Welcome To My Life

It's been months and months.  So much has happened and I just didn't know what to share and when.

First off, Byron has left.  I'm sure everybody reading this knows that, but we separated in October of last year, so it's just me and the kiddos now.  That in itself has made life very busy and times were rough, but I'm at peace with everything now.

My beloved house of nearly 4 years has sold.  As much as I love this house, I have now purchased a 2 years old stunning home with a basement suite just a few minutes away.  It'll be hard to leave the only home that the children have ever known, but Marcus is very excited about the move.  We'll be moving on June 29th to start fresh.

Business is going well.  Better each and every month, so this is great news.  I am nearing the end of a long process of getting a website up, and will be sharing that shortly.

I guess I owe pictures to you all!  I'm headed out camping this weekend so I'll have those up soon.  I don't even really have any good pictures of the kids in recent months, but will put up what I have.

So, I will attempt to get things going here again!  And I will start with Emmaline's 1st birthday pic!

I realize that I have left you guys hanging here, but I have been CRAZY BUSY these past few months.

First off I started my own business, www.captivatingdesigns.ca doing photo greeting cards.  Being the Christmas season, I am officially swamped with things to get going.  That has taken up most of my time, the rest is spent with my little darlings.

Marcus is advancing with his sentences at an incredible rate these days, and the other day he walked up to me with my cell phone open, here mommy, it's for you!  He had answered my phone, had a short conversation with a friend, then brought it to me on request.  Little stinker.

Emmaline is walking, and very well too!  She's very smiley and happy these days, and she even took to the bottle about 2 weeks ago!!  It's about time!  This has left me so much more time because I am able to leave her with a babysitter and simply work...work....and work some more.

I promise that I will get some pictures up soon.  Marcus's birthday party is this weekend so I'll upload some shots then during the madness of a dozen children terrorizing my home.

I can't really tell you all that much about what happened in the last week because I'm not really sure myself!  The entire summer seems to be whizzing by.

Yesterday I got a home care support worker, Nicole, in for our first meet.  The Brain Injury Association approved 2 hours per week to have someone come in and clean up my house or do whatever needs to be done.  We got nearly the entire house clean!  It hasn't all been clean at once in months!  Since February to be exact! LOL  I'm really going to be liking this.

The end of my computer problems is near.  The new computer is fixed and this afternoon we are doing the final transfer.  I can't wait to sell the old one and kiss it good bye!  What a long drawn out process this has been.

The kids are getting to be such good friends.  Marcus loves to be around Emmy.  They laugh and laugh at each other, and Emmy's face lights up when she sees him.  Melt my heart!

Today Marcus threw the whole train food thing back in my face a wee bit.  He got a Memory game and LOVES playing "cards".  Today I asked him what he wanted for lunch and he told me "card food mom." OK Marcus!

Emmy is a sweetheart, but not sleeping worth a darn!  She has been taking about 3-4 30 minute naps, and waking 5-6 times at night.  I'm sooooo tired!  I sure hope it's teeth!  She is 5 months old already!  I'm wavering on her first cereal feed.  Could be any day now!  Perhaps if she's used to other objects (cereal and a spoon) in her mouth she will warm up to the idea of a bottle.  Then HELLO Bacardi Breezers!  I was introduced to 1/2 an Orange Tropical Breezer last weekend and would have really like to let loose and down a few more :) 

Marcus is a little turkey.  He has done a great job potty training and has been pooping in the potty for months now.  Only recently though has he started looking at his accomplishments though.  The other day he poops, checks it out and says "Treat!"  I was so sure that he was referring to when he got treats for using the potty and I let it go.  He kept saying treat treat though.  Then he said today "Treat in there."  My darling little boy thinks his doo-doos are treats!!!  We are trying to contain laughter over this as the conversation went something like this.

Mom: Marcus, what is in the toilet after you go poop?

Marcus: Treats! *with a grin*

Mom: No, after you go poop the is poop in the toilet.  So...Marcus, what is in the toilet after you go poop? 

Marcus:  Poop?  And toots too mom. 

Mom: *trying desperately not to pee my pants*  Right Marcus, and poop is yucky right?

Marcus:  No....Yummy!!!

Mom:  No Marcus, poop is yucky, we flush it down the toilet.  So Marcus what is in the toilet when you go poop?

Marcus:  Poop and toots

Mom:  And is poop yummy or yucky?

Marcus:  Yummy!  no.....yucky.

Where on EARTH did he come up with pooping treats????

