Royal Random Updates

The big buzz on TV lately (and Facebook) was about the Royal Wedding. Was I going to stay up/get up at some unsavory hour to watch said wedding? Um, no. Not when they would have highlights and reruns at a normal human hour of the day. Perhaps before I was pregnant and had a toddler to get up with I might have stayed up for viewing - but then again, perhaps not. Once in a long while I will get super girly and take part in stuff like that, but apparently the Royal Wedding was out of luck.

I did get to catch some highlights of the big event - enough to see what the bride was wearing and a quick glimpse of the church. She looked beautiful and her dress was just perfect, not too opulent or crazy. Some of those hats in the audience though? Whacky and tacky! And what is up with Prince William's bald spot? I couldn't stop staring at it.

So much for fairy tales and girly-ness. Ahem. Anyways.

We managed to get the rest of the backyard and the front all raked, bagged and shipped off. We're ready for some mowing! I was staring out the kitchen window today and was so glad to see green grass coming in. It's finally, for real spring.

Cailin of course, was a huge help. She carried stuff in from the truck and helped Daddy roll the winter tires to the shed for storage. We got the wagon fumigated and ready to turn wheels. For now all the "landmines" are picked up and it's safe for Cailin to play in the backyard. She helped with the raking as well, though she needs to work on her technique a bit.

We're kind of stuck with what to buy her for her birthday. I originally thought we'd get her a Powerwheels Cadillac Escalade (in pink!), but have since decided that maybe she's a bit too young. Don't get me wrong, she would figure out how to drive it and probably run the dog over or something but... I just think she would get frustrated with trying to steer. It's hard to say; there's a Powerwheels Jeep at Nana and Papa's for her to try out in the meantime.

But what else to get her? She loves being outside, so we figured something for the yard. A sandbox? A swingset? We want to get her a bouncy house for her birthday party, but to buy or rent? She would also love a water table. We have a number of ride-push cars and contraptions, but there's a neat one on sale right now that's like a tricycle. I'm really stuck with what to pick.

I finally managed to track down my photography teacher and get my assignments back today. It was with great consternation that I opened the envelopes to see my grading and his critiquing. I was pleasantly surprised at the higher than imagined marks. I had been so pressed for time at the end of the course that I was really rushed to finish up my assignments; I had to hand in photographs that (at least to me) were substandard. The teacher didn't agree, according to his critiquing. The highest mark he's ever given on one of the tests was 27/30. I got 26.5/30. My pride was a tiny bit puffed up today. I now need to track down my final grade from the college. They neglected to send it to me for some reason.

We went to the petstore again today, and Ryan (and Cailin) fell in love with a Chocolate Lab puppy. She is really sweet, and has the prettiest green eyes. Ryan picked her up from the pen and held her so Cailin and I could snuggle her. She loved Cailin of course, but who doesn't? After my snuggle, I was content to put her back and go on with life. The two sets of eyes looking at me (um, make that three) were telling me different. Uh oh.

Luckily it didn't take much convincing for them to put the dog back and "think about it for a while". We left the store without a puppy, thank the heavens. But the subject has been coming up an awful lot today since then. We had a serious conversation at dinner about getting a lab. With a new baby on the way, I couldn't handle a pet rock - and that's the truth. I'm going to have three charges at home with me, and a high maintenance puggle is about all I can stand.

Speaking of which, I will have had Bailey for SEVEN YEARS on Tuesday. It's a wonder one of us hasn't ended up in the puzzle factory yet. We got her two toys and some chewies at the petstore and you would have thought she'd won the lottery.

My weekly battle with Cailin concerns nail clipping. She is such a happy, sweet and laid back kid that you'd never know she was a closet nail clipping hater. The second I get those little kiddie clippers and turn towards her, she's running for the nearest hiding spot. I have to chase her, catch her and drag her kicking and screaming to a spot with enough light to see what I'm doing. She then bursts into heartbreaking sobs and squirms so violently that I can't clip her nails without a huge involved effort on my part.

If the clipping takes longer than she deems necessary (or if you dare clip her toenails as well - her own personal hell), her sobs turn into hiccups and she gets borderline hysterical. I hate it. But I hate the way she starts scratching us and her face with her talons more. I'm patient with her, and don't give in. She can go once all her nails are clipped and not before.

Today was no exception. I let her sit on the kitchen counter and waged war with the clippers. After one hand was done, she was more upset than normal. My back was killing me, bending over the counter like that and trying to keep her flailing limbs at bay so I said the first thing that popped into my mind. "Do you want to go outside?" She sobbed out a heartbroken, "Yyy-es!" I took her hand again and told her, "Then let me clip your nails and you can go outside."

Silence. No more crying. No more wiggling. I clipped the last few nails in complete peace and took her outside. I'm not sure whether I should feel good about bribing her - or the fact that it worked - or not. At least I didn't offer her a can of pop or something.

And no post would be complete without something gross to laugh at! Today I went in to get Cailin up from her nap and she quite seriously told me, "Uh oh!" when I opened the door. I asked her what was 'uh oh' and she put something in my hand. It was a booger. Well, I did a dance much akin to Nana's mouse dance and got rid of it pronto. Nice one, kid. Nice one.

Happy Birthday Uncle Duster!

Dear Uncle Duster,

Cailin wants to wish you - her very favorite Uncle - the bestest birthday ever! Hope you had a great birthday - and I'm pretty sure you did, since the Canucks won the game tonight and you got cake and pizza. Mmmm, cake and pizza....

Wish we were there to help celebrate, and it did cross my mind to jump in the car and drive up for the day... That is, until your dear niece decided to desecrate my clean clothes and easy chair (and herself) with early morning toddler barf action.

Instead, we spent the day as far away from her room as possible. Namely, we went to the bank and then to the shoe store for much needed sandals. Cailin wasn't quite herself though, and even a quick trip into the pet store to oogle the puppies didn't help much. She really liked the Chocolate Lab pups though. Why yes, I did think of getting you one! Either that or the bulldog. He was really cute and oh! so wrinkly.

However, after eating until I was sure she would pop (again), and a long nap, Cailin felt like herself. Enough to walk all the way to the grocery store on her own two feet (in her new shoes). She did ride in the stroller on the way back though and we still had to stop and oogle all the puppies we saw.

You would laugh at her antics. Cailin loves to sit in the new truck and start it/shut if off, run the wipers (even the washer fluid), lock and unlock the doors, run the radio.... She can't reach the brake pedal so shifting isn't so easy, but she knows how to put the truck in gear too.

You would have laughed at me scrubbing barf out of the easy chair too - then dumping half a bottle of Febreeze on it, opening the window and walking away. Twice.

So I thought about you lots on your birthday, wishing we were there too. I'm glad we got to text each other all afternoon. I miss you and can't wait to spend more time with you and the family this summer. Beaver City awaits!

Happy happy joy joy! 29 For-evah!

Happy Birthday Gramma!

Dear Gramma,

Before you were GG to our kids, you were Gramma to us. But the love is still the same. I love watching you with our kids; your great-grandkids - and I remember what it was like to grow up right beside you and Grampa. We were luckier than any two grandkids could ever be. We had the entire world at our fingertips to explore (or at least ten acres) and you to lead us through it.

You were always there after school, waiting for us to get off the bus. I can't tell you how much we looked forward to brushing off the school day as we took off our coats and dived into the snacks you had ready for us. I remember all the baking, and crafts and effort you poured into us. We might not have understood it then, but thank you for all your mentoring and coaching on homework and school projects and the much debated Practising of the Piano.

