Vote for Wolfie!
I know we hear about people asking to help their kid win this or that all the time and I always keep it to myself. However, Alex has been an internet friend for years - first on Live Journal, then on Flickr and now with her two new awesome blogs: Strawberry Lemonade and ModernKiddo. She has a little boy named Wolfie (short for Wolfgang which, if I recall correctly, is a family name on BOTH SIDES - how cool is that?) and let me tell you, the pictures she has posted of Wolfie over the years has been enough to create a baby boom of its own.
This is Wolfie:
Mostly I liked what Alex had to say about the contest: (more…)
The Saga of The Soothie
Moira & her soothie over the last two years.
There was no two ways about it - Moira was a baby with a strong need for a soother. She was sucking her thumb in one of her ultrasounds and started teething at 3-months old. However, as her dependency on it grew and the teeth stopped coming (because she has had all of them but the two-year molars since before she was a 1.5 years old!) the time had come to say goodbye. (more…)
Mid-Century Modest
My friend Chris (he who sends the fabulous links and designed my logo) sent this to me the other day. I already posted about Retro Renovations recently but here is a video done by the blog creator and Etsy Labs talking about Mid-Century Modest.
I’m pretty much in love with this idea right now - loving the house you’re in and making it work for you. I won’t lie, I love looking through home decor magazines (at the library) but they are all about tearing down walls and finding the perfect this and that which always comes with a capital C cost. I’m not in the design world and even I know that Mid-Century Modern is super popular right now but who can afford a living room full of Eames Chairs or what have you? And to be honest - a lot of that furniture isn’t terribly comfortable and with two small children, a small space and a large husband what we all want is a space we can be comfortable in. Also, having one style in a home seems pretty boring to me and as much as I love all-things retro I’m not interested in living in a time capsule.
Post-assessment 1, 2, 3.
1) We are totally exhausted because the guy doing our assessment was very thorough, knowledgeable and awesome. Our brains are fried.
2) Some things we didn’t know needed to be done right away are now going to be done Right Away. Others, like the basement, are going to have to wait.
3) If you are interested in seeing the photos they are here. The house hasn’t been cleaned out yet of the previous owners things.
Marching on
Oh goodness - things are really changing around here: moving house, having a baby, Moira turning two (with a vengance some days). I haven’t wanted to talk about the house much since things are still sort-of up in the air. By that I mean we have to get a home inspection done (tomorrow afternoon!) to make sure everything is okay. But let’s be honest, except for those few moments I have chosen to lose myself in Harry Potter over the past week I haven’t been thinking of much else.
Totally not my kitchen... but maybe it could be?
In my mind I have been calling the house The Bungalow because it is, indeed, a bungalow. Built in 1955 it is just over 1000 sq feet sitting on a huge lot. There is an elementary school at the end of the street. In fact, Moira and Sprig (which is what we are currently calling #2) could conceivably walk to school until they graduate from high school if we stay in this house. We are buying it from a friend, it is his grandparent’s house and they have both recently moved into a care facility. I think they might have been the original owners. The last time they made any changes to the house was in the 1970s so there is a lot of work to be done. They raised five children in this 3-bedroom home. I don’t know how big our apartment is right now but to us this place seems Huge. It is pretty much my dream home - or it will be once I’m done with it.
Things I am excited about: (more…)
Two Thoughts
When I’m feeling stressed or overwhelmed I start reading Harry Potter again even though I tell myself “this year I will not re-read the Harry Potter series!” But really, who cares if I do or don’t? I know there are a million books out there to read but this one fills me with such joy and some people watch TV and some people drink booze and if my only vice is re-read Harry Potter once a year then I’m pretty freaking awesome.
Anyway, I just started book three today but one of my all time favourite quotes (spoken by Albus Dumbledore) happens at the end of book two:
It is our choices, Harry, that show us what we really are, far more than our abilities.
That quote comes up in coversation around our house a lot. Make of it what you will.
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Our little family went to brunch this morning (we were away this weekend for a Family Weekend with the Mister’s work) and after a long wait we sat down to a rather mediocre breakfast. Moira was hungry but really tired because a) she slept poorly the night before and b) having to wait for breakfast, so we were trying to find foods to entice her. There was a table that had trays of various (canned) fruits nearby and on the trays there were blueberries that were obviously there as a garnish. The Mister went and picked as many blueberries as he felt was polite and put them on a plate for Moira (along with some of the other fruit) and once she started eating them she kind of sighed, looked up at him and said oh-so-clearly, “Thank-you Daddy” and then resumed stuffing blueberries into her mouth.
Give me Liberty or give me…
Well, ‘give me death’ is a little extreme but yes, I too am excited about the new Liberty of London line at Target. I know people love Target with a capital L but I have only been there a couple times in my life and most of the time I have been unimpressed because it is, after all, just a department store and therefore often lacking in originality and smelling like child labour. However, years ago my Mom and I visited the real Liberty of London store in London (obviously) and all I could afford were two handkerchief scarves and the seeds for a life-long love of all things Liberty. As a teenager I was a huge fan of Laura Ashley dresses and should probably dig up some of those photos for a fun and highly laughable flashback post - but Liberty is so much more classier. (more…)
Extreme circumstances and expensive toys
I’ve never been under the impression that I could do it all but last week made me realize just how bad I have become at keeping it together under extreme circumstances. By keeping it together I don’t mean my emotional health (which is fine, thanks for asking) - I just mean the day-to-dayness of running a home and family, the stuff you normally don’t think about until something happens. The extreme circumstances I speak of were both the Mister & Moira getting really sick - and yes, I mean sick again for Moira. She went to bed Monday night with a low fever that quickly turned into a very high fever and I didn’t get any sleep for the next 48 hours. Four days later the fever finally broke and now she is much better and her tonsillitis or strep throat seems to have cleared up but it was a tough week. (more…)
My Sweet Valentine: 22-months old
We got home Monday night after a long flight. For some reason Moira is really tired lately and all week at my sisters she would start lobbying to go to bed around 4 p.m. (which would be 2 p.m. our time) but I would force her to stay awake until 6:30 p.m. Seriously, what almost 2-year old asks to go to bed? Her cousin would try to play with her and she would start gathering her dolls and say “night-night Thomas” and start heading downstairs to bed. It was hilarious. She barely changed her schedule at all while we away because 6:30 - 7 p.m. is her normal bedtime and she is back at it. On the flight it took her 3 hours to fall asleep (the flight left at 7:30 p.m.) - it was a 3 hour & 45 minute flight. She was great though, poor thing.
The night after we got back the Mister & I were watching a movie when the vomiting began. That was the first time little Miss has ever thrown up. I always wondered what I would do in such a situation but I have to say the Mister and I handled it rather well for first-timers.
A quick update
Thank goodness for guest bloggers! I got sick two days ago and felt awwwwful and couldn’t do a thing. I haven’t been sick like that in a long time - but that is what happens when I travel. Moira caught some of what I had too but at least she was spared from the vomit-side of things. Anyway, this is just a quick post to say Hi. Apparently the western world is talking about the Superbowl right now and all I have to say about that is:
Time for a name change?
The Mister sent this in defence of James’s post: (more…)