I may appear to go into hibernation for a short time.  To add to all the other ocmputer problems I have now lost all my data for the month of July, PLUS I have to run a recovery on my NEW computer because of all this.  So..... back up data on the old computer of what is on the new computer.  Restore new computer.  On the old computer do a clean up of what is needed and what is junk from several recovery efforts.  Then transfer all files back to the new computer and restore old computer.  MAJOR work here!  All this with a teething little girl who is hardly napping and very cranky.  I think that tooth is very very close now!  So, this should be interesting, but I'll be back as soon as I can.  In the meantime, if you have emailed me, I may have lost it.  Please comment here and I'll be sure to get it.

Lisa :)

OK, let me start with WHY OH WHY did I call in a computer tech to do some work for me?  Because I was busy.  Because they are great at backing up data and transfering it to a new computer.  Why oh why did he wipe out all of my documents?  WHY????  9GB of stored stuff and my hard drive is now at the data recovery specialist.  Did I mention that this is my NEW computer?  To be fair, it's not entirely the guys fault.  His company (who shall remain nameless) has a program that backs up outlook express folders and my documents and such.  Since I had already cleaned out My Documents on the old computer it was empty.  It was backed up empty, and when the back up was restored on the new computer, it restored My Documents to being empty instead of just adding whatever files were kicking around on the old computer.  AHHHHHHHH!  So, no pictures today.

Now, on to the goods.

WHY #1 - Why do children have this built in instinct to pick their nose and eat it?  Marcus has never seen anybody do this that I am aware of.  He certainly has had hi sfinger in hos nose for quite some time, but I have recently been catchign him trying to eat his "find".

A funny on this on today though - Marcus stick his finger up his nose, I gave him "the look" and he says to me "Uh Oh!  There's a hole in my nose!"

WHY #2 - Why do babies always fall asleep hanging on to you?  Every single time I put Emmy down for a sleep she's hanging on so tight!

OK, enough for today.  I have to start searching the old hard drive for files that can be recovered just in case.

I'm sure it doesn't surprise you that we own a Thomas the Tank Engine DVD. Today Marcus asked very politely if he could watch it, so I put it on.  He actually didn't watch it all that long before he went outside to play.  I flipped the TV off, but didn't get the DVD player.  The next thing I knew I heard the door open.  When I went to investigate, Marcus had come inside, turned the TV back on, went back outside with his train, but was watching Thomas through the open window!  What a stinker!

This morning Marcus was stroking Emmy's hair nicely.

Marcus: Soft....just like Whiskers fur. (he's our cat)

HAD to laugh at this!

My entire universe seems to revolve around Thomas the Train and all his friends these days.  If anybody wishes to make Marcus's day, just give him anything to do with trains.  Anything at all.  Underwear with trains on them would likely make his day.  Socks, clothes, colouring books, you name it.

Now, trains aren't such a bad thing for him to be interested in, it could be worse. He could be interested in Barbies.  That being said though, I kid you not, EVERYTHING is about trains.  He is hungry and asks for a snack.  What would you like Marcus?  Train food.  What makes mommy happy is that I can still tell him ANYTHING is train food.  Why is he now eating Oatmeal for breakfast instead of the usual plain toast he has been eating for a year!  HAHA!  Score one for mommy!  Since I started typing this out Marcus has come to me because his colouring book wasn't good enough, Train book? Train book?  Then he found his missing train shorts somewhere and brought them to me while stripping off his others.  Train shorts? Train shorts?  He has train movies, he goes to the Thomas website and plays trains, he has regular and Thomas trains, he got to go to the train store for earning potty stickers, he has Thomas books, and he has even named his regular trains names from the Thomas movie.  All except one which is named Torque.  (???)

The problem with all this?  I don't wanna hear another word about Thomas!  I also don't want to deal with a fit everytime I say no to something to do with trains.  No Marcus, you cannot take all your trains to bed (that's asking for trouble!) and he throws a fit.  No Marcus, you cannot watch a train movie....fit.  No, Marcus your train colouring book is so used it is now in about 5 different pieces we cannot use it anymore....fit.  The worst are watching his special train shows shows upstairs in our room while playing with all his trains of course. Say no to that, you have a good 15 minute problem on your hand.  Same thing with no to trains on the computer.

So, all that being said, I'd like to shout out to the creators of Thomas the FREAKING Tank Engine...THANKS A LOT! Oh, and thank you for making your trains so ridiculously expensive, we enjoy paying as much for a train or two as we should be on the entire track set!  And, when we leave the store with only one in hand because of that, we thank you with such words that can only be said in our heads as we attempt to lure our children away without causing the biggest freak show ever recorded.

All this is over freaking trains with faces.  Hmph, and they got rich off that.  Why not make and plaster faces on other objects.....because they will know...they will know they are not trains!

