Don’t care what we did for the last week? (I don’t blame you, unless you’re related. Then you have to look at the pictures.) Scroll down for the two links in block quotes at the bottom of this post.
We’re ba-ack! It’s been a lovely relaxing week away and the absolute best Christmas ever. A baby does that. Rylan and his 9 weeks older cousin, Jess, made our Christmas a lively one. Santa and the non-magical people were uber-generous, as usual, and now we have a lot of stuff to find room for in our house. We love everything (no returns!), but there’s something to be said for gift cards and money.
We spent a couple of days with the BG’s dad and his wife…
We had a great time (and I can’t forget the delicious food!) but Rylan had the worst sleep of his life due to a combination of teething and not having a crib. He refuses to nap or sleep in his playpen anymore, so he slept screamed between us all night.
Then we spent Christmas Eve keeping Rylan from opening everyone else’s presents.
After a great sleep in his crib at my parents’ place…
Christmas morning, he thoroughly enjoyed tearing into his loot (in his cute new Christmas-eve jammies from Grandma).
Throughout our mini-vacation, he rode on his new car…
had his first piano lesson with Grandma…
played with his cousin, Jess…
a lot…
went for his first horse dog ride…
and had the dreaded family photo session, in none of which he was facing forward.
We also did pics (unedited as yet) of my brother’s family…
and my folks.
Lots of playing, beer drinking with friends for the BG, lots of shopping and lots of sleeping in while Grandma babysat followed that. The BG and I went on our first car ride together without Rylan in 8 months (to the mall-woopie!).
We ate all of our traditional favourite foods (mmmm…meatpie…) and way too much of all of them. My mom makes the foods that the BG grew up with too (cabbage rolls, his favourite salad…), so that he feels at home, so there’s always a ton of food. I need to lose 10 50 lbs now.
Also new? A roomie! Click on the thumbnail in my sidebar and go visit You Tube Karaoke! I couldn’t resist this one - Tom Jackson shares music videos from You Tube along with the lyrics to the songs so you can sing along. Great idea? I think so! Pay him a click if you will, and I highly recommend adding his RSS feed to your chosen reader so you can have your own private dance party every time he posts! I spent an hour or so last night singing with Rylan. It’s extremely addictive. Too cool!
You are eight wonderful months old, and your daddy and I are in complete shock about that. Life was fun before you, but it was nothing like it is now. Every little thing is amazing because we share it with you.
You’re still talking up a storm. You say “Dadadadadadada” most often and in an amazing range of tones, but you like to say all kids of crazy things like “Baaaaaaa!” “Odoyaw,” “Dotooooo” and other such things. You also, much to my dismay, love to squeal. I actually really like it, because you do it when you’re happy, but it hurts my ears sometimes.
You can sit for as long as you want now, but most often you flop over and take off on a mission using your favourite mode of transportation - the commando crawl. You get places fast - especially if there’s a rawhide or a dog toy that you’ve set your sights on. Our dogs really like you - they even let you take their toys, but they sneak them back as soon as you’re not looking!
You’re eating three big meals per day now, and a couple of small snacks. Most of your friends are eating half a jar of food, three times a day. You eat two full jars three times a day. Actually, you eat 8 cubes because your food is primarily homemade, but I measured so I could be sure how much you’re getting. It’s a lot! It’s no wonder you’re over 30 inches tall and you weigh about 20 pounds (you won’t stay still for an exact measurement!). You love most foods, but your favourites are mango, pear, apple, blueberry and apricot. You also love carrots, sweet potatoes and peas, plain yogurt and oatmeal mixed with apple prune juice. You eat some chicken, beans, brown rice and whole wheat noodles, but you get way more excited about the other stuff. Your favourite snacks are Nutrios, freeze dried apples, whole grain rice cakes and maple teething biscuits. You smell like a jar of syrup until bath time when you have a teething biscuit. Yummy! You’re not so good at feeding yourself yet. You like to hold a handful of snacks in each hand and get me to feed you from another pile. Of course, I happily do anything you want at this point.
For the past week, thank God, you have gone back to sleeping 12 hours through the night and taking 2-90 minute naps. Mommy finally feels human again and Daddy is finally kicking the cold he h as had for the month that you haven’t been sleeping.
