Today - November 16, 2009

Today…

Outside my window: It's overcast. We've had some pretty good "fall" weather over the past few days. Doesn't bother me - it's fall!

I am hearing: Bonnie Hunt. The dryer. Two children sleeping (which is to say nothing)

I am thinking: I should be doing something, but I'm too tired

I am hoping: Cordelia sleeps better tonight. Between teething and her cold, she has had a few rough nights - and therefore so have we.

I am reading: still Echo in the bone. What can I say - I don't take enough time to read.

I am creating: Just washing fabric to start on my next quilt top.

I am wearing: Jeans, t-shirt, socks. Exciting!

In the kitchen:

* Monday: pork roast (and seeing as this is Tuesday, this got a "phenomenal" rating from Bill.
* Tuesday - chicken stir fry. Chicken is expensive. That frustrates me.
* Wednesday - Sloppy joes variation
*Thursday - some oven baked chicken recipe
* Friday - some steak based recipe.

I won this membership to Relishrelish.com which helps you with meal planning. So this is my 1st week using it. I like it! But that's why I forget the exact names of the recipes I'm going to be using.

Around the house: I need to clean. I'll get there.

Plans for the week: Dad's birthday on Saturday. This is the big 70th party. I still don't know what to get him. *sigh*. And I just found out my brother Tim has H1N1 and has been knocked off his butt by it, and there is concern my brother Sean may not be able to make it due to bad weather on the Coquihalla. We'll see later in the week, but it was be a total shame if he can't make it due to weather. Oh, and I have MOPS tomorrow.

A few of my favorite things: sleep.

A picture thought:

Weekend Update

Well we all seem to be on the mend. Duncan, Bill, and I all still have a cough. Cordie has not come down with one - I hope it stays that way. She is snuffly, and she has a goopy eye - I may need to get it checked out tomorrow. She is also teething, so miserable none-the-less.

Yesterday we were about ready to sell Duncan. JUST KIDDING. He was being very 3 (although we have a few weeks before we technically reach that designation). We totally understand that he had this cold, had been mostly couped up in the house for an entire week etc... but he honestly threw an hour long temper tantrum when it was nap time. He was over tired and just refused to settle down. We eventually let him get up because, honestly, there was no point in us trying to continue to prove our point. Today though, he was awesome. Well behaved, normal fun Duncan. Tomorrow he heads back to Nikki's and I think that will be good. It will help him burn off energy with the other boys and get back into things. He missed all day care and all school last week, so I think he's wanting to get back into it.

I plan on taking Cordie to Peek-A-Book at the library tomorrow, but it will depend on her goopy eye and if I need to take her to the doctor. I think it's one of these simple prescription for drops kind of things. So I'm not worried about it, but it likely does need to be treated.

My Dad's birthday is next Saturday. 70 years old! Go Dad! I need to come up with something extra special to get him... bah, we won't even go there right now. Long story.

Mom is safely home from her conference. I happened to catch her in her room one night, so that was fun to chat. We'd been hoping to go over with this kids this afternoon yet but her flight was too far delayed getting in (some fellow who checked his bags but never showed up for the flight, so they had to unload all the luggage to get his bags off) before our dinner time for us to go over. Too bad too as Duncan was really looking forward to seeing Opa and Oma. When the weather is not pouring like it is today, we often go for walks at a local park on Sunday afternoons after nap.

I need to finally start making an effort to pump and get Cordie to take a bottle. I have several things coming up that I need to be gone for up to 6 hours. I'm just so lazy!! Nursing is so much easier. Can you believe our sweet little Cordelia is 6 months old tomorrow?! I guess I need to think about solids at some point too. She's quiet content with the boob, but we can't do that forever!

Alright, yawning here. No news on Bun's arrival yet from Tanya. Thinking of you dear!

Today - November 9, 2009

Today…

Outside my window: It's dark out. I like the time change - easier to get Duncan to bed

I am hearing: The dishwasher and Cordelia fighting sleep

I am thinking: Not a whole heck of a lot. I have a cold. My head is fuzzy.

I am hoping: Several things - first is that Duncan feels much better tomorrow. Poor kid. Throwing up, running a fever, low energy. I just have a cold, and while it makes me feel miserable, it's not the same. Second is that I hope my Mom has a good trip tomorrow as she's going to Orlando for a conference. Third that Tanya has an awesome delivery. We look forward to welcoming Bun.

I am reading: still Echo in the bone. I'm enjoying it though! Nancy, I think I might need to pick up the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - sounds awesome

I am creating: Not a lot this week. Still want to do some projects for Christmas gifts, but being sick, I'm pretty much parking my butt on the couch.

