Limbo....

I cannot lie.. I am missing being a stay at home mom a lot. As I mentioned in my last post, I gave up cake decorating twice a week to spend time with Brendan since we only get 2 hours/day to see eachother. On the other hand...I also enjoy working and spending my days with adults having adult conversations. The two jobs I interviewed for which both sounded really promising didn't come through. For both I was the second place candidate. I guess it wasn't meant to be. I've been reading through many many job boards and sending out resumes with not a lot of luck. My contract at my current job is up at the end of this month so hopefully something good will come along before then. But I really don't know...

The wedding is fast approaching. We got our quote for the alcohol from my brother (he owns a bartending company) which isn't nearly as expensive as we had budgeted for AND Ryan's parents have offered to pay for the alcohol which is pretty nice of them. So far we are on budget. I am hoping to get a nearly complete budget posted soon. I'm getting a little stressed out from all the planning and I think I will be really happy once the wedding is over and I can relax.

For now I leave you with some photos of what we've been up to lately:

Working Gal

I feel as though I have been absent for a little while in the blogging world. This week was my first week in a summer job with an organization I've worked for in the past and was it ever exhausting! Unfortunately, my new position involves an hour commute to work. Luckily I am against traffic both ways which is nice and it is somewhat relaxing to have that time to myself to gather my thoughts and clear my head. Although I do not love my job in this department as I did the previous department I worked in the summer before Brendan was born, I am happy to be back in the same organization, greatful for the experience in my field and have been applying for some year-long contract positions within the building. Last week I had two interviews (my boss has been more than accomodating giving me time off work in the first week to interview for other positions). Both interviews went well and sound fairly promising but competition is fierce and in this economy I really consider myself lucky to have even secured a summer position. So many of the people I know are without work right now or as young professionals entering into the workforce do not have much experience in their field and therefore cannot find any employment in the field in which they had hoped to work.

As far as smooth transitioning, this week did not go as I had hoped. I found when I got home from work I was so exhausted that on the two nights where I usually have cake decorating, I couldn't get organized enough to make it to the class and all I really wanted to do was spend the 2 hours I could with Brendan after not seeing him all day. Note daily schedule below...

6am - Wake-up --> frantically get dressed, wash face, put make-up on, make the bed
6:30am - Brendan wakes up/gets dressed/eats breakfast
6:50am - Load up the car and drop Brendan off with my sister
7:05am - Leave for work/eat breakfast on the road
8:30am - Start work
4:45pm - Leave work
6pm - Arrive home exhausted
8pm - Brendan's bedtime
9pm - Ryan's bedtime (I usually spend that hour with him)
9-10pm- Get everyone ready and packed for the next day/shower/clean up

On Wednesday, our daycare provider gave us 2 weeks notice, saying that Brendan wasn't happy there because he couldn't interact very well with the other kids as he isn't walking or talking a lot and the other kids range from 2-5. Consequently he was proving to be a lot of work for her and she would prefer to watch only older kids.. so that SUCKED. But obviously I want the best for my son and for him to be in an environment where he is happy. Luckily my sister is not working and she said she would watch him for as long as we needed and Brendan is quite happy there. I think this will work out better for us anyway.

To top it all off.. I was sick as a dog from Mon-Thurs and now Ryan has gotten sick. We're spending our long weekend recovering. We also had a nice visit with my brother and his girlfriend last night.

Hopefully next week will be better.. much better if I get good news from one of the positions I am hoping to get!

Brendan's Birthday Festivities

So I didn't make the cake after all!

We have been fighting off some sickness.. high fevers and coughs = not too much fun 'round these parts lately.

Last Sunday we celebrated the little man's birthday by hosting a BBQ for close friends and family. The little guy loved his gifts. Brendan enjoyed a homemade Turkey burger and a slice of store bought, sugar-loaded vanilla cake. I was really planning on making him a carrot cake for his birthday but Ryan and I were at a marriage preparation class all weekend (a requirement from the church in order to be married) and so my sister convinced me to let her buy him a cake from the store. The marriage prep course was not religious in the slightest and both Ryan and I walked away from it feeling that it was incredibly worthwhile and helped us to talk about things that we hadn't yet talked about after 4 years of being together, living together, and looking after a baby and toy yorkie (that needs almost as much attention as the baby). I think that it has strengthened our relationship and opened our eyes to areas of improvement and healthy conflict management. Also noteworthy...Ryan has done a significantly larger share of the household tasks since attending this course!!

I am knee-deep in job search/interviews/small contract work offerings. I should have more to say on this after next week.

On the plant front, I need to plant some more tomato seedlings. I don't know what happened but I am left with one little tomato plant. Lately my plants have been basking in the nice weather and sun on our front porch. I even leave some of the larger ones outside overnight now.

Happy 1st Birthday to My Little Man

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR BRENDAN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

Today is Brendan's 1st birthday. I cannot believe a year ago he was just hours old. We are having a little BBQ with close friends and some family this Sunday to celebrate. I cannot wait to see him dig into the cake I will bake for him.

I thought I had at least a couple years before the "birthday excitement" starts but unfortunately... the birthday boy decided to wake up for good at 5:30am..joy. I am really happy though that I get to spend the day with him..just the two of us. We are going to go to public swim later on this morning and then hopefully to the park this afternoon.