Your first Christmas is right around the corner. We are SO excited to see you open your presents. You have already opened/tried to open several that weren’t yours when I turned my back and you commando-crawled to the Christmas tree, so I know you’ll love it. We’re spending Christmas at Grandma B and Papa J’s with Uncle J, Auntie C, A and J. We’ll also be going to Grandpa K and Grandma C’s overnight on the 23rd. We already had Christmas with Grandma J & Grandpa R and also Auntie S because they’ll all be in Mexico for Christmas.
Today I’m one of the final stops on the blog book tour for Cycle Savvy, The Smart Teen’s Guide to the Mysteries of Her Body, the newest book by Toni Weschler. Does that name sound familiar? It should. She is the author of the infamous Taking Charge of Your Fertility, which I read and loved when we were considering trying to conceive our first child. As a well informed and educated woman, I was shocked (and a little ashamed) at the information that I didn’t know about my own body.
Toni’s new book, aimed at young women aged 14-18, is all about knowledge. As a teacher, a mother and a strong woman, I firmly believe that education is never a bad thing….
I’m giving two free copies away over there, and one here! Double entries are permitted, so enter at both places to increase your chances!
Leave a thoughtful comment on this post before midnight Boxing Day, and you are automatically entered to win. I’ll email the winner for a mailing address. (The MMO winners will be surprised, so if you enter via email be sure to include your snail mail address.)
My gift to you ~ something fun to workout to over the holidays. We all have to earn our gravy, right? (Mmmmmm, gravy…)
I know very few of you are fitness instructors, but if you like to workout you might like to download this free mix and burn it on a workout CD or stick it on your iPod.
It’s rare to get instructor quality music for less than $40 a pop. (After 10 years as a fitness pro, I could probably insure my music for well over $5000). If you’re interested, be sure to get it fast because it’s limited. It’s hi-lo speed (too fast for step - great for walking or running). It’s high quality - only free because it comes from a lesser known DJ trying to get his name out to fitness specialists. His stuff is good.
DOWNLOAD HERE
This link is limited to only 200 max downloads and will expire in 14 days.
Our gift to each other this year was an elliptical trainer for our home. We’ve had it two days and I’ve had two of the best workouts since Rylan was born. I have issues with leaving him in the child-minding area of my gym. Even though I’ll only be outside the door, I am afraid he’ll be ignored or worse so I just can’t do it. I’ve only been to the gym probably 10 times (not including when I teach Mommy n’ Me, because then he’s with me) since he’s been born because I only go when the BG’s awake in time for my favourite class on Saturday mornings. I love love LOVE it!
Speaking of Christmas gifts, this is the first year that I really don’t “want” anything. Though there are always things we could use, I want all the money anyone wants to spend to go to my child and needy children. There are so many material things we want for him that we can’t afford. Does that ever change? When do I get to be greedy again?
Tomorrow: My first official book review and more free stuff!
Rylan was a little cranky for the last few days, which is very unlike our smiley babe.
After hanging out in his Intellitainer for ten minutes or so, he began to reach up for me. The ever-doting mother that I am, I jumped at the chance for a cuddle and scooted over to pick him up. He showed signs of wanting to nurse so we plunked on the floor for a snack. As he was drinking, I was gently massaging his legs as I often do. He was wearing wide-legged rapper pants so my hand was on his bare skin. I pulled it out for a moment and…crap. My fingers were covered in crap!
I stuck him on his change pad and whipped his clothes off. Crap, crap everywhere. Crap on his shirt. Crap on his pants. Crap on his socks. Crap on his back nearly up to his hairline. I think he crapped out the contents of his upper and lower intestine, part of his chest cavity and also his left leg. As I was doing my best to clean him up before he got crap on his hands (and then, of course, in his mouth) I turned to see the dogs eating the crap out of his clothes! I shooed them away, cleaned him a little more and then left him to move his crappy clothing out of reach of anyone under 3 feet tall. When I turned back to him, he had rolled over and peed all over his change pad, toy box and carpet. I gave up and just put him, crap and all, into the tub. He had a blast playing in there and was finally back to his giggly self.
