December 6, 2010
Mondays always seem to be my days to recoup and regroup. Why, after a weekend, is the kitchen more of disaster than during the week?
Cario/strength combo class this morning at the gym. Whoa. Squats. Lunges. More squats. Intervals. I wanted to bust up on my cardio. This was it.
Got enough groceries today to make three different soup/chowder type dinners plus random stuff. Tonight will be split pea and ham soup - delicious!
My first book club meeting tonight. Through Karen, my social coordinator here. So fun! About 15 ladies, all of whom are also part of the mom's club out here. Lots of nice, fun people. Also, lots and lots of good book suggestions! Just what I've been wanting. I've been stuck for so long and now, I'm so excited to do some serious reading again. Cannot wait.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Day 71: The Douglas Family Christmas Tree
December 5, 2010
Today was the big day to go get our Christmas tree. There are tons of u-cut farms around here, which is what my family always did in Michigan. Little did I know until today that this would be Fraser's first time cutting his own tree.
We headed out and turned into the first place we came to (something with a "z" in the name; the flyer's in the car). A man met us with a saw and gave us the low down.We started bushwacking through the trees. Jacob loved going between the branches, occasionally falling down onto the muddy ground. Beautiful trees surrounded us; we could've picked the first one we saw. I told Fraser looking around longer was all part of the experience, though. He saw one that must've been 15ft. tall. He wanted it. I said I thought that one was a little much even if we DO have high ceilings. After a while of looking, discovering puffballs (I love stomping on those things!), and discussing how tall a tree we should get, we settled on a beautiful on that turned out to be 10 1/2 ft. tall.
Jacob crouched down to watch the cutting of the tree. I remember loving that too when I was younger; getting all cozy under the tree, each of us kids trying to be the one the tree fell on. Good times.
Fraser dragged the beast to the road.
We were definitely feeling a bit National Lampoonish as we tied the tree to our tiny Honda Civic. Great thing about cutting your own tree, also, is it's cheap! Out here, anyway. Thirty bucks for a beautiful 10.5 foot Douglas Fir. Amazing. Sorry, Colorado, but you're paying for the shipping on these suckers.
We drove home very slowly! Lucky thing about living in suburbia is that we were only about a mile from our house, just little windy two-lane roads. Easy. This was the fun part.
Our old tree stand was no way big enough to hold this tree. Plus, we needed more lights. I'd been to Target the night before and all their long LED strands of lights were sold out. Silly me for only buying one strand earlier in the week. Home Depot it was, then. Nothing. No tree stands left, no lights. It was like this was Christmas Eve and we were late in the game. Apparently early December is late in the game! Ace Hardware. Found a Swivel Straight, plastic stand. Fifty bucks. All of a sudden this cheap tree was no longer cheap. Lights - forty bucks. We skipped those. Fred Meyer as a last resort. Nothing.
Back home only to discover that the tree stump is still much larger than the stand's hole and the directions are for a different stand- the Swivel Straight Plus. Riiiight. Thank you, China. Thankfully, it was not difficult to figure out how to actually put it together. What was more challenging was narrowing our tree stump. We had a miter saw and a hack saw. Neither good options. We borrowed the neighbour's saw but it was still slow going. Finally, Fraser found our axe out in a box in the shed. Thank god. We lugged it in together and put it in the stand. Much harder than doing so with a 7ft. tree. And swiveling... yea, right. Not really that helpful. Wouldn't recommend it. Just give me the ol' reliable metal stand. But, the tree is up. So. Hallelujah.
Jacob got up from his nap, saw the tree and let out a "whoooa" followed by a big grin and a squeal. "Lights on dere," he said. Yep, we put some lights on (also challenging; Fraser balancing our huge outdoor ladder against the slanted ceiling while telling me to trust physics all so he could actually reach over the tree to put the lights on). And it smelled wonderful. I love fresh cut evergreen smell.
Overall, I think it's worth the effort to have the big tree. Even for the novelty of it. And it sure looks great.
We attempted to get a family picture for our Christmas cards out at the tree farm. We had a great one: everyone looking, smiling, happy. Only problem, the damn camera's auto focus was focusing on the TREES!!!! Alas, I'll leave you with it since it will not be appearing on a card.
