A Review of 2011

For the most part I didn't much enjoy 2011.

It was one of the hardest years of my life, and I'm honestly going to say that I'm not sad to see it go.

There was a lot of anxiety and drama that made me both weary and thankful.

JANUARY

2011 started out fairly normally. 

I was hugely pregnant and dealing with some personal drama, but everyone was kept busy.

This is the only picture that I could find of January, and it is pretty much indicative of the month.

FEBRUARY

This was a hard month. P lost his job via teleconference on Valentine's Day.

I was about to have a baby and under a lot of pressure.

I was also having issues at work that were causing me extra stress, and issues at home that were making everything dreadful - on top of the bad turn of events.

MARCH

So, if February was bad, March was a roller coaster ride.

L was born on the 4th of March, but it was a traumatic birth and she spent two weeks in the NICU.

It was an absolute miracle that she made it, but the stress of P's unemployment, a sick baby, the commute to be with the sick baby, and the costs of commuting to be with the sick baby were a nightmare.

 L came home before the end of March, and the rest of the month was spent in that dizzying new baby world of no sleep and balancing two little boys whose lives were turned upside down.

APRIL

April brought many visitors to see the baby, now that she was home from the hospital.

April also brought Easter and some hopes for Spring.

I spent the majority of April carting the kids to various doctor's/specialist appointments throughout the province, on top of the normal new baby exhaustion.

I honestly don't remember much about April.

I did get to vote in my first Federal election, but since the results were more than a little disappointing, I'm not considering this a huge moment.

MAY

May brought a lot of traveling again to doctor's appointments, most of the month was spent doing kid stuff, from jk orientation, to far off specialists, to D's first soccer game.

JUNE

We had an unusually warm June this year and spent most of it outside, after the anxiety filled, traveling filled Spring. Since the NICU commute killed all of my vacationing plans for the summer, we camped out in the backyard and spent even more time doing kid related appointments. Saturdays were full of soccer games, and L was losing weight. There was talk of getting L a second opinion about her surgery and an appointment was made for August. Plus Baby G turned TWO, which was exciting... and a little scary.

JULY

In my opinion, July was the best month of the whole year.

L was thriving, D started School's Cool, and I had a solid routine. I took G to the Farmer's market on Wednesdays, D went to School's Cool several days a week, and the weather was perfect for outings, gardening, walks to the park, and trips to the splash pad. We spent almost the entire month outside and were able to visit with friends, go to first birthday parties, and camp out at the farm.

AUGUST

August was a continuation of July's routine success. Everything had a time and a place and I felt good. I spent the two months exercising, spending quality time with my family, and L was doing beautifully. She was gaining piles of weight and best of all D turned FOUR and had the best time at his birthday party. He still talks about how awesome it was.

SEPTEMBER

September things started to get complicated again.

D had a rocky start at school, which was very disappointing.

G started Montessori school, which he loves, but he had some rocky moments, too.

L's surgery was moved up (yay) which is fantastic, but it caused a whole new world of scared.

Finally, we went on out first family vacation to Niagara Falls, which D thinks should be a bi-annual event (sorry kiddo).

OCTOBER

With L's surgery scheduled for the week before Halloween, October was a fretful month.

She was baptized, and the boys did better at school, which was a great relief. We went to festivals, fairs, and a ridiculous number of appointments in October.

NOVEMBER

After L's life changing, successful surgery, life seemed to calm down quite a bit.

The whole clan could enjoy activities with much more ease and harmony started to infiltrate the household. As the year wound down, so did the fears, anxieties, and troubles. 

Appointments were also further apart, activities started to wind down, and although L still doesn't sleep through the night, her breathing has improved so much that it makes all of the difference at night.

DECEMBER

During the last month of the year things finally seem like they are where they should be.

D loves school.

G is doing much better at Montessori and is finally going to get the extra help he needs in the new year.

L is doing well, and starting to hit all of the major developmental milestones; like crawling and clapping.

I turned 31.

P turned 33.

Christmas came and went, and I am more than ready to start a new year.

Winter Weather

McCafe

When I think McDonald's, I think Happy Meal. The vision of easy wipe down plastic furniture, play places, and birthday parties. I think orange drink, Big Macs, and high school students giving me "free smiles."

