Month: June 2012

Our past week

I am sitting here enjoying the peace and quiet of the early morning and listening to the birds while I enjoy my cup of coffee, while my diapers soak.  It rained last night so things have really greened up and it is much quieter than many other mornings when the construction starts about 4:30 am.

Our hike last Monday was good.  There were 3 of us mamas with our little ones on our backs.  The little ones were having a great time chatting up a storm as we headed out on the trails and they all napped on the way back.  It was a muggy day but we still covered 7.5 km.  In the woods the heat wasn’t so bad, it was when we would come to a clearing you could feel the heat and humidity hit you like a wall.

Paige had a blast at music that afternoon as well.  There were more little ones this week for Paige to interact with.  She was really intrigued with the felt board and actually tried to climb it to reach some of the pieces.  She has definitely become much more comfortable in the music class setting.

Tuesday we headed to the Naturopath to see if we could find a solution for my seasonal allergies.  They have been really bad this year so hopefully we can find something that will help that I can take while still nursing.  Right now I am trying one thing and I have a follow up this week.  It has been a few years since I last saw a Naturopath, but had a great experience with the one I saw out in Victoria, BC.

Wednesday we hung out in the yard, and swam in the pool.  It had definitely warmed up and Paige was having a great time in the pool.  She is not big on being in a life jacket and prefers to be free to kick about and swim.

Thursday was our last Baby Beats class from the previous session so Paige got her certificate and had a great time playing with the other little ones.  She is no longer shy at all and was determined to keep scooting up to the teacher and trying to climb inter her lap.  She also had a great time with the felt board again.  Also this week she tried out the drum and thought that was pretty neat, although she did seem to enjoy chewing on the end of the drum stick more!

Friday we didn’t make it out to our stroller walk since we had to have someone in to look at our reverse osmosis system.  Instead we spent the day in the yard, in the pool and went for a walk up the road.  Paige was a busy girl and kept me hopping.  She was also really into making big messes.  So Friday night was a later night cleaning.

Saturday was a lovely day and since Dave was working I had a friend over with her little one.  She was also babysitting another little one and brought along one of her friends and little ones.  We had a nice lunch and then hung out in the pool with all of the babies.  During our swim my lovely dog decided to go wandering in the ravine and was so kind to bring me back an animal part.  Not sure where it came from, but kind of gross so she had to be tied up outside until Dave came home and could bathe her.

That evening we went out for a nice dinner and then took Paige and Tessa for a walk up the road as a family.  It has been a while since we have just gone for a family walk on our road so it was nice.  Another home was torn down recently on our road to make way for Hwy 407 and they are preparing to take another one down.  So there were lots of changes for us to see on our walk.

Yesterday was a nice quiet family day.  We went out for breakfast in the morning then came home and hung out at home.  We went for a swim in the pool after lunch and then afterwards hung out on the deck until Paige was ready for her afternoon nap.  We started sorting our gear for our upcoming camping trip and made our lists of last minute items to pick up and things to do.  I can’t wait to take Paige camping and see how she reacts to sleeping in a tent and enjoying the outdoors 24/7.  After our camping she will also finally get to meet my husband’s family who she hasn’t yet met.  It should be a nice trip and will be nice to spend some family time together in the outdoors.

Today my parents are coming up for the afternoon and night and to go with Paige to her music class.  I know Paige is excited to see them since she was up in the middle of the night and was wound right up. I had to explain to her that it was not time to get up yet and she would have to wait until after lunch to see her Nanna & Pops.  She is still sleeping this morning, so maybe she understood?!

How did you celebrate Father’s Day?

Kitchen Wednesday – My Husbands Favourite Carrot Cake

This is a fairly simple easy carrot cake recipe that I was given a number of years ago which I have made some alterations too, to make it a little healthier and to cut out the amount of oil and sugar.  Hope you enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups shredded carrots
1 cup apple sauce
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 325oF.  Grease a 13x9x2 pan.  In mixer combine first 6 ingredients until mixed.  Add carrots, apple sauce and eggs.  Mix until combined.  Beat for 2 minutes.  Pour into pan.  Bake for 40 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool then top with cream cheese icing.