Today was the big day to go get our Christmas tree. There are tons of u-cut farms around here, which is what my family always did in Michigan. Little did I know until today that this would be Fraser's first time cutting his own tree.
We drove home very slowly! Lucky thing about living in suburbia is that we were only about a mile from our house, just little windy two-lane roads. Easy. This was the fun part.
Our old tree stand was no way big enough to hold this tree. Plus, we needed more lights. I'd been to Target the night before and all their long LED strands of lights were sold out. Silly me for only buying one strand earlier in the week. Home Depot it was, then. Nothing. No tree stands left, no lights. It was like this was Christmas Eve and we were late in the game. Apparently early December is late in the game! Ace Hardware. Found a Swivel Straight, plastic stand. Fifty bucks. All of a sudden this cheap tree was no longer cheap. Lights - forty bucks. We skipped those. Fred Meyer as a last resort. Nothing.
Back home only to discover that the tree stump is still much larger than the stand's hole and the directions are for a different stand- the Swivel Straight Plus. Riiiight. Thank you, China. Thankfully, it was not difficult to figure out how to actually put it together. What was more challenging was narrowing our tree stump. We had a miter saw and a hack saw. Neither good options. We borrowed the neighbour's saw but it was still slow going. Finally, Fraser found our axe out in a box in the shed. Thank god. We lugged it in together and put it in the stand. Much harder than doing so with a 7ft. tree. And swiveling... yea, right. Not really that helpful. Wouldn't recommend it. Just give me the ol' reliable metal stand. But, the tree is up. So. Hallelujah.
Overall, I think it's worth the effort to have the big tree. Even for the novelty of it. And it sure looks great.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Day 70: The Potty Diaries
December 4, 2010
Went to a little friend's birthday party today. Very sweet. Jacob wanted a "black muffin" (aka chocolate cupcake). He'd also mention sprinkles every time I told him we were going to Preston's birthday party. So we sing happy birthday and Jacob then wants a "white muffin". Fraser takes one and tells him to take a bite. He hesitates and then takes a teeny bite. That's it. He's done. I have a chocolate muffin but he now wants nothing to do with it. I show him the sprinkles on top. Nothing. "No prinkles," he says. I, for one, am glad he's not into sweets. There are some he is becoming more interested in but overall, when we give him some to try, he doesn't like them.
Tonight, I take off his diaper and tell him he can be naked for a bit to air out his bum. I ask if he has to pee. He whispers yes but doesn't want to go upstairs so I ask him if he wants to go on the big potty downstairs. "Yes," he whispers. I take him to the toilet and hold him over it. He squeezes out a little pee. Great. Then he starts thinking about the cat and how she's probably upstairs in his bed and he wants to go up and see her. Still naked from the waist down he goes up and I follow him. Once up there he wants to go pee on his potty. I'm rinsing out a poopy diaper but he sits down and before you know it, tells me he's peed. Sure enough, he has. And a lot. So we dump that out. Then he sits down and squeezes for a bit, says "poop" and stands up to show me. I see a little turd fall out onto the floor. Yes, he's pooped but most of it is still on his butt! I have to laugh at this point because it's his first time and I think he's quite surprised too. I tell him to bend over and touch the floor. He sits on his potty. Poop on the lid. Okay. "Stand up and put your hands on the floor," I say. He squats down. Better than sitting. I get some wipes and clean up his butt which actually has a decent amount on it. A pretty funny experience overall and although I hope (and know) they will get better as he does this more, I did have an enjoyable time with this one.
