Baaaaaaaah!!!

Gracie picks things up from us pretty quickly... I have come to realize that the grunting I detest so much has probably come from me saying "unh, unh, unh" when she gets into things.  Whoops.  Have to find a better sound to use!

Peek-a-boo is one of those tried and true games that you play with your children starting at a very young age.  It's one of the things that gets you your first smile, your first giggle, and then your first belly laugh.  Gracie was very discriminate in what she laughed at... regular old peek-a-boo may get us a giggle,  but in order to get that belly laugh we were searching for, I would often hide behind door frames and scare the living bejeezus out of her by jumping out and yelling "baaaaaah!!"   She would always immediately start laughing, and then hide behind the nearest thing to her (usually dad).

Yesterday was a turning point in our "baaaaah" game.  Now that Gracie is moving, I'm usually chasing her down the hall, yelling "baaaaaah!" while she giggles and hides.  After supper last night, I chased her into the bathroom, where she stopped, turned around, put both hands in the air, and yelled back "baaaah!"  At first I just laughed... but that wasn't the response she was looking for for, so she tried it again... "baaaaaaaaaaah!!!"  So I screamed.  She laughed so hard she fell on her bum and then onto the floor.  But she quickly jumped up, now chasing me back into the living room, yelling "baaaah" the whole way, and with me screaming after each one.  Then she spotted her dad in the kitchen.  She was quite eager to show him her new trick.  And God love him, he screams just as loud as I do! :)

The night continued, we played with our toys, and when it was time to get Gracie ready for bed, she decided to continue the game in her bedroom.

Dad was the lucky one caught on camera.  But he plays along like a champ!  I'm about to go wake her up  now and get her ready for the day.  It will be interesting to see if she remembers right away how scary she is... or if that game will continue tonight.  One thing is for sure, she never ceases to entertain us with what she learns... and I can't wait to play her next game with her!

Stellar Mommy Moments

We've all had them I think... those moments where your children do something that you should have prevented, and you look around to make sure nobody saw it happen.  Then, when enough time has passed to make it humorous, you start to tell people about these stellar mommy moments... because by then, your child is obviously alright, and still doing funny kid stuff without having suffered any long-term residual affects from your "mommy moment." 

I knew these moments were coming... I've watched them happen (with a giggle) to other mommy friends of mine.  I just didn't realize I'd be accumulating so many of my own at such a young mothering age.

None of my moments have been too detrimental to Gracie's health... I didn't drop her when she was a baby, I haven't tossed her into a ceiling fan while trying to make her laugh, she hasn't rolled off the change table.  So far, my moments have been fairly uneventful... but they're still moments!  I can't remember a lot of them... I just remember the panicked feeling that somebody may have seen me in my stellar mommy moment minute.  Some are pretty normal, we've all done them.  Spinning around in the kitchen, for example, and bouncing her head off the door frame.  Whoops!

Yesterday's mommy moment is brought to you by the fact that Gracie is newly mobile and I haven't learned to grow eyes in the back of my head yet.  She often wanders around our whole upstairs, peeking out from behind door frames and saying "boo."  She loves to wander in and out of the bathroom and up and down the halls.  Yesterday she came out of the bathroom with her hands soaking wet... "what did you get into?" I said, at the exact moment she pops both of her hands into her mouth.  It was at that exact moment that I realized the only reason she would come out of the bathroom with wet hands... the toilet seat was left up.  After waving my hands wildly, throwing up a little in my own mouth, and yelling "nooooo" all the same time, I reminded myself that no matter how gross it seems, at least the water in the toilet bowl is clean.  Stellar mommy moment #2 came about 2 minutes later when I realized that I still hadn't washed her hands (don't worry, I took care of that right then).  Stellar mommy moment #3 came later that night when I was brushing my teeth in the washroom and Gracie was playing with her tub toys on the bathroom floor.  I looked down and she was playing with her cookie monster toy, her favourite.  I looked back at the mirror, and just that quickly I hear it.... "splash, splash."  You THINK I would have remembered to put the toilet seat down.  No... no I didn't.  But I remember now!  At least until these mommy moments fade from memory...

These moments are going to keep happening... I think it's inevitable!  If your son or daughter hasn't bounced off a door frame, swam in the toilet, or endured a number of other cringe-worthy moments, you're obviously  not having enough fun! :)  I'm sure mommy moments in the future will involve more bumps and bruises and gross-out moments, maybe even trips to the emergency room.  But don't worry, when enough time has passed to make these moments less horrifying, I'll share them with you! :)

Attitude? What Attitude??