Optional:  you can add raisins or walnuts to the batter before cooking as well.

Cream Cheese Icing
1-3oz pkg of light cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups sifted icing sugar

In a mixer beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Gradually add icing sugar, beating until smooth.

Always On The Go

First off I am sorry it has been so long.  We have gotten so busy around here (not really sure with what) that I didn’t really have much time to sit down and write up some posts.  I am going to try and get a little ahead over the next couple of days (time permitting) so there won’t be such a long break again.  Fingers crossed!

Paige has gotten over waking herself up from sitting in her sleep, but with this heat has been waking up thirsty every night for the last week and a half between 11:00pm – 12:00 for a “snack”.  It means I am struggling to get used to being woken up once a night again, either that or I stay up to try and get her fed again before I head to sleep.

Construction of the highway has been very busy the past couple of weeks as well which means they start early in the morning and it also means it can be tricky getting in and out of our place.  On the upside some of the expropriated homes have come down on our road so hoping that means the one next door will be coming down soon.  Also with all of this construction maybe they will be done our section soon which will also include some nice new paving on our road.  Paige loves watching the big trucks go by.

The day we had our pool filled we unfortunately had to take down Paige’s swing set since it had been eaten from the inside out by carpenter bees.  I think we might have to wait until next year for a new swing set now.

Last post we were getting the pool filled that day.  It has taken some time to warm up enough to be tolerable but today we spent some time in the pool together.  Even though the water still feels quite cool, Paige was having a blast and did not want to come out.  She swam a bit on her back in her life jacket then had fun floating around in one of our floating loungers splashing the water.

