Big Girl Room....

To make things easier (and more fun), Paige will be changing rooms into what we now call the "computer room". Unfortunately the computer room is home to 4 laptops, a regular computer, 2 desks, a dresser, a futon, an ironing board, and a bookshelf. And in the closet is all of my crafting supplies, our vacuum, all of our filing folders, and all of our board games....so if you follow Harry Potter, you could consider it the "room of requirement". Why don't I take a picture of it in "as is" condition. Consider it the before picture.

It is a particular dump right now since I have emptied out some craft stuff and am in the process of bringing it to the basement. We will have to clear out all of this stuff and put it in the basement to make room for Paige's big girl bed and dresser, which luckily will be coming UP from the basement (it was my old furniture as a kid to age 25 but is still in fine condition). And then we can only hope that the room will look lovely. Anyway, today I went and bought a quilt, blanket and pillow sham from Pottery Barn Kids. If I wanted to I could have easily spent an additional $1000 or so, but we need to start off slow! At PB kids, they give you a paint swatch booklet to show you which Benjamin Moore paints will match with their bedding. I am extremely greatful for this and it will make life much easier, since we have had many almost disasters when choosing paint colours, and trying to find anything matching in general. Anyway, here is a picture of the quilt and things...

Now try to juxtapose these above pictures....hmmm...which of these pictures looks nicer? And which one will be a more welcoming place to look as you come up the stairs? I cannot wait to get moving on this room, as the computer room is the bane of my existence!!

So Paige's current room is neutral and can remain as is for the new baby. Fun to decorate a whole new big girl room. The room is quite dark which is why I chose light coloured pastel bedding.

v 2.0 photos!

If you have never had an ultrasound this may not make any sense....but here they are!

I like this last one. It is the baby from the top down and you can see the little arms and hands.

Paige came with us to the appointment and saw the pictures, but didn't get it. Although in the car she said there was a "baby growing in mommy's tummy", so that is a start!

Edmonton Trip Part 3!

I had been wanting to take Paige to West Edmonton Mall to go on some rides at Galaxyland aka Fantasyland when I lived there. I had spent many a hour at WEM when I was growing up, some of it having fun, but more often dragging my moms hand saying No, I don't want to go in that store! But nevertheless, I really wanted to take Paige to experience some of the rides I had been on as a kid. The rides weren't open till 12:00 so we had to shop while Paige got very excited. Then we went over to the ticket booth and the conversation went something like this:

Jen: Hi, we want to buy some ride tickets...so we're just wondering how many we need and how much they cost.

person: How old is the child?

Me: 2

person: ok, so she goes on for free and then she can have a chaperone for free as well.

Me: Wait...so we just go on rides completely for free.

person: yep.

Me: So we just wander around going on rides for free?

person: yep.

Maybe my disbelief was due to the $9 zoo train, but it also seemed too good to be true! There

were about 4 or 5 rides to choose from so we went on 3.

My memory is starting to slip since we have been back for a while now with no blogging. But some other fun things were going out for a nice dinner with Jen and James while Grandma Val babysat, visiting Andrea and her son Emerson, visiting with Grandpa Jerry,Grandma Val, Uncle Tyson, Zaida Bruce, Mike's aunts and uncles, and cousins, and waiting patiently to see if Mike's cousin Amanda would give birth already!

Paige continued to love Abby to the point where Abby would sometimes get a little fed up and have to bark. But for the most part, Abby seemed to like Paige's company.

It was definitely sad to leave since it was such a long trip, and since we don't have our next visit planned (and we would normally be going back at Christmas). It may not be for a while with the pregnancy and new baby on the way.

Edmonton Trip part 2 of 3

After the wedding, sleep was much needed as well as relaxation time and rest. We didn't do much on the Sunday, but had a great morning at the zoo on Monday (except for Mike who worked from Jen's basement during work hours). The zoo was much smaller than I remember it, but great for kids. Lucy the elephant has been around my entire life, and is still there. There was a new and very cute little guinea pig village near the zoo entrance. Because it was a Monday and kids were back to school there was practically nobody there and we even got to ride the train by ourselves (for $9 for the 3 of us though I might add...and it was about a 2 minute journey).

Another highlight was Paige and I visiting Marilyn in her fabulous backyard, as well as going for a little journey to the park behind her house. The trip was complete with home baked squares and yummy cookies which Paige polished off quickly. The morning was one of the nicest ones we had there and it was great to be outside (not that the weather wasn't nice for most of the trip, but sometimes the mornings were a bit chilly!)

Some other exciting news is that Jen (auntie Booze) is also pregnant! We are 2 days apart. So it was great to be together to share stories, look at maternity clothing magazines, and feel sick and tired together! We even went to a spa called "Sweet Momma" which is a pregnancy spa! I was in desperate need for a massage and the place exceeded my expectations--the bed was a waterbed, and I felt so cozy and relaxed the entire time. I had been suffering from headaches for over a week and I swear she cured them completely. After that massage the headache went away and never came back. I really wish we had one of those places in Burlington!

Anyway, I will continue more on my Edmonton trip recap later. I have been quite "busy" with our new programs, planning Paige's "big girl room", catching up on Microsoft Money and some work for Mike. But most time consuming of all is me cutting out tv for Paige. She has watched a bit, but after enduring hours of television while I had extreme nausea a few weeks back, I decided to greatly reduce it and spend more time with her. So I haven't spent as much time on the computer emailing or blogging, since I would sometimes do that during tv watching time. But I hope to blog more soon!

Pause for an announcement....

I realized that I cannot really go on with my description of our Edmonton trip until I pause for a "little" announcement. For those random blog readers, and people who I have not yet had the opportunity to tell....we are expecting another addition to our family. A Paige + 1 on Page, if you will. I am about 12 weeks along and due on April 19. Tummy is starting to grow, but the nauseous stage is over. Our 1st ultrasound is scheduled for next week.

