Busy

Wow! It's been ages since I posted last!

In the last 10 days we:

- Have packed our 1/2 our house up to send with the movers, sold about 1/3 of it and took the rest of it on a plane.

- Cleaned and cleaned and cleaned

- Reintroduced Jacob to all his grandparents and some of his aunts and uncles

- Painted, tore up carpet

- Cleaned some more

- Flew across the country

- Celebrated Adam's birthday

- Crossed 4 times zones

- Visited with friends

- Said goodbye to many people in BC, said hello to many people in Halifax

- Ate lots of takeout

And I think thats the best summary I can give for now. Off to spend a bit of QT with my husband!!!

Suzanne

It's about that time...

In 2 weeks Jacob will be 6 months old, which I can hardly believe! I feel like I'm always caught in this tension of wanting him to stay a baby forever and wanting to see him grow and learn new things. Things change so quickly with babies, for instance: 2 weeks ago Jacob could barley sit up unless he was slouched over, now he can sit straight up and play with his toys for a few minutes at a time before he falls over... how do their little muscles grow so fast?

If you've been reading my blog for awhile you may remember that I was debating starting Jacob on solids a little early since he was starting to wake up again in the night to feed. I told myself at the time that I would give him one week before I made any changes. By the end of that week he was pretty much back to sleeping for 12 hours straight at night again, so I decided to wait until 6 months to start solids. An added bonus to waiting being that we didn't have to buy any "feeding gear" until we moved back to Halifax.

Now that we are quickly approaching the 6 month mark I've been starting to do my research on "feeding gear". So, since I love to hear about things from people who have/are using them I was wondering if I could get some input on some highchairs! You all have had such great advice in the past I thought I would utilize it again!!

So here's the dilemma: I am torn between getting a full sized high chair :

Or a booster seat like this:

OR THIS:

Right now I'm leaning towards a booster seat, only because it takes up so much less room and you can take it with you to people's houses when it overlaps with dinner time. But I've never had a kid before, and it seams like most people who have kids go for the full sized highchair. I'm not really picky about how it looks, I just want something comfortable and functional!

What are your thoughts - is it worth the extra money to get a full sized highchair?

I'd love to hear from you all!

Suzanne

He Shoots He Scores

It's that time of year again! In case you're not a hockey fan we have officially entered into the NHL playoff season.

Adam and I are both big hockey fans (although I have to admit the only time I really watch it is during the playoffs or the olympics). We're both also Penguins fans, but since living in Vancouver have found ourselves cheering for the Canucks as well. So it will be interesting to see what this years playoffs bring!

It would appear that Jacob has inherited his fathers love for watching sports. As soon as hockey comes on the TV (or laptop as our TV is somewhere across the country) his eyes are glued and he won't look away until you turn it off.

"YAY! They scored again!!! That's 5 goals in one period!"

"I sure do love hockey season! Thanks Uncle Paul for my Penguins jersey"

Who are you cheering for this year?

Suzanne

Beach Day

Yesterday after the movers came we packed up our things and headed down to the beach. It was 21 degrees out and after all of our hard work this weekend we needed some time to relax

We spent most of our time walking with the stroller along the paths, since I am terrified of J getting a sun burn. I have yet to see a good natural sunscreen anywhere and I guess technically babies aren't supposed to wear sunscreen until they are at least 6 months old anyway, but if any of you can recommend a good natural sunscreen I would be very appreciative. We did stop for 5 minutes or so though to get in a good photo shoot on the sand.

Man, was it ever good to be out in the sunshine! I really am a different person when the sun comes out. There is just something about it that does wonders for the soul, I always feel so much more relaxed. Being cooped up inside in a basement during a rainy winter can zap the motivation right out of you. I even think it affects our marriage, Adam and I definitely fight a lot less in the summer!

Jacob is at the perfect age for these kinds of outings. He really thrives being out and about, and is always so happy. He can start getting crabby and as soon as we take him outside he is almost instantaneously a happier baby. And since he sleeps well at night I actually have the energy to get out and about during the day, unlike when he was a newborn!

He is really starting to explore things, and loves anything tactile. While he was sitting in the sand he kept reaching down and grabbing handfuls of it just letting it slide through his fingers. He actually had quite a hole dug by the time we went over to get him!

I am really looking forward to having the summer off and having a chance to go on lots of adventures with him. If any of you mom's in Halifax aren't working this summer I'm always looking for company for a walk or a trip to the park or beach! As much as I love hanging out with J. too many days without some adult company makes me go a little crazy!

