Happy (Late) Valentines Day

I really was going to post yesterday...I tried really hard and then the day kind of ran out. My boss got all the girls here little plants. They're really pretty, in tall red ceramic pots with a little ladybug on a stick right in the middle. They each had 2 flowers, lillies maybe? and originally I thought they were part of the plant but then I noticed they were in those little green things that hold water and were poked into the dirt. The leaves kind of look like ivy and I hope that the plant grows the same kind of flowers - or any flowers for that matter. I guess we'll wait and see. It was really nice of him to do that!

Yesterday morning was super crazy. I had told Darlene I would make cupcakes for all the kids and the plan was to make them Monday night and then decorate them Tuesday so there wouldn't be a mad rush Wednesday morning. Well, I'll bet you can guess what happened :) Monday I had that headache and Tuesday Aidan was difficult at the library and we got home later than usual, so I just got one pan of cupcakes in the oven and covered them for the morning. Wednesday morning I was making the rest of the cupcakes and madly rushing around trying to decorate them. I had bought this tube of red icing, planning on making either one big hearts or little hearts on top of the white icing on the cupcakes. Unfortunately I neglected to read the back of the little tube which said I could screw on any cake mate brand tips that I had and then go ahead and decorate. I tried to use a tip from my cheapie icing set but ended up with icing everywhere, so I just made huge puffy hearts. Aidan was very impressed and I did take a picture of them, but in my rush I removed the memory card before the picture was done loading onto it, so I lost it. When we got to Darlene's house I let Aidan carry the cupcakes upstairs and he went in and showed them to Darlene and then ran into the playroom 'Look guys! Cupcakes!'

He was less than thrilled when I came to pick him up though and I ended up having to carry him out to the car and fight with him to buckle him in and then listen to him cry all the way home. Just the way I wanted to spend my evening on Valentines Day! He did eat his dinner nicely and then I put him to bed early so I could watch a show I had saved while I had my dinner. That was nice and relaxing. I was going to make quesadillas for dinner but discovered my turkey had gone bad so I had to use ground beef instead. It tasted okay but kept falling out!

Today I'm going out to buy the steaks and other stuff for dinner tomorrow. I still haven't decided what to make for dessert and I think I might just buy something even though I had thought it would be nice to make something myself. Oh well. Let's be realistic here: I haven't cleaned Aidan's room in over a week, there's still laundry on the laundry couch, it's a miracle the kitchen is still semi-clean and I am attempting to make the dinner part...I'm buying a little steak (if such a thing can be found) for Aidan to have for dinner tonight so he doesn't feel left out.

This weekend is going to be so great. First the big date night and then Michelle is coming up from Edmonton and is coming over to visit on Saturday, and then on Monday Michael is taking Aidan to the last home Storm game which means I'll have a good 3 hours to myself and won't have to spend it tidying up if I can get my butt in gear on Saturday and Sunday!! It's Family Day for us out here in Alberta!

Attention All Pregnant People!

I'm sick! I feel gross and have a really bad headache that is starting to evolve to the point where I could describe it as a splitting headache. And...I can't take anything!!! Usually I try to hold off taking stuff, but if I weren't pregnant, I'd be all over those Tylenols like they were smarties :) Anyone have any suggestions? I don't think it will be getting better before it gets worse because there are 2 people at work sick already and chances are I've caught what they already have.

My Very Own Little Snow Soccer Star

I got these pictures taken of Aidan right before Christmas at the Wal-Mart Portrait Studio. They had some sort of package deal going on so if you were just going to purchase the one pose package (which I was) then they still had to take 5 more poses just in case you changed your mind because your kid looked so cute. I had a very hard time saying no to the other poses because they all turned out sooo good, but these guys are sneaky. When I went to pick up my package, they had printed 2 copies of each of the other poses and it was available for the extremely affordable price of just $19.99 and of course I caved. He is pretty cute, I'm sure you'll agree!

