Missed 2016... oops

I guess I just slept through 2016

Wow. So much happened last year.

I was made a manager at work and I have two wonderful women that report to me.

Ryan went on his first trip without Neil and I. Gabi and Sandor (my in-laws) took him to Dominican Republic to a beautiful resort (Samana, DR). Longest time apart from him for me, 6 ½ days and I was okay. I didn’t cry which I was surprised about, they were good about calling and sending photos.

I was very anxious until they called after they got to the resort. Just my 5-year-old going to another country without me and the worry something would happen. However, once I heard they were at the resort I could relax and just enjoy a quiet house. Indy got a lot of walks that day because I was so high strung. Haha

Then RIGHT after that, and I mean the next morning after Ryan got home, we went to Florida to a cruise.

Poor kid was so cooked that Sunday, soon as our room was open on the boat we had a pretty sweet family nap time.

We went on Norwegian for the first time because they had an amazing deal. Ended up costing about the same as Royal would have cost. It was a blast but I still like Royal more.

Now this year we are planning our BIG DISNEY TRIP!

We are going with Chris, Tara and Sloane and the Parks. We have our trip paid for, fast passes booked, Ryan is getting a pirate makeover and Jedi training, dinner at the Castle… it is very exciting. Also, to make it even more insane we are driving because flying is insane expensive.

I have been working on getting our signature book together, getting fancy markers from the dollar store, have stocked up on glow sticks and necklaces for the kids for the evening parade.

I have even started pulling Ryan’s summer stuff and making sure it still fits because this kid is insane tall now.

Speaking of, Ryan is reading. I think he plays lazy with me because he rather I read to him still but today… WE GOT OUR FIRST HOMEWORK!!! A reading assignment!

I am so excited to do this with him. Also, he is accelerating at math. He is in Senior Kindergarten and doing multiplication and percentages and rocking at it. I think the Montessori way of teaching helps. It’s taking objects and using them that way so a child can shape the brain into visualizing it, it memorizing it.

We have signed him up for French Immersion for first grade and will hear back in march if we got in. Because it is not his primary school we enter a lottery. His current French teacher said he thought Ryan would do well in FI.

Fingers crossed because the French school is MUCH better rated then the school we are zoned for.

L

Ryan has changed a lot. He is still very close to us (more to me) and loved getting books at night. But now he showers on his own, we will help him out of the tub and then he dries on his own and puts on his clothing on his own. We are trying to push for more independence.

Wait... what... you can do math now?!

Ryan has been learning math at school. Now since he is not yet 3 and sometimes still struggles with his shapes I thought maybe they were just teaching him numbers and what math is.
Nope. He busted out last week with "hey mom did you know if you put 2 and 1 together they make 3.
WTF
They sure do buddy...
This morning he busts out with "hey mom 2 and 2 make 4."

He has this huge interest in time as well. Now I remember when I was kid not understanding WHY adults said it was 11:30 when the hand was pointing at 11 and 6. Why was it not 11:06? Once I understood how a clock worked I got it but I remember struggling with the idea of time and the 5 min increments.
I am trying to help with him and I think next trip to Ikea we will get him a clock for his room. But he loves to run around the house yelling out the placements of the clock hands. hahaha

School update

I am insanely proud of my son. He is doing so well in his school.

He is doing great learning his letters and numbers but now he has moved on to reading (language) and math (basic). This is crazy, he is not even four yet (will be in April).
I feel so proud and lucky to have a healthy kid who (I already knew but its nice to hear from his teachers) has a hunger to learn and he kind and respectful. Such a change from last year at this time.
Oh man, last year we had so many behavioural issues at school and at home, it was brutal. We were so lost on what to do and kept trying to help him but nothing was working, or so it felt.

Right now is amazing. He wants to help set the table and make dinner, he likes to vacuum and help with Roag (cat). When Sarah (his new cousin) cries he runs over to calm her. This kid has a huge heart. When we do disagree or one of us gets mad about something we talk. We talk about how we should treat each other with respect and love. And HE GETS IT!

