best shot monday

an ongoing weekly post of my favourite photo taken the previous week...

observations of an explorer

happy father's day!

umm...why did i not think to post these a little earlier? on father's day, we went to the beach even though it was a little chilly out. it's really the best time for a beach walk anyways.

tim looks like he's in pain but he's not...ben and jamie are enjoying themselves!

the experiment: too many toys?

ben has a whole toy box full of toys which is awesome. but sometimes it seems as though because there are so many in there, he doesn't do much with them. he pulls most of them out and throws them over his shoulder each day and he definitely plays with some of them but it's a little overwhelming. ben mostly wants our pens, paper, pots and pans, phones, diaper bag, etc. aka. non-toys. but then when we go to a friend's house, he's all over their toys. they're ALL new to him! which is fun to see - this kid WILL play with toys.

so here is the experiment: i've split all ben's toys up into bags and each day, i'll bring out a new bag. he won't have seen these toys for at least 4 - 5 days. will it make him more interested in them?

gratitude sunday

an ongoing weekly tradition to be consciously thankful for all that i have...

this week i am thankful for:

> sunny days

> the courage to try out a new church

> a new beginning of the 30 day shred

> winners gift card

> the discovery of discovery toys

> meeting new people

> local farms at which to introduce ben to new animals

$25 off your tupperware order, anyone?

summer special! and you don't necessarily have to host a party to get this special either! check it out!

for a kid who loves water...

ben is a fan of water. he likes the pool. he splashes in the tub and when i'm not careful washing his hair, getting water in his eyes, it doesn't bother him. he gets his face in puddles. he drinks the water from his water table. needless to say, i was excited about taking him to the water park today for our friend's first birthday party. i thought this was going to be a big hit.

he walked under some spraying water and burst into tears. when i took him over to a little water spouting from the ground, he touched it and smiled but as i tried to take my hand away, he cried. he tripped and sat down in some water and cried. my goodness. this was not what i expected. maybe he'll do better when he's less tired. and if mommy comes with him in the water. but this isn't the last you've heard of the waterpark...

ben loves goats

sleep habits

it's interesting how your morning routine changes with a baby. in the first couple months, i'd get up with ben between 5 - 6am, give him his bottle and then pop him in the swing to fall back asleep. then i'd go back to bed. when ben started waking up at 6 - 6:30am for a few months, tim would get up with him and give him his bottle. then tim would make his own breakfast and prep his lunch while i got some extra sleep. now, ben rarely wakes up before 7am. it's usually between 7:15 - 8am which works great for me but means that tim is often late to work. once in awhile, if ben wakes up before 7am, we just leave him in his bed. i'll hear him do a little talking or throw a soother out of his crib but mostly, he's silent in there until we come in. silent. is that crazy or what? once in awhile he'll fall back to sleep but usually he just waits patiently for someone to come get him. who is this kid? this morning he woke up at 6:45am. we rolled over and kept trying to sleep. he got so quiet that i assumed he fell back asleep. when tim got up at 7:25am, he opened the dresser drawer then slammed it shut. i whispered, "be quiet! ben fell back to sleep!" tim looks at me and says, "no he didn't - he's awake in there. i can hear him." what!? he's been awake for 45 minutes just playing in his crib!?! i felt a little bad. but what a crazy baby for letting his parents sleep a little longer! gotta love that!

sucked in by the discount

you know when you're buying something and you get to the till and they're like, "if you sign up for our credit card, you'll get x amount off your purchase..."? i'm always sucked in. i make the purchase on that card, pay it off immediately and then never use the card again. well, yesterday i was at zellers buying some fisher price toys with ben's birthday money (thanks mom and ang!) and the amount came to more than i was expecting. then the girl asks if i want to get 15% off my purchase by signing up for a bay credit card. hmm...15% sounds like a good chunk of money - sure. i sign up. i get $9 off. hmm...not as much as i'd thought it would be. (are you picking up on my lack of math skills?) i get home and tell tim, thinking he'd be happy for the savings. "tim, i signed up for a bay credit card to save 15%!" "no...not again! you've got to stop signing up for all these credit cards!" haha - is anyone else sucked in by these deals?

a diy i could get into...

in highschool, one wall of my bedroom was collaged with magazine cut-outs. no paint could be seen. i loved that collage. now here's a grown up version that i totally want to try...now where would i put it...

a ben series: auntie rachel lets me eat cookies

watcha eatin?

those?

erg...must bring plate closer...

is this allowed?

distract them with a photo while i eat my cookie!

but i'll share!

best shot monday

an ongoing weekly post of my favourite photo taken the previous week...

gratitude sunday

an ongoing weekly tradition to consciously be more thankful for all that i have...

this week, i am thankful for...

> my dad

> my husband's first year as a dad

> birthday parties

> old friends who continue to be the best friends

> cream cheese icing

> the knowledge that teething doesn't last forever

> a healthy, active, fun one year old

thoughts on year one

i've had the privilege of being with this little boy every day of his life so far. i've never thought to myself, "he looks older today" or "he's growing so fast" because everyday has seemed a little like the day before. but somewhere along the way, he grew and got older. now he's one and i'm surprised. how did this happen when i've been here every step of the way? and so begins the tale of motherhood. when i've heard mothers say, "they grow up so fast!", i just didn't get it. and so a big happy birthday to my little baby who's quickly becoming a toddler! here's to enjoying every stage and loving you more and more everyday!

first birthday party

a big thank you to ang for these photos!

a ben series: 12 months

july - 1 month

august - 2 months

september - 3 months

october - 4 months

(how i miss this little sweater)

november - 5 months

(oh how i loved these little pants with feeties)

december - 6 months

january - 7 months

february - 8 months

March - 9 months

April - 10 months

May - 11 months

June - 12 months!

one year old mother milestones

at one month, i made a list of mother milestones. here is a list of one year mother milestones in What To Expect the First Year format:

by one year, your mother should be able to...