Jacob must have been worn out from all of the activity because he was out cold by 6pm slept until almost 8am this morning (he did wake up once to feed around 5am). Since I almost never get to sleep in I was in heaven...except for the fact that I was sleeping on an air mattress that doesn't even bare a slight resemblance to my warm bed...but still I got to sleep in which was great:)

So, hopefully the sun keeps up for the next 10 days so we can spend our newfound free time outdoors!

Suzanne

Packing Up

Well we have had a crazy weekend trying to get everything packed for the movers to come today! Thanks to some great friends lending us cars, helping us pack, and keeping us company, we were able to be pretty efficient and pack things up in record time! Now that the movers have come and gone I finally feel as if I can breath a sigh of relief. I HATE moving! This will be mine and Adam's 5th move since we have been married, and even though we purge each time it seams like we keep acquiring stuff!

Jacob has been a trooper for the last few days. We have both been pretty preoccupied with packing and getting things organized so he had to entertain himself a lot. He did surprisingly well and spent a lot of time in his Jolly Jumper and playing sitting up against boxes. On top of that he's been a trooper with his naps sleeping between 1.5-2.5 hours for all his naps this weekend (which definitely helps us be more effective around the house!)

So, now that all of our stuff is gone (minus what we're bringing on the plane on the 28th) we can focus on cleaning bit-by-bit and saying our final goodbyes. Adam's dad arrives from Newfoundland on the 24th and will stay until the 27th so he can see Adam graduate, and it will be nice not to have to worry about packing when he's here. Hopefully we will have some nice weather so we can get out and do a few things with him!

In the meantime we will be living in a semi-empty apartment, sleeping on an air mattress (Jacob in a pack and play), eating meals that we froze ahead of time (aren't we prepared:) and definitely not watching any TV (which sucks during the playoffs)! I have to say though, I actually think that I like this period of gradual transition. It certainly means less stress, since we're doing things over a spread period of time, and it's nice to have these last 10 days in Vancouver to ourselves without having to worry about packing up an entire apartment!

We also found out today that our car is already in Halifax, which is fantastic news because it was supposed to take 3-4weeks (we sent it 2 weeks ago). That means we will have a car as soon as we get in Halifax which is awesome, since the bus system in Halifax is not quite as reliable as Vancouver!

Hope you all had a good weekend!

Um guys.... I know you're busy packing but could someone give me a hand back up?

Things we love

Sometimes I can have a bit of an obsessive enthusiastic personality. This has definitely proven true when it comes to finding baby items that I love. I watch for sales, read lots of reviews, and ask every mom I know what they use, trying to leave no stone unturned, lest I miss out on a great deal, or fantastic item!

That all being said, I thought that it would be fun to post some of the stuff that I love every few weeks incase any of you out there are like me and like to do your homework! The one thing I have learned is the best way to learn about something is hear about it from someone who uses it everyday! There will probably be a lot of baby stuff in here but I'm going to try and add some other things too... you know to show that my life doesn't completely revolve around my child:)

But for today I think I will stick with a baby item, since It's late when I'm writing this and I can think of lots of great things to say about this item!

THE BOB REVOLUTION:

So, I researched strollers like a mad women when I was pregnant! I wanted something that would not only work for walking around our neighborhood but would also stand up to some "off road" trails. I loved the idea of a jogging stroller as well, because I was very ambitious and thought I would be back to running right after I gave birth (don't even ask me the last time I went for a run... I'm still working on a good excuse for why I still haven't started back up).

Well I debated between the finalists for awhile, but in the end the BOB revolution won my heart! Aside from the fact that it fit all of the stroller criteria that I listed above, it had so many other extras that I loved. First of all it is pretty light weight for a jogging stroller (23lbs), that, combined with the fantastic inflatable tires make it feel like you are pushing air (I'm not even exaggerating here the stroller practically drives itself). Another selling point for me was how easy it was to fold up. All you have to do is push the little levers up top, it folds over and you grab the little handle, wrap the strap around and away you go... no complicated gear for me thanks! Another selling feature for me was how far down the sun shade went. I had heard from a lot of mom's that getting something that provided a lot of shade was a big plus in a stroller, especially in the summer!

Finally, I really wanted something that had a car seat attachment and a "snack tray". I wanted to be able to easily transfer Jacob from the car to his stroller, so that if he fell asleep in the car I wouldn't disturb him. With the BOB the car seat adaptor includes a snack tray (and as an added bonus there is also 2 mesh sippy cup/bottle holders on either side of the seat). So I was set for one purchase I got both!