Ever day I am so grateful for my little family.

If you are having a hard time with your kid please be a supportive and patient parent. The kid will not always be this way. Put yourself in the place of the child. Is there something going on at daycare/school? Something at home? Are you as a parent taking time for yourself, having time to unwind and relax? This was a huge thing for me! I needed time alone to be myself. Not a mom, a wife, a designer, a friend. Just ME.
:D

Oh this kid

I put Ryan to bed tonight and told him I was going downstairs to workout. I go down and start my workout. (with my music playing). I hear Neil (husband) saying something to the kid. A min later he comes down laughing.
He pauses my workout and says "Ryan said you should go to bed because you are tired. I told him you are working out to get a healthy heart. Ryan comes back and said 'Yeah I know but I also make a good point about mommy going to sleep' hahahaha."

Oh this kid.
Every day is more awesome. Today we just cuddled for a bit after his nap. He told me how much he loves me and I told him how much I love him. We curled up and watched Shrek 2 after dinner.
He makes me laugh so much.
Sometimes I see the little baby I used to hold while he slept but that is becoming less and less. It does make me sad, I miss some things about him being a baby but then he will open his mouth and say something awesome, funny, sweet or goofy.

This kid is the best.  No lie.

Enough People

I am tired of everyone complaining about Christmas and Holiday decorations being out and up before Dec 1st.
Just stop.
What does it matter if the stores have out Christmas stuff before Halloween is even over, or if your neighbours put lights up. It is pretty. It makes people happy when it can be a pretty dressing time of year.
Here in Canada November can be so depressing. Fall is pretty much over, no more yellow/orange/red leafs. Just bare trees and dead grass. It's grey and cold and wet.
If you walk into a store and it smells like Cinnamon and you see red all over and holiday jolly music playing softly in the background do this... close your eyes. Take a deep breath and remember what this season is about.
Family
Joy
Giving Back
Love
Happiness

When I see my neighbour putting lights up I think "oh smart, this will be the last warm weekend we have till Spring next year, good call buddy."
Not "Ugh it's not even Dec, what a dick for putting pretty lights out that make everything look like a wonderland!"

STOP BEING SO NEGATIVE.
We are very lucky people, whom ever is reading this. You can go to the store and get food/clothing, you have a home/place to live that is not a tent or box, you can turn on a tap and drink the water, you can see a doctor, you can chose your schools to send your offspring.
WE ARE LUCKY.

So please. Before you complain about Holiday decorations or anything inane like that take a look at your life, pause ... and be grateful.


Or I will send the Grinch to go pee on your car handle.

Kids VS No Kids

Why is it a battle???
Let me explain.
A friend of mine posted this on his facebook.

http://www.mandatory.com/2014/07/08/an-average-saturday-morning-with-kids-vs-without-kids

He said "Right side, hands down!" Part of it made me laugh, others made me cringe. I wanted to write "Ryan would never act like this, its all how you raise a kid yada yada yada." Then it struck me. Maybe he is tired of his family assuming him and his wife want to have kids, maybe they are trying and not having any luck, maybe he JUST DOESN'T want to have kids. Or maybe it was just a funny thing is saw and it made him laugh.
Then I looked at the comments. WOW... I don't know the people that responded but goddamn, they are coming off as crazy breeders. Take a JOKE people. If your kid even remotely acted like this he is an ASSHOLE and you should feel bad. :D


SO I sent this link to my friend and told him he should post it to see if more people freak out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AhGvR0143s
HEH.

New school, round 3

We switched schools for Ryan at the end of his school year and now starting into Summer school.
So far I feel good about it. I am not sure if it is that I am in the better place (emotionally), Neil and I are in a better place, or its just timing.
When we moved Ryan from Peekaboo to a Montessori school we thought he would like it. It had uniforms (so cute) and great teachers.

Something we did not think about too much was that we had just moved a few months before (while being homeless for a month) WRITEN HERE or that it was the middle of a school year would be such huge issues.
Ryan did NOT do well. Now he was learning and he was growing and changing and he was also have behavioural issues. BAD ones.
Around March/April the owner and principle of the school meet with us. Ryan had pushed a kid and he hit his head on a table. The kid was okay but that was the last straw for the school. We were giving till the end of the school year and we were not allowed to come back. I was sad about this because I loved his teacher. She was sick (like spent the night in the hospital) and she STILL called me at work and talked for 45 min with me about Ryan. After seeing we were on the same page the only thing we could do to change was start having time out with him. That helped but we were looking at time out 3 times in the course of 2 hours sometimes. It was brutal.
Do not raise your voice, stay calm, be there but do not engage until he has calmed down. it is SUPER hard.
Happy to say he is MUCH better, today was the first full on melt down in almost a month. (during soccer). He cried and grunted in the car but no screaming or hitting me. After we had a very good talk.
Maybe its that he is 3 and we give him more freedom. Maybe he feels that I am a happier person (running, eating better, its summer so I don't have the winter blues).

Back to my original thought, Ryan's first day of school was July 2nd. We walk in and right away we see Sloane there. (THANKYOU!) Ryan runs over to her and hold her hand. We go together to put Ryan's stuff in his cubby slot. I ask Sloane to show Ryan how the water dispenser works and introduce myself to the teachers again, warn them of his forgetting to pee and give Ryan a big hug and kiss (and Sloane too) and tell him to be kind, use his words and have an awesome day.

He wears no uniforms in the school, also because its summer its much more chill (a better way to introduce him) and he has Sloane with him in the morning and afternoon. She is 8 months older and is transitional into the older class. But they have those 2 hours together. I am so grateful for her. They can sometimes be a bad influence on each other but she is also a huge calming part of his life. Someone he has always known. And someone he loves.

(splash)

So far its going so great, he likes his teachers and he even got an invite to a party from this super cute little boy that told me Ryan and Sloane are his best friends (OMG so cute).
Overall things are going great. I really hope it keeps up! Oh crap. I hear him waking up from nap. More to update later. I promise to keep this up better starting now. Ryan is changing so much and saying the funnest things and sweetest things "you are a pretty princess mommy!"
I have to keep track of this awesome kid.

A great Breastfeeding Article.

http://www.motherhoodandmore.com/2013/08/whats-so-hard-about-covering-up-to.html?showComment=1402572140878#c6130250679725978680

This is perfect

Conversations with Ryan

The other night, in the shower with Ryan (he likes showers now, not baths), I was pointing at my belly stretch marks telling him be used to live in my belly. When he was a very small baby he was in my belly and I took care of him. I told him "I used to hug you so tight and tell you how much I loved you and its nice I can hug you and tell you now, but before I even meet you I loved you and I loved feeling you moving in my belly."
Ryan says "oh mommy thats nice, when I was a baby in you I was hugging you too"

*CRIES* So that is why you moved around so much.
Little dude, do not grow up!

Tonight at bedtime he was telling me about his day. I was kissing his hands.
He says "do not eat me up mommy."
I said "I am not eating you up I am kissing you, sometimes I do want to eat you up though cause you are so delicious!"
He laughs and says "no mommy I am NOT licious, I am gross and sweaty!!"

This kid.
He is so damn funny.

Back into it working out that is

I f'ed it up people. I f'ed it up good. Last year at this point I was 15lbs lighter then I am now.
And that was just with diet. I started my tracking 20 days ago with MyFitnessPal I highly recommend this app. Its awesome. I have friends on there and we cheer each other on. It helps knowing I have people seeing I worked out and I was under my calorie goal.
Last year was better cause Neil was doing it with me. We both tracked and seeing him workout motivated me to work out. Now its all on me. I have no partner but like Neil says I can not get fit for HIM I have to do it for me. And he is right. I felt so good last year. Last summer was amazing cause I was not as hot, I wasn't sweating as much, I could wear shorter shorts and not feel my thighs rubbing together. (they still touched but not down near my knees).

Right now what is keeping me honest and on track is that we are going on a cruise in 29 days and my summer stuff from last year needs to fit. Can not afford to get new clothing and I threw away all my 'fat' summer stuff.
I also know I will not track on my vacation. I will eat what I want and enjoy my food, not go super bad (fries with every meal) cause losing it SO HARD but I will have beer, ice cream, butter and wonderful french toast with syrup. Not to mention the cold fruit soups. OMG
I will have a fun time, I will be active.

I will be comfortable in my own skin this summer. I have to work for it but guess what, I should not have had cookies at every meal for the month of December. And if I do this year I HAVE TO WORKOUT.

My life will be a balance of healthy foods (with being 'bad' now and then) and working out everyday. Just is the way it has to be. I also find out when I work out I am a LOT less angry. I keep my cool much better.



Lets be this again... (last year in the summer when I was fit and my wedding dress was WAY to big)
<---- woowoo!

What I was when I was engaged and very heavy. (not what I am right now but sometimes I feel it)

<----- yucky!














And to be honest I am in the obese range right now (via myfitnesspal) I am okay with being 'slightly overweight' but obese is so bad for my long term health.

So guess what Mary. WORK OUT THAT ASS and work it off. Get fit, no stroke in my future damn it. I want a less sweaty summer this year again.

The Other F Word

Stepping out of my mom aspect of my life for a moment.
I keep hearing about a woman named "Kate Upton" So I looked her up. Wow what a very very pretty young woman.

Then I saw Kate Upton is fat. ARE YOU KIDDING?
Is this amazingly stunning, healthy looking woman is fat I am screwed.
She might not have a 'thigh gap' or 'bikini bridge' but I would kill to have her body.

People are insane.
Rib bones are not sexy.

Knee bones sticking out are not attractive. A woman that starves herself is not appealing. It makes me so sad these woman and young girls with so many body issues (and men and boys). We should focus on HEALTHY eating and being active and staying strong of body and mind.

sometimes society makes me barf in my mouth a little.

Sickness strikes again

Last night Ryan woke up at 1am crying. Neil went in to check on him and I hear Neil go "Oh my god" and he brings Ryan into our room.
I find out Ryan is burning hot and shaking. We take off his clothing, check his fever (awesome almost 104), give him Tylenol, and then I take him into a warm shower with me.
We brought it down to about 102 and had him in bed with us. He wakes up A LOT complaining of pain in his legs, his tummy hurts and coughing. Poor guy didn't get much sleep.
This morning at 6am we wake up to him crying again because the fever came back (104) so back into the shower with mom, Advil this time and now he is down to 102 (about) and playing with his pirate ship.

I knew changing schools would bring the sickness back (pink eye last week). But I feel bad we have both missed so much work. I guess I have to work extra extra hard when I am at work so co-workers don't get pissed. Thankfully my manager has a kid so she knows how it goes, also I have so much vacation time and sick leave its okay.

Fingers crossed its just an infection. We are doing the wait and see. He doesn't want to eat anything but it's still early. He did drink a lot of water so that's good. Poor guy. He is at least playing and happy. Just gets really pissed if you offer him food or anything to drink. I am doing the "just let him be" part of the sickness. Laster today I am going to do the "please eat some of the soup grandma made this weekend or have a drink." pushy part. Maybe I can entice him with a movie. :)

Been forever! (new House, Ryan update)

I am such a slacker. Really should try to NOT start each post with that!
So after being homeless for a month, going on an awesome cruise with my husband and kid (more on that in another post) and visiting family in Florida, staying at Robin and Christians place for a week while Neil traveled (taking care of a sick 2 1/2 year old and a dog is NOT fun alone) and then back to Rita and Tim's for a few days.... we moved into our new place and I LOVE IT.
I think Neil agrees with me on that one. Its perfect. Well if it had a dishwasher it would be perfect but its pretty damn close. We are settled in now that we have been there for 6 weeks and it feels like we have been there always.
I do miss things about the old place. I miss being so close to Rita and Tim and Gabi and Sandor. And I miss our huge window room with the amazing view. However the upside to the new house (town home) is we have a yard and a basement and garage and SO MUCH ROOM. So much storage. So much everything. Ryan loves it too. As a bonus the stairs keep me a little more active too.
I know in the spring and summer its going to be amazing but even in the late fall I love it. Winter will rock because of the fireplace. A FIREPLACE. Love.

Ryan is so grown up so much. He remembers stuff we told him weeks ago.
He moved over at school to the preschool class. I knew it was a matter of time since he was about to be 2 1/2. We don't like it as much. The girls are very nice but we both felt for the money we were spending he should be learning more. So we signed him up for Montessori school. The switch over will happen after new years.
That being said we started the party training for real. No half assing. Last Saturday, after soccer, I put him in underwear. He wet himself almost right away. We talked about it and put new underwear on. The true test was taking him to Ikea and picking up our buddy on the way. Ryan pee'd in the toilet at Ikea (there is where sanitizing wipes are super handy!!!)
I wiped down the potty and had him hop on. Another thing I wish I would have known, SKIP THE POTTY SEAT. Kids can hold themselves up. He did so great. Trick is put them on the potty nonstop every 30-60 minutes. Now we don't really use a potty seat at home anymore. He always says he wants to hold himself up. Another tip is even if your kids is still in diapers if you see underwear on sale BUY IT. In Canada underwear is super expensive. Like $12 for 3 pairs. Just beyond silly. I found a deal at Costco for 6 pairs for $8 of Calvin Klein so right now Ryan is wearing nicer underwear then me. hahaha

OH also Ryan got his flu shot on a Thursday and by the end of the day he was in pain with his arm. Some tylonal fixed that but the next day his arm was red, hot, swollen and in pain. I didnt know but that can be a side effect. He was not himself for Friday and Saturday. By Monday it was back to normal but it was a little scary.

I need to right a post about Halloween and the cruise. Maybe I will do that tonight if I have the energy (still sick)

We sold our condo and we have to be out when?!?

So whats new?

Ryan talks in full sentences. "mommy I am so hungry can we have eggs and toast and eggs and melon and eggs?"

He loves cars still and trackers.

He thinks he is batman all the time which is so damn cute. He  has bee hugging on me a lot lately. We are spending a lot of time together. This past weekend Neil had to work a photo event so it was just Ryan and I. He always get a little more attached to me when that happens. Not worried about it,  just trying to enjoy the hugs love and "mommy come here and play with me" while I have it.

Trying too get him to use the potty more. He is a little better at school. He regressed a little and was not going at all for almost a month. I think because of the move… keep reading.

We sold our condo, not for what we were hoping (which was high) but for what we needed and we got a townhouse. I am so excited about moving in. Downside is we have to be out  of the condo nu August 30th and our move in date is Sept 28th (we get the keys on the 27th).

What does that mean? Well it means a trip to Florida from Sept 1st to the 5th. Mini cruise out of Port Canaveral on the 5th-9th then we fly home on the 9th in the evening. I get to see my folks and my sister and a few friends which is awesome AND I get to go away with my boys on a cruise. Ryan hasn't been on one yet so I am very excited to see how he reacts to a huge boat, I think he is going to love it. They have a kids club which he can spend some time in so Neil and I can just have a few hours alone or take a nap on the deck. Or just eat a lunch without cutting up food for Ryan. Most of our time will be spent with him, that is the point of taking him with us but it will be so nice to just go for a walk around the boat just Neil and I. 

I plan on one night just a dinner with no Ryan as well. We got a balcony so in the night time when Ryan is sleeping Neil and I can chill out there and enjoy the night and sounds of water while we relax.

Then when we get back we will be stay with Rita and Tim (aunt and uncle) which is super awesome of them to let us crash there for 3 weeks with Ryan. All our stuff is going in pretty much a POD. They drop the container off, we fill it up, they take it away to be stored for month and then on the 28th they bring it to our new place for us to unpack. THEN my mom is visiting us in early Oct for Canada thanksgiving.

We have a LOT planned.

Fall is looking to be very exciting because Summer was a little unloved due to trying to sell our condo. We missed out on a lot.

We are trying to make up for it. Zoo visit with the Doiron's, picking berries with the Doiron's and Parks was a lot of fun. Trip to St Jacobs market for Gabi's birthday with Christina, Robin and Ellie. Swimming at Lily and Hugh to celebrate Rita's birthday, Ryan went to a Jays game for the first time this summer thanks to free tickets from Mike (awesome seats) tons of BBQ's at the Doiron's new place. Their daughter Sloane and Ryan as super tight. And we started this summer with a trip to Canada's Wonderland with the kids which was an awesome way to kick it off.

Wow after reading this I guess we did do a lot this summer. 

Neil and I just ended the summer with a trip to the EX last Friday which was awesome. First year we didn't take Ryan with us. I feel like he missed out a little but it was good to have some time with just Chris and Tara… no kids.

So that is what is new with us. I am going to try my best to update more. Right now I am doing a photo everyday for a year on my Facebook. I think next year I will do it on here.

Funny

About every 5 min Ryan had been doing something this morning that makes me laugh like crazy. Kid you are one funny dude, from the things you say to how you smack your mouth like an old man before you eat something you like.
He keeps saying "over in the bath time " or sits down in the pomp chair and leans back and goes "okay fireworks go!" at 730 in the morning.
Pushing the seeds out of his watermelon this morning "EWWWWWWW mommy EW!" I give him a piece with no seeds and he offers me the one he has been poking with his fingers to get the seeds out "mommy eats this one."
Um no thanks bud.
I had to go to the bathroom and he is screaming "WOW what a big guy mommy." I says "yes Ryan is a big guy." he goes "NO mommy is a big guy for going tolet. YAY MOMMY!"

See what I mean, so damn funny.
And now he is superman for eating the watermelon with seeds. "in the finger batman, SUPERMAN yeah. In the finger... SUMERMAN dooob doooob doooob, Im making trackers with trackers superman"
what?!

Toddlers are a lot of work but so awesome.

Three years ago today

Three years ago today I held you in my arms. Your still little body. I held your daddy as we both wept over the loss of you.
I miss you, I love you and I thank you my daughter.
If it wasn't for the loss of you we would never have had Ryan one year and two days later.

Thank you Abigail, my wonderful little girl.

Teething... again?!

I hate teething, makes my awesome  kid into an evil one.
Though last night was different. The final four teeth are coming out and its taking a while so we will have a few rough days/nights and then back to awesome kid.
Last night was rough. Two servings of Tylenol  numbing gel when it was bad and ended up at 1am putting the spare futon mattress in Ryans room for Neil to sleep on.

What makes this better you may ask? Well when Ryan was crying Neil asked is his teeth hurt and he said yes. Neil asked if he wants the numb goo and Ryan said YES! When it was on he curled up on Neil for a little bit and when Neil asked "Do you want to go back to bed." he said yes.

Not just screaming and screaming and screaming. He communicated with us.

This kid is growing big time.

Milestones
He knows all his colours. Even White, Pink and Purple. We are working on Black, Brown and Silver now.
He loves to say "Ryan did it" or "mom did it."
He gives me nice kisses on the lips if I ask and if he is feeling goofy he will give a sloppy wet kiss which has become a game if I am holding him and he knows I can not get away.
He asks for people he hasn't seen for a while, like Tim or Aunt Nina (Christina) and even Baby Ellie.
He will try new food if he is in the mood but is not afraid to make a face and let it fall out of his mouth while saying "ew gross."
He sings A LOT (which is awesome)
He reads a lot with us on the sofa. In fact he rather sit down with one of us and read a book then watch TV which makes us (neil and I) very happy. Though he is starting to understand our computers and will grab Neils iPad and ask for Cars (a game or video). He plays a spelling game sometimes but we limit it because he gets mad when you take it away.