> know when nap time is

> change her squirmy baby's diaper in less than 30 seconds

> not take it personally when her baby wants to be held by people other than her

> remember to put a bib on the baby when he's eating

> not be offended when her baby laughs when she says "no!"

will probably be able to...

> give up control of the spoon to her baby while feeding him

> pass soothers, crackers, etc. back to her baby in his carseat while driving

> accurately guess the correct price of a car on Price Is Right

> make dinner amongst the pots and pans on the floor from her baby throwing them from the cupboards

> bring enough distractions for her baby when on a trip to the grocery store

may possibly be able to...

> drive far distances with a cranky baby without feeling flustered

> leave the baby to cry in bed at other peoples' houses because she knows he's tired

> come up with creative ways to get baby to eat some vegetables

> change a crib sheet without taking the bumper pad off

> get through a week without doing laundry because it doesn't matter to her that her baby's shirt has a stain on it from yesterday

may even be able to...

> relax if people are loud when baby is sleeping because if he wakes up, it's not the end of the world (though many mothers never master this skill)

> go into superstore without buying a new outfit for her baby

> find something to wear without baby drool, food, or snot on it in her own closet

first birthday comparison

best shot monday

an ongoing weekly post of my favourite photo taken the previous week...

awkward family photos

i know this is old news and many of you have been watching this site forever...but for those of you who didn't get the memo - check out this site. i was laughing aloud by myself here for a few of them. really, the captions are what make the pictures.

"they didn't offer black paint"

gratitude sunday

an ongoing weekly tradition to consciously be more thankful for all that i have...

this week i am thankful for...

> edible cake

> sunny days

> successful re-entry into the work force (if only for the one day...)

> ben's successful first day of daycare

> a fantastic caregiver for my baby at daycare when i TOC in the fall

> digital photography

> generosity of others

> the primary colours

> my husband who said how much he loved my cake, hung up all the clean laundry that i had left on the floor, and made the kitchen spotless post-birthday party

> leftover potato salad

> anticipation of get-togethers with old friends

> a healthy, strong, fun, and loving (almost)one year old little boy

irony of a first birthday cake

for the last 6 months, i've had thoughts of a first birthday party that looked like this:

but now ben's first birthday has actually arrived and that ideal party just seems like so much work for me that will really be for people other than ben. so a couple weeks ago, i started to attempt to bring down my personal expectations for beautifulness and started thinking about the most important part of the birthday: cake.

it's strange that we have been feeding this kid nothing unhealthy or sweet since he started solids yet on this random day, we're going to give him straight sugar in the form of icing. i'd read that a good idea for a first birthday is to use cream cheese icing and who doesn't love cream cheese icing? it seemed like a good idea. until tonight. i was planning to use my What to Expect in the First Year book's first birthday cake recipe. it has whole wheat flour. it has wheat germ. it has carrots and apple juice. it's healthy. "who's coming to this party that is going to want to eat this cake?" i thought to myself. but i already had my heart set on cream cheese icing and the only cake that goes with cream cheese icing is carrot cake. i like carrot cake (for the icing) and it's healthy, right? so i do some grocery shopping at 8pm and get making the cake at 9:15pm. and as i add each ingredient, it occurs to me that carrot cake is not healthy. in fact, it seems to be the least healthy cake i have ever made. "what the heck am i making this for?" i thought. and i quit grating the carrots. but then i thought of the cream cheese icing. i started grating the carrots again.

now the cake is baking. turns out that carrot cakes take about 45 minutes to bake. it's 10:15pm and my timer says i still have 22 minutes left. and if my baking reputation stands up, this cake probably won't be great. and since i left all other beautiful birthday party expectations behind, all i have is this cake. cake failure may produce a total meltdown. let's hope for the best. maybe i should make some cute party hats in the next 22 minutes to help let me down easy.

SYTYCD thoughts

at first, i was a little wary of this "all-star" concept and only getting a top 10 and not a top 20. then tim pointed out that the quality of dance is going to be so high right from the start by doing it this way. a good point. so while i'm not sure why Comfort is there - i'm excited to have some of my favs back - Dominic!

and i know i raved last year about the greatness of making the first show being a display show and not voting but MAN! i love that! i also love love loved that they just brought the choreographer up on the stage so we didn't have to hear the judges praise the silent choreographers in the crowd - we could hear what the choreographer had to say about their dance. i HOPE they're going to keep that going all season.

early favs: lauren and kent

dog wrestling

stuffed dogs are easier to wrestle than real dogs...

tom petty in concert

in 2006, i went to a tom petty concert. i went because i like concerts and i liked the song Free Falling. it was an awesome concert. post concert, tim bought a 30th anniversary dvd set called Runnin' Down a Dream: a four hour documentary, a live concert dvd, and a cd. if you know a Petty fan...or even just a music fan - this is a fantastic gift. i've watched this 4 hour documentary maybe 3 or 4 times because it is so good. and if you don't know anything about Tom Petty, you will wish he was your bestfriend after watching this.

so what's funny is that i've seen Tom and the Heartbreakers in concert before but it was before i really appreciated them. so to see them again last night in concert at GM Place, it was like watching old friends walking out on stage. cheesy - i know. but that's how much i love them. i was thinking things like, "oh benmont, why are you wearing that hat?" and "mike - you're dressed just like tom!" yes, we're on a first name basis. in my mind. maybe this is too much information into my mind but...now you understand how pumped i was to go to this concert. and it was awesome. check out this much better review: http://www.theprovince.com/news/3129198/story.html?tab=PHOT

a ben series: drinking from a cup