06.21.10 :: 181 weeks old

Today is the summer solstice. The longest day of the year! It surely felt like it too! The kids wouldn’t go to bed tonight as early as usual, and Sean even said to me “Mommy, it’s not dark out yet, how can it be bedtime?” (Must get blackout blinds for their windows). Mack’s moving into Sean’s room very shortly into a big boy bed, as we prepare for their sister’s arrival. I can’t wait to re-do the nursery in more feminine tones.

Sean is 181 weeks old today.

After running a lot of errands this morning I did some stuff around the house this afternoon and then headed over to daycare to pick up the boys early from school. We then headed over for an afternoon playdate with Sean’s buddy from his soccer team. We’ve gotten really close with their family. It’s really nice that her kids are all born the same year as mine. (2006, 2008 and we’re both pregnant for a 2010 baby). She’s due in 4 weeks with her 2nd girl. Her oldest is a boy, (a few months older than Sean) then she has a girl, 3 months older than Mack.

It was such a beautiful day out today, that I am glad the kids got to play outside.
And eat freezies. Summer’s best friend.
Mack won’t eat anything cold. (Freezies, popsicles or ice cream).

And drink lots of juice.
It’s so cute how this gang likes to do everything together.

This evening before dinner, the kids played a bit at home in our circle on their trikes. Taking advantage of this beautiful weather before it is no longer.

ps- Just a reminder that I'm throwing a contest for this entire month! Details are here. I’m giving away some prizes tomorrow, so stay tuned & keep commenting!

06.20.10

This morning, Mack fell asleep in the car on the way home from my in-laws.
We had brunch there for Father’s Day.

Happy Father's Day to the best guys I know!
(That includes my dad & my husband of course!)


Jamie had a double header baseball game.
I spent the afternoon in my parents pool with the kids.
It was yet another gorgeous day.


Sean was really brave and reputedly jumped off the diving board.
No fear!

Mack swam on his own (with floaties) for the first time today.
He had a blast.

My mom got Sean this new float device (which is very neat)
and so Mack got Sean’s old life vest.
Sean kind stretched out the life vest over the last 2 summers,
so I think we might have to get Mack a new one soon.

I love my cutie!

Sean got in some kisses to my sister’s new dog Chopper. They joined us at my parents house this afternoon for some pool time & fun in the sun. The dogs napped on the side while we spent almost 4 hours in the pool!

This evening we stayed at my parents and had dinner there for Father’s Day. It was a nice quiet dinner. Always nice.

Knitted related stuff coming shortly. I’m just about to cast on a new project. (And yes, it’s pink!) (I’m really still in shock that I actually scored with a baby girl. I feel like I’ve won the lottery. I’m truly blessed. Life couldn’t get any better than this).

ps- Just a reminder that I'm throwing a contest for this entire month! Details are here.

06.19.10

This morning Sean had soccer, so Jamie took him while I spent about 2 hours weeding the patio in the backyard. My sister came to help for a bit, but I managed to get about 90% of it done before she arrived.

Sean scored 2 goals today and had a nasty head on collision with another kid on the other team half-way through the game playing time. Poor guys, keeps getting injured. He’s a tough cookie though.

Late morning we had Mackenzie’s 2nd Birthday Party!
I did the sun dance all week as they’d been calling for rain.
I think I did the dance a little too much, it was piping hot all day.

Before Mack’s 2nd birthday party started, we set up the backyard.
We rented an inflatable castle.

Mack was the first one to try out the inflatable castle.
And the last one to exit it when the guy came to take it down.

Mack had a field day in it!

As did Sean!

There was also some quieter moments in the inflatable as well.
I love this photo. So sweet.

We had to pry Mack out of the castle for the birthday cake.
Oh yes, the birthday cake. You all want to see photos.

Here is the beast!


Cutting into it was a really nice surprise.
I wasn’t sure what to expect.
It was beyond awesome.


The cake was probably the talk of the party, and after the party as well.
The details are this:

Saw the cake idea here, a long time ago (back in the beginning of April, when I originally linked a picture of a similar cake). Then, just used plain vanilla cake mixes (to save time) and used regular food coloring and Betty Crocker French Vanilla icing.
I baked each layer in a cookie sheet (instead of round) so it was just the height and width of that. (So it could feed a party full of people)..! Baked the cake layers in advance, froze them, it’s so much easier to ice a cake from frozen and voila. A very interesting cake that I’ll probably never bake again!

