big vat of soup and lick out the insides to try and find more to eat. Or laying down in boats so that the Nazi's couldn't find them. Crazy to live through such things as these....

Although Remembrance Day seems kind of far away from me, it doesn't remind me to be greatful for all the things we have, most importantly freedom.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Testing Testing

What, two posts in one day. Plus is this the blog I usually read.

I've been playing around this evening. Let me know what you think... still okay to read?

Jenn

Bad Week

Sorry about the lack of posts it's been kind of a stressful week. I've worked more then normal, which I know is me being a baby, because I only work part time. But this week was almost full time. I don't know how so many of you mommies work 5 days a week. Thank god it is an extra long weekend.

I'm also torn about work. There have been a lot of negativity coming up and I'm finding it difficult to deal with. The good thing is 4 more months and then I'll have a year of maternity leave, which gives me quite a while to decide.

Lucas has also had a difficult week. I'm sure the move and the mommy working all the time has not helped either. But I'm feeling like a horrible mom. He is going through the terrible twos and it seems like he needs a good cry/tantrum every couple of days. And even though I have been working lots these crying fits still seemed to happen on my watch.

The good thing about a bad week is that it can only get better next week....

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Big Boy Bed

One of the changes we decided to make was to put Lucas in a big boy bed when we moved into the new house. The new baby will eventually need the crib, so we thought this would be a good opportunity to move him. We got him some Diego sheets for the bed, which he loves. Last night went pretty good, no episodes of him falling out. But tonight when I got home from a meeting I went up to check him out he was laying in the bed with his body, but his legs were hanging out of the bed and supporting him on the floor. Looked pretty funny. The question is do you put kids back in their bed or let them figure it out on their own? What would you do?

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

More Moving Details

I thought I should add some more details about our weekend and our new house. I was going to take a picture of Emma and her new favorite spot in the house, but I can't find the camera. Besides I haven't been taking many pictures since I lost my good camera. I did go to best buy today to see if it was on sale, but it was not....

Anyway there is a window beside the front door and Emma is almost always there. She loves to check the action outside the front door. There are quite a few things I love about this house. Although there are also things I don't like about the house. I love that the living room is bigger all of our furniture fits and looks like it belongs. I love the location. I love love the location. I get to see mountains out my window every day. Every day I take Emma out to pee and it's quiet. There are not alot of lights so you can see a million stars. During the day you can see the mountains on the horizon. We are close to a pond. I love the walkout basement, it's so bright down there and Lucas drives his cars around and around. I adore the kitchen. The island is lovely there is so much more space. I also love the walkthru pantry. Today I brought groceries from the garage right into the pantry.

But there are also some things that will take getting use to. The shower, which I am pretty picky about is not good. The bathroom is bigger then our old one and the shower stall is not as closed in. It looks great, but the hot air comes out of the shower stall quickly. It's not as warm as I"m use to. So we'll have to find a way to fix that..... Also I've never lived in a house with a front attached garage that sticks out so far. It's not good for my need to spy. Especially now that Emma is always looking out the front door. She "huffs" when she sees something. In the old house I could go to any window at the front of the house and see what was going on in the cul-de-sac, here I can only see a part of it, then the garage gets in the way.

The other thing I miss about the old house was that it was home. This is still the "new house", not yet home. In a year it will be better, but I do miss my old home..

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Quitter

So obviously this posting everyday has not happened. We spent most of the weekend moving. Really I did not do a whole lot as pregnant people are not suppose to lift alot. But Darryl and his friends and my parents all moved us. Now I am living in a house of boxes and nothing familiar. I'm heading off to bed now but will post more tomorrow. Just wanted to update the NaBloPoMo.

Jenn

Baby Names

I personally think one of the hardest things about being pregnant is trying to chose a name for the new person coming into the world. With Lucas it took us forever to pick a name. We made lists nad lists and lists. We had about 3 names when I went into labor and Lucas wasn't even on the list 2 weeks prior.

Last night Darryl and I were taking about names in bed. I can tell it's going to be another long, drawn out decision. My sister suggested the name Ruby, which is good. Darryl figured out a couple of ways to make fun of it, so that name is off the list......

Yesterday I was at a meeting with a friend of mine that is 3 days more pregnant then I am. She already knows that the baby is a girl and they have given her a name. Holy Crap, I say.

It is National Blog Posting Month It is a "blog" thing, where people post everyday in the month of November. I usually post everyday but take the weekends off. So for the national posting month, I'll be posting some baby name polls and you can help through the long drawn out process.....

What about you was it easy to pick your kids names?

Till Tomorrow

Jenn