Have you read through my “Pleased To Meet You” page? Well, you don’t know what you’re missing! Heh. I’ll tell you what you’re missing - a bunch of random crap in no particular order that you probably don’t care about. However, if you have read it, and made it all the way to the tenth bullet, you’d know that this is genetic:
She’s hangin’ in my sidebar for the week. She’s a very crafty stay at home mom to two daughters from Denver, Colorado. The BG and I hung out in the Denver airport for somewhere around 8 hours on our way to Vegas but that’s as close as I’ve been. She has a friendly writing style that I’m sure you’ll love. Read her post from Friday and you’ll see she’s a lot like all of us!
So, please, head on over, leave her a comment and tell her you came from here. We like to make our roomies feel welcome around here.
I’m trying something new. Several of my regular readers have no idea what an RSS feed is or how to use it, so to help them out I’ve decided to give email subscriptions a shot. See, over there to the right, enter your email address in there, click ’subscribe,’ a verification email will be sent to you for response. Once you verify, all new MMTaM posts will show up right in your inbox! Click-through links will be provided so you can come over and comment, and you don’t have to keep checking back to see if I’ve posted or not. I have done the same thing over at MMO. I’m still working out kinks, so let me know what you think and how it works! (Don’t worry - there’s no spam, only posts!)
…to plop a kid in a big fat dude’s lap and walk away to snap pictures, no?
“Help me, Mama!”
“Who the heck is this guy?”
The BG didn’t want to miss Rylan’s first Santa Claus visit so we waited until after work Friday to brave the hell that is the mall. We decided to avoid the lines by going to the crappy mall. There was, indeed, no line. And for a mere $20 donation (to the Children’s Hospital, which is why we gave so much), we got one really crappy looking Polaroid. Good thing I brought my camera! Not that mine turned out that well, but they’re better than the Polaroid, that’s for sure!
If we have any free time and are feeling brave, we may try the good mall later this week. Or not. Meh. At least we’ve got something for the scrapbook, right?
I read something on a webMD blog that I thought was a wonderful idea and had to share…
Here’s how PROJECT GOOD HEART works:
1. Explain to your kids (over the age of 5-6 years or so) that instead of one present you would have given them, they are to choose a charity to donate what that present would have cost.
2. Talk about the reasons for charity and for empathy towards people less fortunate (”Remember when we saw those people on TV who lost their homes?”).
3. Discuss with them the various kinds of charities and how they help those less advantaged in many ways.
4. Ask them what kind of support they would like to give: for food, shelter, clothing, medicine, toys, books, etc? For victims of disasters or war or for the chronically poor? What country would they like to focus on? For families? Kids? Communities?
5. Encourage putting themselves in another’s shoes: “If were unlucky and lost a lot of the things we now have or we were victims of a storm or a war, how would you want others to help us?”
6. Guide the discussion: “Sure, Billy, buying Twinkies for a lot of kids is a great idea and would make them happy for a short minute, but can you think of other ways to better help the disadvantaged with the cost of your present?”
7. But in the end, it’s their charity. Let them choose.
8. On Christmas or Chanukah, put a card in a nicely wrapped gift box that says, “X dollars donated by Billy to the ABC charity, where it will be used to ___. Thanks, Billy!”
Perhaps, one day, when the X box is rusting in the basement, these will endure as the presents that your child best remembers and appreciates as having taught them the true meaning of Christmas and Chanukah.
The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose.
Hada Bejar
Christian or not, what do you do at this time of year to keep Christmas from becoming giftmas?
On a lighter note, fill out this [strange] survey for a free sample of Commandos. Funny, yet kind of intriguing!
Oh. My. God. The freaking spammers are driving me nutso! Thirty in the past hour. Want your penis enlarged? Want to give some African dude your bank account info? Want to login to PayPal so some loser can verify your account take your money? I can hook you up! I’m going to have to change my word verification again and see if that helps. Any other suggestions are welcome too. Maybe before my head explodes would be good.
Before I forget to tell you (because I would definitely forget, what with my brain all full of ways to enlarge my penis and all) I have a new post up at MMO.
I know I kind of suck at posting here lately. It’s super busy season (what am I going to do when I’m trying to work full time too?) and, well, um…just sorry. I’m reading a book that I have to review this week so all my free time (ha!) is spent reading. On the positive side, you just might win a free copy of it. Does that make it all better? Good. You rule.
So…hmmm…what’s news?