This last one is the one pose that I have in all sorts of different sizes. I gave the girl behind the camera his very special teddy to dance around to make him grin and boy, did it work! I've always gotten his picture taken at Wal-Mart, the first one at 3 months, and no matter whether he's tired, cranky or even sick they always turn out really really great.

So today was the Maple Sugar Festival down at Muskoseepi park, put on by some sort of French Society in Grande Prairie. I'm not sure what their name is exactly, but there were quite a few of them. Now that I think of it, I don't think I've ever been in a situation where the majority of people around me are speaking a different language, it's kind of weird. It's been pretty freakin cold lately, so Aidan was all bundled up in coat, snowpants, mittens and toque, but I couldn't find any snowpants so I had boots but just jeans and man, my legs just about froze off!

There was a little kids corner where there were crafts and snacks - maple cookies, juice boxes, and ice cream with maple syrup. We hung out there for a little while and then headed outside for a horse drawn wagon ride. They called them sleigh rides but I'm fairly certain sleighs don't have wheels. The horses were all decked out in bells and it sounded pretty cool to hear the bells through the trees. We got a good spot near the front near the horses but Aidan wasn't too into them. We did see a huge moose eating what looked like a small tree a little ways away. There was a little toboganning hill, a little valley and then the trail the horses were walking on and the moose was in the little valley. He must hang out near the park to be so used to people!

After the sleigh ride we were walking around to find the taffy on ice station when we saw a soccer game that Aidan decided to join. It was an interesting choice given that soccer is usually played in the summer on the grass and hockey is generally played in the winter on ice or snow, but I guess it was cheaper to get a soccer ball and also maybe a little less violent. There were about 3 teenagers who looked like they were running the game and another little girl and her Dad. Aidan and the girl had such a good time running around kicking the ball. The teenagers took turns playing goalie, helping the kids keep the ball on the 'field', picking them up when they fell down and cheering loudly when anyone scored. Aidan was actually doing pretty good trucking around in the snow, and managed to score a couple goals himself and also made a save while playing goalie. He looked like he was having a lot of fun and also looked pretty cute running around with a little red nose and red cheeks. Finally my legs were just too cold so we headed off to find taffy on ice. I think I'm going to look into signing him up for soccer tots this summer. As were were heading off he turned around and yelled 'Bye soccer guys!'.

The taffy on ice was a little disappointing. I've never had it before, but I've definitely heard about it so I guess maybe I was expecting something different than what it actually was. Basically it looked like really hot pancake syrup poured over a trough of ice and then you scooped some up and twirled it around a big tongue depresser stick. Aidan seemed to enjoy it, but I'm pretty sure it was straight sugar and what kid doesn't enjoy that??

After that we headed home to thaw ourselves, have a little something to eat and put Aidan down for a nap. I'm sure Aidan was glad to be home so he didn't have to suffer the indignities of sitting on the bench in the backseat. His carseat is getting pretty tight on him and with his snowsuit on there was no way it was getting done up. I put him on the backseat behind my seat, stupidly thinking he would feel very grown up because he didn't have to sit in his little seat. Boy was I mistaken! There were tears and wiggling around and whining - finally I convinced him that it was going to be okay, but he was still highly displeased with the whole situation. I was going to say hopefully by the end of summer he'll gain those 5 pounds so that he can move up to a booster seat, but that might be moving a little too fast.

He had a late nap today until about 5:15, then he got up and we had dinner and he watched a couple shows while eating some fruit cocktail and then at 7:30 asked to go to bed. That was pretty weird. We slept in this morning and since he had a late nap I was going to let him stay up til 8. He said he was sure and he's being quiet in there, so maybe he's still tuckered out from all that running around playing soccer he did earlier.

