Oldies

A while back I was tagged for 6 Random things about me. So here it goes only I don't feel like talking about me so I am doing 6 random things about me and my siblings. They are all pretty random and not all that exciting. I have included some very random pictures throughout for your viewing pleasure.


Growing up I always thought my brother Ryan was so cool because of the music he listened to and how loud. I'm sure I looked forward to the days he dropped me off at school way more than he did. I wonder sometimes what he would be his music of choice now. I hope it wouldn't still be Depeche Mode.

Whenever we were on a family vacation where there was a pool there were swimming races at some point. And without fail I would go up against my brother Peter, who I am pretty sure never went that far in swimming lessons, against me who was one or 2 courses shy of becoming a lifeguard. Every time without fail my Dad would put his money on me for the win- seriously. Even though I'm pretty sure not once did I beat him, (my form was probably impeccable though) Not that wins races or saves lives.

I'm pretty sure I was the annoying tag a long sister to Regan for a few good years. When I was in Gr. 1 I got to walk to school with him and his friends (I found out later I was their good deed for the day) When he was in Gr. 4 I would hunt him down on the playground and harass him and his friends for piggybacks and just be annoying I'm sure.


I always thought it would be funny and awesome if I beat my sister Lindsay in a race. I think I missed my chance when she ran 6 weeks post James' birth. I would've whooped her if I wasn't 7 months preggo myself. If you know Lindsay winning is a BIG DEAL, just slightly competitive.

Brooke always the cutest getting load of attention as the baby of the family- despite what she might say. We went through a phase where we were best buds -were still friends now too. She copied everything I did. When we went out to eat (still can't believe my parents took all 6 kids out-insane) she would just want what I was having, until one day I was done with it & I said I'll have whatever she is having.



I'm not even gonna comment on the oldie pictures, they still crack me up. I guess I'll leave it open for laughs and mockery... but I will point out that I don't think mine or Lindsay's or Brooke's hairdos changed for the first 13 years of my life.

Workout Sequence

Don't get the wrong idea in thinking that I'm working out all the time. I definitely think about it more than I actually do it. Sadie caught on pretty quick and was sticking to her workout routine. So maybe she won't have the scrawny arms that I have.... maybe.

Here she is position 1: watching and learning the proper form.

Feeling and looking good after 1 rep.

woooow starting to feel it ... the burn that is. Extending and exerting with every ounce of muscle in her little body.

Carve it up Sadie!

aww take a seat, well done.. can't wait to see the results in 4-6 weeks ... right? Should be just in time for swimsuit season.

Clearly I need to put down the camera and pick up the weights if I want any results of my own.

seriously so cute

We headed down south for the weekend, for some family and fun. It was crazy, exhausting, super fun, caught up on sleep, lost sleep, and hung out with family. Honestly from the minute Sadie and I got there it felt non stop, even though it really wasn't.

Congrats to my cousin Haley who got married to Wes on Valentines Day. They were a cute couple and she looked AMAZING her dress was perfect. I wish I had a picture of them she was absolutely gorgeous.

Besides the cute newly wed couple, James & Sadie were my next favorite. Sadie was totally keeping up with the rest of the crew this weekend, she did not need me to take her around. She was quite good at running around screaming with the others, finding the candy dish, discovering and trying to get into things she shouldn't be. It was a good thing that they were so dang cute because when they weren't they were keeping us busy chasing and entertaining them.

Here they are stealing the show.

Can you see why I can't get enough of these 2.


Honestly never once did we try to make them dance, hug or kiss. These too (usually James instigates) did it all on their own.

My dad is quite the entertainer with the kids. He loves pulling out the movie trailers for the kids to watch. All the kids know who to go ask if they want to watch one. When your only there for a weekend grandma and grandpa will give you just about anything. This weekend the list included, movie trailers upon request, chocolate in bed, unlimited Wii, snuggles and playtime even from midnight till 2, sugar cereals, no car seats in Raymond, and lots of treats if that's what it takes. My parents are the best grandparents really the adore everyone of their grandkids.
My dad put my mothering cuddling skills to shame when he got up and stayed up with Sadie and somehow magically got her to fall asleep in his arms after my 2 hours of failed attempts. I am so lucky, what a great dad, to give up his sleep for me.

Side note directed to Lindsay It becomes very difficult to watch your kids at your house when you leave a spare key; out of my reach, frozen to the metal, and non working. Hope you had fun in Vegas!

unlucky

There are probably more people out there thinking about feb. 14th. But today I have not forgotten it is Friday the 13th. Am not really superstious, but I am ok with blaming my unlucky incidents on an unlucky number.
Unfortunately my day started way too early. Sadie was up and ready to go, this week has been brutal she has been up at 5:30 everyday, I didn't think it could get worse.... it did, 5a.m.
After changing her diaper, again unlucky me (ok not really but lucky would be if the diaper fairy came and changed it for me) I came back to this.