Sure, I read the article on Yahoo! or CBC, or some other nonsense news site, that McD's was jumping into the Tim Horton's/Starbucks race for the best douchebag hipster sudo-coffee place, but I didn't pay it much mind - thinking it'll disappear soon enough, along with McDonald's pizza, and Mac Tonight. Now when I go through the drive through they say, "Welcome to McCafe," and most of the restaurants (which have all long since lost the red roof) have been renovated to look like some douchebag hipster martini bar. Now when I go inside there are lounge chairs in front of electric fireplaces, and bar counters across half of the restaurant with stools facing the wall. Apparently we are now supposed to stare at the wall while we eat.

I've also noticed the abrupt change against the family friendly atmosphere that I associate with McDonalds. Now that half of the seating consists of wall facing bar stools, a good few feet off of the ground, that leaves half the seating for tables, and these stupid "coffee spot" lounge chairs and coffee tables - specifically designed for douchebag adults who sit around drinking coffee at McDonalds but who are too good to sit on a stool facing the wall (and apparently people who like to just leave their garbage on the table for the barrista to pick up for them). I had to wait for a table with my kids, because there were only six tables in the whole restaurant (not including the coffee tables), and most of them were taken up by old people who were drinking... coffee. Finally one of the few families there saw me, realized that there was no where but three feet high stool for me to sit on with my four and two year old, and packed up so that we could sit there... while only one other table seated a family and the other four tables sat people drinking coffee - usually one or two people at a table for six or eight... so why on earth are these people not in the stupid lounge chairs or stools? As we were eating, another woman came in with her little boy and he wanted to sit on the lounge chairs by the fireplace, but his mom redirected him by saying that those were for adults... and then stopped herself when she realized that the kidless adults were taking up all of the family sized tables.

So, this rant really has no point, (nor very good punctuation), but it was just one of those things that I've noticed. Plus, any excuse to complain about the fact the McDonalds did away with their orange drink two years ago, is excuse enough for a post about McDonalds. I know that it was two years ago (almost three now) because there was one irate pregnant woman who desperately wanted some freaking orange drink but was told by a very scared looking teenaged boy that they discontinued it and replaced it with Coke Zero (ew).

Rant Over.

Boxing Day Sales

This is the first year since I started making my own money that I kind of forgot about Boxing Day.

A few days before Christmas I found some early posted flyers and the only thing that I saw that interested me was a camera lens at Best Buy that was kind of like the one I wanted, but the price was right and I thought that I'd go for it... well I forgot.

The online sales started on Christmas Eve, and since I don't live near a Best Buy, nor any other store worth storming on December 26th, I always do my Boxing Day deal shopping online... I don't care about "stuff" enough to stand in front of a store in December all night.

Well, I forgot.

Some time yesterday afternoon I remembered... a little too late. I don't think I've ever just forgot Boxing Day before... but this year I did. I didn't rush out to buy 75% off Christmas stuff at Walmart or Canadian Tire or Zellers... I barely remembered to go online at all. When I did remember I checked the sale lens at several different stores and they were all sold out - even the stores that "price match." Oh well, it wasn't really the lens I wanted anyway, it was just nicely priced. I bought so much sale wrapping paper last year that I have enough for next year (although I'm out of the kid style "character" paper (Disney, etc), and I might pick some of that up cheap this year, if I find any, or think of it).

I was very lucky this year and I am not wanting for anything, although it looks like my house was in a toy store explosion, I don't think there is anything I plan on running out and looking at acquiring.

I think that means that I had a good Christmas, being wrapped up in spending time with my kids and family, therefore forgetting completely about the stuff.

I did have a  lovely Christmas and am very happy that we had it at home and that we could visit family and friends over several weekends in December; it felt much less stressful. The kids seemed to have a great year, too. D was the calmest and happiest he has ever been over Christmas, and G.. well... he's two. L's first Christmas was great, although she is currently playing with the dog's toy. Deep down, the loss of Boxing Day will not be missed.

Picture Drop: Merry Christmas

Baby's First Christmas

This was the one thing he specifically asked for.

Santa brought him Tidmouth Sheds.

D playing the Kinect at his cousin's house Christmas night.

D was amazing the whole day. He was thankful and joyful and very well behaved.