I loved the long summer days we would spend with you. The endless sun drenched days spread out before us eternally to September. Sleeping in the tent, joyfully not practising piano (all that much) and eating copious amounts of french toast - always prepared when demanded without a word of complaint. Playing outside on the slip and slide while you manned the hose. Being forced to wear sunscreen when I would rather not. Being booted outside when having spent too much time inside the house watching cartoons. I look back now and realize how much I enjoyed and loved every minute.

I have the fondest memories of your birthdays growing up. It always felt so festive, and a great prelude to Dustin's birthday as well. Usually the weather had taken a turn for spring and was most welcome after the long winter. I loved having the family get together, playing outside with the cousins. And the cake of course, and usually chinese food too. But mostly I loved being with you on your birthday.

Remember the year you turned 60 and there was a sign by the road to tell people to honk at you? That was really funny and I remember how much you enjoyed that.

I feel sad that we haven't been able to take part in your birthday as much these past few years. It really is true what they say about having a family and responsibilities. Sometimes (or a lot of times) work and kids get in the way, but I thought a lot about you today as I went about my chores and caring for my little family. I hope to get together soon to celebrate though!

Today was the first truly magnificent sunny day of spring, most fitting for a much loved Gramma. I just want to say how much I love you, and ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAMMA!!

Love,

Kryssy

Easter Saturday

We celebrated Easter on Saturday this year. The weather was beautiful and we spent most of the day outside at Nana and Papa's. The yard is materializing out of the melting snowbanks and we're getting the lay of the land. There's a lot of grass for the kids to play on and explore (and also for Nana to mow). The patio area along the side of the house (facing the shop) is a perfect place to sit in the sun. Cailin spent a lot of time with us there, playing with her Easter presents (and Jellybean's as well). She got a Fur Real puppy in a purse and Jellybean got a baby tool pouch. Cailin loves them both.

The grandkids got a kid-sized bench for their sitting convenience and Cailin absolutely loved it. She sat on the bench beside Papa and chatted him up. They played in the kiddie car and raced around the sidewalks. She had such a great time.

I didn't realize how much water would be on the lawn and Cailin soaked her boots through in short order, but refused to go inside. She helped Papa break up more of the snowbanks and spread the snow around so it would melt faster. She especially loved it when he would pick up a lump of snow and smash it on the sidewalk to melt. There was fits of giggles coming from the yard while they threw snow around. Cailin hikes around and keeps herself fairly busy in the yard, but is never far from Papa.

Of course Bailey got to come too, and we spent a lot of time walking around the yard exploring and checking things out. Once Cailin's feet were too wet and cold to continue, we went in the house for a snack. Then we set up the new stroller and went for a walk with Nana. Cailin got to wear her ladybug slippers since her boots were sopping wet. Bailey was so happy to be outside walking. She sniffed tracks and had a wonderful time. We were startled by a wild chicken crashing around in the bush, which was kind of funny. He looked like he wasn't all that smart. Bailey didn't even notice him. That doesn't say much about how observant she is.

At any rate, sun was shining, the birds were singing and along the side of the shop, grass is growing:
Real, green, delightful grass. I'm so excited that the snow is almost gone and nicer weather is finally here. The trees are also starting to bud, and the pussy willows are out too.
We walked down the road for quite a while, then turned back and headed for the shop. Cailin wasn't quite ready to go in, but since she was wearing slippers, we didn't allow her to get out of the stroller. She talked Papa into taking her for a ride in the Ranger with Nana. The three of them scooted around having a great time. Ryan got the Rhino out and Bailey and I jumped in to go for a quick ride. Bailey wasn't sure what to think at first, but once she was able to stand a couple feet in my lap, she loved it. She relaxed and rode like a champ. It was a lot of fun.

That lasted for all of three minutes. Ryan headed out for the field. Now it stands to reason that if the lawn (the grass covered lawn) is as wet as it is, that the field is not going to be all that dry. Sure, the top layer looks dry-ish. But under that dry-ish looking stuff is mud. It didn't take long for the Rhino to sink in deep. The whole while I was saying things like, "Do not go in the field! Turn around! Get me out of here! Don't get me stuck!" and such like phrases. Alas, Ryan's brain secretes the chemical that drowns out nagging wife speech.

He put out a splendid effort, but after an eternity of slogging back and forth, we became high centered and really stuck. The mud was deep, and soupy. And also airborne. Clumps of mud flew through the air and I watched in slow motion as they landed on me, in my hair and on Bailey. She didn't think anything of it, but I was wearing my new maternity jeans. Not to mention those were the only clothes I had since I hadn't considered getting stuck in the soupy muddy field an appropriate Easter activity.

Papa pulled up to the edge of the field to watch our progress. I'm sure he took pictures. Cailin was very concerned that we were flinging mud around and had Bailey on the Rhino. Once in a while I would hear a little voice calling, "Mommy! B!" as she got more concerned.

Ryan maintains that I dropped an F-bomb while the mud was flying. I vehemently deny this, but the a-hole word may have slipped my lips once. Or twice. I freely admit that. I absolutely refused to get out of the Rhino wearing my nice running shoes and new jeans. The only way we were getting out was to use the winch. But what to winch to?

Papa provided the answer by letting out his winch and Ryan had to slog through the soup with his winch line to connect them. Bailey was scared of the noise the winch was making and started to wriggle on my lap. Thankfully the winch lines were long enough to meet in the middle and with a little effort from both machines, we started to move through the mud. With a sickening slurp noise that only mud can make, we moved closer to freedom. Once on dry ground, I jumped out of the Rhino with Bailey to comfort Cailin. She was glad Bailey was alright, but distraught over all the mud on Daddy's Rhino.

I was not so happy about the mud on my clothes. Or in my hair.

At any rate, a few borrowed clothes and everything was alright again. We had a delicious roast chicken dinner and apple pie for dessert. It was a fabulous meal. I was glad to get my freshly washed jeans back after dinner since they have a fancy stretchy waistband in them. Very important for the aftermath of Easter dinner. Comfort is everything.

We sat around after dinner, content and fairly tired after a day of playing outside in the fresh air, walking, getting a mud treatment and being very full. Cailin was getting sleepy and everyone decided that she would love to have her first sleepover at Nana and Papa's. She's never had a sleepover before, so naturally I was a little reluctant, but there's got to be a first time for everything.

So we packed up Bailey, said our goodnights and headed home. I was not entirely impressed with having to brush mud out of my hair before going to bed.

I woke up at eight the first time, thinking I had to get up and get ready for the day. Then I remembered that Cailin was at Nana and Papa's and I didn't have to get up anytime soon. I fell back asleep until ten! I got to take my time cleaning up for the day. I got to load the dishwasher without help. I had a hot (decaf) coffee with toast and looked over a decorating magazine at breakfast. It was a nice quiet morning. Not that they aren't usually fairly quiet; it was just so nice to take my time and enjoy not rushing around. I made up an Easter basket for Cailin with stuff I bought last year. I put some jelly beans and Mini Eggs in the hollow eggs and it was good to go.

We packed Bailey up and went to the carwash. Not a typical Easter Sunday activity, but relaxing nonetheless - that is, until Bailey reminded me that she doesn't like the laserwash by having several wheezie attacks in the backseat. Then we stopped at Safeway for gummie vitamins for Cailin and a snack for us.

Once we got to back out to the farm, Dad and Ryan took my car completely apart and cleaned it from top to bottom. They also tried to buff out the newest scrape in the door with some success. I'm still cheesed with how many scratches, scrapes and nicks there are in that poor car's paint. But with their efforts, it looks almost brand new again. They also torqued the wheels since they changed out the snow tires yesterday for the summer ones.

