Not Feeling Guilty

Mrs. M had a post a while back about guilty pleasures. I don't think it's any secret that I love 'the dancing'. I don't care that it's cheesy or even a little freaky sometimes. That may be part of the appeal.
I also love to dance. Not all dancing. As a kid I took lessons, but no ballet or slow stuff. Give me something I can move to! And while I have no delusions about my skills as a dancer, it's all about the joy of moving to music.
Anyway, when I watched this the other night, it made me think of all that is good and happy about dancing. Somehow Joey (Fatone) even seems attractive in his enthusiasm and I can't help but smile when I watch him. The music stuck in my head too. This song with a samba beat.

All pure happiness!

Game On

For all my whining and complaining about being pregnant, now that the end is nearing I'm starting to freak out!
This is actually as far as I've been pregnant before. I am 34.5 weeks now. My twins were born at 34.5 weeks. I had them on this day in my pregnancy. YIKES!!
That whole business of actually giving birth is still very unknown and scary to me. It went very well last time, so l like to think it will be similar. But the reality is, it may not be. And I'm thinking that this baby will be at least a little early (not too early, just healthy) but that may be wishful thinking on my part. The whole 'mystery' about when and how, etc, can really make you (me) crazy. I know I just have to relax and accept that things will work out exactly as they should and everything will be fine...but I'm still freaking out over here!!!!

While the actual birth of the twins was very smooth and not nearly as scary as I'd worried it would be, there are some things I hope will be better. Mainly the fact that my baby will be healthy enough that I can 'keep' her right away and she won't be wisked away to the NICU for the next few weeks. Even though my boys were a decent size (4.5 and 5.5lbs) they still had to stay in the hospital to get stronger. It seemed like forever. There were many babies much worse off than ours, so I am grateful our situation wasn't so bad, but it was very stressful.

It's hard to believe my wet little kittens with all the tubes and monitors are the same healthy, rowdy boys they are today!

26 Months

Aaaahhh...my little babies are growing up. I realize it's all relative. And nothing earth shattering has happened over the past month, just little things. A few words are strung together, more interaction, more recognition of the world around them. Even a lot of their clothes are getting a bit shorter all of a sudden. Sometimes just the way they look at me seems more grown up.

With the exception of the general 2yr old defiance and exhertion of independence (tantrum power) things are going fairly smoothly at the moment. I realize these moments can be brief, and it feels like perhaps the quiet before the 'storm' of the new baby shakes up our household!
I can't imagine that the boys fully understand what is coming. The Bee likes to poke my stomach and say 'Baby' and he recognizes babies in pictures or on tv. The Bug doesn't say much about it, but that's his style. He may just be collecting all the data and sorting and filing it away in his busy brain for the right moment.


One thing is for sure, both boys can't get enough of their daddy. They will call him from their rooms in the morning if he doesn't get up soon enough. If I'm the one getting them up they will always ask for 'Daddy?'. Like they can't believe he would go to work without playing with them. Daddy always makes them laugh with tickles and cuddles and chasing them around..and the occasional ball to the head. They are definitely Daddy's boys.

Forever Winter

The reality is that I no longer consider a day to be a 'good day' or a 'bad day' or any section or part thereof. It is always just a sliding scale of partly 'good' and partly 'bad'.
Yesterday was mostly 'good'! Maybe 80/20.

We had quite a successful outing in the morning with Mrs. M (until meltdowns at hometime) but then good naps in the afternoon. Dinner was the usual shenanigans, but Daddy was home to help with bathtime and bedtime. I pushed myself to go out to a 'girl's night' complete with a chocolate fountain and games. It's one of those times when it would have been easier to stay at home, but I knew I would feel better for having put in a bit of effort. And I did. It wasn't a group of women that I knew really well, but I was comfortable enough, and the grown up conversation was refreshing.

CH had invited friends of ours over (a last minute thing) to watch the hockey game, so I made it home in time to catch the last/winning period. How sociable of me!

I am reminding myself as it looks a lot like this again today and we aren't likely to leave the house...spring has to come eventually...right??

Fabulous Photography

I aspire...

I don't usually aspire to photograph children as people who can sit still and don't cry a lot are much easier, but these are some of the most beautiful portraits I've seen. A lot of people are avid b/w enthusiasts, but the color here is enchanting.

Thinking About....

...these right now! So fluffy and pretty.

Anyone want to whip some up and bring 'em over???! That's ok...I'll just keep thinking about them. I was in a baking phase a while back. Cookies and muffins all over the place. I seem to be over it now. Only store-bought goodness for my family!

Class Act at the Mall

The lovely Mrs. M and I often get together with our boys for playdates. It is getting increasingly difficult to find places to go where the kids can have some fun, but we don't have to physically chase them around too much. Because we are tired and getting too pregnant to run very fast. It's still too soggy to play outside but we still like to get out of the house and enjoy each others company.

Today we decided to meet at Chinook Mall, before the stores actually opened, so the kids could run around a bit and not get into too much trouble....can you sense the impending 'doom'?

First, let me just make it clear that Mrs. M is practically a Southern Belle. Who lives too far North to be considered Southern. She was clearly brought up well, and this is in no way a reflection otherwise. Unlike myself...
Second, Chinook Mall does not like children. There is no play area, shopping carts are not allowed out of the larger stores, and you cannot rent a stroller. We have a very large stroller, which does not fit well into stores.
Soooo...our morning went something like this:

The Bee took off his shoes and a sock on the way there. Upon entering the mall I realize that I put his shoes back on the wrong feet. And The Bug has a big patch of jam on his pants that I missed in the mad dash to get everyone in the car. Looking good so far!

