Two days to go!

Well, really a day and a half before we pull out of Waterloo to head back to Ottawa. I have lots of feelings about it - both excited and sad - but I just don't have the time to reflect on it blog-wise right now because of the PACKING AND PACKING AND PACKING.

Luckily, Henry has been awesome today (minus some clear digestive upset, poor guy) by napping nice long naps and has been fairly easy to get to sleep (the few days before this, neither one of those things has been easy) which meant my friend Michelle and I packed like fiends. Michelle was amazing and organized and brought Vincenzo's cappucino.

Tomorrow we finish up the packing. John picks up the truck. We have dinner with Paul and Marnie. And start to say our final goodbye's... for a while at least.

Packing is fully underway

I've managed to get Henry to take a long afternoon nap yesterday and today, something he hasn't done in about a week. Thank you Henry for complying! Because packing had to start in earnest and without him sleeping during the day, things were looking grim for me. But yesterday I managed to finish packing most of the playroom and by today about half the kitchen is packed (we're eating off of our picnic set now).

This morning John and our friend Greg took a trailer load to Generations (our favourite local consignment store - an MCC thrift store). I had to say goodbye to my favourite avacado green swivel rocking chair that has seem me through the last two months of breastfeeding. I was sad to see it go. Our living room furniture now consists of our IKEA pull-out couch, a desk and desk chair and one side table. We also got rid of our two leopard skin dining room chairs (didn't really shed a tear there) and will get rid of the other four (not leopard skin, sadly) just before we move.

On the dining room chair front, we gave away our chairs before we left Ottawa and bought 6 (at a whopping $4.99 each) at Value Village when we came to Waterloo. We obviously needed to replace them either before we moved back to Ottawa or right after we arrived. Today John went to one of those Toronto places you hear about but never find - direct from manufacturer, discounted, really nice stuff, pay in cash, no tax, near the airport, etc etc etc. He bought 6 dark brown high-back leather dining room chairs, no tax, in cash, no receipt, for $98 each. They were discontinued and they're gorgeous. They'll make our table look a bit ghetto. They make me feel like a grown-up given that they didn't come from IKEA like so much of our furniture.

Today we also said goodbye to our very close friends, Tamara and Greg, who are heading out on vacation today to New Brunswick and won't be back until after we've left. The first of the goodbyes have begun.

And now, time for some refreshment before Henry wakes up. Things are underway! The end is in sight... sad and happy at the same time.

It finally happened!

If you've been reading along here this year, you know that The Fairy Blogmother and I have tried and failed to meet up more than once, having to cancel both times due to sick kids.

And the clock is ticking. We're pulling out of this here region in exactly two weeks today (ACK! You'd think we'd have more packed).

And so we hastily wrote back and forth and set upon today as the new date for a meet-up. Both our husbands were suspect that it would ever happen - my car would meet a herd of cows on the way, a meteor would block the road, aliens would abduct Shannon - SOMETHING would stop this from happening.

But HAH! We proved them wrong and I arrived at Shannon's lovely house in her lovely town today around 10:30. The kids showed now hesitation and were frolicking in the pool together in no time. Shannon and I started chatting and it didn't take long before we were sharing some of our deeper thoughts and secrets that we can't always let out on our blogs.

I realized later that as great as blogging is as a way to make new friends, you really can't start to know someone properly until you meet face to face and spend some real time together. That's what today was for me. Now I really feel like a deeper friendship has developed and I look forward to fostering that and of course, meeting up again next time we're in these parts.

And Shannon, in all her baking goodness, cooked us up an awesome batch of Rolo cookies. When she starts her baking business you all must order from her!

And you know it is a good visit when one kid leaves in tears because she wants to stay longer (that would be Hope).

And just so you all know that I didn't make this up, here is the photo evidence of our visit (we were too busy chatting to take any more photos):

A day I'd mostly like to remember

So after yesterday, today was a huge improvement. Probably because we actually left the house. Of course, we left the house, drove part way to Toronto, stopped for a Henry feeding, drove the rest of the way (with Henry mostly crying because he refused to feed at aforementioned stop), navigated many closed roads in downtown TO, stood in interminable lines in the CN Tower, ate street meat at 3:00 for lunch and then headed to The Beach to spend the rest of the day with my wonderful friend Deb and that was the part that I'd most like to remember about today. The girls and I had a great time at Deb's and having a picnic in Kew Gardens and it was a perfect way to end what started as a frustrating day.