At 1 year, some of his most recent developments are:

- Sleeping 12 hours through the night!!!!!!!!! (About 2 weeks ago he started sleeping from 8pm to 8am. I honestly never thought I would see the days of getting 8 hour sleeps again. A downside to this is how much harder it is for me to get out of bed now)

- Trying to push objects that he can stand at

- Waving at himself in the mirror and when people (live or on tv) wave at him

- Finally understanding the word no.. but also how to manipulate us by giving the quivering lip

- Saying uh oh - though he doesn't use it right

I'm sure there are more that I am forgetting... but I thought I'd post some of his very first pictures of my then 5 pound boy

Wedding Update

So.. The wedding is less than 4 months away now. I hadn't really been keeping track but yeah! Someone better light a fire under my ass now. So much to do still!

This past week I feel that I got a whole lot done.

- Finished off the guest list (106 people!)

- Narrowed down my colours: Peach, Green, Gold and Purple

- Got my flowers all sorted out with our local flower lady who operates out of her basement. She did the flowers for a friend of mine's wedding. We are doing the reception flowers on our own. For all the bouquets etc. for the wedding party the cost came to $350 including delivery...I plan on doing up a budget in the near future to highlight all the amazing deals I have been getting.

- Arranged to meet with the organist who has offered to provide her services free of charge! I've known her for quite some time from the church my parents went to since I was born!

- Got fabric swatches for the bridesmaids dresses. We are having my mom's seamstress make the dresses at a very reasonable price. I have decided to let the girls choose their own styles and they will all be in the same green stretch satin material. Gold shoes!

- We have been having some trouble deciding on a honeymoon destination. We are only planning on going for a 4-day weekend, likely in September, because we feel a week would be too long to leave Brendan and hard for Ryan to get off work. Ryan wants to go to a beach and drink but I really don't want to do something like that and it is hard to find an all-inclusive for only 4 days. Places like Mexico and the Dominican have also made me apprehensive these days with all the recent misfortunes of Canadian couple travellers. I would love to go to NYC or somewhere in New England. I have thought about Quebec City too. I'd love to hear any ideas anyone might have of somewhere budget friendly, close by and where I won't go crazy with nothing to do. I know the point of a honeymoon is to spend time alone as newlyweds but honestly, I think I would go crazy secluded with just booze, a beach, and a hotel room.

Happy Easter!

There were plenty of new developments this Easter. Brendan sprouted a second tooth and the first one is growing like mad. He climbed his first stair at my mom's house and he started blowing bubbles into the water during his bath today.He was spoiled with gifts from family. Mommy and daddy got him some new bibs. Bigger ones. He wont eat from a spoon often anymore so we needed the bibs with the food catcher. We tend to get him practical gifts for every occasion because we figure he isn't old enough yet to really get it and he enjoys the wrapping way more than any gift we give him. I guess this will probably change next year! Also, a couple weeks ago, Ryan's sister sent us a carload of toys her kids no longer play with and therefore our original Easter present idea of new toys - he seems bored with the old stuff - went out the window. Brendan wouldn't go down for a nap at all at our Sunday Easter Lunch with my family so inevitably this happened....I know I know...Valentine's bib!

On Saturday we went up to Muskoka to Ryan's parents place to celebrate with his family. The weather was gorgeous and we enjoyed a bonfire outside in the afternoon and a lovely dinner. Ryan's sister brought bubbles up. Brendan really liked them and we enjoyed dying eggs with Ryan's nieces. We had some sleep issues here too.. both in the morning and afternoon Ryan or I had to take him out for a car ride to get him to go down for his nap. Guess it was all the commotion.

All in all...Easter was a hit with this little boy!

Living the Domestic Life

After nearly a whole year of living the "domestic" life being a SAHM, I realized that there are things I love about this lifestyle and also things that I am less fond of...

Joys

• Being out and about during weekdays. There is something so satisfying - I don't know what - about being able to go shopping, walking or really anything during typical "work hours". This just gives me an added sense of freedom


• Getting to spend all day with Brendan watching him learning and growing into a little man.


• Taking pride in my home - in its cleanliness, in my abilities to make a comfortable and safe home for my family.


• Taking evening courses. These help me keep my sanity and give me a much needed break from the homestead while learning new things at the same time.


• The odd day when Brendan sleeps in and I wake up at 9am to the sun shining through the window and Brendan happily making noises from his bedroom to let me know he is awake. Being able to lay in bed and enjoy the morning sun is a rare pleasure that many working people do not get except for maybe on the weekends MAYBE


• Having time to cook, read, craft, and garden

Work (I call this work because these are things I enjoy less and yet I have to do. Although I realize that many people love the thing they call "work". I just didn't think it would be appropriate to call them something more negative)

• Sometimes lacking the recognition for all that I do because they are so-called every day chores.


• Taking on nearly all of the household duties which are often cumbersome and neverending because it just makes sense for me to do these things because I am at home.


• Spending every waking hour with Brendan. I listed this as a joy or benefit but it is a double sided coin. As much as I love him, I also love the time away from him and sometimes find myself overwhelmed on days where he doesn't sleep much or is cranky due to teething or lack of sleep.


• $$$. Unfortunately this position doesn't offer a nice salary or benefits or an end to the work day. Prior to Brendan I was for the most part financially independent and had a little extra to spend on whatever I wanted. These days money is a little tighter and as most moms do..I find that any extra money in the budget is spent on Brendan. It will be nice when I get back to making some money.

Some of my cakes below: The first one was my very first cake for cake decorating using the star tip. This is the kind that is used to make most character cakes (Disney, etc.) I made a simple rainbow and wrote Ryan on it. The cake was vanilla and had vanilla icing filling. I gave the cake to Ryan to eat for work.

The second cake, obviously more aestetically appealing, I made for my best friend's (and maid of honour) birthday yesterday. The cake was chocolate with a vanilla pudding filling. I used the left over icing from the rainbow cake (darkening some colours slightly) to make this nice "spring looking" cake. I really practiced my flowers and even did a flower border around the base of the cake.