Stopping mid present open for a lightsaber show down.

I've learned that babies don't get the whole present concept, so L only got a couple of actual toys this year and a bunch of clothes (because we have a lot of boy clothes, but none of those fun girly outfits). 

This drum that I picked up at the local 10000 villages sale was her favorite toy, hands down.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the babies!

Creeping Crawling Baby

L has been creeping/crawling for a little over a week now. She has quadrupled her speed from last week. I've found her under the dining room table, in the bathroom, trying to climb up the baby gate into the kitchen... her mobility is frightening because her older brothers are not even a little bit careful about where they drop things and if we don't watch her constantly, she might find some teeny treasure and pop it in her mouth.

Montessori Christmas Concert

Okay, so the tie didn't last more than five minutes, but he looked adorable in his jacket.

G's Christmas concert for Montessori school was this morning. He did a lot better than I thought he would. He attempted a couple of the songs and more than a few of the actions. He didn't stand still the whole time, but he at least stayed on the stage.

I didn't get any pictures or video from the actual concert because I forgot my camera. In between preparing the food for the potluck, getting myself and children ready to go, and getting D's cupcakes to his class for his Christmas party, the camera slipped my mind. The good news is that I made a double batch of my appetizer and there wasn't a single one left.

Tonight's D-ism

Me: D, What do you want on your tacos?

D: No tomato, please. And no lettuce. And no sauce... and no cheese.... ... ... and no meat.

Me: You just want the tortilla?

D: Oh, I'd like some peanut butter on that.

Christmas Stockings

Another Christmas Celebration

It has been a ridiculously busy week since my last post.

On top of all of our usual activities, P had his 33rd birthday on the 15th, and I went on another field trip with D's class. This time it was to see local youth theatre put on The Grinch. It was cute to watch the jks watch the play and the little boy who played The Grinch did a good job.

...

My kindergardenism from the trip:

(During the intermission)

Senior Kindergarden Boy: (to me) I don't like this play.

Me: Why not?

sk boy: Well, the green guy comes down from the mountain and steals Christmas... and that's it... this is the worst story EVER.

Me: This is called an 'intermission', there is still more to the play.

sk boy: (horrified) THERE'S ANOTHER PLAY???

Me: No, no, no, just the ending to this play.

Junior Kindergarden Boy: I've seen the movie. The Grinch's heart gets really fat and he brings back Christmas.

sk boy: Oh, well... that's a much better ending.

...

On top of all of the other activities for the week, we packed up everything on Friday, sent the dog to the kennel, and headed to the various grandparents' homes for the weekend. We are lucky that both P and I's parents live in the same town. It makes holiday visiting a little easier, although figuring out how to share the time we spend there is a little more challenging, and sometimes stressful.

In the end, I think we had a lovely visit with some great family and friends, although I didn't get to everyone's house that I wanted to - but with a limited amount of time, and kids over excited and full of sugar (and missed naps) - we just couldn't do it all.

The kids had a great time playing with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and godparents. D did NOT want to come home, but the promise of Christmas in a week helped smooth over and dry his teary eyes.

Once home, the kids were quick to unpack their new toys, and even quicker to start fighting over them.

When I was putting the boys to bed tonight D told me he was "not going to be able to sleep without his new cow pillow case." (My Aunt made it for him) That melted my heart, especially when he couldn't decide if her should put it on his pillow, or just snuggle it. He eventually decided to put it on his pillow, "so his cheek could snuggle it."


(a somewhat whiney aside that I'm not in the mood to make a formal post):

Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the stress of the holidays; making trying to make everyone happy (and  ending up making no one happy), sleeping somewhere that isn't my comfy, comfy bed, dealing with tired, cranky, up-late, full of sugar hissy fitting children, remembering all of the insane amount of crap kids seem to require, remembering all of the insane amount of stuff the holidays seem to require, balancing out of whack naps, visiting, feeding, sleeping schedules that I've spent years (in some cases) cultivating for myself and the kids, and trying to teach my children to be thankful, not greedy - that I worry that I'm missing what is important about visiting family and spending time with the people that we love. I did my best to inquire about and converse with the people that I miss during the year, or rarely see anymore, even though I'm usually (okay, always) interrupted by a "kiss my booboo," "G stole my toy," "L's pooped and she STINKS," type emergency. I'm hoping that having Christmas morning activities in my own home will help lessen the stress associated with making every one happy (and never winning that particular game), and increase the time that I can actually enjoy the magic with my children.

Yes, That's a Carrot.

Happy Birthday to Me!

For my 31st birthday (today), P took me to a Sick  Kids' Hospital fundraiser, meaning that not only did he have to dress up, but he had to drive me there and let *me* drink as much as I wanted, so he could drive home.

The fundraiser was organized by a woman who threw a party for her 30th birthday where all of the proceeds of the ticket sales and silent auction items went to the Sick Kids' Hospital in Toronto, where as anyone who reads this blog will know, Baby L had life changing surgery just a couple of months ago.

P and I won a couple of items in the silent auction and had a really nice evening out - where we could actually BE ADULTS... although we did spend an awful lot of time talking about our kids

Museum Field Trip

I went with D's class to the local heritage museum today. I pretty much had the same group that I had on the apple picking field trip, so they were all really good kids. This trip was a lot less intense than the last one and was pretty well organized and much less exhausting.

I also received D's report card which reads that academically he is doing fine, but socially, not so much. This didn't really surprise me. D has no need for public approval and is pretty happy just being himself. All of the other kids seem to like him well enough, he just doesn't seem to have any interest impressing them.

He comes by it honestly.

In relation to the two previous topics; D's teacher (as I've previously mentioned is a really nice lady), was telling me that he can read. She is amazed by how well he reads sight words and he recognizes almost every other student's name. She said he is the only kid in his class who can tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end, without prompting - and is the best at repeating a story that they were just told. Really, the biggest concern with him is that his "day dreaming" causes him to detach from the activities in the classroom and he doesn't get his work done/lunch eaten in time, because he was too busy day dreaming. This didn't much surprise me. He also gets angry when he isn't picked for an activity, which also doesn't much surprise me - as he broke down in tears tonight because his Dad wanted to go somewhere with just G - and D couldn't handle being left behind.

While I hope that he becomes more challenged by school in order to keep him interested, I also hope that he never loses his sense of self... he is a perfect hybrid of his parents.... just don't ask me if that is a good thing, or a bad thing...

Common Sense Conversations

I watch the show How I Met Your Mother, and there is one episode that discusses the fact that everyone has gaps in their common knowledge. I know that I do, but having children is what really brings out those special moments of duh.

D is at the age where he is starting to ask complex questions about things that I know nothing about. These are not things like P's "Do you know why we call Black Friday, Black Friday?" Of which I did not know, because I didn't care, but that, he felt, was common knowledge. These are questions about the nature of things, like... fog. Driving to Brantford one foggy morning he asked me what fog was. I tried to explain that fog was like clouds close to the ground, made of moisture, but I had no idea if what I was telling him was correct.

Tonight we had one of these conversations;

D: Why are we stopping?

Me: We have to stop here to get gas.

D: Why?

Me: Because we are almost out.

D: No, no, no, I mean, WHY do we buy gas at all? Why do we need it?

Me: To make the car go.

D: But, I thought the wheels make the car go.

Me: Well, kind of, the wheels make the car roll... uh... go forward.

D: Then what does the gas do?

Me: It gives the car the power it needs to start the wheels rolling.

D: I thought that happened when you turn the key.

Me: Well, kind of, the key starts the ignition which starts the engine, which uses the gas as power to make the car go.

D: (losing interest in my scatterbrained explanation) I have legs, I don't have wheels, but I go.

Me: Yes, you do have legs instead of wheels.

D: I have legs, and feet, and a top... I have one of those, too.

Me: This is true.

D: Are cars robots, then?

Me: Um, not quite, but cars are machines.

D: Cars have buttons, do robots have buttons?

Me: Um... yes... Um... Dr Doofenshmitz's robots always have a "self-destruct" button (way to go Miss Scholar, now you are using cartoons to back up your crazy theories).

D: (Losing interest again) I like pressing buttons. That is a fun thing to do.

Luckily for me, we passed a house with a lot of Christmas lights and the subject never came up again.

Happy Birthday Video

There are three reasons why I am posting this video:

a) It is my brother's birthday. I don't know if he even checks this blog, but if he does... good.

b) This is a great way to show the folks who DO read the blog how much G has improved in his speaking. You still can't understand him, but at least he is now making sounds that SOUND like someone talking.

and

c) I was curious to see if I can still watch videos on my blog, since Adobe Flash no longer supports Power PCs and there are lots of places where I can no longer watch videos on my desktop. I'm glad that I now have my laptop, bur since I'm home all day and everything is the way I like it already on my desktop, it is still my primary computer - until I go back to work in February. For my rant about Adobe and Apple, I'll save that for after the video, if you wish to read that.

Okay, so a couple of weeks ago P tried to update our flash player (Adobe) online, because we were getting an update that suggested we do so. He had a lot of trouble with the update and couldn't get it to work on our five year old Apple Power PC. We bought the last model PPC before Apple announced that they were going to start putting Intel processors in their computers. This hasn't been much of an issue for us, other than not being able to play one Caillou video game of D's. P trouble shooting discovered that Adobe is no longer supporting Flash players for Power PC. That's it, they just decided that anyone who has a PPC is screwed (I was very tempted to use stronger language here). That's it - no patch updates, no support, no nothing. Apple is also no longer supporting their Power PCs, the product that they made and, really, the technology is old, but not ancient, even in tech circles. That's it, so how long will it be before every other product is updated against Power PCs and we are going to be severely limited in how we can use our desktop? This is a HUGE strike against Apple, and if it makes them think that we're going out to buy a new Intel desktop, they are wrong. If Apple doesn't support their product now, who says they'll support whatever we buy from them next? I've found at least one patch online that makes the Flash player work, but it isn't licensed and was developed by a self proclaimed hacker who specifically admits that as soon as either Apple or Adobe discover his patch, they'll take it down. The whole thing makes me really jaded and angry, but not enough to actually do anything about it (other than complain).

Santa: Part Two

While I'm glad they cut off my head, it is still an awkward picture as I was turning to take L out of the shot. This is "Grumpy Santa" from this year's union party. He doesn't look grumpy in the picture, but he proceeded to yell at our union rep. two seconds after the boys got off of his lap. You can tell by L's expression that she didn't want to be anywhere near him.

Santa

This is the first year that my boys both really understand The Santa Concept.

D has understood it for a few years now and I've had the chance to get a couple of pictures of him with the Man in Red. I think that G's first Christmas I had a picture of G and D with Santa while he was at the mall in town, but I never scanned it (if i did, I can't find it)... nor can I find the original, although I distinctly remember taking one. I honestly haven't catalogued Santa pictures well, because, as most parents know, they rarely come out well. This year G has started pointing to pictures of Santa and exclaiming excitedly, "SANTA, HOHOHOHO!!" He has had a few chances to meet Santa this year and LOVES HIM.

I thought it would be nice to catalogue what I could find in a blog post.

Here are the digital copies that I could find:

I don't remember taking D to see Santa when he was a baby, 

so I don't have a picture of his First Christmas on Santa's lap.

This is D on his second Christmas meeting Santa for the first time. He was cool with walking up to him, but wouldn't sit on his lap. This was taken at my union's annual Christmas party.

The year G was born I didn't go to my union Christmas party, but I thought we went to the mall to meet Santa. I can find no proof of this, therefore 2009 is a black space in this post.

This is D at Three, also at my union Christmas party, 

he was fine meeting Santa, wouldn't tell him what he wanted, but G refused to sit on his lap at all.

Here is D this year at the Lansdowne Children's Centre Christmas party. He also met Santa at my union party again this year, but I won't get the picture until they get them all organized.

Here is L with Santa. She doesn't much care for him. Her first encounter was at this year's union party, but she didn't sit on his lap. She did sit on his lap at the mall, and I got a picture, but with no scanner, I cannot currently share that one. This picture was taken today at the Lansdowne Children's Centre.

G wouldn't go near Santa last year. This is his third Santa visit this year. The first at the union party was a bust, as Santa was rushed (and quite honestly in a bad mood), he met Santa again at the mall, and gave a great smile (once again, no scanner), and finally he met Santa again at the Children's Centre today, and spent some quiet quality time with him, until he was booted by a little autistic girl. G LOVES Santa.