Goals update

Update time.... Back in February I listed a few things that I was working on.  I've found that if I have a list of things that I am working towards I get a lot more accomplished that just winging it.  Let's check up on how things are going


Fitness:

• Finish the 60 days (Insanity )challenge; 
• Done and done.... Oh my God... this was tough.  I won't lie - during that second month I was MISERABLE.  I lost a lot of my motivation, I had to really push myself to finish but finish I did.  Things were a bit more challenging at home which I think added to my misery but I finished nonetheless.
• Lose one more pant size;
• Also done and done... thank you Insanity.  I am at least 10 lbs lighter than I was pre-pregnancy.  The upside, I am smaller, fitter and can see my abs again.  The downside... almost all of my clothes no longer fit.  These days I wear a lot of lulu lemon-esque clothes.  But even those are getting baggy -  not really something I am complaining  about but it will cost a lot of $$ to replace all my office work clothes.
• Beat my pushup record;
• I have yet to try this one yet due to my Insanity commitment... I will tackle this one soon.
• Run at least one race - no distance specification as of yet
• nothing yet, although Pete and I are taking a week off from Insanity before we start up again and this week will involve a lot of running - yay!  ( I miss listening to my music)

Finance:

• Save at least half my pay cheque each month (towards travel to Calgary and other vacations, property taxes, and things like weddings); 
• I have been very good at saving these days.  I think it helps not living near stores and having a husband that takes the car away to work every day.  Although we do have a Giant Tiger and Booster Juice :) pretty much within stroller / carrier distance so I can pop out for some milk / smoothy if the mood strikes me.
• Invest some $ for Will.
• yet to be deposited but it is there... in my account

Education:
Pete gets to go back to university in May - I am not quite there yet.... there is hopefully an MBA/ MPA  in my future, but for now I would like to:

• Finish one more OPME (military) course (for a total of 4/6)
• Still working on this one
• Re-test my French profile for a CCC (I am currently at a BBC)
• not even close to re-testing... should really watch some french tv and start Will on some french lessons.

Personal:

• Volunteer at the YMCA and / or the Legion in town
• application handed in... almost there
• See Niagara Falls
• Maybe in June with the goal below.
• Finally wear my wedding dress and celebrate the fact that we got married over 2 years ago (living apart and not knowing where we will be in the near future does not help one to plan a wedding)
• Booked for 9 June in Toronto... Calgary date TBA.
• Buy another car - one car in a smaller town without public transit is tough 
• This should be decided in a month or two.

2 months into my goal commitment and I feel like I have made some progress.... still many things to tackle, but a start at least. 

At my wit's end

I know I shouldn't compare to other moms and other babies but after my round of visits in Calgary and Ottawa I've come to the conclusion that my baby is not nearly the same as anyone else's and it really has me down today.

Will is super cute and adorable - we often joke (in the throws of the dreaded colic) that if he wasn't so darn cute, we would have left him out on the doorstep.  But adorable as he may be, my days are so LONG and so exhausting that I really am having a hard time keeping it together today.  The thought that keeps running through my mind is as follows:

• Most of my friends had:
• easier deliveries; and
• easier recoveries, 
• and their babies:
• cry a bit; 
• fuss a bit;
• eat well;
• easily gain lots of weight; and
• sleep easily.  

Will on the other hand does NONE of these things.

My delivery was horrendous, my recovery was crap, Will had colic for more than 4 months, he did not take to feeding easily, his weight gain has slowed down, he will not be put down without screaming, it takes FOREVER to get him to go to sleep and when he does, it is a whopping 20 minutes...joy.... and for the last 2 months he will not sleep through the night.

Sometimes I feel like I've got it all wrong - fingers crossed tomorrow is a bit better.

Ides of March?

Today is historically known as the "Ides of March"... 

...but it is actually this Lady's special day

Happy Birthday to you my dear!

Happy (Leap Year) Birthday!

To one of my dearest friends Denise - I hope you have a wonderful birthday!!  

Give those adorable little twins a big kiss from me!

Goals v. 2012

I've been home from work for 5 months now.... what have I accomplished in that time?  Not too much. Yes, I have a new addition to look after, and yes, it's been hectic and trying, and one of the most difficult things I've ever attempted, but I feel like I need some proper goals to work through, to keep me from becoming one of those "helicopter moms".