Anyway, there is more to follow on the Edmonton trip, but I cannot fully explain the rest of the trip until that "little" piece of info has been made public! The next blog post may come tomorrow since Paige is not napping and yelling MOMMY! constantly....

Edmonton trip Part 1: journey and wedding

All I can say is that things went very very well. We started our journey with a 4:30am wake up on the 16th. We got ready and had the car packed up before transfering Paige into the car seat. When I woke her up I told her where we were going. She got very excited and although it was only 5:00 she didn't keep sleeping in the car, and instead was very excited about the plane ride ahead. After a longer than anticipated time at the car park and security we had to get on the plane without stopping for a much desired Tim Horton's bagel, and instead had to eat an early morning West Jet sandwich. Paige was great on the plane and filled her time with eating snacks, colouring and playing with stickers. She only got a bit restless at the end of the flight when she realized she could slither out of her seat belt and stand up. At this point I let her sit with me and look out the window for a bit until it was time to buckle up and land. Her favourite parts of the plane ride were while the plane was accelerating on the ground, and then when it slows down at the end.

We were met at the airport by Zaida Bruce, who drove us to Jen and James' house. Paige was really happy to see everyone, and of course Abby. The first couple of days I spent going to the mall with Janice, getting my dress altered, having mani/pedis, and then of course going to the rehersal for which Mike, Paige and I were ridiculously late, and we arrived half way through. After the rehersal it was off to Janice's house for dinner, but due to construction the journey was very long and Paige peed her pants along the way and spent the rehersal dinner in a pullup with her pants and underwear in the washing machine--good thing we weren't at a restaurant! So the late arrival at the rehersal coupled with Paige as the Wild card flower girl (will she walk down the aisle? Will she want to be carried?) gave me extreme insomnia and anxiety, and daily naps/rests were required leading up to the wedding.

On the morning of the wedding I left Paige in Mike's capable hands while I met the girls at the Huangs, where we proceeded to go to get our hair and makeup done. After this it was back to the Huangs to put on our dresses scarf down some lunch, and rush out the door. Mike in the meantime was taking Paige to the ceremony place to feed her lunch and get her dressed. When we arrived there they were nowhere to be seen, but soon enough they wandered around the corner and Paige was cuter than ever. Mike said she was a bit scared of all the people, so that got me worried. But, right off the bat Paige started to hold my hand and didn't let go. I would also be walking the ring bearer down the aisle and he was a bit older so I wasn't worried about him. When it was our turn to walk down the aisle they held my hands all the way down the aisle, and as I led the ring bearer in one direction and prepared to lead Paige back to Mike I could tell she would just stay with me so I let her stand until she got restless. Near the end of the ceremony, so a good 15 minutes in, she used her old standard get out quick line, "pee on potty", so I sent her over to Mike who she sat with for the remaining few minutes (few people probably heard this since it was outdoors and very windy).

As the bridal party went off for pictures [we went to The Billiard Club on Whyte Ave (also got to have some drinks here and yummy food), and a random spiral parkade], Mike took Paige home for a nap and then eventually got her ready all over again to come back to the reception. Everything went well at the reception and Mike and Paige were strategically placed at the back by the open space and door, AKA escape route. But she was very good and didn't cause any trouble. Closer to 8:30 we called Jen and James and got them to come pick up Paige, while we stayed behind to enjoy the party for a bit longer! All in all everything went way better than anticipated, and the wedding and reception went off without a hitch on all fronts. It was so nice to be included in such a great day.

So...here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

Why is it...

...that I bought fall clothes for Paige, but now the weather in Edmonton is going to be stinkin hot all week?

And why is it that Paige has had 1 nap this week?

And why is it that now that Paige is potty trained the smell of other kids poopy diapers is absolutely repulsive? Like when the parent doesn't notice and the kid runs around forever?? And I feel like I need to tell them before I gag?

And why is it that Paige doesn't actually like going on the park, but likes to sit on the bench and have a snack the entire time?

Why I wonder....?

Booster seat

Paige has upgraded to a booster seat. It streamlines our kitchen a bit more and makes her part of the dinner table. So far she loves it as she can climb up by herself. I ordered the Prince Lionheart Booster Pod, and think it is the best thing ever. Every other booster seat I could find came with a tray which I didn't want. So it seemed unneccessary to buy a booster seat that came with one. And this seat is nice and comfy and padded, rather than hard plastic.

Potty is a stalling tactic!

I know it is just a phase and will hopefully come to an end, but Paige is using "Pee on potty!" as a major delay/stalling tactic. When she doesn't want to nap and wants to be taken out of her crib it's, "pee on potty!!". When she wakes up in the night and needs to say something to get me into her room it's "pee on potty!!" (usually with this one it's because she's peed in her pullup...even though she has already peed I need to take her to the potty or she will lose it). When I try to go get clothes out of the laundry and she wants me to come back it's, "pee on potty!!". During dinner when she wants out of her highchair it's, "pee on potty!!", and when she's overtired at night and trying to delay bedtime it's a spastic almost hyperventallating "PEE ON POTTY PEE ON POTTY!!!!!!!" (she used to ask for water as a stall, but she thinks this is better as she gets out of her crib). Oh--same spastic screaming about the potty when I'm trying to put her in the bath...she doesn't like baths now, and won't actually go in the bathtub without a fight. Also, when we're at the grocery store and she's bored it's, "pee on potty" to try to get us to leave.

It is the same as the little boy who cried wolf. Sometimes she says it so much that I tell her no when she really has to go. And often she has just been, but I have to take her anyway to avoid a total meltdown.