I even got to enjoy the inflatable castle once all the guests had left. I didn’t want to go in there with all the kids when the party was going on, just in case something were to happen, I wouldn’t want to risk anything in the pregnancy. But after everyone left I hung out in there with Mack, Sean and my sister-in-law’s boyfriend’s son and we tossed around some inflatable balls for a bit.

Today was a very exhausting day. There was a lot to do, the heat was blazing, but in the end the party was extremely successful. We had a great time, Mack had a lot of fun, got some great gifts from his friends and got to hang out with people we don’t get to hang out with that often. It was nice.

ps- Just a reminder that I'm throwing a contest for this entire month! Details are here.

06.18.10

What a day. Ran around today like a chicken with it’s head cut off. Seriously. That’s how I felt. I’ve been to 5 different grocery stores, a couple of dollar stores, pharmacies, oh, and to work. Making sure that everything is ready for Mack’s birthday party tomorrow. For the last couple of weeks it’s been go-go-go. I cannot wait until after Father’s Day. Once Father’s Day is over, I can sit back and relax. The first 3 weeks of June have been absolutely insanely busy. I actually cannot wait to be able to relax, as I’ve been wicked tired due to the pregnancy. Not sure how I’m still standing on my two feet. I haven’t even knitted a stitch in a few days. I wish I had more hours in the day. (Don’t we all?)

This evening my in-laws came for dinner and then my sister came over to help. Thank you so much everyone for the help. I don’t know what I would do without it. The cake alone took us 2 and a half hours to ice. (Oh, and almost 11 jars of Betty Crocker’s Creamy French Vanilla icing – talk about calories!)

I miss sushi. I miss Sangria. I miss red wine. Though, I’d rather be pregnant. This little girl is very wanted, and I can tell, already very spoiled. We’re working out the spelling of her name, so once it’s finalized, I’ll gladly share it. Both of our boys were called by name before they were born. No reason not to call her by her name. Though, only once we have the spelling of it worked out. (Spelling of her first name actually). I’ve also got to pick her out a hebrew name. Though, I have some ideas. We’ll see if they play out.

I’m beat. I’ve got to get up super early tomorrow to weed the entire patio before Mack’s party at 10:30 am. (Yeah, I’m insane, I know). I can’t have the party in the backyard the way the patio is now, and due to rain this week on the days I was actually home, I lost opportunities to do some weeding. It’s quite the job for that, unfortunately.

ps- Just a reminder that I'm throwing a contest for this entire month! Details are here.

06.17.10 :: two years old

Mack is 2 years old today! TWO! I can’t believe it.

You all want to see the belly!
Here’s the belly I’ve been hiding on the blog for a while now.
Really cute & round. Love it.
12 weeks 2 days.
3rd baby really popped early.

Today I went in the afternoon to Mackenzie’s class to celebrate his birthday!
He ate his piece of birthday cake to the very last drop.
This kid LOVES cake.
He would have liked the plate if we’d have let him.

Some garden updates!

Zucchinis in the back, Celery in front of it.

Snow peas and Stringless Beans.

Spaghetti Squash Plants

The little tomato plants aren’t so little anymore.
Must start pruning soon.

Our very first red cherry tomato!
(And the only one right now)!

This evening my family went out to celebrate Mack’s birthday as well as mine,
to one of my fave Italian Restaurants.


We all got to enjoy Oreo cake. Yum!


I got this awesome camera bag by Golla from my sister.
It’s beyond awesome. Thanks sis!


Oh! And by the way, we’re having a GIRL!!!
We are beyond excited!
Words cannot even describe!
Who said there was only a 13% chance!
I like beating odds!
I won't be painting the baby's room until after my next Ultrasound,
just to be sure, but it's a GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can now knit in pink! Whoot!
Our daughter already has a name.
Though, we’ll save that for another time.
She’s been named long before she was conceived.
It’s been our girl’s name all along.
She’s very wanted this princess.
Not only did both an internal & external Ultrasound show no “dangly bits” between the legs, but the heart rate was really fast
(beats per minute) which my doctor when listening as well, from her experience, predicted a girl. Enough for me!

ps- I love these shoes. Wow. Oh, and this photo.

ps- Just a reminder that I'm throwing a contest for this entire month! Details are here.

06.16.10 :: 104 weeks old

Mack is 104 weeks old today.

Today is my birthday!


My day started off with my yoga class.
It was very relaxing.

