magic and wonder

Liam's real first christmas has to be this year - he GOT it this year. He GOT santa.

so when christmas morning came and i went into his room to get him in santa's hat - i was greeted with the biggest most radiant smile and:

"Merry Christmas mommy, you're wearing santa's hat."

then we walked to the living room (or i walked and he hopped while grasping my hand) and saw the tree loaded with presents:

"presents...(he whispered) look what santa brought for me"

now unwrapping gifts with a 2 year old is a long and tedious affair. each gift is not only unwrapped but also unpackaged and played with before moving onto the next. needless to say he was spoiled rotten by everyone - we have more thomas trains and tracks, mac trucks, dinky cars and tonka than one child should own. and of course all the clothes got tossed over his shoulder without a second look.

pretzels

luckily for me the flight home was slightly more -- i'd like to enjoyable but unconscious is the word.

i literally heard... 'when we reach 30 000 feet we will begin our beverage and snack service. today's snack is cookies or pretzels...'

and then 'we are now beginning our descent to Toronto'

yeah somehow i passed out - sheer exhaustion. after 4 days that seemed like an eternity of crying, breakdowns, shopping trips, snow, sleeping of the magically deflating air mattress and plate after plate of finger foods - i suppose i was entitled to a black out.

and i needed it cause i stepped off the plane and literally had to hit the ground running.

christmas events began only 3 hours after i landed.

recipe for flight from hell

it's been awhile so i'll back track a bit....

After my uncle's untimely death i flew out to Winterpeg for the funeral. Finding a flight out was a big deal less than a week before christmas. I had to fly out of Toronto. Now...if you know Pearson at all you know why i HATE that airport.

December 20, 2007

i arrive of course ridiculously early for a domestic flight cause at pearson you just never know how long things are going to take or if at any moment you could get tazzered for not saying the right thing. so... i had to wait around at the "loading dock" for about 90 minutes but of course the flight was delayed. so i sat and read not so bad if a tea and a bagel didnt cost $40 at the airport. the loading dock had an inordinately large number of people waiting... i knew the flight was sold out.

Finally we board. once on board i begin to realize that the cat, and 4 lap dogs i saw milling about on the loading dock are now IN THE CABIN. i have allergies. i have asthma. and then i look around and notice the plane also has about 30 kids, 2 infants and seated beside me is a jumbo-size korean (seriously 6'4 - 250) who already has his laptop and ipod out on his tray table and his elbow firmly imbedded in my ribs for the REST OF THE FLIGHT.

after de-icing and various other staffing issues - we take off.

and then...

the cat lets out a horror filled MEEEEEEEEOOOOWWW. all the dogs then begin barking - you know that shrill yapping noise little dogs do and all the children start screaming about the dogs and cat simultaneously. and the mouthy spoiled little toronto brat behind me keeps kicking my goddamn chair.

in a confined space.

for 2.35 hours.

deep breath. while i could. you know that 4 dogs and a cat in a recycled air environment for that long does to someone with allergies. yeah we had to stop at a drug store to get extra strength benedryl and it took 2 to calm my swollen eyes, running nose and to let me breathe normally again.

Holly Jolly Daze

Christmas was a whirlwind.
Liam was busy every minute of every day for the past week.

a merry chirstmas to all and to all a good night.

black christmas

for the second year in a row we will be attending funeral services within days of christmas. Grandma Toole passed away last year...

this year i will be flying out to Winnipeg to pay my respects to my uncle phil. he was a great father, a wonderful uncle and a good person who died too young, 54. and even though he lived 1512 km away he was the best uncle i have in a family who is shattered already. i am weakened by his loss...sometimes i find my knees just can't hold me up.

i am acheing with grief for his wife, son and daughter left behind and all the wonderful things he will miss. it's still raw. it's still in the back of my throat. i have been unable to swallow it but need to be stong for my mother, my cousins and my aunt. my flight leaves tomorrow.

i wish everyone a merry christmas and will post again sometime after the pain fades.