And this evening it was raining diapers in our house. Who knew cloth diapers could be so much fun. Clean ones, of course :)
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| My cheesy blueberry face! |
Tonight, I take off his diaper and tell him he can be naked for a bit to air out his bum. I ask if he has to pee. He whispers yes but doesn't want to go upstairs so I ask him if he wants to go on the big potty downstairs. "Yes," he whispers. I take him to the toilet and hold him over it. He squeezes out a little pee. Great. Then he starts thinking about the cat and how she's probably upstairs in his bed and he wants to go up and see her. Still naked from the waist down he goes up and I follow him. Once up there he wants to go pee on his potty. I'm rinsing out a poopy diaper but he sits down and before you know it, tells me he's peed. Sure enough, he has. And a lot. So we dump that out. Then he sits down and squeezes for a bit, says "poop" and stands up to show me. I see a little turd fall out onto the floor. Yes, he's pooped but most of it is still on his butt! I have to laugh at this point because it's his first time and I think he's quite surprised too. I tell him to bend over and touch the floor. He sits on his potty. Poop on the lid. Okay. "Stand up and put your hands on the floor," I say. He squats down. Better than sitting. I get some wipes and clean up his butt which actually has a decent amount on it. A pretty funny experience overall and although I hope (and know) they will get better as he does this more, I did have an enjoyable time with this one. And this evening it was raining diapers in our house. Who knew cloth diapers could be so much fun. Clean ones, of course :)
Friday, December 3, 2010
Day 69
December 3, 2010
Still felt crappy this morning - a good time to figure out how sick leave works with Fraser's job. Pretty much Jacob goes to daycare instead of Fraser having to take time off. Whatever. As long as it helps me. That's the worst, when I feel like I'm all alone taking care of a child when I'm sick. But, now that we know what to do, it's not so stressful.
Jacob went to Karen's house while I went to PT this morning. He enjoys it over there a lot which is so helpful for me. In the afternoon, Riley (the 5 year old girl) came over to ask if Jacob could play! So adorable. He followed her back to her house. Karen and I hung out while the kids played. That's a lifesaver. How awesome to have this family two doors down from me! Not the first time for me to mention this, and I'm sure it won't be the last.
Still felt crappy this morning - a good time to figure out how sick leave works with Fraser's job. Pretty much Jacob goes to daycare instead of Fraser having to take time off. Whatever. As long as it helps me. That's the worst, when I feel like I'm all alone taking care of a child when I'm sick. But, now that we know what to do, it's not so stressful.
Jacob went to Karen's house while I went to PT this morning. He enjoys it over there a lot which is so helpful for me. In the afternoon, Riley (the 5 year old girl) came over to ask if Jacob could play! So adorable. He followed her back to her house. Karen and I hung out while the kids played. That's a lifesaver. How awesome to have this family two doors down from me! Not the first time for me to mention this, and I'm sure it won't be the last.
Day 68
December 2, 2010
Feeling a little under the weather today, making everything child-related more of a challenge. Makes me appreciate how easy it is normally even though it doesn't always feel like it. Always good to be reminded of that, though, by being sick.
What else.... nothing comes to mind.
Feeling a little under the weather today, making everything child-related more of a challenge. Makes me appreciate how easy it is normally even though it doesn't always feel like it. Always good to be reminded of that, though, by being sick.
What else.... nothing comes to mind.
Day 67
December 1, 2010
Today, I take off Jacob's jammies and he balls them up. I pull his shirt down over them. He laughs and says, "Baby in there," as he points to his stomach. Ha! Too funny.
Sure, he's seen pregnant people, we've read a book about it but you just never know what sticks in their heads until they talk about it. Let me tell you - everything sticks. Things you said to someone else in passing, you'll hear out of your kid's mouth. At least, that's the case with Jacob. I asked whether it was a boy baby or a girl baby. He said it was a boy. He was very pleased with himself.
Today, I take off Jacob's jammies and he balls them up. I pull his shirt down over them. He laughs and says, "Baby in there," as he points to his stomach. Ha! Too funny.
Sure, he's seen pregnant people, we've read a book about it but you just never know what sticks in their heads until they talk about it. Let me tell you - everything sticks. Things you said to someone else in passing, you'll hear out of your kid's mouth. At least, that's the case with Jacob. I asked whether it was a boy baby or a girl baby. He said it was a boy. He was very pleased with himself.
Day 66
November 30, 2010
Internet down for a few days so catching up on December 3rd. Sadly, this means I have almost no recollection of what happened on this day. It was my older brother's birthday. That's all I have.
Internet down for a few days so catching up on December 3rd. Sadly, this means I have almost no recollection of what happened on this day. It was my older brother's birthday. That's all I have.
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