We let the boys explore and wander around a bit, trying to make sure they are all in the same general direction.
We get to the escalator. The Bug and Bee are quite interested. The Bug flops himself on the floor and continues to lie there when I won't let him get on the escalator. A nice older lady asks him if he is cleaning the floor.

We eventually continue our 'walk' with both kids taking turns perfecting their passive-aggressive tactics. And while it is somewhat humorous in recounting, or as one hearing the story later, at the time I was quite tempted to leave the child lying on the floor and just walk away and get myself a muffin.
Instead we head into a store with shopping carts. The kids are actually pretty content to ride around until we discover that we are absolutely not going to get them out of the store. We try anyway. And again. To no avail. We are trapped unless we abandon ship.

We steer the little hooligans (mine) and the much better behaved W to the food court where we manage to scrounge up some high chairs, much to my surprise. Snack time is the usual shenanigan of getting food and drink every which way possible, but relatively successful.
We cut our losses and head home hoping that we've worn them out enough to have a decent afternoon nap. As we ourselves are exhausted.

And of course we always end with the promise to meet again next week. Cuz we're crazy like that...

What's in a Name?

Ok, the invitation is officially extended...girl name suggestions please. And thanks to all who've already added them in the previous comments!

And please note...when we do pick a name, it will be a surprise until the baby is born so you will have to wait to see how it ends up. It's just more fun that way!

Baby Girl

So...Going on the premise that we are having a girl, we still have no name. Nothing. CH and I like totally different kinds of names. And his favorite name in the whole world, is not one I would pick. He likes older, girly names. I like newer, more unique, less girly names. Names that have not been on the top 10 list since the bible. And I realize it's a fine line between 'unique' and just looking like you're trying too hard. Or just lame. I like names without preconcieved notions. At least my own. I'm not looking for wierd, just not 14 other girls you know with the same name.
With the boys, I would just go through books and lists and make my own list of names that I liked, or didn't mind, or just didn't hate, and then show them to CH. Then he would dislike 98% if them and I would keep looking. We managed to find two that we both liked. It seems even more difficult this time.

In my search for the 'perfect' name I came across this site. And while there are still too many Tiffanys and Amandas for my liking (no offence if that's your name, but does there really need to be any more?? Like Jennifer. That name should be officially declared 'used to death'. Again, no offense Jennifers) I was pretty impressed with the wide range of 'one of' names.
Many of these names may be cultural or heritage references like Vaanika or Trail-Dancer which I can totally respect, but some people are just bad spellers as in Trinaty or Sumr. And some are just wildly 'creative' like Rutendo, Jetlyn, Ekman or Frankie-May. I think my favorites are the overly sentimental/your daughter will be a stripper names like Precious(3 in 2006), Treasure, Mystique, and Honey(4 in 2006).

Aaaahhhh...it warms my heart!

Bunny Tracks

Last year around Easter...


And this year. There's not quite this much snow at the moment, but it's not far off.
*sigh*

Photo Update

And here are my other baby faces...I guess having a newborn again will automatically bump up my 'babies' to big boys...but until then...

My little Bug. See what I mean about the sleeping? Who wouldn't want to kiss those cheeks? Photo thanks to Daddy.


Still lovin' cars. Sadly the red one ended up in the vacu-flo only days later. It has yet to come out the other end.


And The Bee is still lovin'...the vacuum!


Look out or he will come after you!

Baby Face

I had another ultrasound yesterday. The clinic was very quiet and I got in right away. The woman doing the ultrasound was very helpful and lovely. The official point of the ultrasound was to check that nothing was really happening due to all the crazy Braxton Hicks contractions I have, and all looks well at this point.
The bonus then is to see the baby again. Still no 'clear view' of the 'area', but the woman agreed that it looks like a girl from what she could see. A nice modest girl! Ha. She said there would be more hardware visible if it were a boy. So we're sticking to our original 'most likely, probably' a girl theory!
A suprise for me though, was seeing the baby's face in 4D. I've seem pictures of other people's ultrasounds, but we've never seen ours like this. You can really see what your little person looks like. It was amazing. Pretty much just a profile, but it was so striking I was quite shocked. I mean, I know there is a little growing person in there, I just didn't expect to see such a fully developed, already there...PERSON.

I can't stop looking at her beautiful little face...

Word Up

I was happy to pick up a copy of the Calgary Spoken Word Festival program when I was out on the weekend (yay me!).

Back in 'The Day' ('The Day' was before kids when my life existed beyond my own home and picking up diapers at the supermarket) I attended several spoken word/poetry events around the city. There is a real energy and vibrancy around artists/writers/poets/storytellers performing their own works right in front of you. And rather than reading long boring poems written hundreds of years ago (which can be enlightening as well) it's all very current and timely, as each author tells his/her own story. It was something I really enjoyed and I'm glad I live in a city where these sorts of things exist. It's a big part of what I like about the city. More arts!! LOVE IT!

Anyway...ramble, ramble...here are a couple of exerpts I enjoyed from the printed program...I hope to attend some events in person. And I hope you do too!

from "She Dreams In Red"

from "Precious Cargo"
(for obvious reasons...it sounds so poetic the way he describes it...)

Shoutin' Out

Congrats going out to the very talented and famous actress, YoJo for starring in her first production over at the LooseMoose theater. She just finished her gig as the Nana/Granny in Little Red Riding Hood. (maybe now she'll have time to update! ouch, zing, zowie)

If you have never attended a children's performance of live theater, you are seriously missing out! Between the actors themselves and the the interaction with the kids, it was completely hilarious. After the performance, the kids all mill around the actors and get them to autograph their programs. It's about the cutest thing you'll ever see (some of them were quite wary of the wolf).
I've always thought those entertainers who do kids shows are a bit off their wigs, but now I can see the appeal.
I highly recommend the experience. It's good for the soul!