So, as good as something can sound on paper, the real test is how much you like it when you use it. The first time we tested it out with Jacob was in the endowment lands in Vancouver when he was about a week old. As a side note, I was so paranoid of him being too cold I swear that I checked the temperature of his face around 50 times before Adam made me stop. We couldn't believe how well this stroller drove, you barely had to touch the stroller to steer it! The shocks were another aspect that we really noticed, we could go over tree roots, side walks, gravel, and Jacob barley noticed. Even going down stairs was pretty easy (not a whole flight but the 3 leading down to our apartment). Another thing that we loved was between the car seat cover and the sunshade it was a perfect dark cocoon for Jacob to nap in while we went for walks, with the added bonus of a little "peek window" for neurotic mothers to peek in and check on their babies.

So those are the main highlights for us on the BOB revolution. I would definitely buy it again if we had to re-buy a stroller! Aside from what I mentioned there are lots of other great features such as: a 5point harness, a safety strap, foot brakes, decent storage, lots of mesh pockets for storing extras, a reclining seat, the option to lock the front wheel or let it swivel, etc. But for us the things that I talked about are what we really loved about the stroller.

Since a good quality stroller is an expensive purchase (although I think of any of ours, probably the one that was most worth the money we paid) I thought I would share a few tips on how we saved money. First of all if you plan on being in the States at any point - buy there it's much cheaper. Secondly if you do buy in the states plan ahead and keep an eye out on stores like REI (like an american MEC). They do free shipping to your local store and are always having promotions on items (20-30% off). Doing these few things saved us over $130.00 on our stroller, which with all the expenses that come with having a baby, is a big savings!

Well that's all for me! Stay tuned for more "Things we love"

Suzanne

45

So I need some advice from all you mom's out there reading my blog!

Overall Jacob is a pretty good sleeper. He usually goes between 11-13 hours straight at night without waking, and takes 2-3 naps during the day. That being said for over a month now his naps have been really erratic. He mostly goes down for his naps at around the same time each day, however, how long he sleeps is ALL over the place. We always get one 45 minute "sleep cycle" out of him, however, after that it's up in the air. Sometimes he'll sleep for an hour, hour and a half, two... even up to three sometimes in the afternoon.

The thing is I know he needs more than a 45 minute nap those times he wakes up, but the only thing that I 've tried that will get him back to sleep is nursing him (a habit I really don't want to get into, considering it will mean I can't leave during his naps since he won't take a bottle). I've tried letting him cry when he wakes up (he just keeps crying until his "nap time" is over), he uses his thumb to sooth himself to sleep and hasn't taken a pacifier since he was 3 months old so I can't just go in and give him the paci and hope he falls back asleep!

I know the 45 minute nap is a problem for a lot of moms around this age (baby's age not ours...I have no problem napping for more than 45 minutes:). So I was wondering if anyone out there has any tips or advice? I'm not super stressed, since he takes good naps 50% of the time... I just don't want to rob him of the sleep he needs the other 50% of the time! I love hearing what has worked for other people so bring on the advice!

Suzanne

Expecting

Don't worry we're not expecting again.... yet...but I thought it might be fun to share the story of how Adam and I found out we were expecting.

(Warning may be too much information for some:)

Adam and I had planned to wait awhile after we got married to have children. Neither of us wanted a child while Adam was in school (we knew lots of people do it but we knew it wouldn't be good timing for us). We also wanted to take a few years after we got married to just enjoy each other and work on our marriage. In hindsight I'm so glad we did this. I completely took for granted the freedom you have before you have children. Being able to just take off for a weekend or go out to eat or for a movie without a moments notice is definitely a luxury you don't have once babies come along!

The BCP has always had terrible side effects on me (read: constant nausea 24 hours a day... no matter how many different brands I tried) so, once we got married Adam and I decided that we would go for an alternate route for our "child planning". Things were going smoothly in that area and in February Adam and I had started discussing when we might look to have children. After much discussion (and a few tears shed on my part) we agreed that we would wait until the following Fall to start our family. I have to be honest with you - that decision was really hard for me. If I had things my way we would have started trying much sooner, but I knew that Adam didn't feel ready yet and after a lot of prayer on my part I also felt at peace with our decision.

Adam was away for 10 days in February visiting a good friend in California. It was exactly during the times where I was most likely to get pregnant, so we didn't think we needed to be overly cautious that month (sorry I know this is to much information for some people:). March came, however, and I still hadn't started my period, but I didn't really think anything of it... my cycles have always been a little all over the place so I just attributed it to that. After a week passed, however, I mentioned to Adam that it was a little weird that was this late. He told me to go to the drug store and pick up a pregnancy test, so out I went.

Honestly, thinking that there was no possible way that I could be pregnant this month... after all Adam had been away during that time, I got home and put the test in the bathroom and went about my day. 3 hours later Adam came back home and gave me a look and said "well... did you take the test?". I told him I didn't, after all chances were I wan't pregnant. I have no idea why I was so convinced I wasn't pregnant... I mean you are looking at a girl who probably had taken 10 pregnancy tests in the last year just because she was ONE day late for her period, let alone a week. But, I just knew I wasn't pregnant for some reason. Fortunately for me Adam wasn't as convinced with my reasoning as I was. He handed me the test and told me to go take it. So I went in the bathroom peed on a stick and waited to see that horizontal line light up revealing that indeed I was not pregnant.

As I sat there waiting all of the sudden another line started to appear... a vertical one crossing over the horizontal one. I started shaking... no, this can't be right...there's no way....

I was so nervous coming out of that room. Adam and I had JUST had a conversation where he had shared with me that he was just not ready to be a Dad yet. I had wanted announcing my pregnancy to be a joy filled event, and what if he was upset, or even angry? Well Adam's reaction was the exact opposite of what I was expecting. "That's great! I'm so excited! I'm so glad it just happened and its not something that we had to plan out". Within minutes he was on the phone calling our parents, sharing the news with them.

Oddly enough, even though it wasn't what we had planned Jacob ended up coming at the perfect time for our lives. It's amazing how throwing your plans out of whack can sometimes be the best thing to ever happen to you!

So what about you all? What are your stories? We're your children planned or surprises? Did you go all out telling your Husbands or just walk out of a bathroom like me? I'd love to hear your stories!

Moving News

So for those of you who don't already know we are in the process of moving back to Halifax in a few weeks. Things came about fairly quickly in the last few months, but we are going with the flow and slowly starting to pack up our lives on the West Coast.

Adam was offered an internship with a church back home a few months ago and after a lot of thought we decided that it really was a perfect time for him to take it. The opportunity was exactly what Adam has been looking for since finishing his Masters, and with me being on maternity leave until this November it really makes the prospect of moving across the country a whole lot easier. So 2 days after Adam's convocation from Regent we will be boarding a plane and heading to Halifax.

Once we're in Halifax we will be living in my great aunts home. She moved into a nursing home this past summer and her house has been sitting empty for the last year. It will definitely need some work, but we are REALLY looking forward to being out of a basement apartment! We have really struggled with the darkness of living below the ground. As well, the constant noise of hearing footsteps and furniture moving above head is not ideal when you're trying to get a baby to take a nap. The idea of having our own little place with our own little yard is very exciting for both of us, especially with the summer coming and Jacob being more mobile!

On top of that my entire family lives in the Halifax area and we are so excited for them to get to see Jacob more! It has been hard for us knowing that Jacob doesn't really know his grandparents and aunts and uncles, and I think it's safe to say that it's been hard for them as well. Another perk to having family around is that Adam and I can get out by ourselves some, which is something we are really looking forward to, and have been unable to do since Jacob has come along!

We will keep you posted as things progress, and for those of you out East we are really excited to see you this summer!

Playtime with Daddy

One of Jacob's favorite things to do is play with his Daddy

He just laughs and laughs while they play together, especially when Adam throws him up in the air

Sometimes things get a little rough when Jacob pulls out the leg drop

What are you doing here Mom? This is boys only time!

I just love playing with my Daddy!

** excuse the random mess in our house... we're in the middle of packing and our house looks like a war zone!

The Story of Us (part 1)

The first time I remember noticing Adam was actually at church with my Mom. He was playing guitar on the worship team and my Mom asked me if I knew who he was. I replied that I didn't and she replied with "he's cute...he reminds me of the type of guy I would have on a poster on my wall when I was younger" and that promptly eliminated any potential attraction on my end.

That day after church a mutual friend of both of ours asked me if I wanted to join him and a few friends for lunch. Adam also happened to be there. We introduced ourselves and chatted about the upcoming Christmas holiday's, and what people were doing for New Year's, etc. and that was that.