I think our little girl has some attitude in her... I honestly don't know where she would get it from!  Okay, so that's probably a blatant lie.  Gracie is a carbon copy of her father in looks, eating habits, bodily functions, personality, and just about everything else.  But that attitude... oh that's all mama!  And I don't mind, really, that she inherited it from me.  I may be a strong-willed woman with a quick tongue, but I have rarely used my "gift" unless it was needed... I stand up for what I believe is right, I stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves, and I will defend those who are most important to me without a second thought!  So really, attitude can be a good thing!  Just not in my one-year old... because oh my, we're going to have some words in 13 years! 

I know it's hard to believe, but this little girl is just FULL of attitude!

Gracie is very independent, but she listens very well.  We don't put things away because she's mobile, and we don't hide our breakables.  Gracie knows the word "no."  We taught her at a young age (aren't we mean??).  So when Gracie starts banging on my curio cabinet, I say "no, Gracie" and she stops.  It's amazing how it works!  What Gracie doesn't like is to be told to do things she doesn't want to do... "eat your supper," for example, or "Gracie, come here."  To those requests we get the most obnoxious sound to ever come out of a 13-month old.  I have nightmares about this sound, and have heard it so often, I am very close to letting it out of my own mouth when my boss asks me to do something I don't want to do.  Let's see if I can get it right... it goes like this... "errrrngh."  It's basically a grunt.  And she will look you straight in the eyes and "errrrngh" at you.  It is very quickly followed by "No, Gracie."  Which is then followed by a sometimes more intense "errrrrrrrrrngh."  When the tone in our voice drops and we get that very stern look on our face and say "Gracie..." she often looks at the floor, waits 4 seconds and then very quietly says "eerngh."  It is very hard not to laugh at her then, but we must be consistent, and so we follow up with "Gracie, we don't grunt."  As soon as you say the magic words "we don't" Gracie realizes we are serious, and she immediately puckers up for an apology kiss.  This dates back to our very first lesson, "Gracie, we don't hit, we kiss."  She seems very apologetic then, so she asks for her kiss, we say "thank you," and the day continues.  Usually for about another 2 minutes until we again ask her to "come here" or "eat your supper" and it starts all over again... "errrngh."  I seriously hope this is a phase that she soon outgrows... because if I have to hear "errngh" for the next 16 years I may chop both my ears off. 

In the meantime, until it stops, I will just brace myself when the "errngh"ing starts, try not to cry when I've heard it for the upteenth time today, and try my best not to use it myself when Danny asks "Sammy, are you making supper soon?"

10 Tiny Fingers, 10 Tiny Toes...

Yesterday was ultrasound day.  We've been waiting quite a while for this appointment... it seems even longer because of the events of my very first pre-natal appointment.  Let me take you back there...

We found out we were pregnant and I eventually got around to booking my appointment... I got in at around 14 weeks (apparently baby #2 doesn't take priority as baby #1 did... where I called the day I found out and got in at 8 weeks.  Oops!).  In the 14 weeks leading up to this appointment I was exhausted... completely and utterly fall-asleep-with-food-in-my-mouth exhausted.  I was asleep by 7:00 every night and was waking up late every morning.  I know that being tired is kind of standard while pregnant, especially during the first trimester... but this was crazy.  I couldn't even blame it on the fact that I had Gracie, because as I mentioned previously, she's a really good baby, and is in bed by 6:15 every night.  So there was the exhaustion.  There was also this recurring nightmare I was having of coming home from the hospital with two babies. 

When I got to the doctor's office, they did the usual things... weight, blood pressure... then came the time to lay down on the table and hear the heartbeat for the first time.  When I was laying down, the doctor (a student doctor at first) was feeling around to make sure everything was growing correctly.  This was the conversation we had...

Doctor:  "So... how far along did you say you were?"

Me:  "14 weeks."

Doctor:  "Hmmm..."

Me:  "Why?"

Doctor:  "Well, you're measuring quite large. Are you sure of your dates?"

Me:  "Yes.  Please don't tell me you think there's more than one in there."

Doctor:  "Why would you say that?"

Me:  "Bad feeling I've had... not to mention that twins and triplets are on all four sides of our families."

Doctor:  "Well... you're measuring about 20 weeks right now.  That's 6 weeks further along than you should be.  But there are other reasons that could happen."

Me:  "I see..."

So after trying to find the heartbeat, and not being able to, student doctor went to retrieve family doctor.  Once she entered the room, this is the conversation I had with her...

Doctor:  "How far along did you say you were?"

Me: "14 weeks."

Doctor:  "Hmmmm... Wow.  You are measuring quite large.  Let's find the heartbeat shall we?  Wouldn't it be funny if I found two.  Well, you probably wouldn't find it funny... but I would laugh."