I am wearing:My pjs. It was a pj day for all of us. In Duncan's case, 3 sets of pjs.

In the kitchen:

• Monday: pork stir fry (I can say for sure b/c we had it tonight, thanks to Bill for making it)

The rest of the week is kind of we'll see as we go. We have on the menu - hamburgers, goulash, chicken with veggies and another side, and I think chicken strips and fries, but a. The Bell's were supposed to come over tomorrow but since we're sick we don't know if they are and b. with Duncan being sick, we might need to wing it. He barely ate anything today.

Around the house: I'm ignoring the house this week

Plans for the week: Just to make it through the week. Bill is supposed to go to Geek fest on Friday night but he's told the guys that if we're still sick he might need to tele-geek-fest from home.

A few of my favorite things: My husband. My kids. Giggles. Coffee. Being able to breathe through both nostrils. *grin* Tanya having a baby.

A picture thought:

It's 1 AM

I'm up having a cuppa tea - what are you doing? Hopefully sleeping! Duncan and I came down with colds (flu?) today (well yesterday). Duncan had a bit of a fever, and threw up a little, but now seems more cold like as his energy levels are good. I think mine is just a mean cold - no fever or anything, but chills, aches, runny stuffed up nose, coughing... just cold symptoms.

I went to bed at 10 PM all chilly and achy, and Cordelia woke me up at midnight again. And then I couldn't fall back asleep! And Duncan woke up too. He wanted to come downstairs. No, it's time to sleep buddy. But he seems to have fallen back asleep, and no return of the fever, so let's just pray it's a cold. Easier to treat.

Anyhow, now I'm watching House Hunters on HGTV.

Tomorrow I was invited to go to a new women's bible study group, and I've totally been wanting to join one, but now I can't go tomorrow b/c Roo and I are sick! I'm not going to expose the rest of the women (and children) to sick germs. I also called Nikki and told her I was keeping Duncan home. I'll certainly need to keep him home on Tuesday from school too. Wednesday is Remembrance Day, so we'd be around anyhow (although regretably may not be able to go to the cenotaph this year).

See, we always go, rain or shine. After what those men and women have done for us, the least I can do is stand in the rain for half an hour and, well, remember. And usually we've brought Duncan because it's important to us. But if he is sick, standing out in the cold rain is not going to do him any good. Perhaps I'll go and represent the family.

So that's what's going on at 1:14 AM. I hope you had a good night!

Early Saturday morning

Cordelia has been doing this waking up early and staying up thing. I remember when Duncan was little we used to have some really early mornings too, starting the tradition of short straw/long straw for who gets to sleep in. But quite honestly as long as I'm nursing, I need to get up. I try to be quiet so Bill can get some extra sleep - one of us might as well! I'm more prone to napping than Bill is too, so I can recoup if I need to during the day. But as it is, by 6:30 this morning Bill was downstairs with me. It is now just after 7, both kids are sleeping, but we're both up.

So after our shots on Tuesday my arm was stinking sore on Wednesday, and then I started feeling quite cruddy. But it turns out it was kind of a side effect of getting the shot b/c later on I was fine, and still am. Duncan seems to have suffered no side effects at all that's he's told us of.

Our friends from Edmonton were supposed to come in on Wednesday, but they were late getting off, so they didn't come until Thursday. But it's been great seeing them. This is Cynthia, Gus, and their son Connor. Cynthia and Gus went to University with Bill - they are from Newfoundland too. Gus works for the Army and is a medical doctor. He just got his Emergency Medicine designation (not sure how that all works in doctor world). Cynthia is the angel who has been giving us all of the awesome hand me downs that Duncan wears (she is responsible for probably 90% of his wardrobe), and thereby Warren and some other little boys around here wear. And of course she came with a bunch more, including winter boots. Cynthia rocks. So I need to return the one's we'd already bought Duncan from Superstore. See, last year we waiting way too long to buy some and ended up getting whatever we could, as opposed to what we wanted.

Anyhow, it took Duncan a little bit to warm up to Connor (who is 9 months older then Duncan) b/c frankly, as we said, Duncan is used to being the sharer of toys (using Brayden and Riley's toys at daycare) not the sharee - having someone come in and use his stuff. But once he warmed up the two of them were a hoot to watch. Playing trains, running around. At one point I went and checked on them and they were sitting on Duncan's bed chatting away to each other - who knows about what - but they were having a blast. We (less Bill, he was working) met them at the Vancouver Aquarium on Friday. That was fun. I'm glad I didn't need to pay for the kids though - it's kind of steep! I had a blinding headache though. So after lunch we went to get Bill from work. We were early, but his boss let him take off early. Both kids had fallen asleep in the back - which worked out great for nap time. I think they will be visiting again this morning before taking back off eastwards. And then this afternoon Jesse and Laura are coming for a visit. We haven't visited with them in ages, so that will be awesome.