1. My friend Raechelle finds out tomorrow if she’s having a boy or a girl! I can’t wait! (It’s a BOY!)
2. My friend Kris just got (finally!) a permanent nursing job! (She doesn’t really have a blog, though I keep trying to convince her. She insists she has nothing to say. I tell her “Neither do the rest of us and it doesn’t stop us!” Maybe you could help me convince her?)
3. One of my best friends (the one that bought me the pillow) has been living in the dark ages and finally got a computer yesterday. I’ll be making the drive to her place and setting her up a blog in the new year. You’ll love her. Everyone does! (Raechelle, I’m talking about Leah! Tell these people how excited they should be about her blogging, would you? She’s freaking hilarious!)
4. My poor cousin Tara is sick. Send her some love, would ya?
Notice none of this news is mine? I have no idea why I’ve been busy - I have nothing to show for it.
Off to put the monkey to bed and do some photo editing. Happy almost Friday, friends of the internet.
(In case you were wondering, yes I can spell. The title of this post was the text of no less than 18 of the spam comments I got today.)
This little boy needs your help to cure a disease that is slowly taking his life. Somekindbloggers have worked together to create a series of online raffles with all profits going to MD Canada. Tickets cost from $1-$5 and are available through paypal secure. Go check it out. You needed a good deed to get back in Santa’s good books, right? Here it is.
Rylan and I are having another crazy day with visits, a photo shoot, a walk date and a lot of napping (on his part…photo editing on mine). My legs and butt are screaming from too many lunges yesterday. I’m earning my mom’s Christmas baking!
(If you can’t see my new banner, clear your cache. Does anyone know how to clear the cache in the old version of firefox? I have the newest version and can’t remember where it is on the old one. In the new one, it’s tools - clear private data…but in the old one there’s no “clear private data” option…Leave a comment if you use the old one and can help, please!)
As much as internet speak/text talk drives me crazy (dh, rofl, lol etc - too lasy to type the whole words?), I really love the ROFL awards - the brain child of MotR and Izzy. I read them every month but am usually too much of a slacker to participate. Not this time!
I awarded the November award to my dear friend Deb for her post entitled New Concept on Scratch and Sniff Packaging. Everything Deb writes is wonderful. She makes you laugh. She makes you cry. She makes you think. I’m not surprised she’s a published author in “real life.” She is also sweet, generous and kind. If you don’t know her already, you’ll love her. I promise.
Your job?
1. Go read Deb’s hilarious post.
2. Leave her a comment congratulating her.
3. Go see MotR or Izzy for a complete list of awardees and tour the internet for hilarious posts when you need a good laugh.
We’re (Rylan and I) teaching a mommy n’ me class morning and it’s our turn to host our friends for baby group this afternoon. Busy busy busy!
We had Christmas with my mother in law and her husband on Saturday (they’ll also be in Mexico on the big day) and my dad was here visiting and shopping yesterday so we haven’t had a heck of a lot of free time for blogging. Watch for a new post at MMO coming soon…
With Rylan quickly learning to (ack!) crawl, it’s time for some major babyproofing of our house and of all the places he frequents regularly. Installing baby gates is the least of our worries. Our main concern is the toxic chemicals everywhere you turn. Feeding him organic food just isn’t enough in this day and age. We must clean up the grass he rolls on and the floors he crawls on. We try to live as organically and naturally as possible. We don’t use pesticides or herbicides. We’re going to try organic fertilizer. If you can’t eat it, you really shouldn’t touch it or inhale it. We want to teach him about health through natural living and we want to lead by example. We also really believe that you vote with your money. If nobody buys it, they’ll have no choice but to stop making it.
Some things we’ll be disposing of:
1. Bug repellents
2. Febreze
3. Drain Cleaner
4. Toilet Cleaner
5. Oven Cleaner
6. Furniture Polish/Stains
7. Window Cleaner
We haven’t used any of these since I got pregnant, but they’re still sitting around polluting our space.
I’ll be heading to the dollar store to buy a crapload of spray bottles and spending a few hours making the natural alternatives.
We’re also using up the last of all shampoos, soaps, laundry detergents etc and replacing them all with Dr. Bronner’s castile soap (which works for absolutely everything!) and/or Nature Clean products. We use baking soda instead of fabric softener as well, and it works great. I’m still working on a dishwasher detergent alternative, so I’ll let you know when I come up with something.