Her first piece of artwork displayed.

I promise I didn't yell, hit, or spank this girl. I didn't need to I looked said, "no Sadie" and my sensitive little girl mess a crying mess.

I attempted to teach her a lesson and she tried to wash it off.

Sadie's lesson learned maybe... well see next week if I find more artwork or super clean walls.
My lesson learned ALL writing tools must be out of reach or used on strict supervision.

short but SWEET!

The weekends always seem too short, but even shorter when it is a weekend away with no kid. Ryan's mom was the hero that stepped in last minute and came up to stay with Sadie. Giving Ryan & I the chance to go to his work retreat at Lake Louise kid free. It was so nice and super fun to kind of remember what we could do with no kids. Sadly for me I still had a hard time staying up too late, and even worse I seriously couldn't sleep in past 7:00. Given the chance again I think I could improve.


The place we stayed was beautiful. Just slightly out of our league, we felt silly using valet parking (have you seen the luxury vehicles we roll in), but a fun perk. It was perfect winter weather we went ice skating, checked out ice sculptures, and went on a hike, ate delicious food and I got to know some of the lawyers Ryan works with. Now I have a harder time not liking them and calling them slave drivers as of course they are all very nice to talk to. Some of them had their kids with them and I think it is always so refreshing to see "big time" lawyers who work ridiculously long, hard hours, just be good fun dads.


I forget what going on a hike with Ryan is like, when it's just us two. I think you learn a lot about the type of person by how they hike. We started out at a good pace and were enjoying the scenery, nature, quiet, and how lucky we are to live close to stuff like this. This is totally my style of hiking I guess I am closer to the stop and smell the roses kinda girl. After hiking a bit further it was all about the pace, how much time we could do this in, we need to set a goal... you get the idea this it TOTAL Ryan. There came a point where we both thought do we have time to finish the hike? Ryan thought maybe we should turn around at a certain time like (4:00) I didn't want to rip myself off of the satisfaction of finishing the hike. So he agreed and I may have regretted this idea. As the rest of the hike he was hot on my heals, pep talking and pushing me up the hike. In the end we made it to the snow covered lake. Then we turned around and pretty much ran down, right after Ryan set the time when we had to be down. Lucky we made it just in time, about half the time it took us to get up.

Cheesy. But this is my victory at the top of the hike.

We got back in time to celebrate Ryan's moms birthday with her. I can't thank her enough for coming up and giving up her weekend to entertain Sadie all day long. It would have been nice if Ryan's dad could have come up too. He is such an early riser, and then I wouldn't have felt so bad when she had to get up at 5:30am with Sadie.

My little boddler

What's been going on. I have been neglecting the blog lately not feeling like updating my own but continuing to see what is going on in everyone elses lives. Not a ton going on lately, life is pretty good though.

I learned a new word last night while reading a book. New to me anyway BODDLER. You can probably use your awesome mother brain to figure that one out. I googled it and here is a definition of it.
Boddler is the name we gave to our children when they were no longer really babies but were not quite toddlers either - i.e. when they had started moving about so getting into scrapes but not actually walking and toddling about. The advantage of the word is that if it is spoken forcibly it does come out as a good swear word.

Oh! you little boddler!

Yes I will admit Sadie isn't really a baby anymore, but I don't think she is a real toddler yet.
So I say Sadie is at the boddler stage. She is typical and loves to empty cupboards drawers and create messes (each day trying to make more & get bigger and better) She LOVES to follow me around and copy what I do. I do think it is pretty cute all the little things she picks up on. She continues to pick and choose words from her boddler language. Only a mother can translate chheee and mmmo and know she is saying cheese and more. I think she is chincy with her words and tries to use "body language" and when that doesn't work its just screaming and grunting which again only a mother can translate. She attempts colouring on paper and herself (she always seems to find pens to colour on her clothes with ahhh) She is always reaching and whining for things that are off boddler limits. She is a decent workout partner. I knew I got those 2lb weights for a reason they are perfect for her. She totally mimics my moves. When I try to do push ups she bends down & gets right in my face and either grunts or laughs at me. She is the perfect little side kick for now.

Being naked is a major highlight everyday. It is like the ultimate freedom, she thinks she can run away from me even faster.

I love that chores aren't really chores. The beauty of this is she is actually cleaning too! Chores are like games to her she sees the vacuum and starts running- "chase me, chase me" Laundry is another favorite of hers & mine too. I am waiting for the day I dread laundry, but so far I really like it, I do it every Monday and I'm done. Maybe with more kids it will change.

She loves to get as close as possible to all the animals at the zoo, pretty funny and a little gross.

Here she is learning 2 things: patience and hot. While she watches and waits for the cookies to bake.

Chocolate I love she loves it, I rarely go a day without chocolate in some form. mmm chocolate pudding.

And here is what I made from the month of January. Each month just a quick collage I can print off in a picture. I did family ones from last year surprisingly its mostly lot of pictures of Sadie.