Me: "Heh heh heh."

Doctor:  "Okay, there's the heartbeat... let's for fun see if we can find one on the other side.  Oh!  Look at that... well, that could be the same heartbeat, the baby could have moved. Hahaha"

So basically, that's what the doctor left me with.  She said "I'm not convinced that there's two in there, but I also don't know that there's one."  She said she would have sent me for an early ultrasound to find out, but they were behind in Kentville, and "3 or 4 extra weeks wont make a difference." 

Danny and I left the appointment, got in the car, and immediately started laughing.  What else can you do in a situation like that?  Possibly two heartbeats?  The more Danny thought about it, the more he was excited.  I have to say, I would love all the kids I'm lucky enough to have unconditionally, but I would really prefer them one at a time!

The next few weeks waiting for an ultrasound appointment took forever!  It literally would have taken forever if I hadn't called the ultrasound department to check about my appointment and discovered they never received the referral.  Whatever, another extra 2 weeks wouldn't make a difference! *rolls eyes* I have a friend who works at the booking department at the IWK... I spoke with my doctor, got my referral sent there, and had an appointment booked that afternoon. 

Yesterday we went to the appointment and I am happy to report... 10 fingers, 10 toes!!  I'm quite sure Danny let out a little "ooh" when we only saw the one... but in 5 months I know he'll be happy to have just the one little baby to look after.  We also know the gender... but we're not telling!  You'll have to check back in July for that update! :)

... The Rest of The Family!

So apparently I forgot three very important members of our family.  Before we had little Gracie Ford, we had Crackers, Elvis, and Charlie Ford.

This is Crackers

He was the original Ford baby.  We rescued him from the garage of friends of ours.  How we actually came to own him depends on who you ask... as per usual, mine and Danny's stories differ slightly.  My recollection of it is hazy, as it was 2:00 a.m. and I was fast asleep when Danny came home from a UFC-watching event and poked at me, saying:  "Sammy, there is this really cute kitten at Tim's place, can we have him?"  And I think what I said was "mmehabnmd..."  Apparently that means, "yes, please!" in sleep-talk!  So the next day we went and had a look at this kitten.  Now, I have to admit... he was cute.  I just loved the way he attacked every little thing that moved around him.  He had the cutest, sharpest little claws.  I was in love.  When we moved into our house 5 weeks later, Crackers moved in with us.  It was July 13.  On August 1, Danny went home to Newfoundland.  That left me and the precious little furball to bond.  Somewhere around August 3, Danny called to check in on us.  I was bawling.  This cute little kitten had taken to clawing his way up people's legs.  He was also chewing on faces and leaping off high objects to see if he could sink his claws into people as they walked by.  He was a fantastic climber... I know this because he was not only climbing my leg, but also the furniture, the door frames, and the walls.  When Danny happened to call that day, Crackers had just finished leaping off the back of the couch, attaching his claws around the back of my head (but not before he cut me from eyeball to ear), and was just then chewing on my nose.  I said to Danny "this cat is the spawn of Satan... make it stop!"  We called the vet for the advice, and got off that phone call thinking the vet was as crazy as Crackers was.  The vet told us... "get another cat."  After I finished laughing and asking if she was serious, she assured me she was.  Another cat would calm this one down... promise!

This is Elvis

Elvis was our solution to Crackers.  We adopted him from CAPs.  When we went to pick him out, he was this gorgeous shade of gray/blue with beautiful stripes.  He was also kinda handing out by himself.  I thought, "now there's a tough independent cat.  Perfect for Crackers!"  We brought him home, and Crackers immediately made Elvis his bitch.  Excuse the language.  Crackers and Elvis actually became best friends, and Crackers never again chewed on a face or leapt from tall surfaces.  Elvis is our special little guy... he is no longer this cute, petite kitten.  He is quite large... husky even.  I very affectionately call him Fatty Fatterson.  For a big fat cat, he has the tiniest squeak of a meow you have ever heard!  He is also slightly... prissy.  He will not drink face first out of a water bowl.  He must dip his paw in and lick off his paw.  If he happens to be laying down near the dish, he will drag it over to himself and lick sideways out of the bowl, never putting his face over the thing.  But we love him!





This is Charlie

We got Charlie a few years ago to "finish" off our little family.  She is... special.  Charlie has what we very affectionately refer to as "mental problems."  Charlie is incredibly smart and obedient.  But she hears things and sees things.  She will lay in her kennel and bark for 20 minutes at things only she can hear.  She has been known to stare at a wall waiting for whatever it was she saw enter the wall to come back out.   However, as special as she is, we do love her!  She loves to play outside and is probably the most loyal dog I've ever met.  She would never leave our side!  She loves to swim, and lord help the ducks at the duck pond if we would just let her at em!  Last year we had the sad task of finding Crackers a new home, and Elvis and Charlie became new best friends.  Elvis is now the biggest sook in the house, and Charlie has taken over Crackers' role as "leader."  See the pictures below and you will understand.