A month or so later I saw him at a show my friends band was playing at. I went over to say Hi and he asked me if I wanted to sit down. He then proceeded to start a conversation in typical Adam style "so... why don't you tell me your life story". I think I mumbled something along the lines that it may take awhile, hoping to turn the conversation in another direction. He was persistent though, and pointed out that we had at least a few hours. So we chatted for the rest of the evening and at the end of the evening suggested that we meet for coffee sometime.

For the next few weeks we hung out and talked a lot. Adam was probably the first guy who I could really talk honestly to. I could share about who I was and how I felt about things without any fear of being judged, which I recognized as a true gift.

As we continued to hang out however, I think we realized that neither of us was ready for a serious relationship. Both of us had just ended fairly serious relationships and didn't feel like we were in a place to start a new one, so we thought friendship would be the best route to go for both of us.

Since we were both in a similar social circle we still continued to see each other quite a bit. And for the next 2 years we remained fairly close friends. We both dated other people, and I think both of us thought that was as far as the story of Adam and Suzanne would go...

(To be continued)

New Look

I've been playing around on blogger tonight trying their new templates. I'm not sure if things will stay that way, but I was feeling creative:)

Perspective

Song for a Fifth Child.

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

This and That

Today I have just been having one of those off days. I can't quite put my finger on it, I just feel kind of blah. There's a lot of stuff to get done around here, but I just can't seem to get the motivation to get up and do any of it, so instead I'm doing this...

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Yesterday it was so cold outside that I had to dig through Jacob's 12 months clothes that I had packed away for next winter to get him a hat. He out grew all his "baby" hats about a month ago and I didn't bother getting him anymore warm ones... you know, since it's Vancouver and he shouldn't be needing a hat this time of year (unless its a sun hat, or more accurately a rain hat). As you can see he didn't seem to mind the cold too much!

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Jacob rubs the top of his foot with the bottom of his other foot all the time, Adam does the same thing, and apparently so does his Mom. I find it fascinating that 3 people could all have such a random habit. To all you science whiz's out there: can you inherit a habit?

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"What do you mean I won't take a bottle"

"I take a bottle just fine!"

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Well I guess I should go and try to get something productive done, like a load of laundry so Jacob has a towel for his bath tomorrow and I have some clean underwear to wear.... Hope you are all having a good night!

Suzanne

Homemade Granola

Between Adam and I we go through a lot of cereal. Adam eats it every morning and I tend to go through trends of eating cereal, switch to eating toast with some sort or natural nut butter on it for awhile and then repeat ( I have one of those personalities where I eat something until I get sick of it and then switch to something else for awhile and do the same thing...).

Since we try to do our best to stay away from food with preservatives in it I decided to try my hand at making homemade granola. I searched the internet for awhile and didn't see exactly what I was looking for, so I just took a bunch of idea's from different recipes and created my own. It's pretty healthy, VERY tasty, and I know everything thats gone in it (an added bonus).

Quite a few people have asked for my recipe lately, so I thought I would post it on here in case any of you want to try your hand at making your own yummy granola!

Suzanne's Granola Recipe

** It should be noted that I don't measure anything but the liquid ingredients, so these are approximations, feel free to add more of whatever you like!

**For the nuts and dried fruit you can choose whatever you like, these are just our favorites!

4 cups rolled oats (the real type, not the quick ones

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup ground flax seeds

1/2 cup bran

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup chopped cashews

1/2 cup oil (whatever you have at home... I use either sunflower or olive)

1/2 cup of honey

3 tablespoons of cinnamon

1 cup raisins

1 cup dried cranberries

Steps:

1. Put oats, coconut, bran and flax seeds in a large mixing bowl

2. Chop nuts

3. Add nuts to dry ingredients and stir to mix thoroughly

4. Gather oil, honey and cinnamon

5. Go get baby who has just woken up 30 minutes early from nap (OK you may not need to do this step:)

6. Mix the above ingredients together in sauce pan over medium heat until they reach a fairly thin consistency

7. Pour liquid mixture into your dry mixture and stir until all of the dry ingredients are evenly coated with liquid mixture.

8. Take picture of your baby who is sitting in his swing laughing at you (OK you don't really need to do this step either... )

9. Spread mixture evenly over 2 un-greased cookie sheets

10. Bake at 325 degrees for 12 minutes (stirring every 4 minutes) remove from oven and let cool (do not over cook)

11. Add dried fruit, put in an air tight container and enjoy in a bowl with some milk, by the handful as a snack, or on top of some yogurt with fruit

Jacob says "that looks great Mom... when can I have some?"