When I lived in Victoria I had a rolling list of goals that I was set to accomplish by the 9th of each month. Finances, fitness, education - you name it, I had a goal for it.  It really helped to keep me motivated and accountable.   It seems as though I've slowed my effort to create and meet my goals.  Now that Will is *mostly* over his colic (I say mostly after the horror that was last night), I think I can put some time towards thinking about myself a bit.

Now for the 2012 goals:


Fitness:
Pete and I have started the Insanity fitness system.  We tried the P90x way back in Victoria and liked it, but this one is a bit easier to do daily and actually a lot more enjoyable.  The best part is, although Pete is crazy fit and I am just getting back into a fitness routine after a rough delivery and unfortunate c-section, we can both get a lot out of this system.

• For my fitness goal:
• Finish the 60 days challenge; 
• Lose one more pant size;
• Beat my pushup record;
• Run at least one race - no distance specification as of yet

Finance:
Although being on Mat leave and having a new house that needs furnishing and eavestroughs makes saving tougher,  the goal here is to:

• Save at least half my pay cheque each month (towards travel to Calgary and other vacations, property taxes, and things like weddings); and 
• Invest some $ for Will.

Education:
Pete gets to go back to university in May - I am not quite there yet.... there is hopefully an MBA/ MPA  in my future, but for now I would like to:

• Finish one more OPME (military) course (for a total of 4/6)
• Re-test my French profile for a CCC (I am currently at a BBC)

Personal:

• Volunteer at the YMCA and / or the Legion in town
• See Niagara Falls
• Finally wear my wedding dress and celebrate the fact that we got married over 2 years ago (living apart and not knowing where we will be in the near future does not help one to plan a wedding)
• Buy another car - one car in a smaller town without public transit is tough 

Those are the goals that I have on my mind for now - I'll likely add some more as time goes by, but for now that's good.

Diamond Jubilee

In Honour of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, I snagged a few pictures that show her true beauty.  Also, this list of 60 facts about Her Majesty is quite an interesting read - especially # 27.

 Such a beautiful young Queen

A caring Mother

Official Portrait for the Jubilee

Progression

Starting from Day 1.... it goes so quickly.

1 Day - with his poor little squished head

3 Weeks

 1 Month - the colic begins

 2 Months - it's almost Christmas

 3 Months - a smile!

And yes, my husband is a HUGE Leafs Fan.... clearly I need to get some more Flames gear.

12 years ago

12 years ago I woke up in the sweet Swiss village of Avully .. I was hired to be a nanny to 3 poorly behaved children - fast forward 12 years and now I have my very own.  Time really does fly.

2011...

Like most people, the past few days  - or rather weeks... this post is slightly late.....I looked back at how 2011 shaped up.  It was certainly one of my busiest and most dramatic years to date...

Jan

• Began the New Year on the right foot with a Resolution Run, actually it was on New Year's Eve, but that's almost 2011... 
• Started a job at the President's office of a Government agency.  It turned out to be somewhat like "The Devil Wears Prada" but was a very interesting kick off to the year.  I learned how particular the President was with his coffee, how to print documents and hand deliver them to someone sitting 10 feet from my desk (please note the sarcasm), but hey, it paid the rent, so yay!
• We started building our house!  Well, we put money down to buy the house and signed the contract, the construction didn't begin until June....

Feb

• Ended said "Devil's Wears Prada" job and started my dream job at the logistical support command of the Military.  It was nice to be back in uniform on a daily basis and get paid a lot more, but the learning curve was STEEP.  Suffice it to say, I was in a wee bit over my head.
• I also found out I was pregnant shortly after starting my job... yikes!  Cue morning sickness, joy.

March

• I made it back home to Calgary to see my friends... passed on the fun baby news :)
• Missed out on a military ORCA trip to Victoria, boo :(

April

• Pete and I had a lovely weekend out in Mont Tremblant.  Very romantic and the best Spaghetti Carbonara I've ever had... yum!
• Made it back to Sharon for Pete's family Easter celebration, and had a special afternoon tea at the Old Mill

May

• Cruise time... first time on a cruise, first time to the Caribbean - very, very fun.  Maybe next year we can hit up the Baltic?

June

• Still on the cruise, trying desperately to stretch out the week.
• House construction begins!
• All the way at the end of the month a few friends and I headed out for a shopping trip to the outlet's outside of New York - amazing deals!