abominable snow monster

we spent 45 minutes in the snow, yes we put him to work, and the little monster loved every last second of it.

wolf wolf wolf

the weather network is OFFICIALLY the little boy who cried wolf. i mean cripes. STORM OF THE CENTURY!! CRIPPLING STORM!! yeah. umm. 10 hours out and they STILL GOT IT WRONG! not that we got no snow. we got snow. but it wasnt crippling. and it was not the storm of the century. i swear one time they are going to be like "no really this time we're SURE there will ACTUALLY be some significant snow." and NO ONE will believe them. cause they are WRONG ALL THE TIME.

sorry but if i was wrong all the time...i would switch fucking careers.

i believe

i dont care who you are that is f*%king santa.

liam pulled off one decent shot from the bunch and

asked for "presents" - i had a whole list of my own that

santa graciously listened to.

'luxe

i dont often treat myself to some of life's greatest little luxuries. but i had this gift card waiting for the perfect moment when all i needed was either a morning to myself or to join the circus. luckily for everyone the circus is not in town...

so i went to the spa at ancaster. and ooo ahhh....

i had and hour and forty-five minutes of heaven while a sweet polish lady scrubbed, picked, massaged and masked my poor sad worn old face. it was outstanding. i almost fell asleep i was so relaxed. and i promise - that if i win the lottery not only am i treating all my girlfriends to this wonderful experience but i am going every month.

FYI - my face is so soft and smooth it feels like a ripe peach...or liam's sweet little freshly washed bum. geepers he was so little then - i need new embarrassing bum photos of him...

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Things I Want for Christmas

1. a vacation - hell a sleeping weekend at a spa would do me good right now
2. socks - i just want to start over, throw everything out - i can NEVER find a pair
3. a professional organizer to come do my basement
4. a maid
5. a new bedroom set
6. new sheets, new duvet & new mattress pad
7. an easel and and area to paint
8. a set of good brushes
9. a set of good board games
10. peace and joy

Next week: 10 New Years Resolutions - lets get them out early so we can start working on them!

chrismakawanzikah-izing the house

the tree ended up being A LOT bigger than i intended. and then there were A LOT more lights on it than i intended (1200 - you could see it from space). but all in all - it's a pretty great tree.

gay pirate

i hate max & ruby. for those who are lucky enough to not know who max & ruby are please quickly punch yourself in the leg to get an inkling of the feeling i get while they are on.

so liam is watching max & ruby while i am (half-assing) making dinner. from the living room i hear:

max: yo ho ho

liam: you who who

max: yo ho ho

liam: you who who

wondering how long this torture was going to continue...

mommy: liam it's YO HO HO

liam: you who who

max: yo ho ho

liam: you who who

if you're wondering how long i'm going to let this go on...

so i shout: YO HO HO!!!!

liam shouts back: YOU WHO WHO!!!

yeah i'm just gonna let it go. so what if liam knows the gay pirate call sign.

big boy room

wooo hooo! its done.

well except for the closet.

and all i have to say is f%#k the depot.

there can be only one

we were joined on our now weekly sojourn to the early years centre by Carrie, Benjamin and baby Thomas. we were thinking the whole time "aww wont it be fun to see the boys play together?" yeah i'm not sure they even made eye contact. ehn we tried. but everyone had a fun and exhausting morning playing and snacking at "school".

when i asked liam to tell daddy about it at dinner he remembered everyone's name but one. the baby. who mommy was holding and he kept a careful eye on in case he should sneak off with me for a snuggle or worse come home with us.

what was the baby's name mommy was holding?

i dont know

yes you do. remember....

no.

his name was thomas

no not thomas, he's not thomas, no way.

cause of course there can be only one.

clearing out

the move to liam's big boy room has prompted a massive clear out of all things baby. well may not ALL things baby. but A LOT! i am surrounded by bins of baby clothes, baby toys, baby blankets, bassinet, carriers, exersaucers, snugli's etc. they are all going to good homes.

sigh. my baby isnt a baby anymore...