Then I ran into the city to meet up with Jamie at Ovo Clinic. We wanted to see the newest member of our family for the first time. I’m 12 weeks and 1 day pregnant as of today, due on Sean’s 4th birthday, December 28, 2010. FINALLY! Out in the open! I don’t have to keep this secret anymore. It’s been very hard for the last few weeks to hide my little round belly (photos to come!)

It’s amazing the technology for 12 weeks.
The appointment I had yesterday was my OB check-up with my new doctor.
Baby is healthy, doing well, right on growth and absolutely no risk for Downs.
Heart beat sounds fantastic as well. (I heard it for the first time yesterday).

I did get the Ultrasound technician that I was recommended by both Kate & Melanie (as well as from a few other people). She was awesome this tech and actually the only one on duty today. She gave me an 80% prediction of the sex of the baby, which I will save and share with you soon (no sense in hiding the sex, since I want to knit stuff for this baby), but let’s save the sex for another day! Any predications from you what I’m having?? What do you think? 3rd boy? Or finally a girl? (And if you already know, because we have shared with close family & friends, please DON’T spoil it in my comments!) I promise, I won’t leave you guys hanging too much, I know you all want to know the sex of the baby! I need to call on Friday to find out the results of my bloodwork, but everything so far looks okay.

Seeing the baby today was quite the birthday gift, let me tell you!

I hung out with Madeleine this afternoon before we headed out for our last Finishing Class at Ariadne Knits. We had a nice evening, it was really relaxing, and I brought along some Raspberry Mousse cake. It was delicious.

I can say that I had a fabulous birthday today.
Thank you to everyone for all the birthday love.

Today’s Link Love:
- I love this shawl pin. On my wishlist. Oh and this one too.
- Oh my, I want this keychain. Annie Adams rocks. (Or this one).
- I so want one of these row counters in any color.

For those of you whom collect Pampers.ca (or .com) points, here’s a free 25 point code: 25gtgsummer2010

ps- Just a reminder that I'm throwing a contest for this entire month! Details are here.

06.15.10

Mack conducting business from Jamie's cell phone.
We caught him having a very long conversation.
What he was saying? I have no idea.

So I went to put on my summer tires (finally) on my car yesterday. Turns out, one of the tires as a nail through it and another was ripped. So after going back and forth between talking to the guy at the shop and my husband and my father too (because I know nothing about tires and cars) we decided to just leave my winter tires on for the summer, as I am getting rid of my car sometime this fall (probably trading it in rather than selling it). After killing an hour with Sean while waiting for my car to be ready, the guy waits until the hour was up to let me know that he can’t even change 2 of my tires because of the nail/rip. It was a tad frustrating.

Today I had a doctor’s appointment first thing in the morning, but I’ll talk about that tomorrow. Then I ran home where my mom was watching both boys, so that she could run home and let her dog out to then come back to come with me and both boys to Mackenzie’s 2 year old check-up with the doctor that is following our family doctor’s baby patients (our family doctor is still on maternity leave until the fall). I am so happy that Mackie finally gained some weight! 25th percentile for weight (26 lbs) (up from 10th percentile at 18 months) and 50th percentile for height (2 ft 10 inches!) (Down from 75th percentile for height). He used to be tall and skinny and now he’s slowly averaging out. Good news. I am very happy about this. Everything else is great and he’s doing good. No complaint from the doctor, so no complaints from me.

After the doctor’s appointment, which was started late (both appointments today were really late after the actual appointment time – very not happy with either doctor), we met up with my grandmother for lunch. Lunch was nice, besides the fact that my boys don’t do to well when they haven’t napped, so lunch was a little fun, to say it nicely. I wonder if there is a certain period in every child’s life where maybe they just shouldn’t be brought into restaurants? How are your children in restaurants? Do you have any tricks you’d like to share on how you get them to stay quiet in their seat? And I’m not talking about babies. I’m talking ages 2 – 4 (and probably older). Tips please! Crayons and coloring doesn’t always hold their attention for very long. Especially not when one of your children decide to dunk the crayons in his glass of water. (Please know that only one of my children drink out of a cup the other is still using a sippy cup, which crayons cannot get dipped into). He didn’t care that he had spilled water all over his placement or himself by dunking his slice of bread into the water either and completely soaking it. Fun stuff.

Oh! So you want winners! I have some winners for you for this week’s give-away!