That is exactly the attitiude I think I am meant to have tonight.  It's been a day and a half, and even though I have a TON of things I should be doing right now, I'm sitting here preparing for the next challenge this evening is going to bring me.

Starts off with Emmy.  She had tummy trouble, and what I believe is a pretty harsh teething day for her.  Marcus wasn't here all day so I was going to get a lot of things finished, but NO!  I spent most of the day hanging with her, or rather, her hanging on me in the bjorn. 

Fast Forward a wee bit.  Marcus is home.  The toilet that Byron broke is being replaced.  This is a good thing right?  Well.....

#1 - I stepped on a broken piece that ended up on the ground outside and my foot is STILL hurting and bleeding off and on.  Not fun.

#2 - I was just about to get up and start all the things that need my attention when I thought I'd check out the new toilet.  In all the blood I had forgotten to do that.  First off it doesn't fit over the lino properly because it's a different shape (but that's OK - not too worried, the floor is scheduled for replacement) but the toilet itself is nice.  Ohhhh, little floaties inside from installation.  I flush.....what's that sound?  Water is GUSHING out the back!  Hey!  That's the second time in 3 days!!!  What are the chances?  Pretty good when your feet fill my shoes.

So, frustrated, I sit back down.  then I got a giggle.  Well, it didn't start as a giggle.  I noticed that the yearly ants are back.  I'm watching one walk across the top of my computer monitor, and it falls right off.  Right in front of my eyes, for no apparent reason.  This year, we have stupid ants!  I mean seriously, I have named them the dumbass ants of 2006.  We don't drink, so they didn't get a taste of alcohol from us or anything, they must just be that stupid.  I've never seen an ant fall before.  Not like that anyway.  Hmph, that was the most amusing thing all day!

It was one year ago, about this time that Byron was laying on the sidewalk lifeless.  Nice memory to think of every Canada Day huh?

BUT - this year he only managed to break the toilet instead of his head!  Don't ask! LOL

It's been a long rough year, but things seem to be turning around for us.  First off, this year Byron has a beating heart and is breathing.  We have a wonderful baby girl, instead of just a little seed of a baby to dream about.

So, enough on that, now we look forward to the next year and wonder what it will bring.

I can tell you what I wanted today to bring!  I wanted today to bring a bit of peace and quiet, particularly through dinner.  Byron was going to BBQ so I was going to take it easy.  I guess the evening started with me out in the garage looking for another fan for the oven which we call upstairs in this house.  For some reason today it felt like it was set to broil.  Byron comes to the door....the toilet is broken.  Water had gushed everywhere!  The toilet tank had cracked right down the side and spewed water.....go get the mop.  Great way to start.  Oh but wait!  I had been outside with Marcus, and to get him inside the house I had to bribe him with a phone call to Grandma.  It's really stupid what I will do to get this kid in the hosue in a hurry, but I had no choice, Emmy was strapped to my front in the bjorn so carrying him kicking and screaming into the house wasn't a pleasant option.

So, toilet broken, big mess, water cleaned up, Emmy down for a nap.  Right, now  Mr. Repetative is going "Amma! Amma! Amma!"  Well, Grandma isn't home.  Great.  OK, I'll appease him with - tomorrow morning we are going to go see "Amma and Ampa" and you can stay overnight!  Oh no, that wasn't good enough!  Major fit, screaming, he sends himself to his room.  (What is up with that?  He doesn't get his way so he sends himself to his room, screams, then yells, "good boy? good boy?" - right, he's 2.)  I hear him head over to the stairs, then I run over to grab him - Emmy is sleeping upstairs! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!  Sure enough, she's up.  The BBQ is already going, and of course dinner is done when I have a very upset 2 year old and a tired cranky baby.  Right.  Let's just eat.

Baby in swing.  Marcus in his highchair.  I'm going to eat right? HA! 

"milk? milk? milk mommy?"  Ok I fetch him milk.  "trains? watch trains mommy?"  No Marcus, eat your supper!  OK, going for a bite.  Emmy is done with the swing.  Here we go.  Wind it up.... Both kids quiet?  Yes....go for that bite... COLD HAMBUGERS!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Here's a link to celebrate with food that I love:

www.sweetnicks.com I just found this site and YUM YUM!

and of course here's a pic, Marcus waters the plants!

Yesterday was the annual Brain Injury picnic at the zoo.  Since Byron suffered from a brain injury a year ago we were invited - free admission!

It was interesting trying to lug around 2 kids, but between the baby bjorn (thanks Jayme!) the double stroller, and two quick feet, I was able to keep both the children safe and happy.  I can't say I sat down, not even to nurse Emmy most of the time. 