Bailey and I went on a tour around the yard waiting for Cailin to wake up. Eventually she did, and off to the house we went. Cailin was happy to see us, more so B than me I think. We had a snack and back outside.

We walked around the property, Cailin holding the end of Bailey's leash and me holding the middle for security. We figured we'd get the stroller out again and go for another walk down the road, but once Papa had the Ranger out, Cailin went for a ride and wouldn't get out. So we left her with the boys and went for a walk ourselves. Bailey had a wonderful time again, sniffing tracks and drinking out of the ditch.

We were gone longer than anticipated, and everyone was in the house when we got back. We had leftovers for dinner and watched the hockey game.

It was a wonderful fabulous Easter weekend and I'm so glad we could spend it with Nana and Papa in the beautiful weather. Is this a good time to mention how many chewies Bailey ate over the weekend and how bad the resulting gas was? No? Alrighty then.

Building the Car

Yesterday was a pretty nice day out, although the wind was a little cold. After breakfast, I suprised Cailin by taking her outside to play in the backyard with Bailey. Nanny and Grampy Brend gave her a car for Christmas and we still hadn't put it together - we were waiting for a warmer day. The warmer day arrived!

I put one of these cars together last June while getting eaten alive by mosquitos. In comparison, I was sure this would be a snap. Turned out to be a snap alright, but what snapped was my mind.

The pieces were cold and didn't feel like going together very well. Of course, the biggest obstacle was Cailin herself (and the missing instructions). She didn't care if the car had wheels on it or anything else, she had a great time sitting in it and playing with the detached steering wheel. Every time I moved a piece or picked something up, she would grab something else and toss it away in the grass. At one point she had the hammer while I had the screwdriver and was attempting to break a hole in a tire.

I put the front tires on and she realized that this was going to be a great toy - but couldn't make it move very well. There was a lot of grunting as she tried to push the car around. I had an interesting time fending her off while I put the back axle on and hammered the tires on it. At that point the car had all four tires, so Cailin jumped in and scooted it backwards all over the yard. She was getting stuck in the piles of leaves (and poo) I had raked up, and I noticed she had sock feet - her crocs were tossed aside. No amount of bribery would get her to put her shoes back on. I just let her go with her socks on. Mother of the Year Award coming right up!

Getting the top of the car on was difficult. Even after using my newly impressive bulk to try to force the posts in, they just wouldn't go. I was thinking of employing some olive oil and perhaps a drill when I finally found the instructions. The illustration showed how to hold the posts/roof to get it on the car. Still didn't work, but eventually one post snapped into place.

In the meantime, Cailin was getting rowdy at me for chasing her around, stopping the car and adding more pieces to it. She wanted to play, and for me to get lost. She did however, allow me to put the post on so the door would work properly. She alternated playing in the car and running over to the slide all the while making her 'running noise' - whoa-oh-wah-oh-whoa.

The roof went on surprisingly well. One of the rear posts took some persuading but went on eventually. The fourth and final post? Would not go on for sour apples. I tried and tried; and finally gave up, panting and discouraged. Oh well. It would work with three posts until Ryan got home (see above photo).

At this point we had been outside for a couple hours. We played in the car for a while, and I got Cailin a sippy cup to show her how the cup holder worked on the back of the car. She thought that was pretty awesome.

She also took a liking to a milk jug she picked out of the recycling can. She carried it around and chased Bailey all over the backyard with it. Bailey is quite a bit faster than her, so there was some frustration.

At one point, she followed Bailey over to the gate and started running down our crooked sidewalk. I yelled at her to slow down, but she didn't listen. She hit an uneven patch (still wearing only socks) and wiped out right on her face. Big pregnant ladies can move fast, I assure you. I reached her in two seconds flat and picked her up. Understandably, she was one mad baby.

The damage? Re-bruised her previous forehead owie, added another one right beside it that was bleeding, scraped her nose and above her lip (also bleeding) and bit something in her mouth (more bleeding). It didn't seem to be all that bad however. Bailey took this opportunity to grab the milk jug and run away with it. Cailin let out an exasperated, "B!" and wiggled to get down. She and the dog had a fight over said milk jug and Cailin was the clear winner. Until the lid popped off and mommy confiscated it lest sour milk get on either of them.

What really made Cailin mad though? Was taking her in the house. She did not want to have a nap (which was the furthest thing from my mind at that point) and she did not want to be upstairs. She demanded to go downstairs, so we went. She thought being in the downstairs bathroom was pretty cool. I washed her face and hands and the damage was even less than I thought. Once the tears and dirt were washed away it looked much better. (Today the scrape on her nose is gone, but the one underneath looks sore, as do her forehead boo-boos).

She went for a nap willingly enough, although she woke up extremely cranky. She didn't stop crying until I made her rice for dinner. My first mistake was putting it in a kid's bowl with a kid spoon. She immediately pushed it away and sat on my lap and ate from my adult bowl with an adult fork. I usually just give her whatever kind of dish we're using and I should have this time. Although we both got a lot of enjoyment out of her eating my dinner and thinking she was being fairly naughty.

She was so excited when Daddy came home; they sat on the couch and watched hockey together while I made muffins. Cailin exerted her big-girlness once again when I offered her a cut up muffin. Nope. Only a whole muffin for her, thanks.

Cailin is still playing with her kitchen like crazy, and insists on me playing with her before bedtime. She pats the floor next to the kitchen and I sit there and help her sort the food and dishes out. She's been having so much fun at night that it's getting harder to put her to bed. We can hear her playing and laughing in her crib long after bedtime.

Whiny Sack of Complaints

That would be me.

I hurt all over today. I have a blister on mah foot. I've been forced to watch hockey. I lost an earring while on a walk today and didn't find it again. Cailin ate next to nothing and did not nap. The whiny is epic in our household tonight.

But enough of that, check out the glass tiles for our bathroom. OOOH, purdy! This is the brightest splash of color going in the bathroom:

I put up some decor in our new bedroom. Ah, finally! a good use for those Twilight Saga books; propping up pretty stuff. The china lady is from Auntie Ro and the jewelry box is from Mom.

Here's the whole top of the dresser. We stopped by the craft store the other day and got the artificial flowers for 50% off. The glassware was all stuff I had previously, recycled/reused from other places in the house.
I found a cottage decorating magazine at the checkout the other day and took some ideas out of it. I'm looking forward to getting the rest of the house painted and freshened up, and trying out some more decorating ideas and tips.

We (and by that I mean Ryan) moved the furniture around in the living room today to try something new. I'm not digging the new layout, but they say give it a couple days to see if it grows on you. Cailin really enjoyed riding on the couch as it was moved. Not to mention the sunbeam she laid in as snuggled with her blankie.

And hey, to distract everyone from more of the whiny, here's a Funny Potty Story:

I don't bother changing Cailin into clothes until after she's eaten breakfast. That way she can get breakfast all over her jammies and then they go directly to the wash. She helps undress herself after breakfast and I let her run around in a diaper while I pick her an outfit. Lately though, she rips off her diaper as well and runs full speed around the house completely ecstatic to be free.

The other morning I was folding a bunch of clothes she had 'helped' with, and heard Cailin yell from Jellybean's room. She came tearing into the room holding her butt, wearing only a pair of shoes. "Poo poo!" she announced, pointed at her posterior. I was horrified. "Show me," I said. She led me to the baby's room where she shamefacedly showed me a teeny tiny puddle of pee. I assured her that was okay, and cleaned it up. Bailey on the other hand, was utterly disgusted. I'm sure she thought I would rub Cailin's nose in it.