i can't believe was ever that small.....oh right HE WASN'T! i basically gave birth to a toddler. and weed just keeps growing - i mean come on. we can barely keep up with the changing clothes sizes. or shoes for that matter.

ten on tuesday 10 Favorite Things to Complain About

1. liam
2. my family
3. my weight
4. weather
5. not having enough time
6. construction / road conditions
7. people swearing around my toddler (who mimics them)
8. money
9. most people cannot drive
10. when tv shows dialogue is quiet and the cars or crashing or whatever is so loud it wakes your sleeping toddler in his big boy bed

Next week: 10 Things You Want for Christmas (or in general if you’re a “Holiday” type)

my big man

liam has been insisent since his 2nd birthday that he is a big boy. so we went ahead and put together liam's big boy room and bed. he then promptly as if by cue - smashed his face off the "safety rail" and chipped his 2 top front teeth. i couldnt even look.

so we went to the dentist and he smoothed out the damage and now he is only about 1% less cute than before. and i'm sure my dangerous and fearless little man will come home with MANY MANY MANY more injuries in the coming years.

i have to say that although the initial big boy bed experience was negative (OUCH) liam is quite taken with sleeping in the big boy bed. we have had two whole successful nights in the bed. alas, we are back to getting up at 5:30am.

babies babies and MORE babies

Friday was officially baby day. Peter's cousin gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl, Ava Rose and friends of our in Ottawa gave birth to a very cute little man, Rowan Derek. Then ( as if that weren't enough with the babies) i went to keith's baby shower.

as many of you may not know (or may have by now guessed) I am not really a girly girl. typically these types of things have brought up a genuine feeling of revulsion in me. however, in case anyone forgot, I AM INSANELY HAPPY for keith, and well, feeling more than a little nostalgic about the whole baby thing.

skinning a cat

so as to not end up in an asylum one day - i took liam to a more social environ than our living room.

we went to the early years centre at the college for 2 hours (!!) this morning. admittedly liam (in the winter) doesnt have much interaction with kids his own age. the park is simply not an option when it is below 0. so off we trotted to a large playroom/classroom filled to capacity (20) with kids 8 months to 5 years.

remarkably well handled the kids played without much incident. also really without much interaction. toddlers mimic play beside other kids not so much play WITH them. so liam would sidle up to a kid and play beside him/her, occasionally steal a toy or 2 and then tell one of the mommies or "teachers" in the room to come play with him. ehn. we'll keep trying.

i just dont want him to end up skinning the cat one day.

ten on tuesday: 10 best games

i dont play computer games really so bear with me...

1. scrabble - i kick ass at scrabble
2. battleship
3. connect four
4. some card game we played at the cottage it was complicated but fun
5. peggle
6. trivial pursuit
7. taboo - ooh loud times
8. twister - nasty fun (better when you are drunk)
9. solitaire
10. tetris

Next week: 10 Favorite Things to Complain About

peeing on the potty

and so the potty training ACTUALLY begins again.

we had a good start. and stop. and start again.

well we have peed on the potty and got a round of applause plus a rather catchy song "peein on the potty" with a tango beat, offically 3 times now!

oh dear god let it stick this time.

i'm sooooo sick of diapers.

buckets o' birthday fun

Liam turned 2 yesterday. i'm still shaking my head and wondering how i ended up with the cutest (sorry but he is!) and the smartest (yes i'm allowed to brag) child in the whole world. fyi - when it comes to liam i am prone to sweeping statements like that. they are all true however.

thank god we chose to keep this one small. one other child and all of his uncles is enough to get liam spinning like a top. add some presents and chips and he didnt go to bed til 9.

as usual liam was spoiled silly but we are well equipt for our big boy room now! we'll be making the big move in a couple weeks.

going postal

seriously "festive" (cause they aint all xmas) cards are overunning me this year. some how i have ended up sending like 70 cards this year??!!

what the heck?

thank goodness i chose to cheat on the family card and have **Fostmo print them out and all i had to do is address them. cause frankly signing my name, peter's and liam's too and THEN addressing them is just too much work.