We never bought any commercial baby products and disposed of the ones we received as gifts, so we don’t have any to dispose of, but here are my baby recipes.
Pour 1 cup baking soda down the drain. Follow with 2 cups (more or less) of vinegar. Let sit 1 hour. Flush with hot water. For bad clogs, repeat as many times as necessary. This is best done monthly to prevent clogs from occurring.
4. Toilet Cleaner
Simply pour in 1 cup baking soda and scrub with a brush.
For deep cleaning, pour in 1-4 cups vinegar and let soak 1-2 hours. Scrub with a brush.
For fizzy toilet fun, pour baking soda and vinegar in together!
5. Oven Cleaner:
Sprinkle a little bit of water over the bottom of the oven, follow with baking soda (make sure it covers the bottom) and then wet it with a spray bottle of water. If you need to clean the sides, make a paste of water and baking soda. Apply the paste and let it sit a couple of hours or even overnight. Use a damp rag to remove the baking soda. Residue doesn’t hurt (it’s non-toxic!) but if it bugs you you may need to wipe it down a few times to remove all of the whiteness. For deeper cleaning, use vinegar instead of water.
6. Furniture Polish:
1/4 cup vinegar or lemon juice plus a few drops of oil. The vinegar/lemon pulls the dirt out of the wood, and the few drops of oil lubricates the wood so that it doesn’t dry out. I have also tried the reverse (1/4 cup oil and a few drops vinegar/lemon) but I find it too oily for polish.
The best oils to use are those that have the longest shelf life. I think olive oil works well. Or the liquid wax jojoba, which never goes rancid (get it at health food stores). Unfinished Wood:
We just got new 7 foot bookshelves made of unfinished alder wood. Since we couldn’t find SafeCoat locally, we decided to completely opt out of toxic stain and instead we rubbed the wood down with a mixture of 2 parts olive oil to 1 part lemon juice. 2 cups oil and 1 cup lemon covered both shelves with a tiny bit to spare. If I remember, I’ll post a pic so you can see how well it works!
7. Window Cleaner:
While plain vinegar works fine, I like this mix. Add ¼ cup white distilled vinegar and ½ teaspoon liquid (organic/natural) soap (I like Dr. Bronner’s) to 2 cups water in a spray bottle and shake. You can add a few drops of an essential oil for scent if you want, but it isn’t necessary.
———- If you can’t/don’t want to/don’t have time to make your own alternatives, here are some of my favourite products and lines:
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Congratulations to Jenny of Shlameel Shlamozl for being my first winner at MMO with a blog to link to! Keep reading, keep entering…I have some more very awesome things lined up for you soon!
We had a super day today! (Edited to add…now, yesterday. I’m slow.) Rylan’s Auntie Sasha came to visit and stayed for the whole day. We shopped (naturally), ate (naturally) and opened Christmas presents because she’ll be in Mexico for the holidays. She is a fantastic shopper and always finds things that we all love. The BG got 4 new shirts (which he really needed and are all super nice - he’ll look hott in them - which I’m sure his sister didn’t think of when she bought them but it’s true). Rylan got 2 new adorable outfits, 2 toys, a baby Gund stuffed lamb and a gorgeous Asian-inspired satin blanket with dragonflies on it. I got a watch, a silver rubber bracelet with Rylan’s name all around it (cool!), an Asian inspired diaper bag (which I’ve always wanted but was too cheap to buy for myself), angora socks, Chai tea, pineapple jalapeno sauce with recipes and some Burt’s Bees stuff. See what I mean? She’s rather amazing. It’s kind of weird to list Christmas presents, I know, but aren’t you impressed with her uncanny ability to find what we love?
Here are a couple of pics of Rylan with his Auntie today…
And a gratuitous pic of my beautiful kid. Because I can.
After a biopsy, dozens of scans, blood work, bladder and prostate removal, urostomy creation, chemotherapy, blood transfusions, and more chemotherapy, Papa Jack had a CT scan last week. He had his follow up with the oncologist today, and was declared cancer free. We got exactly what we wanted for Christmas.