Rona and the Dentist

The Rona here is going bankrupt - which is really a shame. Today was the start of the receivership sale and everything in the store was 25% off, so we packed up after breakfast and headed down to check out the deals.

There was a security guard at the door that was only allowing people in as people came out. The wait wasn't too long though, and Cailin sat in the cart without a fuss. About five steps into the store we found a perfect vanity for our downstairs bathroom. We also managed to find a nice faucet, a sheet of glass tiles, a new mirror and wall sconces to complete the bathroom reno. I can't wait to see how the bathroom turns out when it's all done.

We also found a nice fixture to go above the kitchen sink, and one to replace the large ugly florescent light in the center of the kitchen. I can't wait until it's installed - no more annoying buzzing from the broken ballast. Hopefully the popcorn ceiling isn't in too bad of shape under the big fixture; the new one is quite a bit smaller.

I also picked out new drawer pulls and knobs. I have never liked the ones in the kitchen and was glad for the opportunity to change them - for a fraction of the regular cost. The first one I tried on the cupboard door was defective of course, but luckily I bought an extra one.

Cailin did really well in the Rona considering how long we were in there - past naptime even. She got a little fussy, but that was to be expected. She barely ate any breakfast and she was getting tired by the time we checked out.

When we got home I realized I had a dentist appointment to go to. I hate going to the dentist. This time I got a little pleasure out of thinking maybe I could breath fire on the dentist from my ever-present heartburn. No such luck, but it was a good idea.

They treat pregnant ladies like they're hand grenades in the dentist office. I assured the hygienist that I would not get ill no less than five times while getting my teeth cleaned. Every time I moved, she skidded her chair back like I was on fire. She asked if I was okay no less than ten times. It's nice they were concerned though.

Surprisingly, that was the easiest dentist appointment I can remember. No x-rays or anything.

If going to the dentist wasn't punishment enough for one day, I had to go grocery shopping after. It was super busy in the store and I saw many examples of how I never want my children to act in public. I am realistic however; I know it is only a matter of time before my sweet children are pulling stunts like that themselves.

I noticed a guy standing beside my car on the way out. He was eyeballing the door from what I could tell, then he walked away. I was going to check the door, but forgot until I got home. And yes, something had hit my car. Yet again. Looks like a cart this time. I'm getting very sick of people marking and scratching my car up. How far away from the door does this pregnant mama have to park to avoid this crap? The next lot over?

The whole time I was at the dentist and grocery store, Cailin napped. When she got up, she helped herself to a few snacks and we went for a walk. Because she has a short attention span and wanders aimlessly on walks, her poor father goes and collects her and deposits her inside the stroller. There is much protesting when this happens. We didn't shut the top of the pod today though, and that helped the situation enormously. Cailin enjoys being able to see out. There was talk of getting her a kiddie leash. Sigh.

Supper was a breakfast affair involving eggs and toast. Then cleanup, bath, hockey and bed. Not necessarily in that order.

I'm not enjoying all this hockey. I can't wait til they toss the cup at a shaggy exhausted team and call it a day.

Sunny Sunday

Another Sunday come and gone.

Early this morning Ryan went and collected the holiday trailer from the yard at work. It turned out to be quite a chore because of the amount of mud involved. Apparently it didn't freeze very hard overnight. Once the trailer was free of its quagmire (and both the pickup and trailer had a bath), Ryan came and picked us up for the day's adventures. I'm glad we missed the muddy part.

First stop, we headed over to pick up a new vent cover. Cailin sat in a sunbeam covered in her current favorite toys and watched a bobcat in the trailer dealership's yard. She was only content for so long however. When Ryan came back out to the pickup, he found a wee driver sitting behind the wheel making adjustments to whatever buttons she could reach. She was quickly buckled back into her own seat.

I'm very happy with the loads of room in the backseat of this new pickup; however, Cailin is no longer within arms' reach anymore. I have to get creative while handing her things or trying to pick up something that she's dropped.

We spent a quiet afternoon out at Nana and Papa's. While the wind was very cold, we did manage to spend quite a bit of time outside. I walked with Nana and the doggies while Cailin rode in the Rhino with Ryan and then switched to ride in the Ranger with Papa. She insists on having music while riding apparently. Also, she likes to steer and pushes Papa's hands off the steering wheel so she can do it.

Boo and Bella had a great time walking and were complete nerds. Boo is feeling much better and was playing and jumping. He tricked Mom into thinking he wanted up and then playfully attacked her. It was hilarious.

Poor Cailin and her injuries. She is so hard on herself. Yesterday she knocked her chin on the table and bruised her healing cut. Today she was running on the sidewalk and did a face plant, giving herself a bump, bruise and a bit of road rash on her forehead. To say she was angry about her newest knock on the noggin would be an understatement. I'm not sure how the snow in her immediate area didn't instantly melt in the heat of her fury. The tears were loud and long - that is, until I put her in the kitchen sink and let her play with the faucet (which she can operate of course). She helped us wash our hands, then washed her hands... and her feet... and her jeans.... Let's just say we pack two extra outfits plus jammies when we go places now.

Cailin also received an Easter package from Auntie Hedder and Uncle Duster and tore into it with gusto. She instantly figured out that the Easter eggs were filled with candy (which was devoured in a short period of time) and loved the bendy bunny straw and puppy. Thanks guys, that was awesome and she loved it! We're really taken with the little blue sleeper for Jellybean too, and the Hello Kitty shirt.

We had a delicious steak dinner and watched the last of the hockey game. It was a really full day of playing outside, Rhino/Ranger riding and forehead injury-ing. We were barely out of the driveway on our way home before Cailin was asleep.

Of course she woke up when we stopped to gas up the pickup. At the gas station, just over the horizon, a beautiful moon was rising. It was huge and orange. I just so happened to have my camera so we went for a little drive to get a good view of the moon and some pics. Unfortunately, I didn't have the tripod with me and that was completely necessary for a good moonscape picture. I got some pics, but they just don't do the moon justice.

Cailin's kitchen came home tonight. It's been at Nana and Papa's since Christmas. That's not too shabby - only been four months. At any rate, since Cailin had napped on the way home, she was wide awake and ready to play when the kitchen made its debut. We got out the food (which did make it home) and cooked up a storm. Bailey seemed disappointed that the food wasn't all that palatable. No fear, she will eat plastic when the opportunity presents itself.

Cailin didn't want to go to bed very badly. She was mixing up coffee ("cuppy") and having a great time. When she got her first sniff of bedspeak, she ran to the top of the stairs and called for her daddy - just like I do. "Ry! Ry! Ry!" she called him by name. I couldn't stop laughing. I asked him if I sound like that when I call him. I would call, "Ry!" then Cailin would copy me. Wonder if we wore his name out?
So I let her come downstairs and help us tidy up. Usually? She plays downstairs for about five whole minutes before heading back upstairs. Since someone had mentioned bedtime, she avoided the stairs like the plague, choosing instead to tear around with a baby doll and turn on the clock radio to dance in our bedroom. At one point she helped herself to the paper towel roll and 'cleaned' whatever she could reach - including Bailey's face and rear end. Bailey was not amused in the slightest. She also helped herself to my lipgloss, taking a few bites of it before giving it back to me. Thanks, kid. Then she climbed up on the TV stand and turned the TV on and off repeatedly... set off the panic button on the command start... arranged/hid all the remote controls... chased Bailey around... jumped on the couch....

