When you realize your kids are growing up.

May 24, 2010 By 1 Comment

Whether you notice the big things like: sitting up, crawling, walking, talking or being potty trained, there are little things along the way that make you step back and say, wow, he/she’s not a baby anymore.

I notice this the most when I see pictures of my son.  We recently went to sears to get a passport photo done.  And the good sales person said, I have no appointments for the next little while, why don’t we take a few photo’s. I can give you one for free. Now this girl was maybe… maybe 18ish and was goofy and jumping around and TRIED so hard to crack a smile out of him.  We got some pretty good shots from all the moving and positioning of props and after all of that..we walked out paying over 200 dollars for pictures when we only meant to spend 15.. because every shot was just too cute. See for yourself:

My cute little Dominic

And this one:

Dominic and his bear

So the little things that have me just so in love with this age is the little things like him starting to speak really sweet things.  Like when I walk by and he’ll say Mommy.. NICE!  I must admit, I love it.

But it’s the little things like when I put him to bed, and he doesn’t fit to lay on me anymore, and is more comfortable in his crib (yes he’s still in  a crib… talk about mommy not letting go of the baby thing)…. makes me sort of want to consider having another one.  Then I sleep through the night and realize I LOVE this age!

A book I read a year ago has really changed my perspective on the frustrating time of putting children to bed.  When they fuss and cry and fight bed time… it’s absolute peace when they finally fall asleep.  And when they do, remember to realize; they will at one point, not fit in your arms, or not want to be held.  And in 20 years, you’d give anything to go back to one night where you could hold them in your arms and embrace their youth.

Now don’t get me wrong there are trying times for sure!  But I try to remind myself that he won’t be small forever.. and wow is that ever true.

Dom newborn

Filed Under: Mom

What did you want to buy with your first paycheck?

May 20, 2010 By 1 Comment

I went to the supermarket today and I went down the “junk” isle with cookies, pudding and “fruit” snacks. I remember as a child, my mom NEVER if ever bought fruit snacks, fruit roll ups etc. But what I do remember is that there were so many varieties that you could pick between cherry, strawberry etc. 

So the other day i went down the “forbidden” isle, I rarely go down it. And I looked at the amounts of “junk” that i used to think was AMAZING when i was a kid. Now there were a variety of fruit snacks and there were little to none of the sunkist fun fruits, only one kind of fruit roll ups etc. I mean i know this stuff is not healthy for us but OMG was it the end of an era for me.

I remember that I promised myself that I would spend my whole first pay check on fruit roll ups and fun fruits, and while i did buy one package with my first pay check, I probably bought coffee and cigarettes instead.

Yup, that was me a young angry teenager who smoked to piss off my mom and wow was that a bad idea.  Not only was I only hurting myself, i barely had money let alone to buy smokes  with it.  Good thing I quit at 17.. best thing I ever did. I found that if you can cut out the certain “must have” smoke, you can absolutely do it!

So what did you want to buy with your first pay check?

Filed Under: Mom

Happy Mother’s Day

May 9, 2010 By 1 Comment

Mother’s day for me has become more important but not for the reason you would think.

I finally realize what it means to be a mother.  And because of that, it makes me appreciate the celebration that is Mother’s day.

So while Mother’s day is important to me, it’s more important to me that I celebrate my Mom and my MIL.  Because before I was a mom, it was just a day to buy something for mom, and a lunch or a dinner out.  Now it’s a celebration of all the hard thankless work that they (our moms) put in for us.

Now don’t get me wrong, if my husband forgets mother’s day. Well like they said at Church today, “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

This mother’s day I was worried that my husband would have forgotten, because he was away on business this whole week before.  So on Saturday he told me he had to go pick up my present.  Now keep in mind, he can’t keep a secret so for him to plan something or buy me something significantly in advance almost never works. But this year, he totally surprised me.  Now to appreciate this you have to understand my love of technology and my inability to always carry my cell phone with me.

It really “grinds his gears” that I have a cell phone but that I leave it at home, that it’s dead somewhere at the bottom of my purse or, by chance, that it’s charged but I don’t hear it and never answer it.  To top that off I’ve had this phone for 4 years, i’m not on a contract and I still pay 40-50$ per month for a phone I never use.

I had been talking about getting an iPhone for some time now, and he’s offered to go to the mall on the weekend and look at phone but to be honest I never wanted to, I wasn’t interested.  Plus the phone i have now is utter crap it needs a new battery and they don’t even make it anymore. yes for how tech savvy I am.. my phone is seriously Zack Morris.

Zack Morris Cell Phone

One day after yet another conversation about why I wasn’t answering my phone, I told him why don’t you just go get one for me. to which he replied no. So I thought end of story.

So while my husband came home from the mall with a small pretty purple bag, i thought Jewellery.. and he had my son pass me the bag and low and behold there was an iPhone in there!  I swear I was so surprised, and elated, it was the perfect gift! He even transferred my number for me!

And when I called Telus to cancel my phone, it took 5 minutes to get to the person to get someone from the senior team to cancel my phone. they kept telling me Telus has iPhones too, and what they weren’t getting was my husband already got one for me and I was cancelling because I didn’t need the phone. Funny thing is; my phone that i had just charged, died during the call to cancel the phone. do i need any other reason to not want my telus phone now? Nope.

So on another note; on a more genuine note, to the moms out there and the moms to be.  Someone sent me an email saying that, “motherhood is the hardest vocation” there is, and honestly it is.  But, the flipside of it, it’s really an amazing journey and I’m only 2 years in.  I never expected the joys and the insecurities of being a mom. All the decisions that weigh on you, all of the things you do shape your kids, what you say, what you don’t say. it’s an amazing pressure, because you know that one day, your child will say. Mom, why…?

And to all of the moms out there who have lost their children, my heart breaks for you almost every single day.  Because no one deserves to lose a child.  I think of the mom who lost her child at the Toronto airport. going on vacation he was being “2″ and wiggling out of his mom’s arms and fell over the guardrail 15 ft below. I couldn’t imagine the pain of losing grip, or watching him fall, and being helpless to stop it.  I think of that mom and little boy who didn’t make it almost every day.  I also think of the little boy in Quebec who drowned in the river… who was missing for weeks until they found his body. I know there is peace in finding him but also despair. Because all that we do to protect our children, we cannot protect them from everything, and that scares the crap out of me. So to those moms, my heart breaks with you, I pray for you and your family that you can come to some normalcy. I know you will never forget or probably ever forgive the circumstance, but know you are not alone in your grief that all moms out there are there to support you.

To all new moms or moms to be, motherhood is hard but it’s so incredibly worth it.  And if at this point in time you don’t see it yet, I promise you will.  There is no automatic “click” for when you will get it, so if it hasn’t come yet, it will I promise.  And for those who have already had the click.you are very fortunate.

So take the time with your children, enjoy how small your children are now, even when they’re difficult.  In 20 years you’ll wish you could go back, and hold them just a moment longer.

Happy Mother’s day to all the moms, new or old, your work is not thankless, you shape a generation… may God bless you.

Filed Under: Mom, New Mom