I think it's safe to say that he has morphed back into a nice little boy from the little monster he's been for the past month, although the true test is always pickup from Sunday School, so we'll see how that goes. We had a talk about it today and without any prompting from me he said 'I be good, you pick me up' so that's a good sign. We have a playdate to go to tomorrow and I would really hate to have to cancel because of bad behaviour. This girl who I 'met' through Freecycle invited me to join a moms group she is organizing and they're having a meeting tomorrow at her house. She said most of the moms have 3 year old boys and at least one is pregnant and due around the same time as me, so it sounds really great! Aidan will have lots of little buddies his own age and I can maybe get a few tips from people that are at the same place I'm at. I told Aidan about it and he's pretty excited to go. She also said that she was asking each person to bring a healthy snack or drink because she wants there to be an emphasis on healthy eating and exercise and in the summers she wants to do picnics in the park and stroller walks. This almost sounds too good to be true :) I found a recipe for low fat spinach dip and I bought one of those round sourdough bread things - it looks really good, but Aidan has pronounced it 'not good' so we'll hope for the best.

The other night he was crushed to discover that I actually expected him to choose between stew or taco/taco salad for dinner. He brought himself to tears while he decided which would be less gross, and finally decided upon stew. To his credit he ate it pretty quickly, but while he was eating it I said 'Well, was it as bad as you thought?' and he looked down mournfully and said 'Yes'. Tough!

That was Wednesday night and Michael was home just for a little while, but was able to pick Aidan up which is always so nice. He had bought Aidan this bag of candy and Aidan was especially excited about the little banana candies in it. I've never understood banana flavouring, but that's another topic. It was so nice to have Michael home for the evening and have him help out with Aidan. He got Heat Seeker wings from Pizza Hut for his dinner and little mooch that he is, Aidan wanted some. Michael wasn't sure about it, but gave him a bite, and after some juice Aidan was back for another bite. He handled it pretty well, so I guess we know whose taste buds he has inherited! Not mine for sure. Then I sat down with my dinner and Aidan sidled up and proceeded to eat half of mine too. I was beginning to think he had developed a hollow leg or something but it must have just been a hungry day for him because the next day we were back to normal.

Well I think this is plenty long enough and I should finish up a couple more things before I flop onto the couch. I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Steak!

I think that I have finally decided what we're going to do for Valentines Day. Also, yesterday I was talking to Bev on the phone and she asked me when I was going to let her borrow Aidan because she missed him and I said well, actually, how about the 16th? and she said that works great, why doesn't he stay overnight? Hey, I'm not going to argue!! And the best part is he is always super well behaved for her and she doesn't charge us. She's the closest thing to family we have up here and I'm glad we still stay in touch.

I found this recipe on www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com that looks super good that I think I'm going to try. Hopefully if I do it right, it will taste as good as this looks!

Anyways, enough about that. Tonight is Bedtime Stories at the Library again. Aidan had a very good time last time and this morning was already telling me that he was going to ask if they could sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Last week he learned a new number song to the tune of the alphabet song.

I have more blood tests tomorrow and for one of them I have to fast from 7pm to 7am. So in preparation Aidan and I went to Costco for dinner and loaded up on grease. Seriously I think that's the cheapest dinner you can get in town. It was like $6 for both of us and we didn't even finish our fries. It seems to have worked because I'm still full. It's not a really big deal but when the nurse told me immediately I got kind of panicky - what? I can't stuff my face for a full 12 hours? It's kind of pathetic. Aidan had a great time with his hotdog and fries. He asked me where my hotdog was after I had finished and thought it was pretty funny when I said it was in my stomach. The rest of the meal was taken up with asking each other where the hotdog or fries were. The other thing he does lately is cover one eye and say 'Look mommy, I have 1 eye' And then I act surprised and say 'Where's your other eye?' and then he'll uncover his other eye. It's so cute how easily entertained he is. He's also started jumping around his room saying 'Hi-ya!' to fight bad guys while whipping his robe belt around. It's pretty funny.

Well, I have to leave on time/early tomorrow so I better get to bed! All the roads are like ice rinks so getting around takes so much longer and I keep getting to work late which is annoying.

Does This Baby Make Me Look Fat?

I was browsing eBay for some maternity jeans and tank tops and ran across some funny shirts:

does this baby make me look fat?

what's kickin?

OOPS!

At this one store in the mall they have some little baby onesies with really funny slogans. I can't remember all of them but one of them said 'I drink until I pass out'. Maybe not in the best taste but pretty funny. I should check them out again soon...