Eventually Ryan scooped her up and declared bedtime. She went willingly enough - until she caught sight of her kitchen taking up residence in the dining room. "Peese?"

With the amount of sugar she ingested today, I doubt she'll sleep the night through. But what a great day it was.

Our Saturday in Pictures

Cailin got to wear her new jammies she got from Grampy and Pammy. She and Bailey are never far apart, even when Cailin is brushing her teeth.Hanging out in daddy's new pickup is really fun. Cailin can turn up the music, change channels and even start/shut off the key. She's been asking to play in the pickup every time she walks by it. She prefers you to put her in the drivers seat, and shut the door. You can look in the window, but no touchy the buttons. That's her job.We had a lot of fun playing outside with both the old stroller and the new stroller. Cailin isn't too sure about the new one; she prefers to walk behind it, helping to push it rather than riding inside. However, she climbs right in the old stroller and rides no problem.
The new pickup all washed up and shiny. Ryan loves it. Well, we all do; it's a very nice truck.
Ah, yes. The infamous garbage cans. Every Friday, Cailin gets very excited to watch the garbage truck come and lift the cans and dump the contents out. However, she gets upset the garbage cans are left on the street afterwards. One time she stood in the front window and told me about the "gopbies" and actually shed some tears over them. I had no idea what she was trying to tell me - until we went for a walk later that day and she pointed out what "gopbies" were. She then helped me roll our can back into its spot beside the house and everything was once again right in the world. Here she is feeling indignant about the neighbors' abandoned can (it was only out for 24hrs):
It was a pretty cold day, but we did manage to play outside a bit here and there. We took our new double stroller for a walk (much complaining from the peanut gallery when forced to ride) and played in the new truck. Cailin must be dragged inside kicking and screaming every time we go in. I'm really hoping for some nicer weather soon so we can have a decent amount of time outside to play (and wear the energizer bunny right out).

What the Heck Happened to Spring?

The snow we got yesterday hasn't melted yet. In fact, it seems like it will be joined by more of its kind before it goes away. I'm trying not to be too disappointed in spring this year, but it's been awfully hard. Winter was way too long and we're really chomping at the bit for sunshine, grass and blue skies. I've never been stuck inside for so long before.

Cailin loves playing outside so much. She follows Bailey around in the backyard and makes sure to tell me when "poo poo" happens. I'm not sure where she picked this little gem up, but she knows her bathroom lingo.

Just over half the backyard is raked and ready for playing on now. If only it would quit snowing, melt the remaining crusts of snow and dry up already, we'd be set. I suppose standing on one's back step shaking their fist at the heavens doesn't really speed the process up any. However, I believe in the therapeutic value of such actions.

Yesterday I visited our family doctor for the last prenatal visit with him. As of now, I will be going to the obstetrician I saw with Cailin. I wish I could continue with our family doctor, but as he puts it, this town employs a "large conveyor belt" type system to deal with the extraordinary amount of pregnancies and births here (330+ per month!). The conveyor belt consists of: family doctor first for around 20 weeks, then an obstetrician for the remainder, plus the surgeon if a c-section is needed. At any rate, things are bound to get a little more exciting now that I'm further along and doctor(s) visits will be more frequent.

When I walked into the doctor's office, I was ushered right in to the examination room - absolutely no waiting. From there I was weighed and uh, performed a bodily function involving a cup. Everything is great, no protein etc.

When I asked what the damage was for my weight gained so far, the doctor's wife replied with a cheerful, "Nine pounds!" I was suprised, I was sure I would have gained more weight than that. When I asked to clarify only nine pounds gained in total, the doctor's wife replied (still cheerfully), "Oh, no. Nine pounds gained since last appointment. It's 20 pounds in total."

I almost passed the hell out. NINE POUNDS IN ONE MONTH???? TWENTY POUNDS IN TOTAL???!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

*pant, pant*

Okay... Feeling better.

But, oh my good gracious sakes alive! 20 damn pounds and I still have 16 weeks left to go. Something tells me I better lay off the Mini Eggs like, yesterday.

The doctor and his wife both assure me that is a very normal amount of weight gain and not to worry about it (I gained 25lbs total with Cailin). I was still reeling from the numbers when he checked for Jellybean's heartbeat and found it instantly. 140 beats per minute, strong and steady. It's always so nice and reassuring to hear the baby's heartbeat. He's been moving quite a bit, but not as much as Cailin kicked. The doctor said boys are lazy.

He also told me to take it very easy on my back as it is easy to permanently injure it while pregnant. This kind of tells me that painting the entire house while waiting for Jellybean to make his appearance may not be in my best interest.

The new and improved due date is now August 15. Which means he will probably be born the week prior, maybe as late as August 11 or 12. I will find out the actual birthday in the coming weeks as I see the obstetrician and get an appointment with the surgeon. I'm hoping I still get to attend mom and dad's 30th anniversary party.

So anyways, I'm in perfect health (besides being a little fat for my liking) and Jellybean is doing very well. I'm starting to get tired more often now, and quite easily but I still continue to feel pretty good. Except for that pesky heartburn type stuff of course.

We do have a name for Jellybean, but we're not announcing it here until he is born. We're not keeping it a secret though, if you want to know his name, just ask! (but not on here).

Also, yesterday Cailin got an Easter package in the mail from Pammy and Grampy. She got new Easter jammies with bunnies on them and a cool belt for cinching up too-big pants. She was trying to wear the belt as a headband until I demonstrated on Bailey that it was for her waist. For the rest of the day she chased Bailey around with the belt repeatedly saying, "Peese!" Bailey was not amused. I will be taking pictures of Cailin in her new jammies as soon as they're washed. Of course the first thing Cailin did with them was to coat them in goo from her chewable Advil. Gotta break them in I guess. Cailin absolutely loves the card with a bunny on it.

Cailin and I spent the morning baking today. After plastering her jammies in muffin batter, I helped her strip to her diaper. Instead of continuing to help me bake, she 'peesed' her way out of her soggy diaper and ran laps around the house in the buff. Since she has a bit of diaper rash anyway, there isn't a better cure than fresh air. There aren't words to describe the freedom Cailin feels when she's uh, without a stitch on. It's hilarious. I have video of it to show her when she's older.

No matter how excited Cailin was for muffins, she flipped over backwards when I started making chocolate chip cookies. She loves cookie dough more than I do, and that's saying a lot. I'm pretty sure she ate her weight in dough. It was a tad disconcerting to have a naked child dipping into the bowl with a spoon repeatedly, so I made her get dressed. She picked out her own outfit today and it's a little on the loud side of florescent green.

Currently the devourer of cookie dough is napping. The last few days she's been taking a sippy cup to bed with her and refuses to be parted with it. She falls asleep with it in her arms (right beside her stuffed puppy of course). I'm pretty sure I just heard it hit the floor. Here comes the afternoon shift!

Return of Winter Part 457.5

I knew there would be snow on the ground this morning when I woke up. You could feel the air changing yesterday; a storm was blowing in. No surprise whatsoever, it's been snowing cats and dogs today.

Of course, one can't entirely explain to a toddler why we played outside yesterday and that we can't play outside today because of the driving snow. Poor Cailin stripped down to nothing but her squeaky shoes and bounced off the walls after hearing that news. She is also fairly cranky due to the pending arrival of several eye teeth; they are all on the move now. None of us can wait until they come in and relieve our normally cheerful girl of her bad mood. Unfortunately she was completely out of baby Tylenol this morning and had to suffer a mouth ache until we could get more. That - paired with her wanting to play outside - was causing a bit of heart break this morning. There was only one thing to do. To the pet store.

