sackville

It was exactly ten years ago that Ryan and I were falling in love.  The summer of 2003 was our first summer together and we spent a great deal of time at his parent's house in Sackville.  Ten years before that I was a student at Mount Allison University in Sackville.  Little did I know then just how significant the small town would become in the story of my life.  

Ryan and I ended up buying our first house in that small town.  We lived together for five happy years at Silver Lake Estates (which was more like a cottage actually), got engaged up the road on a path in Beech Hill Park and had our first experience as parents to a chubby cat named Minnie.  I can't say we loved every minute of life in Sackville, but the good memories far outweigh the bad.  The wide open spaces, dark skies littered with stars and endless country roads are among my favorite things in the world.  

Life was different back then.  There was no-one but ourselves to be accountable to and we could come and go as we pleased.  Looking back, I think those days comprised some of the best in my life... so far.  

Nowadays, we're the parents of two beautiful children with no time for pets.  The kids are our number one priority and we rarely get time alone or the freedom to do things with selfish intentions.  It's been three whole years since we've had more than a few hours alone together, but Ryan and I were just given a wonderful gift of two entire days off duty.  Rather than going to Halifax or somewhere else, we spent the weekend in Sackville!  Ryan's parents are away so we stayed there, got some rest, relaxation and reminisced about the 'good old days'.  

Time away from the daily grind was just what the doctor ordered and luck would have it that the weather was perfection.  There was no schedule and no naps to squeeze in other than our own.  Ironically, we talked about the kids practically the whole time and now have a list of things we want to experience with them in.... Sackville.  

P.S.  Happy Father's Day Ryan!
Good job little buddy.  I love you.

-L ox

sleep.... don't you love it?

I mentioned before how Miss Ruby recently decided that she no longer needs naps.
Well, I beg to differ.....

She's falling asleep almost every day in strange places, but refuses to go to her bed for a nap.  These random snoozes usually take place late afternoon which is making bedtime more difficult.  Oh Ruby!  What on earth are you thinking?  If someone offered me a nap at the same time every day I would surely take it.  You have no idea how lucky you are to have the freedom to nap at your leisure and someday... SOME DAY I hope you read this and feel a hint of remorse for the loss of your naps.  For someday you will be like me and long for a nap that you cannot take because of responsibilities and a funny thing called life that you cannot escape.

Here's what Leo and I got up to while Ruby slept on the couch yesterday....

He, on the other hand is napping quite well.  He's still doing two naps per day and my doctor recently suggested that I transition him to one nap in hopes of getting him to sleep longer at night.  I'm not sold on the fact that he's done with his morning nap but I'm tempted to give it a try.  He's no worse than Ruby was at this age, (still waking twice each night) but it's wearing me down.  It's been an entire year since I've slept longer than 3 hours in a row.   Every night when I go to bed I wonder if this will be the night that Leo sleeps all night.  It's gotta happen and I hope it happens randomly when I least expect it.  Like tonight.  

xxxooo 

summer's coming

So Leo's walking.  A kids ability to walk brings a lot freedom to the mom, which in this case is me and couldn't have come at a better time.  It's nice being able to go about the day not having to 1) constantly carry Leo, and 2) justify the fact that I'm carrying Leo to Ruby.  Our little lady has developed quite a jealous streak and has been making life, well, challenging these days.  I hope she grows out of it.  Let's all join forces and cross our fingers nice and tight on this one.

Summer's almost here and we've been enjoying the nice weather.  The kids' first pool date was a great success.  You should have seen them splashing and smiling from ear to ear... squealing too.  It was cute.

Leo's newly found freedom has come with a newly found curiosity as well.  He's getting into mischief wherever he can find it.

Messing up his room.  

Climbing INTO the oven.  

He certainly is a boy and seems to have no fear of climbing, sliding, rolling, jumping, diving, swinging, biking, hanging..... or anything else.  We should get a life insurance policy out on him soon and invest in several first aid kits.  I see many boo-boos in our future.  Thank goodness we haven't had any major spills yet.

the lazy days of spring

Today I was treated to a most fabulous surprise - an entire 8 hours all to myself.  When I heard the great news, my first intention was to hit the gym, run some errands and clean the house..... but I ended up napping for three hours (not consecutively).  Housework was kept to a minimum and only one errand got done.  

