A little bit of Ella...

Babies are pretty useless!  Now, I would just like to say that I have spoken to other mommies, and they tend to agree with me!  Between the day they're born and around, say, 2 or 3 months old, babies are useless!  They're cute to look at... but that's about it! They eat, they poop, they sleep, they cry.  Basically the first 2 to 3 months is just surviving.  After that is when things start to become fun, when having a baby is really worth it!

Ella is starting to get to that point now.  You smile at her, and she smiles back.  She laughs now.  She holds her own head up.  She talks and coos and carries on a conversation.  Of course I don't have a clue what she's saying, but she's still talking along with me!  I can put her in the exersaucer, and she'll play for hours (or 20 minutes, which is hours in baby time!).  When she gets in the tub now, she gets so excited and splashes all over the place.  She's just getting cute, plain and simple! :)

This little girl can talk too!  Holy moly... she will talk your ear off.  Her favourite time to talk is during dinner, or when changing her bum.  She loves to lay on the change table and talk and talk and talk!  Here she is, having a little chat with Aunt Tricia on Thanksgiving.  She was pretty tired by this time of the night, but she was still able to carry on quite the conversation!!

Ella is also a smiler!  Gracie smiled very early, and Ella did too... the difference is, Ella gives them away for free!! :)  Gracie used to make you work for her smiles.  And most of the time, while you were making faces or funny sounds, she would look at you with this very serious look on her face, as if to say "Come on puppet, is that all you have?  Entertain me!"  Ella is the total opposite!  All you have to do is look at her, and she smiles away!  I sometimes compare them to Garfield and Ottis.  I'll let you decide which one I think acts like the goofy puppy! :)  Even now, Gracie is quite serious!  She's not a fan of people she doesn't know!  It's not that she's shy, she's just very choosy about who she will speak to.  Ella is only young yet, but I can tell that her personality is going to be the complete opposite of Gracie's!  I'm looking forward to meeting Ella's personality in the near future.  It's hard to imagine your second child as anything but exactly like your first... before she was born, the only image I could conjure of her was Gracie as an infant!  And since Gracie's personality (and *ahem* attitude) is all I've ever known from my children, I'm looking forward to watching a new and different personality develop.




It's hard to believe that nearly 3 months have passed since Ella was born.  Every day is a new adventure with her, and it's exciting to watch her grow and develop and learn new things.  Time seems to pass faster each and every day, and I have a feeling things aren't going to slow down any time soon.  So while I can, I take tons of pictures, and record all the memories.  Because soon my little Ella will be big like Gracie, and Gracie will be... well, she'll be bigger too!  So as much as I'm glad that Ella is out of the "useless baby" stage, I do kind of wish that the world would spin just a little bit slower... 

Enough is Enough

Last week I wrote a little about being thankful... thankful for friends, for family, for people in our lives.  Today at church, my priest spoke a sermon about being thankful for things.  For being happy with what we have, instead of always wanting more.  

He asked us, "when is the last time you met somebody who was truly happy with what they had?"  And the truth is... I don't think I ever have!  It's true that I'm happy with what I have... but do I want more?  Absolutely!  There are days when the toys are all over the floor, and the boxes of children's clothes are piled 6 high, and the laundry baskets are overflowing, and I think "I need a bigger house."  There are days that I stand in my closet, staring at "nothing" and think "I need more clothes."  There are days that I stare in my freezer or cupboards, full of food, and think "there's nothing to eat."

There's always going to be more stuff that I want... and when does it stop?  When I get a bigger house, will I be satisfied?  If I can go on a clothes shopping spree, will that make me happy?  If I fill all of my cupboards and fridge with the freshest foods, will I be able to make dinner more often?

Danny and I said we wanted to raise our girls with respect.  We want them to respect people, but also things.  They should recognize that they are lucky to have the things that they do, that not everybody is able to have as much they do.  We always said we didn't want a house full of toys, and at Christmastime and at birthdays, they will have to donate old toys to make room for new ones.

This afternoon, Gracie found some money while she was playing in my closet.  By money, I mean 35 cents, but to her, it could have been a million dollars!  We went grocery shopping, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to show her the value of money.  She wanted a treat, and I told her treats cost money, so she would have to hand over her money if she wanted to take the treat home.  She thought really hard about it.  She really didn't want to give up her money.  But of course, in the end, the lure of a chocolate treat won out and she handed over her 35 cents.  Of course the little chocolate that she bought was more than 35 cents, but we'll save that lesson for when she can count! :)  The point is that she traded in her money for her treat, and she was happy.  She didn't need both. 