We bundled up, made a mad dash to the car and we were off. Cailin knew where we were going and made animal noises all the way there, chatting happily to me. She also demanded the sunroof cover be opened and closed a million times. Don't ask; it's Daddy's fault.

Once safely out of the wind inside the store, Cailin made a beeline to the guinea pigs. She watched them the longest this time. I happen to find them cute and fluffy so no issues watching them. She also liked the kittens and chinchilla. My favorite part was when one of the hedgehogs woke up and peeked at us from its little shelter. It was a tiny one, and it had the sweetest button face. Cailin watched him for as long as he was awake. All too soon he curled into a tiny spiky ball and went back to sleep.

Cailin has been in there enough to know the circuit. Once we looked at the rodent type species, we gawked at the puppies. With only a passing glance at the birds, she wandered over to look at the fish. From there we picked up a (huge) bag of food for Bailey. As a side note, they changed her food to be more "healthy". I hope she eats it.

When checking out the puppies in the open pen, Cailin suffered a playful nip from the littlest pup. She grabbed her hand back, yelled "OWIE" and burst into tears. The puppies felt bad and crowded around her. She showed me her injured finger (very exaggerated), but didn't want to leave the puppies very badly. She's a tad dramatic when teething apparently.

After her puppy trauma, we went and talked to the pharmacist about some relief from this very annoying teething pain and ended up with children's Advil. I bought some of the old reliable stuff too, just in case she didn't take to the chewable tablets. I shouldn't have worried, the tablet when down like a piece of candy.

Cailin enjoyed herself thoroughly in the pharmacy. She ran around and collected items and deposited them in unique places. I'm glad everyone thought she was so adorable. They'll be finding bath puffs in strange places for some time...

Well, I'm off to another prenatal appointment. I don't anticipate any poking, prodding, blood tests or the like, but wish me luck just in case. Update forthcoming.

Oh! Did I mention Jellybean now has a name??

Sunday Fun and Games

This morning started off with a bang. Or rather, a barf.

Bailey jumped up on Ryan to sit on the couch with him and um, let loose. On his lap. Much to his vast disgust. In her defence, she did feel pretty bad about it. Just not as bad as Ryan did.

While Cailin was busy harassing Bailey and Ryan, I started making pancakes for our Sunday morning breakfast. I found a recipe even Cailin will eat. Unfortunately I started making the recipe for blueberry muffins instead of pancakes, so I made both. The second Cailin found out I was baking without her, she grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the counter to help.

Bailey has been such a brat about meals lately that she has been banished to the other side of the baby gate while we eat. Mostly while Cailin eats. When the dog isn't swarming her for tidbits, Cailin really concentrates on eating. However, when Ryan went to pick Bailey up to banish her, she ran to me and hid between me and the stove and growled at him. We were both completely shocked, me more so than him. He picked her up and banished her anyway. I gave her heck. She sat on the mat at the back door and didn't say a peep. No worries; once breakfast was safely over, she got a little piece of pancake because she was being good.

Once Bailey was dealt with, I turned around to discover Cailin had dusted everything within reach in flour, including herself. She had also, ahem, soiled herself. Once the flour dust settled and she was fresh as a daisy, she sat at the table and hoovered most of a pancake in and enjoyed it thoroughly. Breakfast was such a treat this morning.

Ryan took it upon himself to really clean and tidy the living room while I baked and cooked. The rest of the toys have been delegated to the kids' rooms now, and the living room only has some kids' books in it. It looks so different without all the toys cluttered up in the corners.

Jellybean's room is nearly ready. We put a few toys in there for him and he now has some clothes freshly washed and put in his dresser. A lot of Cailin's toys are in there too, but they will eventually be sharing them, so I'm not too worried about it. For the meantime, she is really enjoying going in there to play.

I've been worried about switching Cailin to her toddler bed. I wanted her to be good and ready for the switch, and be in the bed full time for about a month before Jellybean is born since we need the crib for him. This means we would have to start sleep training her in the bed right away. Now that we're sleeping downstairs, I'm worried about her getting up in the middle of the night. Plus she is super attached to her crib and asks to be put in it randomly during the day. I was really worried about it the other morning when she asked to be put back to bed and lounged around in there for a long time. How am I going to boot her out of her crib and put a new baby in there?

However, Ryan called me not even half an hour later and told me his friend at work is giving away a crib for free and wanted to know if we wanted it. And he's giving away a bassinet as well. I told him to tell his friend yes we would take them and thank you ever so much. In a week or so we'll be the proud borrowers of a cherry wood crib just for Jellybean. I am so thankful. I can't believe we are just that much closer to being ready for our son.

So after breakfast was eaten, and Ryan finished up his living room project, it was on to the fun stuff. Outside time! I dressed Cailin warmly and out we went to the backyard. Where I proceeded to rake mass quantities of leaves (and dog poo) from the lawn and Cailin wandered around after Bailey. They had a great time. Last summer the neighbor gave us a slide and Cailin had lots of fun climbing the ladder and sliding all by herself. She also helped 'rake' by dragging a hoe around through my piles of leaves (and poo). At one point she decided she was too hot and lost the windbreaker jacket I put on over top of her sweater. I made her keep the sweater on though.

Ryan cleaned and organized the shed and then took a load of garbage to the dump. He also dropped off our old clothes to the donation bin. I finished raking all the grass that isn't covered in snow and Cailin organized her toys in the wagon she found in the shed. We still have a car to assemble for her that she got for Christmas and the wagon could use a good scrub, but we're very close to being ready for some serious warm weather playing.

The backyard is still kind of a mess, and only half of it is bare of snow. I'm also pretty sure I now know what Bailey spent the entire winter doing (ew!). Cailin got completely muddy and had a wonderful time outside; so wonderful in fact that she was an hour late in getting to her nap. She slept really good after all the fresh air.

After lunch and before dinner, we went out the front door and had a nice walk. Cailin is starting to get the concept of 'going for a walk'. She didn't wander too badly this time. When the sidewalk is free of snow and ice it will be easier I'm thinking. At any rate, we had lots of fun. Until we got back to the front door. Cailin got that little smirk on her face and gleam in her eye; she then took off and ran away from me. She didn't get far, but that was the end of playing outside. Well, once I caught her anyway. The complaining was long and loud over that one.

One thing I did learn today was that Cailin doesn't make a very good laundry folding helper. She grabbed the clothes I already folded and ran away with them, shirts and socks flying out of her arms as she laughed. She gave me that look with the little twinkle in her eye and dared me to object. (I did object). She thought it was funny as heck. (Me, not so much.)

All in all, it was a very successful Sunday. The muffin jar is full (we don't have a conventional 'cookie jar'), the laundry is done, the house is clean and the backyard is well on its way to being whipped into shape for the season. Ugh, the front yard is another story. Thankfully for another day.

Bandaids and Golf

It had to happen sometime. With a crazy climbing kid like Cailin, eventually a booboo is going to suffered.

Yesterday she was standing on the closed toilet lid leaning over the sink and brushing her teeth. I don't like her standing there and usually insist on her standing on her step stool instead, but since I was right there to supervise, I just let it slide. She climbs up there by herself and doesn't have any issues.

But.

Yesterday she had socks on. Slippery socks on the plastic toilet lid spelled certain disaster. I was standing right beside her when she slipped, knocked her chin on the tank and fell off the toilet. I felt so bad for her. She cried of course, but continued brushing her teeth. Priorities, you know.