Little side note I dropped Ryan off today and then went grocery shopping, I was there like 1 minute before it opened & the crazy thing is I was not alone people were standing outside the door waiting to get in. I was back home before 9:00 and was already done grocery shopping and Sadie down for a nap. Weird?! but nice. ahhh gonna be a good one.

Alright January now that January is half over, I think I avoided the rush of the new years resolution. I've seen these floating around the blog world, so here is my take on it.


1. What did you do in 2008 that you've never done before?
I got paid (Maternity Leave) to stay home with my kid. Moved on from the "student" life.

2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions and will you make more for next year? I'm always a little leery to actually put them down in writing (at least for all to see). I'm sure I made some last year & probably some of the same again this year. It's always good to try to be better.


3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yep, there was quite a few & if they didn't they are probably preggo now.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Closer to Ryan was his Grandma

5. What places have you visited?
A trip to Utah, Mexico, Kimberly. I guess I'm not visiting Calgary anymore, so I've been back to visit E-town.


6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Probably complain less about my child who doesn't sleep. Work on developing a cure to get all babies to sleep through the night. I'd probably be cashing in on my millions right now if that was the case.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched in your memory and why?
The cheesy saying "we remember moments not days" comes to mind. I barely remember birthdays. I remember a few great moments of 08: laying on the beach by myself, selling and buying our house, the Saturdays I got to sleep in, leaving Edmonton, and finding out we were moving to New York for a few months.

8. What was your biggest achievement this year?
Achievements have taken on a whole new meaning as I am officially a stay at home mom. In other words so far no medal or trophies for the last stinky diaper I changed in record time, or that fabulous meal I made that one time. If achievements are joint (when your married I think they are) Ryan finishing law school was a great one.

9. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not so much.. nothing that lasted more than a couple days

10. What was the best thing you bought?
Biggest and Best was our house.

11. Where did most of your money go?
Mostly to "stuff" to fill the house, which is fun but costly. And food, fun, bills just the stuff I'll be buying for the next 50 years.

12. What song will always remind you of 2008?
I swear since I got married I haven't really been that into music. I mostly found cool stuff from others. I listened to Mamma Mia way to much, and Yael Niem - I thought it was the song that made Sadie happy & dance.

13. What do you wish you would have done more of?
pumping iron ha ha. Ok I just want to be able to unscrew the lids Ryan puts on so freaking tight.


14. What do you wish you would have done less of?
I wished I had to drive less. I like to go places by driving and traffic and parking can be such a drag. Less facebook.



15. What was your favorite TV program?
Before Sadie and cable I really didn't have any. Now I am a little embarrassed at all the shows I watch. Office, Criminal minds, 90210, and dang it, I even tune into these reality shows, SYTYCD (just learned that abbrev.), AI

16. What was the best book you read this year?
Maybe another thing I wish I did more of this year. Kite Runner was good, & I am a fan of most of Jodi Picoult (was that this year) Twilight was good, but I still haven't even read them all.

17. What was your favorite film of the year?
hmm this is tough. Even the last one I went to, Seven Pounds I fell asleep in. but I still liked it. Don't tell Ryan I don't think he noticed (it drives him crazy that I can't stay awake in movies)

18. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I turned 28, yep that's what I did. Ok and went out for dinner and yada yada

19. What political issue stirred you the most?
I voted...

20. Who was the best new person you met?
I'm glad I've met some great new friends since moving here. I'm not one to name names but I am especially glad my friend Allaina is just down the street from me.


What?? a weekend??
Yeah I'm like 99% of the world & I look forward to the weekend usually doesn't matter what it entails. A weekend of sitting at home with the fam, or packing in fun outings with Sadie, or going out, dates. I'm game for a weekend after Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs Fri. (I'd take it sooner if it was possible). Well this weekend was non existent for us. WE were totally thinking that we were gonna have a fun weekend together. But sometime between my brief conversation with Ryan on Friday at 4:45 "yep just checking in at the office, & then I'll be home by 6:00" and 4:55 it completely changed. He managed to get home by 8:30. Then he was up and leaving WAY to early on Saturday & got home WAY too late that night. We went to church and he had to go back again. So much for any sort of a weekend. ughhh

Of course he would have like to be with us, but was sort of "stuck". I felt bad for him and bad for me.
I sent him these emails (yes I know cheesy). You did weird things when your home all weekend by yourself.
It is sick how many emails he gets. So even though he said they were cruel I know they were the best he gets.

subject: A GOOD email
Dad,
I was just checking to see if you were home yet. hmmm just checking... still waiting. wanna play peek-a-boo? Oh dad just come home I will even give you a kiss! mmmuuh
a big slobbering one the only one I know.
do you miss me? I miss you
love you dadda -Sadie

subject: URGENT
Come home! How can you say no to the cutest girl ever!
We love you