July

• Last trip to Calgary with Pete before the baby arrives!  Spent the week showing Pete the wonders of the Stampede and Spruce Meadows... he's a good sport :)
• A trip to Kingston to attend the Baptism of our darling God Daughter... so cute!
• Pete turned the big 3-0!

August

•  Baby Shower!  My fantastic sister in law threw me a lovely baby shower.  All of Pete's female relatives were there and we had such a great time.

September

• I turned the big 3-0!  Yikes!  
• My last day of work.... a week early as it turns out.  My blood pressure was up and down, and up and down, and up and down.... so my Dr decided it was best to rest at home.
• Continued to be in and out of the hospital with the threat of induction.... at the end of the month we still didn't have a baby yet... boo

October

• More hospital time... and finally on the 17th of October after 44 hours of (mostly back) labour, and an emergency c section, we had our darling baby boy.  I can't say it was a wonderful, easy, magical experience - it was awful, excruciatingly painful and one of the worst things I have ever had to endure.  Thank goodness he is the cutest thing I have ever, ever seen.... 
• Cue the flood of relatives to our TINY apartment... I was very thankful for the help, how do single parents do it???

November

• Busiest month by far.... never again will I have a newborn, move into a new house with furniture coming from across the country and more furniture from the apartment, with your husband working.  However, once we were in the house, we were good to go.

December

• Hosted the Sands' family Christmas with my Mom at the new place.... busy, busy, busy, but awesome and the extra hands to help with our colicky baby was more than welcome.

So there we go, 2011 in review... typed as fast as I could while Will sleeps... Happy New Year!

One and Only?

Echoing this blogger's thoughts - and after an especially hectic morning, having a newborn in a town where you have zero family is less than ideal.  We have a few friends who live in Ottawa (one great couple who live around the corner) and luckily Pete has been working from home and can help a lot, but it is still quite tough.  We are still in the "we can't imagine doing this all over again" stage, so for the time being it seems as though William is likely going to be a single child.  He's been a good baby but is sliding into colic territory and is testing our sanity.  Parents must eventually forget how difficult the first few months are, otherwise I know I wouldn't be here (having 2 sisters).  I just keep thinking about how it would be later in life, only one kiddo running around... and even later - only one to come home and visit.  Although, having only one would mean we could help him have a lot more experiences. Tough decision I think, but I guess we'll have to see how it goes.

Some more fun news - Sunday night my Mom flies over form Calgary (our first Christmas together in 4 years) and Pete's family is coming up for Christmas so thankfully we'll have some help soon.  We even have a babysitter for our anniversary next Monday - a date with my husband, yay!  I think we are going all out this time, sushi dinner and a movie :)  Sherlock Holmes here we comes!

Hopefully I can unpack a bit more between now and Christmas (with my one free hand) - the house is finally looking more and more lived in, and we even had company over for coffee and muffins yesterday!  

Happy Wednesday

Christmas Elf

So darn cute

Thursday's Photo

It's still a bit big, but I couldn't resist trying it out.

Remembrance

Langemarck at Ypres

William Wilfred Campbell

THIS is the ballad of Langemarck, 
  A story of glory and might; 
Of the vast Hun horde, and Canada’s part 
  In the great grim fight. 
 
It was April fair on the Flanders Fields,
  But the dreadest April then 
That ever the years, in their fateful flight, 
  Had brought to this world of men. 
 
North and east, a monster wall, 
  The mighty Hun ranks lay, 
With fort on fort, and iron-ringed trench, 
  Menacing, grim and gray. 
 
And south and west, like a serpent of fire, 
  Serried the British lines, 
And in between, the dying and dead,
And the stench of blood, and the trampled mud, 
  On the fair, sweet Belgian vines. 
 
And far to the eastward, harnessed and taut, 
  Like a scimitar, shining and keen, 
Gleaming out of that ominous gloom,  
  Old France’s hosts were seen. 
 
When out of the grim Hun lines one night, 
  There rolled a sinister smoke;— 
A strange, weird cloud, like a pale, green shroud, 
  And death lurked in its cloak. 
 
On a fiend-like wind it curled along 
  Over the brave French ranks, 
Like a monster tree its vapours spread, 
  In hideous, burning banks 
Of poisonous fumes that scorched the night 
  With their sulphurous demon danks. 
 
And men went mad with horror, and fled 
  From that terrible, strangling death, 
That seemed to sear both body and soul 
  With its baleful, flaming breath. 
 
Till even the little dark men of the south, 
  Who feared neither God nor man, 
Those fierce, wild fighters of Afric’s steppes, 
  Broke their battalions and ran:— 
 
Ran as they never had run before, 
  Gasping, and fainting for breath; 
For they knew ’t was no human foe that slew; 
  And that hideous smoke meant death. 
 
Then red in the reek of that evil cloud, 
  The Hun swept over the plain;   
And the murderer’s dirk did its monster work, 
  ’Mid the scythe-like shrapnel rain; 
 
Till it seemed that at last the brute Hun hordes 
  Had broken that wall of steel; 
And that soon, through this breach in the freeman’s dyke,
  His trampling hosts would wheel;— 
 
And sweep to the south in ravaging might, 
  And Europe’s peoples again 
Be trodden under the tyrant’s heel, 
  Like herds, in the Prussian pen.  
 
But in that line on the British right, 
  There massed a corps amain, 
Of men who hailed from a far west land 
  Of mountain and forest and plain; 
 
Men new to war and its dreadest deeds,
  But noble and staunch and true; 
Men of the open, East and West, 
  Brew of old Britain’s brew. 
 
These were the men out there that night, 
  When Hell loomed close ahead; 
Who saw that pitiful, hideous rout, 
  And breathed those gases dread; 
While some went under and some went mad; 
  But never a man there fled. 
 
For the word was “Canada,” theirs to fight,
  And keep on fighting still;— 
Britain said, fight, and fight they would, 
Though the Devil himself in sulphurous mood 
  Came over that hideous hill. 
 
Yea, stubborn, they stood, that hero band,
  Where no soul hoped to live; 
For five, ’gainst eighty thousand men, 
  Were hopeless odds to give. 
 
Yea, fought they on! ’T was Friday eve, 
  When that demon gas drove down;  
’T was Saturday eve that saw them still 
  Grimly holding their own; 
 
Sunday, Monday, saw them yet, 
  A steadily lessening band, 
With “no surrender” in their hearts, 
  But the dream of a far-off land, 
 
Where mother and sister and love would weep 
  For the hushed heart lying still;— 
But never a thought but to do their part, 
  And work the Empire’s will.
 
Ringed round, hemmed in, and back to back, 
  They fought there under the dark, 
And won for Empire, God and Right, 
  At grim, red Langemarck. 
 
Wonderful battles have shaken this world, 
  Since the Dawn-God overthrew Dis; 
Wonderful struggles of right against wrong, 
Sung in the rhymes of the world’s great song, 
  But never a greater than this. 
 
Bannockburn, Inkerman, Balaclava,  
  Marathon’s godlike stand; 
But never a more heroic deed, 
And never a greater warrior breed, 
  In any war-man’s land. 
 
This is the ballad of Langemarck,  
  A story of glory and might; 
Of the vast Hun horde, and Canada’s part 
  In the great, grim fight.

Wilfred Campbell was a Canadian Poet. Many Canadian troops fought and died in the 3rd Battle of Ypres, otherwise known as Passchendaele. The fighting around Langemarck was just one part of the long bloody battle in 1917.

T-1 week

We headed out to our new place last night to check on the progress of the house - everything is nearly finished, only the paint touch ups and the baseboards to finish - yay!

Thankfully, we've slowly started to tie up loose ends with the house, mortgage and movers from Calgary.  All the stresses are slowly dissipating and now I can concentrate on chilling with this little man and packing up our apartment - not the most fun task, but it won't be too awful.  After looking around a bit, it's really amazing how much one can accumulate in such a short while.

The funny thing is, this apartment is the first place that Pete and I were able to live together, and although we were only here for 11 months, I've been here longer than anywhere else since joining the military.  Hopefully once we move, we'll stay put for a good couple of decades.

I should also mention a big thank you to everyone back in Calgary who is packing up all my stuff and meeting with the movers - that's not a fun task either.  Once it all arrives, I think we'll have a great time going through all the boxes and getting reacquainted with all my belongings / all the extra stuff my mom threw into the mix.

Just for fun I thought I would leave you with a picture that Pete was pretty excited to take.  Apparently William has followed in his Father's footsteps and has begun studying Arnold's Encyclopedia of Body Building - like Father, like Son.

The Grand Entrance

I've been re-assured by my Doctor, the labour and delivery nurses who saw me through the 44 hour ordeal, the whole surgical team, and all the post delivery nurses that I have the worst delivery story they have experience in a long while....