Even though the CN Tower was heavy on lines and the wallet, I got some great photos:


The Dome was open all ready for the big soccer game: Manchester United vs. ? (can't remember). The local scalpers were quite taken with Henry and asked if he would be a soccer fan one day. A soccer fan who perhaps would buy tickets illegally from them?

Tomorrow promises to be awesome as well because I'm finally and truly going to meet The Blogmother in person!

A day I'd like to forget

Today was hard. Really, really hard.

Henry wouldn't sleep out of my arms. Each time that I laid him in his bed, our bed or the swing, he'd be awake again (and screaming) in under five minutes. In desperation I put him in the chest carrier (my wonderful Ergo) and walked and sweat and sweat and walked while he finally slept.

This is all new as of today. Up until now I was telling people when asked that Henry almost always stayed asleep after I laid him down and I wasn't lying. Bur today a switch went off for him that put a stop to that. And you know what? That seriously sucks.

I'm really tired now and frustrated and my nipples are getting worn out sustaining a baby that now weighs 14 lbs 10 oz; he's gaining over a pound a week. That puts him in the 97th percentile for weight!

In the midst of this lack of sleep I'm getting some smokin' biceps, a sore back and a frustrated family who is getting as tired as I am of hearing Henry cry.

John and I have been discussing letting Henry cry it out at some point if this continues but I'm not comfortable with that at such a young age and what I've read supports that. I also know, after two other babies, that this is unlikely to last long but there is that little fear inside me that this could be the new reality for a while.

However I'm faced with the fact that if he's fed, changed and can see me, the reality is that I will have to let him cry long enough for me to hug my girls, make lunch, do laundry, or pack boxes. Not crying it out, but still crying.

Packing is what is on my mind right now. In less than three weeks we're moving back to Ottawa and we have maybe six boxes packed. This isn't good.

I don't know how tonight will go but I'm not expecting much sleep.

I do know how tomorrow will go. I'm going up the CN Tower with my three kids and I'm going to have a great time regardless of how Henry is doing.

And then in the days that follow I will pack. And Henry will cry. And we'll all survive.


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More teeth going on the lam

Last night Emily declared she had another loose tooth. I was suspicious and made her prove it.

And there it was, right next to the original loose tooth, wiggling away! She'll soon have no bottom front teeth at all. Could make for a rather cute lisp.

I guess the teeth felt peer pressure to make a break for it.

The heat has driven me out of our home

We reached our breaking point last night at supper. Fairly new baby, record high temperatures, no air conditioning. John and I looked at each other. I said: call your mom.

We arrived at Omi's in St Catharines last night around 9:00 after the quickest packing, cleaning the kitchen and putting out the garbage job ever. Henry complained most of the way down. Henry screamed for an hour after arriving.

And yet.... TOTALLY WORTH IT.




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Emily's loose tooth

We stopped at a new-to-us burger joint for supper last night on our way home from an awesome week at the cottage (post on that to come later). The burger joint is Champ Burger. It is in Shelburne, Ontario right beside Super Burger, which we had tried last time and let me just say WORST. FRIES. EVER. Champ Burger wins the contest between the two and we'll stop there again for sure especially since I now have a very soft spot for Champ Burger and it has nothing to do with the burgers.

Emily has been complaining of a sore tooth for about a week now. I told her that I'd get her to the dentist this week to see what was going on. Last night at Champ Burger she mentioned it again so I decided to have one more look myself. I put my finger on the tooth and.... it moved! John and I had wondered if it was loosening and that was causing it to feel weird (more than hurt) and we were right.

I gave Emily a big hug... I couldn't help myself. This is a major rite of passage and something to celebrate. Emily was beside herself with excitement. I may have even seen tears of happiness in her eyes. She's been waiting for this for a while.

And as I suspected, the tooth in question (lower front) is the same one that was there when she was born. Yes, Emily had one tooth when she was born (can you say sore nipples?) but it receded after a couple of weeks and then popped back out at 3 months. It was her lone tooth until she was a year old. Now we'll be saying goodbye to it.

I have a feeling the tooth fairy may leave it for me to keep in the memory box.