The winners are:

Kamouraska: Barb!!
Rill: Rosebelleknits!!
Lili Kimono: kate-the-enabler!!
Gilet de Tricot: Girl Knits!!
Toddler Tee: kristo!!

If I don’t have your email address please sent it to me here and I will get it to the designer (Mona) to issue you your prize. Thanks!

ps- Just a reminder that I'm throwing a contest for this entire month! Details are here. Next week I’ll be giving away one copy of the following patterns by Tottopper, Betsey's Braids and Roar, a Dinosaur Hat (which is one of my fave kids hat patterns, I’ve made one for each of my boys), thanks Kate for donating the patterns! I’ll also be giving away 2 more copies of my entire sock collection in PDF.

06.14.10 :: 180 weeks old

Sean is 180 weeks old today.

Sean had a cough today so I kept him home. Well, I had to go into work today, so he came with me. It did take us a while to actually go into the office though, as Sean found every excuse in the book to delay everything we had to do. I did whatever work I was able to do before Sean got too restless. I decided to take Sean for a late lunch after leaving work, and he requested Pizza. Yeah, never again alone will I take him out for a late lunch. For a child who usually naps Mondays to Fridays at daycare (he’s given up his weekend naps), he was a disaster mid-afternoon. The pizza was good though.

Sean was supposed to start in his new class today, but he won’t until Wednesday as tomorrow I’m keeping both boys home as Mack has his 2 year old check-up so we’re going to spend the day with my mom in the city. He’s very excited to move classes as 2 of his good friends have already been moved up.

Guess what I found today? ISHBEL!! I have absolutely NO idea how it ended up in the garage in a basket under a bunch of cans (soda cans) that I have to take back to the grocery store for a refund/to recycle them. I would never have “stuffed” it in there. Must have been one of the boys in my house. It needs to be washed, but I have it! It’s there. So happy I won’t have to re-knit it. I wore it all winter as my scarf. I love it. Happy dance!

What else?!! Been working on Vestee, so I can hopefully finish it before my class on Wednesday. Will keep you updated on that progress shortly. Oh and Jamie & I started watching both Last Comic Standing and The Wire (which has already ended, apparently all 5 seasons and that’s it). We wanted something to watch this summer, and there’s nothing really on for a while. Big Brother should start in July, as well this summer is Entourage and Weeds. Dexter doesn’t start until September I don’t think.

ps- Just a reminder that I'm throwing a contest for this entire month! Details are here. Second set of prizes are being given out tomorrow. Stay tuned!

06.13.10

Today I spent the afternoon with my step-mother-in-law baking the 6 layer cake for Mackenzie’s birthday party which is coming up. I can’t believe he’s turning 2 on Thursday. Sean helped for a bit before going to my parents house to go swimming. The 6 cakes took us all afternoon pretty much, it was real art what we did. I will show you photos of it after the birthday party. I don’t want to ruin any surprises.

While I was in the kitchen baking away, the guys came to work more on our front lawn. It’s about 90% done now. We’re still missing solar lights, some flowers & some rocks. It’s look great though. Coming along very nicely (from what it was before).

I have a VERY busy week ahead. A few doctor’s appointments, Sean starts in his new class at daycare tomorrow, my birthday, Mack’s birthday, my last finishing knit class, birthday dinners, birthday parties, my yoga class, amongst other stuff that I have to take care of. Our BBQ is completely finished, so we need to get a new one. Jamie’s going to look into it this week. We’re going to go with a natural gas one this time, instead of propane. We set up the pipes when we moved in to be able to one day put a natural gas one when we installed our gas stove in the kitchen. We just need to get the plumbers in to do a line to the outside of the house. Good timing for our BBQ breaking down, eh? The week of Mack’s birthday party. (Plan to serve BBQ lunch). Right now the forecast is calling for rain during his party. Can you please do a sunshine dance for me? I really need all the luck we can get. I can’t wait to get through this week as it will be a long one, but I am also at the same time very excited to have some of the things happening this week, happen. And I still can’t believe my baby is turning 2 on Thursday. Where has time gone? I swear, it feels like I just brought him home from the hospital. Yesterday, wasn’t it?

I’ve been reading a bit more in the book I’m currently reading. I’m getting there. Though, now it’s dragging along because I don’t love the book. But I have less than 75 pages left or so, so I just want to finish it already. I have so many books calling my name that I want to read next. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish this one shortly.

ps- Just a reminder that I'm throwing a contest for this entire month! Details are here.