exploring new territory

lately, all i have to do to make ben happy is open our back door. as soon as that door opens, he charges for the deck. for a few days, he simply enjoyed going in and out. but more recently, he's been venturing from one side of the deck to the other. turns out, the deck is going to be a great place to play this summer.

some more etsy favs

i blogged about a few fav shops before but here are some more recent finds:

evgie shop - lots of kids stuff

brookish shop - great literary quotes on mugs in cool writing

vozamer shop - a lot of funny magnets and stamps

scary soap...(very cake wrecks)

no grudges

in the day to day, something i love about having a baby is that when you do something that they don't like, they don't hold it against you. they don't refuse to talk to you because you left them in their crib to cry for 25 minutes. they don't write you a mean email if you put them in the nursery at church. they don't bring up the fact that 3 weeks ago, you gave them a piece of food that was too big for them and they gagged on it and threw up. nope. babies don't hold any of those things against you. when you come and get them out of their crib, pick them up at the nursery, or give them their next chunk of food, they put their arms out and just want you and no one else. i love that about my baby.

gratiude sunday

an ongoing, weekly post...

photo by j.l.m - sunset on the farm

> sunshine & strollers

> my brother being hired with a first department!! it's been 5 years working towards this goal!

> lunch out in at a new-to-us restaurant in fort langley with friends

> discovering shaw on demand

> baby giggles

> checking things off my to-do list

how cute is this?

a DIY gift-wrapping kit. wouldn't this be a great present for someone who likes to give little gifts? i know someone like that and i'm totally making this! (and btw, this is totally one of my fav blogs)

20 books every teen should read...

i found this list that Canadian Living created and each book has a little blub and why they think it's important for teens to read it. a handful of the books i read in school (Lord of the Flies, the Outsiders, Animal Farm etc) and a couple others outside of school but there many i had never even heard of. i immediately requested Go Ask Alice, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and The Island of Dr. Moreau. and eventually, i should really read Are You There God? It's Me Margaret. i never have. check out the list - any of your favs there?

blueberries

ben's favourite food is frozen blueberries chopped into halves thanks to a tip from andie on one of my food posts forever ago. ben went through a week or so not wanting to eat from a spoon so he only ate finger foods. and if he was only eating finger foods, it's so laborious for him to pick up each item and then aim to get it in his mouth that he wasn't eating a whole lot. and half the time he lost interest in what he was eating anyways...unless it was blueberries. he would (and still will) sit for any length of time if you keep putting blueberry chunks on his highchair tray. now, ben is back to eating with a spoon (sometimes) so that helps in the amount of food going in. but i recently got a book out of the library with tons of recipes for baby food in the blender and at this age, they add cottage cheese to many things. i tried blending blueberries and cottage cheese. huge hit. he just keeps opening his mouth. and at one point, i spilled a little on his tray and tried to get his mouth down onto the tray to lick it up. gotta love finding favourites!

earth day tupperware tips

in celebration of earth day (because that's what price is right and ellen were doing today...) check out some tupperware sustainability tips here.

10 month photo bloopers...

(like the drying laundry in the background? haha)

needless to say...i gave up pretty quickly. but the next day's mom and baby photo fared much better:

nails

i'm a big fan of the pedicure. i'm also a big fan of red and hot pink toenail polish. today on my fav blog, i read that the #2 tip in trying out the season's hottest nail colours (like turquoise and gray) is: "Avoid hot pink and dark purples. They just scream, "I'm 12 and I love ponies!" wow. i'm a little offended. but if you're planning on getting a pedi anytime soon (which i'm sure you are because sandal weather is almost here...), it's a good read.

past hot pink toes:

i guess i'll try something new this year...

10 month milestone come and gone

when i was in ontario, i was asked many times how old ben was and i was always answering 9 months or 9 and a half months. then it occurred to me near the end of the trip that he was going to be 10 months already on that friday. wow. they say "time flies" but you can't know it until you experience the months and milestones flying by. milestones mastered this month? ben is doing well in his big boy carseat and sometimes his head doesn't completely flop to the side... we had tried pushing him to a 7pm bedtime and most days it works fine with a whiny finale, some days we wonder, "why did we want to do this again?", and once in awhile he's in such a good mood at dinner that he sits with us and we all eat together and it's the dinnertimes i'd imagined before he got here. i'm looking forward to more of the latter. ben weighed in today at 20lbs and measured 29 1/2 inches in height. he's been about 20 lbs for awhile so he must just be growing taller. ben's been pulling himself up on furniture for a little while now but he's travelling along the furniture at a much faster pace now. he loves to climb stairs and had lots of practice climbing from the basement to the kitchen in my aunt and uncle's place in ontario chasing their cat. he also learned to wave this month and waves at people when we say hi or bye or night night or when other people wave at him. it's fun.

but i haven't really been able to get a great picture of the two of us on the last couple months' birthdays and today i attempted to get a late one but ben was just mad that i wouldn't let him touch the camera.

and now that i want to post this post...i can't find my camera. and i want to go to bed. tomorrow...photos tomorrow...

we surveyed 100 people...

in regards to the question, "where have you snuck out of?", the answer is indeed (as a couple of you answered) church. church? why sneak out? you can just walk out and no one is going to stop you. maybe this is just my personal experience. but this question definitely threw me off as i most often was sneaking out of school. haha. thanks to all who guessed.

gratitude sunday

two sundays ago, my grandma passed away. this past sunday was spent with family in ontario. i have three weeks of gratitudes built up:

i am thankful for:

> the knowledge that a life of faith brings hope and encouragement to those you leave behind

> the road having been paved

> turkey and all the fixings

> safe travels with a baby on board

> extended family whom i love and not just because they're family

> brownie cheesecake

> newly landscaped garden surprise

> soothers

> tupperware parties in morgan creek

> getting mail

> parents who love my baby as much as i do

> coming home to a clean house

> a husband who cleans the house

> anticipation of baby d

> alphabet cookie cutters

> fresh starts

> good health

> spring

where have you snuck out of?

i've been playing family feud on facebook (ahh...time wasters...love them) and today i played an episode and the question was "name a place that people sneak out of"...i said: school - #2 answer. i said: house - #3 answer. i said: jail - #5 answer. i tried opera and struck out. i was suprised at the number one answer...but maybe that's just me. what's your guess? we'll see if everyone knows this except me...i'll let you know tomorrow.

the farm

whenever i'm at "the farm" whether it be my dad's parents' or my mom's, i take lots of pictures of big open spaces. i take pictures of the house. i take pictures of the road fading out into the horizon. it's always the same pictures and they're never very good. but this trip, as i took my usual photos, i realized that what i'm trying to capture is not just what the farm looks like...but what it feels like. i'm trying to capture the stillness. the quiet. the freshness. the peacefulness. and that is why i'm never satisfied with my pictures. and that is why one must experience it themselves to appreciate these photos. but if you're not planning on visiting southwestern ontario anytime soon, here are some pics.

the mann homestead

the macdonald homestead

traveling with a 9 month old

with a wiggly baby who wants to be on the move, i was sure my 5 hours plane ride was to be a disaster. after we got on the plane, ben made friends with everyone around us by smiling and waving at them and then we took off. he didn't seem to have any trouble with his ears and once we were flying he looked over at the guy across the aisle and smiled, then he looked at me and smiled, and then he crashed his head down on my shoulder and fell asleep. whaaaat?!? he slept for half an hour. amazing. who was this child who had not slept on me since his wee infant days? i was loving it. and while our first hour on the plane was fantastic, the rest of it was more like you'd imagine it to be. ben crawling up the aisle trying to play with peoples' shoes, me holding ben while he whines, ben wanting to be put down and then wanting to be picked up and then wanting to be put down and then wanting to be picked up... but there was very little crying so that was great. he ended up falling asleep again right before we arrived and he slept through the whole bumpy landing! what a guy.

sitting on the floor playing with his bucket of toys...

on my lap...no, i didn't ask anyone to take our photo. i should have.

we arrived in toronto and i thought, "we made it! phew!" and then we entered the airport... the luggage carts in toronto don't hold a child like the ones in vancouver so my plan to have ben sit in the cart then fold up his stroller on the cart with the luggage wasn't going to work. so i put the duffel bag on top of the small rolling suitcase and pulled it behind me with one hand while i pushed the baby in the stroller with my huge diaper bag on the back with my other hand. we found our car rental desk (the farthest one away from the luggage) and got our car set up and then we went outside to the other desk to get the key. i'd rented a car seat so i wouldn't have to bring mine and i'd imagined it already in the car when i got there. it was not. i asked if there was someone who could help me put it in because only tim has ever put our carseat in and out of the vehicles. in fact, i'd never even looked closely at our carseat let alone installed it. "oh no, no. we don't put in the carseats because of liability issues," she says. "okay..." i can't even carry the carseat to my car because i'm pulling luggage and pushing baby so the guy behind me in line says he'll bring my carseat out for me. i get everything in the car and ben is still sitting in the stroller and itching to get out. i'm sitting in the backseat with the carseat reading the three tiny pictures on the side. no help. it is so unclear to me how to do this. i go over to some parking attendants nearby. "could either of you give me a hand with this carseat? i don't know how to put it in." insert speech about liability. so i begin to cry and walk away. of course they follow. i am now sitting in the car with the carseat crying with ben crying in his stroller and two people watching me. oh brother. the short version of this is that i finally decide to install it facing forwards because that seems the easiest and i finally get it in. i strap ben in and off we go. i don't wait for the gps satellites to kick in because i want to get of that garage away from staring parking attendants. i get on the 401 East. my gps finally kicks in. i'm supposed to be going West. my trip begins.

pit stop on our two hour drive to port stanley. happy to be out of the car.

my grandma macdonald was a fiesty, fun, and loving woman and though alzheimers had taken much of her memory, she still made jokes, gave hugs, and loved her great grandson visiting. betty macdonald passed away on sunday, april 4th with her husband by her side. she will be missed but where she has gone, there is no more suffering. her funeral is at the end of the week and ben and i will be going to ontario to support our family and celebrate betty.

hot or not?

they're fake. i bought them for my kitchen table. the price tag is $30. are they worth it?

weigh in...

if you're reading this on google...

click over to the actual blog - we got a new header finally.

baby in a backpack

we bought a MEC backpack for ben and we tested it out on some fairly level ground yesterday to see how he liked it. he seems to be a fan though in none of these photos is he smiling. he laughed when we got him in it and on tim's back. he laughed whenever tim would stop and lean forward so ben would be parallel to the ground. he laughed if i got close to him and he would reach out to touch my head then squeal if he succeeded. it was a very fun walk in fort langley. it was pretty cold after awhile so we started heading back. ben looked tired but never complained. just rested his head on the side of the side of the pack and sucked his soother. it was an adventurous day that resulted in an early bedtime.