So I had a pretty lazy day but the kids have been busy.  Here's a picture of Leo taking a break from his latest achievement.  He started walking on Monday, May 20th.  I think he's beaten Ruby by an entire month.  She walked a couple weeks before her first birthday.  He's only 11 months!  

He's so proud of himself and Ruby seems proud and happy for him as well.   I'll get a video up here soon.

Leo may be walking ahead of Ruby but she has him beat in the tooth department.  She had six or seven teeth by now and he still only has two!  Poor guy... you can tell that he's close to getting more and I'll bet a bunch will pop at once.... just when things were getting good at night, here comes six teeth.  Great.

Thanks mom and dad for taking care of the kids today.  It was a gift that I really needed.    

may two four

While the weather of late has been mediocre at best, the sun did come out long enough for the Grants to head down the road for a walk in the woods.  We're lucky to have Centennial Park so close by and I hope to take advantage of it more and more this summer.  Pretty soon the water park will be open and I'm sure Leo will enjoy it too.  He's getting pretty close to walking on his own and he's definitely up for any adventure we throw at him.

In other news....... Ruby no longer naps.  She 's been not napping for about 2 weeks.  I don't push the issue anymore.  I don't even ask.  My theory is - if she's tired she'll nap.  She sometimes falls asleep in the car which leads me to believe that she is in fact tired and lord knows I see the crankies a lot these days.... but, there's a battle of the wills going on and I don't have the energy to fight it.  The other day, out of the clear blue sky while at Grandma's house, she asked if she could have a nap.  Go figure.  This is one of the million things I will not understand about kids but will have to endure over the next..... eighteen years or so.   When do they leave home?

So, on this cold, dull and rainy holiday Monday, I'm going to squeeze in a nap while Leo is sleeping.
Fingers crossed that it's a long one!


........ is wasn't long.  30 minutes.   go figure.

i'm forty happy mother's day

I guess a big birthday happened in our family.  Well, two big birthdays actually.  My dad turned 65 and I turned 40.  I can't believe he was only 25 when he had me but that's a whole other train of thought and I can't go down that path right now.  I'm on a mission to write about my kids not now crazy having two kids by the age of 25 must have been or how having three kids by the time you're 30 must have been.... not to mention raising three kids on a single income..... Focus.  Focus.  Focus.  

Here's Ryan and I at my 40th birthday party.    

Ryan is 37 years old in this picture.  I'm 40.  

My friend Aimee graciously offered to host a party (since our house is tiny and we have two little people).  She also offered us her spare bedroom for the night.  I accepted both offers and therefore, April 27th was my very first night away from my kids... Ever!   No kidding.  Ryan's been all over the world but I've been here, at home, every single night for three long years.  This is not  a complaint I'm simply stating a fact.  Or, maybe it is a complaint.  Sue me.  

Here are a few shots:

Aimee and the 40-year old me.  

Manon and the 40-year old me.  

Brad, Terrie, Don, 40-year old me, Cody and Aimee.

The party took place a few days after the actual birthday.   Here's what we got up to on April 24th. 

So that was the big 4-0.  I don't feel any different.  These kids are wearing me out, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel approaching.  Leo will be walking soon and with that brings a different dynamic yet again.  Ruby has started to realize that he's not just for pushing and shoving, but that he can be fun to play with as well.  Thank goodness for that.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, young and old, tired and well-rested.  You deserve a break today and I hope you get one.

-LG ox

actually and other bits

Here's an old post that I never got around to finishing or posting but want to save for the memory..... 



There are no pictures to go along with this entry but I wanted to jot down a few of Ruby's current sayings as well as an update on what our little man is up to these days.... 

Somewhere in her travels Ruby picked up the term "all right" and has been using it liberally.  It's very likely that it came from me... and it's oh so adorable.  When I reminded her we were going to get her hair trimmed today, she replied "all right".  When I ask her to get in her chair or come with me or put her boots on, "all right" is her go-to reply.  She also uses a firm "yes" quite often and that too is adorable.  

She told me today as I was trying to claim my hat, "actually, it's mine!"