Here’s an excerpt from Rylan’s first letter to Santa:
…I hope that you, Mrs. Claus, the elves and the reindeer are staying nice and warm as you prepare for your big night. I will leave you some milk and a special piece of meat pie, with a beer that you can take with you to drink after you’re all done driving for the night. Safety first! Please remember that if you get tired you and your team can stop for a rest at my Grandma Betty and Grandpa Jack’s house. That’s where I’ll be.
For Christmas this year I would like something to help support me as I learn to walk and also a toy to play with, please. Our family’s special wish is for us all to be healthy and happy, to have lots of time to play together, and for my Grandpa Jack’s cancer to be gone. Maybe you and God can work on that one together…
Thanks Santa! Thanks God! Thanks doctor and nurses! Thanks to everyone who prayed, hugged, emailed, phoned, and donated.
Catching up. How’ve ya been? This’ll be a long one to make up for my slacking of late. And fairly random. Prepare yourselves.
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Remember when my sweet husband bought me an espresso machine? I’m pretty sure it’s the best gift (other than, of course, my engagement and wedding rings) that he’s ever given me.
Every year, my mom and I try to get to pottery/craft sales featuring local potters. Both of us collect pottery but have so much that we’re now just looking for specific things. I still want large platters, a sealing jug to keep my milk in, and a girl can never have enough coffee mugs. I don’t like mine to match. No two are the same. Our favourite table is the one full of the ‘crap’ that the potters can’t sell at full price because of flaws. I can rarely even spot the flaws, and besides, just like in people, I think those little idiosyncrasies make the pieces more special. A few weeks ago, my mom and I hit one of these sales and check out my $5 (regular $20) purchase!
Now that’s what I call a latte!
Incidentally, since I got it I’ve had approximately 250 lattes and saved $1250. Twice the price of the machine. Well worth it!
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We got our tree up last week, finally! I prefer to get it up as soon as Halloween is over so I have more time to enjoy it, but for some reason I was kind of busy this year…
Rylan’s face lit up and he squealed when he got up from his nap and saw the sparkling lights. That’s what Christmas is all about. (Okay, well not really, but it was cool.)
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We had Rylan’s paternal grandpa and his wife here last weekend (and yesterday Grandpa came again!) and finally got some pics of them with Rylan. I don’t know why I always forget to take pictures when we’re with them. I always remember right after they leave!
Don’t they look like nice grandparents? They are.
Notice Rylan’s “girl boots?” That’s what his daddy called them, so I exchanged them for the dark brown which look much better. I was originally trying to save money by getting something that both genders could wear should we ever have a girl. Apparently that was a bad idea.
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Rylan got several new Christmas outfits - check out this cute bum flap!
and this is the front…
(Okay, that was a section purely for grandparents. I know you’re not interested in every new outfit. But it’s my blog. So there.)
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Now, for the infamous Christmas meme. Ahhhh, Christmas….
Christmas is my favourite time of year. I love when everyone has time off together to relax and have fun. Everything about it is great. Unlike some people, I don’t find it stressful at all. I enjoy every minute, and I’m sure it’s only going to get better with our own kids.
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate. Dark and rich. Once a year, an eggnog with some spiced rum, but only once. I find it too rich. And I’m kind of scared of drinking raw eggs.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? He wraps them. Everything is wrapped - every tiny stocking stuffer!
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Only white on everything. I like it classy. (Not that I’m classy ~ I just like my house to look that way!)
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No. We don’t have any. I think I’ll get some next year and make it a tradition so I can still kiss Rylan once he won’t let me anymore!
5. When do you put up your decorations? As soon as Halloween’s over, it’s fair game.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Acadian tortiere. (Click for our Christmas recipes)
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? There are too many to pick just one. Probably one of (a) going to bed and trying really hard to stay awake to see Santa and the reindeer, (b) getting to stay up late for midnight mass and a midnight snack with friends of tortiere and chocolates or (c) playing with my new toys all day!
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I have no idea what you’re talking about.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Always! Usually something from an aunt/uncle or something. Not anything huge. I think we’re going to start a Christmas PJ’s tradition with our kids.
10. What kind of decorations are on your Christmas Tree? White lights, silver bows, silver balls & stars, silver Victorian tinsel (real tin).
11. Snow! Love it or dread it? Dread it, because I hate driving in winter. I like a white Christmas, but only after everyone’s arrived and then it can melt before anyone leaves!