After swimming we hung out on the porch playing until her afternoon nap time when we headed inside where it was a little cooler. We topped off the day with a barbecue at our place with friends. Also I was able to get the paint colour fixed (thank goodness) it is a little lighter than we wanted since it was a lighter base used to get the “wrong” colour I had originally asked for, but at least it is in the right tone. I also managed to get one coat of paint on half of our kitchen cabinets.  They definitely look better, but boy were the fumes strong from the melamine paint. Tuesday May 29 Paige had a swimming lesson where we worked on jumping off the edge of the deck and going underwater. Paige couldn’t get enough of going under water. She especially loved when we would go right to the bottom and back up (there is no real deep area in the pool where we take lessons). That Wednesday we had a hike with a friend in Durham Forest. We did the Red Oak and Spruce loop. It was a great day to be out hiking and the loop is about 8km. Unfortunately we dropped the head rest to the pack on the first time round so I ended up having to hike this entire loop again. Thank goodness the weather held out. On the second time round it was amazing how different the trail seemed as we noticed things we had missed the first time round. Paige was really enjoying seeing all of the different butterflies that she could point out to me. Thursday was Baby Beats which Paige absolutely loves. The morning was spent playing out on the porch.
Friday we worked in the yard before the wind and rain storms hit that afternoon. \The wind was wild and brought down a great deal of branches and leaves. It looked like a tornado had been through our yard. Some of the branches that came down were bigger than some trees. So Saturday was spent trying to clean up the yard. Paige chipped in with the clean up, even if it was only 1 leaf at a time.
Sunday turned into a nice day and we spent it catching up with one of my husband’s buddies from school who came out to share some exciting news with us. This past Monday we led a hike out on the Seaton Trail from Whitevale. It was overcast so not too bad for our hike. We covered about 7.5km. The hike always seems to go by quickly when you are in good company.
That afternoon was the start of a new session of Baby Beats which overlaps for 2 weeks with the session that is just coming to an end, which means Paige gets to go to music 2 times in 1 week for 2 weeks straight. There were only 2 little ones at the class so Paige got to choose some of the songs and was having a great time being the centre of attention and snuggling up to the teacher. Tuesday was our last swimming class so we did a little of everything. There were no life jackets used this class. The little ones also got to go down the slide once more. Paige got a nice little certificate which will go in her scrapbook (when I actually get around to starting it). That afternoon it was a great afternoon to play out on the back deck and enjoy the fresh air. Paige had fun singing songs and playing her instruments.
Wednesday we walked at the zoo with one other mommy and her little one. I am glad we had decided to shift the walk an hour earlier since it was very busy with students and daycares and it was becoming so hot at the zoo by the time we left. We did check out the kids zoo, which I hadn’t even noticed before. Paige really enjoyed watching the Prairie Dogs run around their enclosure.
Unfortunately by the time we got home my migraine was getting the better of me so I had to climb into bed while Paige played so nice and quietly in my bedroom until I could function a little again. She seemed to understand that Mommy couldn’t play and that I needed to lay down since she played quietly and didn’t fuss once. Thursday was Baby Beats again. Paige has grown so much more comfortable at these classes now and doesn’t hesitate to join the other little ones up at the felt board or check out the other instruments put in the middle for them to all play with. Friday we were out for our usual stroller walk with 2 other moms and babes. It was a bright sunny day but with the breeze off the lake it wasn’t too hot. After afternoon nap we played/worked out in the yard to get some things done before the rain was to arrive.
Saturday we finally picked up the final load of mulch (1 yard) that we had been putting off getting. We transplanted and split 2 of our large hostas that needed to come out of some of my other gardens as well which really cleaned up the way the back yard looks. We also managed to pull up a bunch more of the mustard garlic that keeps taking over the hill in our yard. Our gardens have really exploded with all of this rain and heat. We have never seen our plants do so well. It is nice to see and things are really filling in.
Yesterday we spent the day taking it easy and just enjoying each others company. We started with breakfast on the porch. Paige had her nap while we got a few things done around the place then it was time for all of us to swim. After swimming we played on the porch and had some snuggles then Paige went down for her afternoon nap. During her nap Dave and I sorted out the details of our trip out east that is coming up since plans fell through that we had accounted for in the middle of our trip so we had to make some phone calls to switch check in dates and reconfigure our plan. In the evening friends came for dinner and Paige had her playmate to play with while we all caught up since it had been a little bit since we had all gotten together
Today we are off for a hike on the Seaton trail. Depending on the heat, not sure if we will make it as far as we did last week but we shall see. Then it will be Baby Beats in the afternoon. This week there should be a few more little ones at the class which will be fun for Paige.

9 Months

Paige is still growing like a weed.  We have her 9 month well baby check up next week at which time we will find out her current weight and height, so we will just have to wait until then to see how much she has grown.  She is becoming a very strong willed little character.  Still a very happy soul who loves her music.  She has herself into a pretty good routine now and lets us know when she needs her nap if we have missed it.  She is also making it clear these days that she would prefer to be in the carrier on my back rather than her stroller – only catch if we are in a store she likes to grab things off of the rack and tuck them into the carrier so I have to be ever watchful.

Favourite things to do:
Singing songs, bouncing to the beat and using her shaker or sticks at music
Swimming
Bath Time
Going for Hikes
Playing outside
Being able to go naked with the hot weather
Stories
Skyping with family
Snuggles
Chatting up a storm
Talking to her toys
Grocery Shopping

Milestones:
Sitting up on her own from lying down
Pulling herself up
Can stand on her own
Able to choose outfits and food from limited selection
Greater understanding of what is being said to her
Able to follow very basic instructions (ie: please sit on your bum)
Sharing things
Pointing to something

Favourite Foods:
Frozen wild blueberries
Oatcakes
Plain Greek Yogurt
Apricots
Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese
Cheerios
Blackberries
Frozen Peas
Avocado
Will still try anything put in front of her and will try it various times throughout the meal even if she didn’t like it the first try.

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén