Month: March 2012

Sneak Peek

On March 31, 2012

As I mentioned in my first post, we are in the process of updating/renovating our kitchen. Our kitchen looks great from a distance, but once we moved in we realized there were some issues. The tile countertop was laid in place when it was put in almost 20 years ago and unfortunately due to the weight of the tiles pulled away from the wall. It left a big gap at the back of the counters which has been driving us nuts since it is a spot that always collects crumbs and water. The other problem is that some of the tiles have been broken and the grout is started to break down.

I love the tile countertop since you can pull things straight of the oven and place it on the counter without damaging them. Last week-end we checked out countertops and made a final decision (beech butcher block from Ikea- for those of you with butcher block counters, how did you seal it around the sink (linseed oil, beeswax, marine finish, water lox)), went to look at sinks, faucets, hardware and picked up the paint for the island. We decided to go with Behr Pencil Point.

The main cupboards are going to be a slightly brighter cream than what they are now. We are then going to give the walls a fresh coat of paint (a very light brown) and will have to decide on a backsplash. We have the sink on order. &It is the Kohler Hartland Self-Rimming Cast Iron Sink. It should be in the end of April. I love the look of a white cast iron sink and the durability will be great as well.

Now to make our final decision on the faucet and we will be well on our way. I can’t wait to see the end result. I think it may be a bit before we paint again now that the temperatures have dropped, it is too cold to take the cupboard doors outside to paint. Here is a sneak peek at the island so far, it has only been painted so far, but it makes a big difference already.

We’re Going To The Zoo, Zoo, Zoo….

By katyemanuel

On March 29, 2012

In Daily Happenings

Yesterday was a great day at the zoo. The weather was cool when the wind was blowing, but when the sun came out it was pretty strong so it would warm up nice.
We bought an annual membership so Paige and I can go as much as we want. (Note: If you are thinking of getting a membership, all of the rates are going up as of May 1, so you may want to get it before then) We met up with our hiking group for an easy walk through the zoo with the strollers. We stopped to see a few of the animals as we walked our circuit. All of the animals were out playing yesterday. I guess they prefer the slightly cool weather and less people staring at them!

Our walk with the group consisted of all of the outdoor loops except for Canada (since that one has a very big hill) we are saving that for next time. While walking we ran into one of the other Mom’s, and their little one, that we have been doing some of our activities through meetup with so had a quick chance to catch up before rejoining our group. Paige had a nap for the last part of the walk which meant she would be awake and alert when we went to visit the animals.

After the walk, all of the other mom’s and babes were heading home, but Paige and I decided to make a day of it. So we headed off to see the Polar Bear Cub, since it had been on the news and we were hearing how cute he was. Paige was quite taken with watching him (or maybe she was having more fun playing with the glass on the enclosure, since I had to take her out of her stroller to get down some stairs so we could see the cub).

While at the enclosure we heard all sorts of people snapping pictures outside so we thought we better check it out.It was 2 of the adult polar bears having a great time playing in the water. We thought we might as well get a shot of them as well.

Paige enjoyed watching some of the monkeys that were playing and putting on a show, as well as the fish. She didn’t quite get the point of the Orangutans who were just lying on the ground. She kept looking at me as if to say, “Ok mom, not sure why we are sitting here, but can we get going to see something more exciting”. When it was time to go Paige got rather upset once we got into the parking lot, I guess she liked the zoo, but I figured we should save some for another day! What is your favourite animal at the zoo?

6 Month Checkup

By katyemanuel

On March 28, 2012

In Daily Happenings

Yesterday was a chilly day here in the morning, so it was pretty quiet for us here.

We had Paige’s 6 month check up in the afternoon and the Dr said she was doing great and such a great baby. My daughter is always happy and kicking her feet. She weighed in at 8.6 kg (approximately 19 lbs), and 75 cm long.

Paige’s favourite things to do are:
Singing and dancing to music
Bouncing in her exercauser
Going for hikes in the carrier and walks in the stroller
Snuggles
Reading books
Swinging on her swing outside
Skype with her Nanna & Pops

Milestones:
Stand on her own
Crawl (only when she thinks we can’t see her)
Sit on her own
Babbles
Feeds herself with a spoon
Wave Bye Bye
Give Hugs
Talks to her Piglet

Favourite Foods
Avocado
Quinoa
Wild Blueberries
Sweet Potato

We had a bit of a rough night last night. Paige was teething something awful, so not much sleep was to be had. We did manage to get a few hours sleep when I tucked her into bed with me to snuggle. At this early hour in the morning she is fast asleep in her own crib now (hoping that she gets a few hours sleep). We are headed to the Toronto Zoo today provided Paige is up for it with a group of ladies to walk and then I think we will stick around after to check out some of the animals and make a day of it.

First Post

By katyemanuel

On March 27, 2012

In Daily Happenings

So this is my first post with the new direction my blog is taking. The past 6 months have just flown by with my daughter. We head off for her 6 month appointment today to have her weighed and wellness checkup. She was born weighing 9lbs 12.6oz and was definitely worth the wait. I have been in love ever since.

We have a pretty busy schedule these days. We have a stroller walk every Friday with a group of mom’s in Scarborough where we walk a paved path down to the lake and back. I think it is about a 6 km walk on flat terrain. It is a great group of ladies and we generally have some good laughs. We met this group when we joined a hiking group back in November where we were hiking with the babies in carriers 1-2 times a week. Now that the little ones are getting bigger this group prefers the strollers.

Thursdays is Musical Babies through the Ontario Early Years Centres (http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/topics/earlychildhood/oeyc/index.aspx) They have some great programs for little ones. My daughter just loves singing, so this was a great match for her. This is the second session we have done of this program. It doesn’t look like they are running this program for April so I will have to find another musical type program for her.

Wednesdays are a variety of activities. Sometimes we stay at home and play in the yard, go for a stroller walk up the road or a hike. Last week with this beautiful weather we organized a group of moms (through meetup) to go hiking on the Seaton Trail. It was great weather and great to meet some new moms in our area with a similar interest. We hiked just over 5 km on the trail heading south from Whitevale so it is a moderate trail due to some hills.

Tuesdays tend to be a quiet day at home with a walk in the afternoon in the stroller which usually entails visiting with neighbours along the way, seeing the wild turkeys and various other wildlife and if the weather is nice we walk up to the pond at the end of the road to watch the ducks.

Mondays are our library day, when we go to get some new music and a book or two. As I mentioned previously my daughter loves music so we usually try to get 3-5 new children’s cd’s to listen to for the week. She seems to be a big fan of Sharon, Lois & Bram in the car and loves to sing along with them. She is also a fan of The Wiggles and Fred Penner. We are also adding some of our favourites in there as well. This Monday we had organized a hike at Glen Major Forest, but with the wind chill (-12oC) I decided to cancel it rather than take a chance with the little ones.

The cancelled hike we have now tried to schedule for Wednesday (tomorrow) so we will keep our fingers crossed it is a great day.

This week-end we started renovating our kitchen. We can’t afford to replace the kitchen so we are giving it a fresh coat of paint, replacing the countertops, sink, faucet and hardware. We went to Ikea on Friday to price out butcher block counters and tried to pick them up but realized when we got there they would not fit in my vehicle so left Ikea and went and took a look at some sinks and taps and picked up the paint for the cupboards on the island. I painted 3 coats on the cabinets just to be on the safe side. We went with Behr Pencil Point for the island. (I will post pictures of the finished kitchen once complete).

Since the weather was great on Sunday we went out to hike at Enniskillen Conservation area. We hadn’t been there before so it was a new adventure. It was also our daughters first time in the backpack carrier, since I normally carry her in a soft carrier for hiking. She loved the backpack since she could see so much more. I could feel her kicking and bouncing the whole way! The trails were nice and easy and there were some great picnic areas throughout the trails with washrooms. I think we will be returning here throughout the spring and summer months with picnics.

What activities do you like to do with your little one? Any hiking trails you enjoy? I would love to hear from you.