Not quite the plan I had envisioned - but in any case, it is over, I am home at last, and our little one is here - he (along with Pete and I) is happy as a clam, and undeniably (to us anyways, but we are understandably biased) he is the cutest thing we have ever laid our eyes on.

Without further ado - our darling William

A theory

I think I've figured it out, why our little once hasn't made his/her appearance.  Although my decided due date is tomorrow (after being changed from the 17th, to the 10th and then finally tomorrow) I was convinced that he/she was coming early - I even bet on the 29th in my baby pool, and my husband bet on the 1st - oops!

Anyways, as I sit about my apartment (on sick leave for the past 3 weeks - a blood pressure thing) I've come to have more positive feelings about where I live.  Originally, I was rather unhappy with my apartment - the location was awesome, the amount of space was also awesome, however the kitchen and bathroom left something to be desired.  But hey, when your husband has 2 days to find a place to live while your house is bring built, somethings are less important.  As I was saying, since I've been home, and Pete works from home 4 days a week, we've had a great time cooking, cleaning, getting things organized for our new arrival - it's become more of a home, I'm almost sad that we get to leave in 1 month and 11 days.  But my theory regarding why this little one won't come out is because he/she would rather live in the house and not our 1 bedroom apartment....

Still nothing

Because Heather put it so eloquently  (she is due today, me on friday) - head over and read the post on being 40 weeks pregnant.

I've had my share of texts / facebook messages / bb messages / phone calls all inquiring about the status of Baby S - all well meaning and all nice, but no, nothing yet and yes, I will make sure to call everyone once he/she arrives.

Besides just wanting to hold / meet one wee one, I seriously cannot wait to

• sleep on something other than my aching hips (ie: my back)
• eat sushi, soft cheese and prosciutto
• bend down to pick something up
• have my hands back (swelling + carpel tunnel = useless appendages)
• not have heartburn all the time
• wearing all sorts of shoes - not just sandals
• get back to running (my last run was at 6 months when Pete and I visited Calgary)

Chaos

An update on the chaos that has happened over the last week:

Last sunday night we noticed the paint where the ceiling and wall connect in the bathroom and our closet was bubbling.

Diagnosis:  3 floors up there was a water leak and it made it's way down to us....this can be fixed, but the unfortunate news is our building superintendent was taken away in an ambulance on monday and hasn't been able to come in to repair it (thank goodness he is ok, just not back at work yet).

The bad news:

• Because it affects our closet, everything we had in there is now in random locations throughout the bedroom mixing in with all the baby stuff (which there really isn't room for to begin with), plus this makes it pretty frustrating to get dressed in the morning - thank goodness I'm not at work anymore and Pete luckily works from home. 
• We move into our new house in exactly 2 months so the rest of our apartment is full of packing boxes and we are doing our best to contain the mess.
• We could possibly have a newborn in the apartment any day now.... because
• Thursday my doctor discovered that my blood pressure is elevated - normally it's low / normal but when you are 37 weeks pregnant, higher blood pressure is not a good sign.  So, I'm on sick leave and we get to pop into the hospital tomorrow and tuesday to re-check it.  If it remains high that means that we might get to meet our little one sooner than anticipated - hows that for news?
• When he does come to fix it, we won't have a bathroom for a while, and our bedroom will be a construction zone - all things un-good when bringing home a brand new baby.
• The longer we wait the higher the possibility of mould - also un-good for a teeny baby (not to mention us)

So there we go... the chaos that is our lives at the moment.  Fingers crossed it all comes together next week.

Sister #2

Oops, I am a few days late with this one.  I blame the awesome fun that is the metropolis of Sharon.  In any case - it was my older sister's birthday on Saturday...

Happy Belated Sarah - let's hope the weather held for your BBQ

Note:  Yes, this photo is ridiculously old  (that would be Sarah in the peach shirt and white shorts - Amy is the wee one beside my Dad, and I am rocking the plaid shirt).... but I know she was pretty happy that day, she bought her first horse "Indy" - he was awesome.

Sister 1

A big Happy Birthday to my little sister.... I can't be in Calgary to share a toast, or slice of cake with her so I'll have to settle with this awesome pic from our trip to Veags. 

Note: the point of this picture is to illustrate that even though she is not a large person by any right, the "adult" sized shirt in question (from a very popular american retailer) is ridiculously small on her... and I am pretty sure it was a medium or large...

This pic is shamlesly stolen from facebook - a very good friend of hers painted this, I think it's awesome.