I think all the animals in this house are confused... Charlie is a girl, Elvis is a boy, and they are all fixed!  Oh well, they seem to be enjoying themselves! :)















Let me introduce ourselves...

I suppose it would only make sense to introduce our little family.

First, there's Danny (aka - Daddy).  Danny's from Newfoundland, and most people would describe him as the strong, silent type... until they get to know him.  Or until he has a number of drinks inside him and decides he'd like to argue with you about the size of pants you are all wearing.  In which case, the pants will come off, and he doesn't seem so shy anymore.  Now, this hasn't happened in a number of years, but I'm waiting... it'll happen again! :)

Next, there's Mommy (aka - Mommy).  I'm from the Valley... born and raised.  And on most days, pretty darn proud of that!  I'm from a military family, although my experience with moving has been from the Cornwallis base to the Greenwood base.  Wheeeee!  I was very close to moving away once... in fact I spent a whole year in Moncton!  But, alas, it wasn't meant to be.  I met Danny mere months before packing up for Moncton, and ended up coming back once I was finished school there... for a man, of all things!  But, 7 years later, I guess things worked out!  So, my cultural knowledge and experience is quite limited.  I can tell you all about Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.  That's it.

Danny and I met in the usual place that military men and local girls meet.  At the bar.  A friend of ours worked at Dooly's in Greenwood and knew this guy "I just had to meet."  After waiting at the bar for him on 3 separate occasions, he finally showed up one night and I had the pleasure of meeting my future husband.  Danny argues on the details of this night, but here's how I remember it...

Me: "Hi."

Danny: "Hey."

Me: "Nice tattoo, what does it mean?"

Danny: "Live and love life."

Me: "Right on."

That's about it... Danny had a few drinks in him, and that was the extent of our conversation that night.  I left about an hour later and had no sooner gotten home than I received a phone call from my Dooly's barmaid friend... she asked what I thought of Danny.  "He's... alright," I said.  "Well he thinks you're really cute."  I just laughed and went to bed.  The next night, Danny called...we scheduled a date, and spent every day together for the next 5 months until I moved to Moncton.  The rest is history... as they say.

Now, on to the next special member of our family.  Gracie!!  Gracie Helena Ford is our beautiful daughter, born last January 22 after being served her eviction notice and finally, sending someone in to get her.  Okay, it wasn't that bad... but she was 11 days late, with absolutely no intentions of joining us anytime soon.  She was born at 7:31 p.m., Saturday night, and weighed 8 pounds, 14.5 ounces.  And our lives changed immediately.  She has been nothing but a pleasure, an absolute joy to have in our lives.  I cannot tell you about one bad day we've had with her... hmm, perhaps that's mommy  brain talking there.  We've been told how lucky we are with Gracie, since she slept through the night basically from the time we got home from the hospital, 6 hours at a time from day 3.  She now sleeps 12-14 hours per night.  I have never suffered that new mom experience of complete exhaustion.  Don't worry though, that leads me to the next one...

Baby #2 - due exactly 1 1/2 years after Gracie was due.  July 11, 2012.  No, this baby was not an accident, as many have been quick to ask (usually followed by those looks like we are absolutely insane once we tell them we actually planned this).  We wanted our kids to be 1 1/2 - 2 years apart.  What can I say, babymaking is apparently our speciality... because 1 1/2 years it will be!  Sure, it will be busy at first, but I have no doubt that we will absolutely love having our kids this close together.  And it's true, if we plan for a third (that discussion is still open), that baby will be close as well.  We're not crazy... we're brilliant!  See, when all of our friends are attending their children's graduations, we will have been kid-free for, oh, 5 years or more.  We will be cruising around on big ships, visiting exotic places, and enjoying our "old age."  Stay tuned in 20 years, to see if this actually happened.

Well, that's our little Ford family in a nutshell... I've saved all the craziness for once you get to know us better!!

A Good Place to Start...

So I've been reading some other blogs with a very peaked interest... is this something I could do too?  Do I have anything interesting to talk about?  I must admit... talking has never been a problem for me.  I've never been accused of being the shy, quiet type.  So hopefully I can entertain and share a little insight into the lives of the Fords.  With a very active (and I must say, adorable) one-year old, and another baby on the way, I'm quite sure the Ford family adventures will be never-ending... so stay tuned for some excitement, mixed with the occasional dose of sarcasm, for which I am famous! :)