So if we expect our children to learn these lessons, why is it so hard for us, as adults, to be happy with what we have?  Maybe we all need the innocence of children, who think that a chocolate treat at the grocery store is the greatest thing in the world.  They see the chocolate in their hand, and don't even see the 300 other chocolate bars inches from their face.  When playing at home, Gracie can spend so long just laying on the floor, playing with her crayons and scrap paper.  She doesn't need toys that sing and dance and flash lights.  We can go outside and run around on the lawn for hours.  She doesn't need electric toy cars.  She can wear the same outfit 10 days in a row, and still look in the mirror like she does every day and say "I'm pretty, mommy."

Danny and I have spent so long talking about the things we want our children to learn from us, but I think sometimes the things we can learn from them mean so much more.  We need to just start paying attention, and try to soak up some of that innocence.  They are so happy with what they already have... somehow, in their little time in this world, they've already learned something that adults have such a hard time grasping, the greatest lesson... that enough really is enough!

So much to be thankful for!

Today is Thanksgiving... and I have tons to be thankful for!

This weekend, one of my oldest and bestest friends got married!  The weather was fantastic, the ceremony was amazing, and the bride was beyond beautiful!  I had the honour of standing with Leah as a bridesmaid, and there is no where else I would rather have been this weekend than sharing in her special day!  The wedding also gave me the opportunity to catch up with some friends I haven't seen since high school, and we had a fantastic time.  Watching how happy everybody was for Leah and Dave, and sharing in that happiness, makes me realize how lucky I am to have such great friends in my life!  True friends are always just a phone call away, even if those phone calls are far and few between, knowing that they will always be there for you, no matter what, no matter when, is pretty darn special!

My parents made the trip from Fredericton to Digby for the wedding weekend too.  I needed someone to watch the girls so I could be in the wedding, and Danny could come as well.  Driving all that way, just to babysit??  That's my parents!  They would do anything for Danny and I, and we are so grateful for everything they have done for us!!  Someday, we will be able to repay them for all of their troubles, for all of their generosity, for all of their selflessness.  Until then... we will give them the pleasure of caring for and spoiling their grandbabies! :)

Thanksgiving Dinner with the family.  Being away all weekend meant that
Colonel Sanders had to cook!! :)

My sister is also pretty awesome to me.  We forgot about finding someone to watch Charlie for us while we were all partying in Digby this weekend, and Patricia didn't hesitate to take her for the weekend.  I text her some mornings... "Come visit.  Bring tea."  And she always does!  Gracie adores her, and she's there to babysit when we need her.  I know that I don't have to worry about leaving my girls with her because she loves them like they're hers!

There's my husband as well, and I'm thankful for him every day.  He's really a very special guy, who doesn't hesitate to show how much he loves me and the girls!  Sometimes I take for granted how lucky I am, but then I see a dad who complains about having to stay home to "babysit" his own kids, or who rolls his eyes when his wife asks him to help bathe the kids... and that's all it takes to remind me of how amazing Danny is.  He doesn't think twice about helping out with the girls... not because he knows it's his job... but because he truly enjoys being a part of every aspect of their lives, the good, the bad, and then dirty!

And then of course, there's the girls.  Every single day with them is a gift, and I need to slow down sometimes and savour every moment!  Like this morning, when Gracie unrolled the toilet paper roll while sitting on the potty.  Instead of noticing the mess on the floor, I should be thankful at the success we're having with potty training.  Instead of being annoyed at the fact that Gracie talks alllll day, every day, without taking a single breath, I need to close my eyes and listen to the sound of her voice... thankful that she wants to talk to us, grateful that she's such a smart little girl who can make us laugh all the time with the things that come out of her mouth!  Instead of being frustrated when Ella is crying, I need to be thankful that she only cries when she's hungry, and not all day long like some parents have to endure.   I'm thankful watching my girls grow!   Seeing how strong Ella is getting every day... she can hold her head up without any help now, and sits up straight with us barely holding her hips.  Gracie is an amazing big sister, and helps out however she can with Ella.  When I go to get Ella up in the morning, Gracie has to follow behind me, yelling "Morning Ella" all the way.

Thanksgiving only comes once a year, but I think it's important to take a few moments every day and realize how lucky I am to have the life that I have, how lucky I am to have the friends that I have, and how luck I am to have the family that I have!

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!! :)