Just a quick update before work.
Happy Monday!

A good blog post about boys

http://goodmenproject.com/good-feed-blog/raising-boys-advice-for-moms/

Found this in Pinterest and wanted to remember it. Lucky I hug Ryan a WHOLE lot and even though he is barely 2 I let him pick out his clothing for school sometimes.

Long Easter weekend

Our long weekend was epic.

Friday morning I got up with Ryan. Figure Neil should sleep in, he has been working so much. We had a nice breakfast and then got in contact with Tara and The Parks (mike & janet). I meet up with Tara and Sloane (her daughter who is 8 months older then Ry). Mike, Janet and the girls, Alexandra and Chloe joined up a few min later at the park.

This is a very awesome park. Its near Taras place in Port Credit. It was such a pretty day, sunny and still cool but not WINTER in Canada cool. Toward the end Ryan had his coat off.
He ate a bagel, banana and box of rasins. To be fair we were there for almost 3 hours and we ran around a lot, I was starving by the time we left too. It was so cute cause at one point I had Sloane and Ry and we were running around these three weird small statues of random stuff. A turtle shell, a fish, a fox head and a boat... stuff like that. I was counting them as I ran hitting each one. At one point Sloane asked me to play chase with her. So damn cute. It was super cute to see Ryan and her high-five after going down the slide. hehe

WEEEEEEEE!

Mike having fun on the TeeterTotter

Ryan getting in on the fun!

After nap we went to see Joe and Ang and went to another park.
Almost got in a fight with a 5 year old asshole. There was a 'big kid' slide and Ryan had gone on it a few times. The last time I was going to let him on it this kid was standing there not letting him up. I say to him, "Will you move please, he wants to go down the slide, thanks." He looks at me and says "only big kids can go on here, you have to be 5 years old."
I look at him and say,"he is big enough please move."
He says, "you have to be a big kid, you have to be five he is not allowed."
I look at him and very serious I say to him. "Move now kid." like no humor no cute tone of voice. I put on my "I will fuck you up" face to a five year old because he told my kid he couldn't. No I am not above getting in a "who is scarier and bigger" match with a 5 year old.

He moved out of Ryans way. >:)

Saturday we both got up early like it was a work day. We had a fast breakfast and we were off to St Catharine's for an easter egg hunt with some buddies, The Parks! (again). What can I say, we like them.
I was a little shocked how great Ryan was on an hour long car ride. He was perfect! We stopped at Tim Hortons since we were early and got some coffees, bagel and apple juice and we were off again.

Got to the park very early so we were able to walk around before the crowd. Easter bunny was super scary to Ryan. Then we saw it.

RUNNNNNNN!!!!!!

Princess Leia and Chewbacca with bunny ears. Hmmmm okay. Not really an easter thing but I am game.

The Meaning of Easter?

We meet up with Mike, Janet and the girls. Mat, his wife Chrissy and their boys (X and Caiden).
I have never been to an easter egg hunt before this, especially one with little kids. There was a field roped off with caution tape. We all gather around it and holy wow it got crowded. A group of people went onto the small field and started throwing out chocolate eggs out of these huge boxes. Hundreds of them. We got the go ahead. Ryan was in the 1-3 year age group so we are allowed to go. It was so fun. Ryan was so good at it! He didn't understand what it is cause we dont give him candy but he loved the colours! After we went for a small walk to the trash can, just him and me. I tossed my tissue in and he tossed a candy egg in. hahaha

Go buddy go!

OMG YELLOW EGG MOM!!! Look yellow!!!