so dont be disappointed when your "festive" card doesnt contain my scrawl.

merry festive something or other and all the jazz!

christmas-izing

and whispered:

oh mommy it's so beautiful

i see santa

mommy.....

santa is coming

pure joy.

lil pink nips

or
it's really no secret that my SO is a hottie mctottie but i dont think i've mentioned his lil' pink nips before.

they are so sweet and cute i'm gonna package them up and make some strange japanese candy out of them. (this is all for you baby)

this would be the canadian peanut butter version. hehehe

mommy what you doing?

mom what you doing? where you going? mom. mommy. what you doing now mommy? i pressed the button for you. i want my yoyo please. old mcdonald had a farm...i pressed the button for you. i pressed it. i pressed the button for you. what's this mom? how 'bout the brushes mom? cut it cut it cut it. cut cut cut cut. keep almost moving mom. mommy went away. mommy what you doin'? keep almost moving mom. no. look at them. it's beautiful. it's crayon. look at them. it's beautiful mom. it's mine. it's mine. it's mine. look at them. they're beautiful mom. they are beautiful crayons. look what i made. look what i made for you. i dont see santa. something else. something in the book. the boogie man? no. what's in the book. i want a picture mom. i want a picture. mom. mommy. i want strawberry jam. i want strawberry jam. rip it mommy rip it. look i made for you mom. look what i made. it's beautiful. look at the beautiful picture i made. he's got long toes. look athe house. it's beautiful.

the ENDLESS CHATTER....

i will never complain if it's quiet EVER AGAIN!

confessions of a madonna fan

yeah i'm listening to madonna.

surreal life

november is a big month. full of birthdays!

Papa is the 16th.
Peter's is the 20th.
Shan's the 21st.
Liam's the 25th.

so as we come up to birthday week (!!) i am reminded how important birthdays actually are.

Liam turns 2 in 6 days.
I remember so clearly seeing the line appear on the pregnancy test i swear it CANNOT be that long ago. but i'm sure that every mother feels this way.

i often sit back and watch nana (Peter's mom) watching her son (who i'm sure she can remember the exactly moment she found out she was pregnant too) play with and laugh with his own son. it must be surreal.

i am stunned that is walking (haha running), talking little man is that tiny little blip i saw on a ultrasound 2 years and 7 months ago. if the next years go anywhere near as fast i will be looking at my son with his own and shaking my head at the speed of life and how bizarre it all is.

frickity frick frack

no secret that i hate dentists. its nothing personal just a fear and loathing thing since childhood.

so today after having a filling replaced and the freezing wore out of my half paralyzed face i am literally writhing in pain. the gum ,tooth and entire mouth is throbbing and aching and feels as though someone (i'm not naming names dr. m) put a white hot poker swirled it around my mouth (for good measure) and then shoved it up into my sinus cavity.

advil oh thou art my only friend...

has he even seen that movie?

like a scene out of a bad 90's comedy --

liam held the sides of his face walked up to me and said

"oh no oh no my crane oh no it's gone"

flirty

without a doubt in my mind -- LIAM IS A MARTIN.

he flirts with EVERY woman everywhere we go. he shouts hello to them - tells them about his day and then dazzles them with a charming smile. many older women think this is the cutest thing - however i am sometimes not so impressed with the introductions and explanations.

good morning lady

hello and how are you today?

we are getting liam's big boy bed

you are a big boy.

yes i am tall and big. this is momma she's big too.


THANKS LIAM!

the santa threat

i have to say the best part of this age is the threat of santa. liam is just starting to get who Santa is and what the hell he is all about.

so seeing as all the stores started decorating for christmas back in august we've had plenty of time to put the santa threat to good use. the giant blow up santa's and multiple santa statues littering the stores are a superb for getting the child to stop with the NO WAY! which FYI is liam's stock answer. TO EVERYTHING! and to stop the whining.

whoever thought of the naughty list and the lump of coal is my personal HERO!