It's a busy house!

Things have been very busy in the Ford household lately!  It feels like we have officially turned into real parents... ones who are never home because we're taking our kids to all of their activities.  I have a calendar on my kitchen wall, and it has more activities on it than I ever thought would be possible with 2 kids under 2!    To be fair, it's not just their activities... mom and dad have made sure to keep their own activities up to stave off the craziness!  So throw in our stuff too, and planning an evening at home hardly seems possible anymore!

We signed Gracie up for swimming lessons.  This is her first real activity, and so far she loves it!  Our first day was Monday morning.  We dropped Ella off at the sitters and headed to the pool.  Gracie didn't even mind when I told her she couldn't stay at Nancy's, because she was so excited about swimming at the pool.  Have I ever mentioned that when Gracie speaks, she's kind of William Shatner about it? "Swim. At. The. Pool?"  It's really kind of funny, and cute too!  So we headed over to the pool, got on our swimsuits (because off course I had to be in the water with her... it's just not responsible to throw them in and see how they do!), and headed into the kiddy pool.  Apparently that's the warm one.  All the kids smiled... all the parents cringed.  That's not the temperature I would keep my bathtub!!  We started off by just pulling the kids around on their bellies, then their backs.  Then we got some floaty toys and they had to lay on their bellies and kick their way over to them.  Then we blew bubbles in the water.  Then all the kids got to stand on the edge of the pool and jump in.  This was Gracie's favourite part.  She laughed and laughed, and yelled "Again. Mommy. Again."  It was fun for me too... until like the 10th jump.  She may only weigh 25 pounds, but hefting that out of the water and up onto the side of the pool a couple dozen times showed me how far I need to go before I acquire true "mommy muscles!"  When it was time to go, Gracie was quite sad!  She really didn't want to get out of the pool.  She was even sadder when we reached the change room where they keep the temperature at -5 degrees with fans blowing.  That was one crying infant!!  But she can't wait to go back on Monday!

We've also started going to the library.  Gracie loves books.  Loooooves them!  We could read all day and she would never get bored.  She has most of her books memorized, and I was feeling like it was time to get her some new ones.  Did you know that kids books can cost upwards of $10.00 per book? For 6 or 7 pages?!?!  That's crazy!  It's a good thing I remembered this place where you can get all the free books you want, without the hassle of trying to find a place to store them in an already overcrowded house!  We went last Tuesday morning, and happened to wander in in the middle of story time.  There is a lovely woman who reads and sings to the kids.  Gracie didn't know quite what to make of her, but she seemed to enjoy herself, so now we go every week and she gets to bring home three exciting new stories every time! 

Another thing we've started doing is going to the gym.  Before I had Gracie, I went quite often.  Okay, so that's not completely true... but I did used to go every now and then!  I thought that would be impossible with two little kids, but we've started going most afternoons.  I put Ella in the strollers they have there and run the track and Danny takes Gracie in the gym and kicks or throws the balls around.  Sometimes they run with me too (with Gracie in the other stroller).  Ella is very cooperative throughout her gym time, and loves the wind blowing through her hair as I run around the track.  Gracie also enjoys it, but isn't a fan of what it does to mom and dad:  "Ewwww... sweaty daddy!!"  I'm starting Zumba again on Tuesday.  The last time I went, I was 37 weeks pregnant with Gracie.  I'm not going to lie... I'm not looking forward to going back.  Because I'm lazy! :)  But I know once I get there, I'll enjoy it again!  I'm taking my sister along for the ride... if I'm going to look ridiculous, I may as well have a partner! :)

Add in Dad's jujitsu classes and university courses, and my never-ending obligations with Sunday School, and we are one busy household!  All of it put together is enough to make me want to go crazy, but we have a little secret to keeping sane and keeping moving... our crazy, energetic children!  When we're tired, or cranky, or just in a funk, all it takes is one of Gracie's priceless outbursts (remember, "oh fuck, my shooooes!") or a new trick that Ella has learned (this week it's laughing!), and we're back to laughing and loving life!

I have to say, as crazy and hectic as our lives are... we've got it pretty damn good! :)

All the Single Ladies (and one married mother of two)

This weekend I was in Halifax to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of a very good friend of mine... Leah's stagette party.  Leah and I have been friends since elementary school.  She stood for me in my wedding, and I'm honoured to be standing for her as well.  With the wedding 3 weeks away, it was time to get our party on in Halifax!