While Mat, Chrissy and the boys went home to prepp for brunch we went down to the festival part. WOW it was super packed but all the kids got balloons (Ryans was yellow!) so it was worth it.
Went to the brunch, spent a few hours playing with the kids and had a very good talk with Janet about kids, having more then one, loss of children and so on. It was a good talk and it just made me miss her and spending time with her.
After brunch it was pretty late like 1:30 late. Hmmmm 2 hours past Ryans nap time and he was still being good, a little drunk but good. Started the ride home and after a few min he was OUT (while hugging Neils coat and holding his balloon)

Mmmmm sleep.

We keep it casual at the Bank house.

Sunday was family day. It was a very nice dinner. Robin, Christina and Ellie were missed very much (Ellie was sick). What was very fun though was watching Ryan hunt for easter eggs. He was SO good at it. But again he would break open the egg to get the chocolate out and then leave it. Had no idea he could eat it.

Easter Dinner

OH I forgot in the morning he found his basket I made for him. He was sitting there eating all the goldfish crackers while Neil was making him pancakes (from scratch). hehehe
I got in a little trouble over that when I woke up. Then I did it, I gave him his first Kinder Egg. I was so excited cause I found Hot Wheels Kinder. After he ate it, which he did really fast, I pop open the kinder to find A PUZZLE. WTF! I think I even said "WHAT THE FUCK!" while Ryan was in my lap. Opps. But I was super disappointed. I wanted a car for Ryan, that would have rocked his world, he did like his new books though.

My new favorite picture of Ryan and I that Neil got.

Such a happy family, yay spring!

Mean Parents?

Are we mean parents? Today was an Easter egg hunt (well chocolate eggs were thrown on a field and the kids got to grab them all). Ryan had the most chocolate out of all the kids. He didn't know it was candy. Hell at one point he saw me throw a tissue in the garbage and he threw an egg in. He gave most of them away to the other kids and he was just excited about the colours. "Look yellow mommy, BLUE!"

However when I told him I had a Banana he went craycray. "NANA! BANANA MOMMY YES PLEASE PLEASE!" and ate it all down while I was carrying him, just so super happy. He was also very worried about getting a balloon (which we did, a yellow one).

He has had sugar before, we have cake sometimes at family events and he has had chocolate before (halloween & Christmas). I don't want him to know what it is, I don't want him to WANT it. I really dont want him to demand it or expect it.
That being said are we mean? He will be 2 in 18 days. I have always been a little... careful about what he eats. I did get lazy for a bit and let him eat a lot of empty carbs (goldfish/graham crackers.)

He was 34 pounds at 18 months old. That's really big. Yes he was tall but the doctor told us he might be an obese child if we are not careful. Well I am happy to say he is going to be 2 very soon and he is still 34 pounds. I stopped giving him crackers and gave him cucumber to hold him over till dinner was made. The past month Rasins has been his big thing. Which is fine with me, helps him poop. Oh and berries. Holy wow this kid can eat a pint of blackberries in 3 minutes and with a purple stained mouth and fingers ask "please mommy more tank you."

So are we mean parents? Are we setting him up to only want to eat sugar sweetness when he is older? Who knows. All I know is I breastfeed him for 14 months, made all his baby food (other then carrots cause I always burned them and prunes) and tried to make sure he eats a good amount of healthy foods.  I really dont want to mess it all up now!!!
I also get super pissed at daycare when they give him those damn cheese doodles things or juice and have told them DO NOT give them to him. Made me happy when I caught the teachers giving him orange slices.

Wow really hard Easter egg hunt. :P

YELLOW MOMMY!

Star Wars Easter? Sure WHY NOT!

After brunch he was very fast to pass out, like 3 min later fast. Helped it was 90 min past nap time.

Oh on that note time to make his basket (a new book, colouring book, Kinder Surprise eggs with Hot Wheels car in them and plastic eggs with Goldfish crackers). Then time for this mom to take some cold medication and pass out. Two nights up coughing. Antibiotics are working just taking some time and I really could use a good night 'sleep'.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!