And then it's my Dad's 70th birthday in 2 weeks and so some of his siblings from Holland flew in last night (dad is 13 of 14 kids). I think it's awesome they've come out for him. So Mom and Dad have company for the next 2.5 weeks. I'll need to go and visit at some point b/c it will be good to see them. Because Dad's family is so large (honestly, I don't even know all my cousins on his side) I'm kind of the "representative" child from my parents. But I don't mind. I love my aunts and uncles (some of whom are the same age as my grandparents on my Mom's side were), and it will be fun to have them meeting Duncan and Cordie.

Alright, Duncan is waking up now. Question - are my blog posts too long? Should I not babble on, and just keep them short and easier to read in your RSS feed? Or does this work for you? let me know. All 5 of you. *grin*

Duncan and Stand Up, the horse

Playing catch up

I was going to do one of those "Today" Posts, but now it's Tuesday already... so forget it. Next week. Colorado Nancy says it's a special blogging month where you're supposed to post every day... but I already ruined it as it's the 3rd, so oh well! But Nancy, I enjoy your posts! So keep writing.

There is both a lot and so little going on right now.

• Duncan and I got our H1N1 shots today. My arm is already sore. Duncan did awesome. He yelped right away, but I'd brought a special thing for him and right away said "hey Duncan look!" and it did the trick. And when we left he even said thank you to the doctor (totally unprompted) which just tickled our doctor.
  
• But at that, he missed his nap today. He was still really well behaved in the afternoon, but tired.
• Theresa, bless her heart, came and hung out with Cordie while we were gone. We ended up being gone for an hour and a 1/2 (doctor's office is quite swamped, so they were further behind than normal) and so I'm glad I didn't need to drag her along for all of it. Cordie napped almost the whole time we were gone, so all Theresa had to do was veg on the couch. She is home, with the flu. Nice, 'eh? I ask my neighbour who has the flu to come watch my kid so we can go get flu shots. I wouldn't have asked if she wasn't up for it.
  
• Tonight Mom and I went to check out the place where we're having Dad's birthday party, pick up menus, and then we were going to go eat. But it was so quiet in there and Cordie was along, we opted for the Olive Garden instead. Most of Mom's co-workers happened to be there, so we joined their table (thereby avoiding a 20 minute wait) which ended up being awesome. Just a nice group of women who are always so welcoming to me, even though I don't work there.
  
• The new teacher was sitting beside me... we're chatting... went to the same high school (although graduated 9 years apart), turns out we also went to the same church in Burnaby for some time - which is why she seemed so familiar! So that was really great chatting with her.
• Cordie was just over done. She just doesn't do well in other settings. Duncan could crash anywhere. Cordie, while a super laid back baby, does not do well in the "oh, I'll just sleep in my car seat" type deals. This means I really need to get her taking a bottle soon b/c I have a few nights out coming up.
  

So that was today. It was a good day. Most days are. I'm very blessed. Oh, and Bill and Duncan had boys night - supper together, played trains etc...

Oh, so Halloween was fun. I'm quite surprised Duncan actually dressed up, but he was his little cowboy self, and we picked up a stuffed horse (he insisted he have a horse) and he's named him Stand Up. Is that not an awesome name for a horse? Anyhow, we went to Oma and Opa's in the afternoon, and then came home and went around our complex, to maybe 14 homes. That was enough for Duncan. Cordie stayed home and helped Bill hand out candy. And like Nancy said for her boys, Duncan likes the idea of candy much more than the actual candy. Give him a choice for something from the bowl - he chooses the Craisins my parents gave him. Open a box of Smarties (which are kind of like M&Ms for my American friends) he'll eat maybe 5 and be done. This means we're helping him out a bit. This also makes me glad we did not go to more houses.

Bill is doing much better. The drugs they gave him seemed to do the trick. So while his energy is still really low, and he has a cough, he is no longer as sick as he was.

Tomorrow our friends from Edmonton were supposed to be rolling in, but I just got an email saying they'll be in on Thursday instead. This gives me more time to clean. Will be good to see them. And then on Saturday Laura is coming up (and possibly Jesse) for a visit. That will be awesome b/c I've been wanting to spend time with Laura but Cordie does not travel well.

This is probably too long already. So I'll sign off and catch up on the 38 emails and 142 Reader items that are unread. Oh, and I need to change the template for my blog b/c I've decided I don't like this design too much. But honestly, who actually goes to a blog these days? Doesn't everyone use RSS? *grin* Just kidding. Good night!