Spending the night in Halifax meant two new things were going to happen.  I was going to be away from Ella overnight, and Danny was going to have to do a morning feed.  Danny and I have had an understanding from the very beginning... I don't do late nights, he doesn't do early mornings.  So while many of my other parent friends take turns with the through-the-night feeds, Danny has never had to get up.  I'm fantastic with little sleep... I jump up, do what needs to be done, get back to bed, and wake up at my normal time (mostly) perfectly happy.  Danny certainly wouldn't jump... he would do what needs to be done and get back to bed... but that's it! :)  And it's not that I've never left Gracie overnight... I have!  But Gracie has always slept straight through the night; 7:00-8:00 at least!  So there was no jumping for Danny to do.  Ella mostly sleeps until 5 am, but sometimes she throws me for a loop and decides she's hungry at 3 am instead... or 2:30, like she did Saturday night!  But Danny made it through perfectly fine (with the exception of hitting Ella's head off a door in the darkness), and I think the daddy-daughter time made them all really happy!

Back in the city, I arrived in time to watch Leah get all gussied up with a makeup appointment at the mall.  She asked not to look too "street walker-ish" and they did a fantastic job, because she looked amazing!  Leah headed over to Halifax with one of her other bridesmaids, Leanne, while the Maid of Honour (Angela), and I headed to the hotel suite we had booked to decorate and set up.  We met up a while later at an amazing restaurant called A Mano... oh. my. God!  I loooooove pasta.  That's all I have to say about that!

Before heading out to the bar we met up with the rest of Leah's friends at the suite, had some drinks, took some pictures, and played some games.  I'm pretty sure I was the only one who was married with children, because when I got a text from Danny that said "Gracie peed on the potty!" and I excitedly shared it out loud, I mostly got stares and half-smiles from Leah's friends! The looks didn't get any better when I got the second text a while later, "she did it again!!"  Oh how different life is when you have kids! :)

We had a table reserved at Taboo, a bar downtown, which included a private booth, a private server, and some free booze.  Apparently, all of the above were good things!  The booth made it easier to keep track of everyone, and who doesn't love a private server and free booze?  I was staying sober (breast milk and copious amounts of booze do not mix), but everyone else loved the Grey Goose Vodka that came with the booth.

After arriving at Taboo, we soon discovered that we weren't the only bridal party out the night.  Throughout the night we watched as seven other bridal parties arrived.  Of course, we were the best party there, and we hated the other brides on principal.  There were no fist fights, however Leanne was able to infiltrate one of the brides dance circles without being recognized as an enemy, so we totally won the dancing war!

By about 1:30 am, everyone was extremely sort of intoxicated, and we decided to call it a night.  We rounded up the troops, and made our way to the street (which involved rubbing your body against half a million strangers to get to the door! eeeew!), where we discovered it was pouring down rain.  Yay!  Angela had decided that her feet couldn't tolerate her shoes anymore, so while Leah and two others headed to the poutinerie to pick us up a late-night snack, I walked back to the hotel with Ang... who was now barefoot.  One of my favourite parts of the night was when we were walking past a very dishevelled homeless man who thought it was very important to notify Angela of how dirty the streets were, and perhaps she should put on some shoes.  It just seemed kind of ironic to me!

We enjoyed our poutine, crashed for the night in our beds (except for Angela's sister, who decided the floor was much comfier), and had a good night's sleep (ha).

There are quite a few stories I cannot share here (including some about underwear, puking, and high school rivals), but I can assure you that a good time was had by all.  We successfully celebrated the end of Leah's single-dom, and she is now prepared to enter into married life with the man of her dreams!

Congratulations lady!  I cannot wait for the big day... and I know there will be plenty more memories made!! :)

For Sale... one almost-two-year-old!

Gracie is almost two.  Those four words are probably all I need in this blog entry.  They say it all.  Gracie is almost two... which means we're heading straight towards that black hole known as "terrible twos."

Gracie has been far ahead in her language skills, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that this phase is coming a little early too.  But please, sweet baby Jesus, somebody tell me that this phase isn't going to last a whole year!!  Because I may kill her.  Obviously I'm not serious about that... but I can see a whole series of not-so-stellar mommy moments coming in the near future!

One thing I've learned is that no matter how many times I picture myself being patient, loving, and caring when Gracie has meltdowns, what really ends up happening is that I end up acting like an almost-two-year-old!  That's right, I can stomp my feet, cross my arms, and screech just as well as Gracie can! I'm not proud of that, by the way, but any mother who tells you that they deal with their child with a nice, calm, patient voice is lying!!  Liar, liar, pants on fire!  Maybe they don't revert to acting like a child every time, but believe me... they have been stomping feet and crossing arms during some of their child's tantrums!  For me, it's around the 5th tantrum in a row.  I can be all calm and serene during the first four, but bring on that 5th tantrum, and daddy better be around to take over!