12. Can you ice skate? Yes! I figure skated for about 13 years. Sadly, I suck now, but I can still get by.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? That would have to be my engagement ring in 2002.
14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Family, friends and traditions.
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Grasshopper pie or DQ ice cream with teddy bear sauce.
16 What is your favorite holiday tradition? Again, it’s hard to pick, but one of (a) Christmas Eve games with family and stuffing stockings with my mom, (b) Boxing Day (and the 27th at our little boutique) shopping with my mom.
17. What tops your tree? An angel. I want a new one, but I haven’t found a nice silver one yet.
18. Which do you prefer ~ giving or receiving? Giving! I love giving. I don’t really care what I get.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I love all of them. Lately, I really like “Santa Baby”, but also the more traditional “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” and all the rest.
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or yum? Yum, but only one a year. Unless they’re in my hot chocolate!
From Michelle and Deb. If you haven’t done this one, feel free!
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One last thing (which I saved for last, lest I piss off the sleep gods) - Rylan slept 12 hours without waking last night. I’m not even going to put an exclamation mark, even though that sentence deserves it after 2 months of crap sleep. Maybe that will help?
(We’re on an elimination diet - rice cereal is a no-no here. It looks like he has an aversion to “white stuff” like the Big Guy. We’re working on other stuff, but so far that’s the one that got us some sleep. Have any of you fed your babies chickpeas?)
I have heard people say that toys like these are a waste of money and space.
I disagree.
Would this face tell a lie?
Yeah, we have two. The exersaucer is in the basement and belongs to a friend with older children. The intellitainer is upstairs. Both rock.
At seven months, Rylan is the most fun ever! Every day I think he can’t get any better and then, magically, he does. It’s the coolest thing, being his mom.
Happy December, everyone! [25 days! Woo hoo! I love Christmas!]
I posted a NEW REVIEW including a CONTEST over at MMO! Make sure you enter this one…there are some pretty amazing Canadian products out there and this is one of them!
Started in 1988, World AIDS Day is about increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education. World AIDS Day is important in reminding people that HIV has not gone away.
Someone is infected with HIV every six seconds. How long will it take you to read this?
Do the math.
According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 39.5 million people living with HIV, including 2.3 million children, and during 2006 some 4.3 million people became newly infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35.
Around 95% of people with HIV/AIDS live in developing nations. But HIV today is a threat to men, women and children on all continents around the world.
The face of AIDS is increasingly young and female, and the statistics are startling. Nearly half of people living with HIV worldwide are women, and 76% of youth living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are young women and girls. Intersecting with the growing feminizationof the global AIDS epidemic is another epidemic – that of violence against women and girls.
As you tie your red ribbons this holiday season, remember this ribbon:
I’m participating in a blog exchange again this month!
Kara, the author of the above post, is the hostess over at Cape Buffalo where she, too, writes about being much more than a mom. Currently, she is training for a half marathon to raise funds and awareness for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. You can read about her training (mis)adventures, post a tribute about a loved one who is a cancer survivor or victim, or sponsor her by making a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at her other blog Team Mimi. She also hates Christmas and spends too much time watching Shaun Cassidy videos on YouTube.
I’m over at Cape Buffalo today! Head on over and see what colour I chose and what I had to say about it.
(Since I hate/suck at poetry, I think you might be surprised…I had major writer’s block and you’re just lucky I didn’t have to rhyme with shoe. In school I always got in trouble for using ‘poo’ too much in poetry units!)
Seriously, Kara’s super friendly and you’ll like her place. While you’re there, help Kara choose her Christmas card photo (Scroll down from my post). Maybe ask her why she named her site Cape Buffalo too - I’d like to know!
Then, go enter my current contest. You have until midnight MST today. Come back for a new and awesome contest tomorrow!
If you’d like to participate in next month’s blog exchange, click on the above button for more information.
Any contributed content above is the subjective opinion of that member or external author, and not of Minti.com Pty Ltd. If you are searching for health related advice we strongly suggest you seek professional medical support. View our Terms of Service for more details.
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, The Smart Teen’s Guide to the Mysteries of Her Body, the newest book by Toni Weschler. Does that name sound familiar? It should. She is the author of the infamous 