We were going to get tickets for the train ride.  How could I bring Marcus there and NOT go on the train.  Well, that's what started our little adventure.  It was not yet 11am and the trains were sold out until 2:30pm!  Yikes!  Guess we weren't going on the train!  I spent a lot of time chasing Marcus around the playground, but since Emmy wasn't sleeping in her carseat, I couldn't really take them around to see the animals because of the intense sun.  Emmy was in the bjorn and the sun would have been beating down on her.....patience, patience.  She should sleep soon, then I can put them in the stroller to see the animals. 

We ate lunch, then another guy there that Byron was chatting with suggested that we rent one of the bikes for 4 and go around.  They were covered and with a great spot for Marcus!  All is well, we will see the animals afterall!

We get on the bike, and this is where things got interesting.  (Oh yeah, and the train had broken down so our hopes of getting on where fading quick)

Lesson Learned:  Just because Byron has recovered from his brain injury with a memory and great thought processes, doesn't mean that all the others have, even though you wouldn't know they had an injury by looking at them and speaking to them for a while.

So, this guy rents the bike, we all get on and head towards the animals....a downhill process.  Turns out he either does think to use, or doesn't remember how to use the brakes!  Here we are CRUISIN down the path yelling at all the innocent animal gazers...LOOK OUT! LOOK OUT!  It was just like a scene from a movie where people are literally diving out of our way!  We even tried doing the old Flintstone stop by digging our heels into the ground!  In the end we ended up slowing and stopping when we started going up a hill.  WHEW!  Poor Marcus was sitting in the very front with his hands covering his ears....but he seemed to be really enjoying our little adventure!  AHHHHHH the guy says.  Here's the brake.  Right.  Thanks.

After our little ride we look down and Byron is bleeding form the knee!  He has very long legs so in all the commotion he was trying to pedal (backwards maybe to try to stop??) and his knee smoked the safety sign on the bike.  How ironic.  It was a pretty good gash too, and I had to dig through my diaper bag to find a way to stop the bleeding!  He ended up with a baby diaper wrapped around his knee!  See the picture in the gallery! HA!  After this he headed back to the bike rental section where the guy was not even apologetic about the sign.  That's never happened before he says!  Byron started pedaling and sure enough, you have long legs, you SMOKE the corner of the sign!  Like it's never happened before. Heh.  We wasted 20 minutes getting his knee cleaned up and bandaged, then didn't have time to go around to see the animals.

I decided to try again with the stroller and we did get a close up with a zebra which Marcus liked.  Then the train came by, his favorite part.  It's only got a few people on it!  There was TONS of room, and this was only the 1:30pm train!  Geesh!  Oh well, I got a few shots, check the album for more.  We played for a bit, then left.  What a day it was, we were all wiped, especially this momma who ended up pedaling the heavy bike, chasing a 2 year old, and having a baby strapped to her all day.

The past week I have decided to try to do one random act of kindess/day as time permits.  It's kind of a way to get/stay out of a funk.  Today the act of kindness was returned!

In April we had ordered a bunch of gift cards with our Aeroplan/Airmiles etc.  I had thought we had another $50 coming to HBC, but it never arrived so I assumed that I was mistaken.

Today getting the mail I found one from Aeroplan which had been opened, but taped shut again.  On the front it said 'accidentally opened, sent to wring address'.  I figured it was another statement, but as it turned out, it included a $50 gift card!  Whoever opened it could have easily pocketed this, but instead it found it's way back to us!  What a nice feeling to know there are some good honest people out there.

Might as well start this blog off with a rather interesting tale!

The morning was like every other morning.  Wake up with Marcus and Emmy, let's get breakfast started, get everybody dressed....you know the drill.  Then I received a phone call from the neighbour wondering if we had seen all the excitement.  Puzzled, I asked "You mean all the garbage strewn everywhere on the street?" (This is nothing new thanks to those pesky raccoons!) "No, the bear!"  WHHHHHAAAAATTTTT??

Sure enough, I went outside and captured a picture of this large black bear up in a tree in the neighbours backyard!  It was an eventful morning as the Conservation Officers arrived to try to catch the bear for relocation, and the police officers stood by....for what I'm not sure yet :)

The bear had to be tranquilized in the tree and she fell landing on the neighbours back porch, which ultimately saved her life.  She landed and the deck caved in underneath her providing a cushion for her landing.  Now I'm not sure how this would work....Hello insurance company?  Yes, my deck needs to be replaced.  A bear landed on it.

Here's a shot of the bear in the tree, check my albums for more bear pictures!