I hate Sundays!

Seriously, I really do. Every Sunday Aidan and I have a big showdown at church when it's time to go, we both end up crying and mad and then stalk home in silence. It's so dumb - and I know maybe this shouldn't matter so much to me, but also getting quite embarassing! I have had problems picking him up from church since he was in toddling tykes just starting to walk and I guess it hasn't been every single week, but lately it's been bad. Today we were sitting in the hall for about 20 minutes while he kicked and screamed and hit. It's so hard to control temper tantrums in public, especially when he starts hitting or kicking me. I used to just pick him up and carry him home, but he's a lot bigger now, I don't want him kicking or punching my stomach and that's easier to control if I'm not carrying him and it's pretty slippery outside on the ice. So we just sit and wait it out all the while getting sympathetic looks or very obvious 'non-looks' from the other parents. Oh the joys of parenting. Maybe, just maybe, I'm growing a very calm docile little girl who would never dream of acting like that. Or if it's another little monster I guess I'm just getting practice.

Anyways, on a more positive note...I was inspired by Teresa's post about her wonderful Valentines Date that was planned by Matt, so I thought maybe I could plan something for Michael, but I'm coming up pretty short. I know this is a bad excuse, but it's true - there's not much to do in and around Grande Prairie! So I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. I was thinking of doing something on the 16th (Friday) because he's just coming off shift on the 14th and I want to make sure he's going to be home. And then we can stay up a little later too because it's a Friday night. I thought maybe I could make him dinner...but I'm running out of ideas and I don't really want to cop out and either go to a movie or rent one - although I will if I can't think of anything else. I thought it would be nice to do something that he was into, but again, that's as far as I got. I know, I'm so creative! Let's just blame it on my 'baby-brain' - it turns to mush when you're pregnant! Any ideas??

Obsessed with Food

So lately I've been pretty obsessed with food - picking out recipes, looking at flyers, going grocery shopping, making different dishes...and with an emphasis on Mexican food. Kind of strange. In fact, I spent half my Aidan-free time today grocery shopping! Today I made peach poppyseed pancakes for dinner and got a big crockpot full of stew ready to simmer all day tomorrow, it's going to be so great!

This past weekend and this weekend have been sort of like things were before I got pregnant. I'm actually able to get things done - it's pretty amazing! I hope it lasts...it's so satisfying to make a list of stuff that has to get done and then be able to cross everything off. Except for laundry. I'm always at least one week behind on that, constantly picking through the clean laundry on the laundry couch for clean underwear for Aidan or a shirt I know was in the wash last week and vowing to get everything put away before the weekend but somehow it never happens.

I came up with this great idea last Thursday that I would book Aidan at the drop in daycare center on Saturday and have a little shopping time to myself. The plan was to check out Bellies and Babies and see if they had any good maternity wear. Sadly they turned out to be a highly priced boutique with not much 'normal' clothes. I guess if I have a formal thing I need to go to I can keep them in mind, but I was hoping to find one place here in Grande Prairie with decently priced maternity clothes! I guess we'll have to take a trip down to Edmonton to hit Old Navy and Motherhood Maternity soon. I had booked Aidan in at Wee Care from 10 until 1 and by 11 I had wandered around Superstore, Bellies and Babies, Victoria's Attic, Please Mum and was done! Guess it's been a long time since I've been out shopping by myself!! So I headed over to Save on Foods and did my grocery shopping before picking Aidan up.

Speaking of Aidan, he's doing a little better. I thought we were going to have a little problem with both him and Darlene getting him to nap during the day, so I decided to use a little candy motivation - he gets 3 little talking hearts when he gets home if he had a nap and it's been working like a charm. He's such a fun cute little kid when he's happy.

I thought I had lots of other stuff to say but I guess I don't. My belly seems to be getting bigger but I'm not sure whether it's because the baby's growing or because I still haven't gotten on that treadmill!

Teresa - I totally get that milk thing - we've been going through milk like crazy too!