Then I noticed blood on her shirt. She had split her chin open. At first, it looked pretty bad. It was bleeding and I couldn't tell how big or deep the split was. I cleaned it with a wet washcloth (which was instantly snagged and tossed away) and let it be for a minute as it was obviously sore. I was afraid it would need a stitch.

When Ryan got home a few minutes later, the split had shut and didn't look that bad anymore. I administered some Polysporin and a butterfly bandaid. I was relieved. I had no idea how scary injuries are when they happen to your child. I felt sick to my stomach and upset all day. If I had paid just a little more attention the whole incident would have never happened.

Cailin didn't seem to be bothered by any of it yesterday and ran around like nothing had happened. It sure bothered me though.

This morning her chin looks sore, but well on its way to healing. Unfortunately, one of her bottom eyeteeth came in quite a bit overnight too, and it's causing her a lot of discomfort and a touch of fever. Being only inches from her bumped chin, I can imagine how her wee face feels today.

Yesterday I found a tiny Cabbage Patch doll like I had as a kid and bought it for Cailin. She loves it, and has been packing it around constantly. She feeds it a bottle and rocks it, then tosses it over the crib rail for a nap. All while wearing her boots undone and looking not unlike a wee pirate.

We ran around and spun our wheels again this morning trying to get the house cleaned up. I'm not all that sorry to say I've been neglecting the house to play outside with Cailin. However, today was the breaking point. When I can't see the kitchen counters and there's a dozen paper cups ripped up and chewed all over the living room (Bailey did it), it's time for some cleaning to happen. So we vacuumed and did dishes and cleaned the kitchen and picked up toys. Kinda.

Also? A few days ago I broke the toilet lid holder shut thingy. Cailin was right there when I did it and didn't hesitate to play with the lid the second it was free. She hasn't figured out that you can throw stuff in the toilet before you flush it (thank goodness!) but I'm sure it's not that far off. The last few days I've been on a mission to replace the toilet holder shut thingy and couldn't find a darn thing. You'd think that would be a hot ticket item for any household. I'm assuming keeping children out of toilets is a high priority for any parent.

Then I wonder if perhaps most kids don't play in the toilet. Parenting fail for me? Hope not. At any rate, after buying a unusable model at Canadian Tire, searching Walmart and Sears, I found one in a dusty corner in Dawson Creek. Today I had lots of help as Cailin assisted me in installing the new toilet-kid-keeper-outer device. So far so good.

We've been having so much fun the last few days getting out in the sun. We've gone for walks, and downtown to the pet store. I also had to return a pair of maternity pants that had a very odd fit. I traded those in for a pair of capris, and I got a free shirt, plus they gave me $6 back. Good shopping that day! Cailin is so well behaved and I love the compliments people give me on how cute and adorable she is.

The pet store continues to be one of Cailin's favorite places. This time we spent a lot of time watching the gerbils. They were hiding in tunnels and running on wheels and Cailin couldn't take her eyes off them. I briefly considered buying her a gerbil, but that is one pet that Bailey would eat without any question. Cailin was also quite taken with the hedgehogs. Again, Bailey would have no problem trying to eat a hedgehog, and I can't imagine the vet bill following such an episode. Hedgehogs are extremely pokey. You can't hold them in your bare hand. Happy to report we left the pet store empty handed.

It's been a busy and mostly productive day. The house is clean, Cailin is napping and Ryan is watching golf. Normally I would make much gagging and retching noises at having to watch golf, but I must admit, it is so nice to watch the scenery of the golf course. I'm also hoping to watch some golfer go Happy Gilmore out there. So far, nothing. But I'm hopeful.

Well, I best get some laundry washed before it multiplies. You know what they say about bunnies and laundry.

Heartburn - Oh, the Humanity!

Most days I don't have much time to think about being pregnant. I get tired easier than before, but I feel great for the most part. Days like today though, it's right front and center. Quite literally. Ladies and gentlemen, there is now a baby bump. I'm not sure when this happened, but I think it just appeared one night. POP! and there it was. I think it's kind of a big bump for approaching 22 weeks if I do say so myself. And I do say so; I'm the one who's lugging it around.

While the bump isn't really an issue (well, I haven't knocked anyone over yet anyway), the heartburn that ensues sure is. All day today I fought horrendous heartburn. I'm quite sure it's eroding my brain stem as it swirls around in there; it already claimed my tonsils. It doesn't seem to matter how many Gaviscons I take, I don't get any relief.

What's a girl to do when she has the fire of Hades in her throat? Why, she serves pizza for dinner, complete with fire-fueling tomato sauce of course! And now I'm really suffering. Cailin loved every single cheesy piece though, so it was worth it. If I start breathing fire though? Somebody please club me.

Today was one of those super frustrating days where I spun my wheels and turned circles trying to get a lot accomplished. If I had a tail I would have been chasing it. Since we moved our room downstairs, it's been a real pain to have my clothes remain upstairs in the dresser and closet. Not to mention the show the neighbors have been getting each morning. Yeesh.

So today, while a cranky teething Cailin was napping, I put together wire shelves from mom's and cleaned out the laundry room. I put the shelves under the stairs and began the arduous task of cleaning out the dresser and closet upstairs. I wasn't keen on keeping my clothes in the laundry room, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of efficiency. The clothes go in the washer, then dryer, get folded and put back on the handy shelf. That's not so bad. I'm still absolutely giddy about the fact that we have same-level laundry.

Cleaning out the remainder of Jellybean's room took a lot longer than I thought it would. I sorted out clothes to keep for after pregnancy, clothes to wear during and some to donate. I got rid of absolutely anything that didn't fit properly or that I don't like wearing etc.

The closet was a bigger issue since it didn't just contain clothes - it was full of trinkets, GameBoy stuff and empty jewelry boxes to say the least. Once Cailin got up, she was enthralled by all the little ring boxes and such and played with them for the longest time.

I have tons of little knick knacks that I have no idea what to do with. I know they could be treasures for someone else, so I'm thinking of donating things I don't use or display anymore. There was so much crammed in that closet that I got very frustrated trying to think of things to do with it all. Hence the spinning of the wheels. It all got relegated to the kitchen counter while I thought of where to stuff everything.

Oh! And who could forget my super helpy helperton? She helped combine her clothes, my clothes, donation clothes and junk into one big happy pile:
I didn't know which way was up. I was beginning to think we'd be lost in that pile of textiles forever. However. The mood in that room quickly disintegrated into massive crank-ola and I magically regained the knowledge to finding the door. We took a break for the above mentioned pizza.

After dinner we tackled the mess again. Slowly yet surely it got better until... I turned around and the room was devoid of trinkets, clothes and artwork. Cailin's toys have kind of snuck in there though. She loves having a play room. I wonder what she'll think of the new 'toy' she'll be getting in a few months.

Once all the junk - er, stuff - was removed from Jellybean's room, the only place for it to go was down. Ryan was home from work by then, so he helped carry all the clothes etc. downstairs. I put my clothes on the racks in the laundry room, and Ryan was gracious enough to clean out a few drawers in the dresser in our new room for me to use. The clothes tornado that ensued at this point would scare a blind beaver so I'll refrain from describing it. Let me just say that Ryan has more clothes than any man should ever be allowed to have. Ahem. Moving on.

Which brings me to the storage room. It has been upgraded lately from 'Pit of Doom' to 'Pit of Despair', which I'm sure is better than 'Pit of Certain Death', but only marginally. I had a bad time fitting yet more junk into that place, but once it was finished I breathed a huge sigh of relief. And shut the bulging door and ran for my life.