Don't get me wrong, Gracie is a sweet little girl.  She has the kindest heart!  But my goodness, that attitude!!!!  I dropped her off at daycare yesterday and said "have fun with her, Nancy, she's been yelling and screaming all morning!"  Then I smiled, waved, and drove away.  When I picked Gracie up that afternoon, Nancy told me that she had to put Gracie in time-out a few times because she wouldn't stop yelling and screaming.  Yup, that's my girl!  At least she's consistent when she's acting out, and it's not just for me!  

Here's Gracie at home last night, after screaming "nooooooooo" at me, throwing her baby on the floor, and then, for good measure, giving her baby a nice swift kick across the floor.  As soon as she did it, I gave her "that look," and she went over and sat in her time-out spot, turned around and said "time out mommy?"  Oh, you better believe it!!

As soon as she's done her time she gets up, comes over and gives me a kiss, says "sorry mommy" and acts like my perfect little angel again... for another few minutes, anyway!

Okay, so maybe I'm not ready to sell her just yet.  Her good moments still far outweigh her badness!  But since she's not quite two yet, and I'm sure the worst is still yet to come, keep an eye on those Kijiji ads... there may be one cute little two-year old for sale, real cheap!! :)

A Permanent Stellar Mommy Moment? Uh-oh!!

Gracie had her 18-month checkup a couple weeks ago at the doctor's office.  She got her last set of needles (until school, anyway), and barely made a peep!  She talked up a storm, and the doctor commented "well, she has all of her 200 words already!"  Apparently, by age two, children should know around 200 words.  I don't think we have to worry.  That little girl has a vocabulary to challenge mine!  She talks all the time, and picks up new words all over the place!  You rarely have to tell her what something is more than once, and she has it memorized.  In fact, in the last couple of weeks we have come to realize just how much she remembers... and how it was a good thing she left one word out of her doctor's office visit!

I think I already mentioned a little while ago about our first real experience with Gracie cursing.  It was on the boat coming home from Fogo Island.  She had taken her shoes off, and when I said to her, "Gracie, we don't take our shoes off in the car," she looked down at the floor where her shoes were and exclaimed "oh fuck, my shoooooes!"  Danny and I, of course, just stared at each other... and then burst out laughing.  We didn't correct her, because we didn't want to encourage her to use the word again.  Unfortunately, when you have a bright little girl like Gracie, there was no deleting that word from her vocabulary.  She knows the word, and she knows when to use it!

Every now and then Gracie will out with the word.  This weekend, we were driving home from my brother's wedding, and Gracie bit her tongue and let out with a "oh fuck. Fuuuck."  And she's used it many other times too.  

I have to take the blame for this one.  This is a complete stellar mommy moment.  I have a sailor's mouth.  I curse horribly.  Not in my professional world, but get me away from people where it's just Danny and I (and apparently my impressionable 1-year old) and I curse... a lot.  And apparently Gracie hears me, and learns from me.  *sigh*

I don't think there's any undoing this one... we just have to wait for her to replace the word with something else.  "Oh-no" would be nice, or even "holy moly."  Anything but that four-letter word.  I guess I better start watching my mouth around my children, or Ella's first word wont be mom or dad!!

Here is Gracie, at the wedding, embracing her role as flower girl (and before letting out the curse words!)

And what has Miss Ella been up to lately?  Well she is a smiling machine!  I cannot get over how easily she gives out her smiles, giggles, oohs, and ahhs!  Gracie was a very happy baby, but she was always very serious.  We really had to work to get smiles out of her!  But Ella... oh she is a beautiful, smiley baby!  And every time she flashes us one of those huge grins, it just lights me up inside!  I cannot wait until we start getting real belly laughs from her... it's going to be the most beautiful sound ever!  Here she is, flashing me a smile or two...

No Mommy Moments for Ella yet... whew!  But, I am happy to announce, my first recordable Stellar Daddy Moment (okay, not really happy, but you know what I mean)  This morning, Ella was enjoying some tummy time on the couch, supervised by daddy.  Well that little girl loves to boogie, and she boogied herself right off the edge of the couch.  Dad was sitting right beside her, and managed to catch her... with his foot!  Gave Ella and daddy quite the fright I think!  But I'm happy, because at least I know now that it's not always me putting my children's lives in peril, or teaching them all the wrong four-letter words.  Daddies have moments too!! :)