During the course of the day, I managed to go through oodles of boxes of Cailin's old clothes. Not surprisingly, there wasn't a whole lot of gender neutral attire to be had, but I did manage to find several sleepers, socks and diaper shirts in yellow, and some bibs. I know there are still more boxes of clothes to sort in the storage room and I'll likely find a few more items for our son to use.

Of course, on the slight chance that someone made a mistake and we have a girl, I'm not donating any of Cailin's old clothes until Jellybean is born. If Jellybean does turn out to be a girl (and that's highly unlikely) we won't have to buy a single item of clothing for at least a year. What can I say? Cailin loves clothes, just like her daddy.

I put Jellybean's blue receiving blankets in his 'new' dresser today (thanks Auntie Hedder and Odin!), along with some crib bedding and the beige curtains that were in that room prior. I hung his first diaper shirts from Nana in the closet. And my old hockey jersey - Pittsburg Penguins. Every little boy needs a hockey jersey to grow into. What? They had Super Mario on the team way back when I got it okay? What I'm saying is, we're almost ready.

I'm not sure if we're going to paint his room or not. The color is picked out (sage green) but I don't know if it will get done before we paint the rest of the house. We might be so sick of painting by then that the beige color currently in there might suddenly be perfect.

We are currently mulling a few baby names around in our heads. We have a few that we like and agree on, but we haven't come up with THE ONE just yet. Stay tuned.

You're probably wondering what Cailin has been up to lately. No good, I can tell you.
We went for a walk today that started out quite enthusiastically but turned into a carry-me-home kinda thing. It was breezy and chilly out and you know who refuses to keep her hood or hat on for any length of time. There was a lot of, "What's that?" going on. Once in a while she would demand to be put down so she could inspect the water flowing into the sporadic drains along the street. I'm not sure why drains are so interesting, but we stopped at nearly all of them to watch the water. Then we'd walk a few steps before the inevitable pick-me-up-now-thanks. Next time we're bringing the stroller.

One of Cailin's pet peeves (and mine too) is when her bowl won't sit still on the table while she's trying to spear the goods inside of it with her fork. I've been trying to find bowls/plates that suction cup to the table but have come up empty handed every time.

When Cailin was eating macaroni the other day, inspiration struck. I took a piece of scotch tape, rolled it in a large loop and taped her bowl to the table with it. Giving it a test wiggle, it held. Not the best, but certainly better than chasing the slippery bowl around the table with one's fork. Congratulating myself on being such a smart mommy, I turned around just in time to see Cailin flip the bowl over (spilling all its contents) and remove the piece of tape. She gave the tape an experimental pinch between her fingers and then dipped it in her macaroni. At that moment, Bailey's head popped up beside Cailin and it took her a less than a second to put the tape on Bailey's ear. And laugh hysterically.

Last night I pointed to my tummy and asked Cailin if her baby brother was in there. She chirped back a very enthusiastic, "Yes!" Later I asked her where baby brother was. Cailin patted my tummy and said, "Right there."

New Bedroom and Updates

We have a three bedroom house. Sounds perfect for our family right? Well, it would be, but the third bedroom is in the basement. There is a fourth bedroom in the basement too, but it can't technically be a bedroom since it has no windows. We use it as a storage facility.

The basement bedroom is the biggest in the house, and right beside the bathroom we use for ourselves. It makes complete sense to have our bedroom in the basement and have the kids' rooms upstairs, with their bathroom between their rooms.

We thought vaguely of staying upstairs and making the kids share a room, but sadly, Cailin's room is too tiny for two occupants. Now that we know we're having a boy, it seems cruel to saddle him in a itty bitty chocolate brown and raspberry pink room with his sister. So, we took the plunge and fixed up the basement room yesterday.

The room was previously painted two different shades of what I can only call 'rust'. Whoever painted it did a fairly awful job as you could see through to the paint underneath - a very unsavoury red tone. I cleaned out the room, washed the walls and baseboards and started painting. When Ryan got home and Cailin went to bed, we tackled the room together. Ryan painted the ceiling, baseboards and door; he also installed the new light fixture. I finished painting the walls, applied a second coat and did all the cutting. And touch-ups. Goodness, I'm not a very tidy painter. I used a really good paint with primer built in and it was very forgiving, especially on the patches of rust and red paint. For some reason at one time or another, someone decided to spackle one wall with the stuff popcorn ceilings are made out of. It was a real pain to paint, let me tell you. We worked until after midnight, but we got it done.

It's nice and bright in there now, and it hardly looks like a basement room. We are both really happy with the results. So is another member of the family. Bailey can now jump on the bed due to the extra grip the carpet provides. Of course we brought down her doggie bed, but she climbed in it for all of five minutes before she realized that the big bed was once again in reach. I predict a puggle sneaking into the bed when she thinks we're sleeping.

Of course, there was piles and oodles of things that needed to go in the storage room. It is such a mess in there that we dread having to go in fishing for an item. I managed to fill one garbage bag of junk before throwing my hands in the air and giving up.

Luckily, once Cailin went to bed tonight, Ryan and I tackled the Pit of Doom together and managed to be victorious. It seemed an impossible and frustrating task this afternoon, but we got everything to fit in the storage room, even the elliptical exercise machine. Eventually we'll have to empty the room and organize it, but for now we're pretty happy with the result. In fact, we're pretty pleased with the whole basement set up. So far, the only issue we have is that there is no room for any of my clothes in our new bedroom. However, I can now proudly say we have same level laundry.

In between sessions of organizing the basement into order, Cailin and I managed to get outside for two walks. We didn't go far from the house, but Cailin doesn't mind. I'm not sure how kids instinctively know how fun it is to splash in puddles, but Cailin headed right out to the puddles and waded right in with her rubber boots. And she did it without any prompting from me. We walked up and down the road in front of the house and played in all the puddles we could find. Cailin had such a good time. Even after falling in and getting her pants wet, she wasn't interested in going back to the house. I had to carry her in and she cried when she realized puddle time was over. Fresh air does her good though; she slept for over three hours after playing outside the first time.

The second walk was much the same, except for how much snow had melted off in just a few hours. I couldn't believe the difference. Cailin loves to be outside. I can't wait until I can turn her loose in our backyard. As yet, it is completely choked with snow and completely unusable for little feet. I won't have to worry about her as much when she's safe behind our fence.

Cailin now grabs a chair and pulls it up to the counter to help with anything I'm doing. She has a huge issue with me standing at the sink and washing dishes, so when she pulled up a chair, I put it in the corner and let her help me rinse. It was a good idea in theory. In reality, there was water everywhere in a 3 foot radius. I had to soak up the ocean of water off the floor and out from under the sink. She had such a good time. I'm guessing a water table is in her future this summer.

Other things she's been doing this week:

- says, "Da!" (ta da!) and throws her arms out wide

- says the three part when we count up to three with her ("Fee!")

- when asked where her bellybutton is, she lifts up her shirt

- when asked what sound a puppy makes, she makes barking noises

- still howls when talking to Bailey

Twice this week, Bailey has failed to haul her bottom out of bed to greet Cailin in her room. For some reason Cailin gets fairly insulted by this. Not insulted enough to not finish her bottle though. She points at the mat where Bailey usually sits and asks, "B? Ahwoo?" Once the milk is down the hatch, she goes in search of her dog. Usually she crawls right into Bailey's bed with her. Or tries to push her out of bed while madly grunting. Bailey reluctantly gets up and follows her kid around at that point.

I pretty sure Bailey would never sleep through breakfast.