Busy, Busy, Busy

Opa is here, Hubby starts new job tomorrow, "J" got his first bike, "A" is turning into an awesome photographer, and I am exhausted.

We are getting ready to go for a hike in the Gatineaus today. For two reasons. One, fresh air and excersize and two, pictures. I am going to need a new hard drive for all the photos that we have been taking.

Oh yes, and it looks like Experiment #2 was a big bust. Yes, I cheat and p on sticks, and since I should be calling in for a blood test tomorrow, I won't bother right now as it will be a crazy morning and the p sticks are not singing my praises. Big fat raspberry. But, at least Opa is here to help keep my mind off of it :)

Budding Actor

"A" (the one on the left) was in his first play this week! His drama teacher put on "Romeo and Juliet". "A" was supposed to be Tybolt, the bad guy. But, he ended up sharing his role with another kid so they would have equal parts. So on this night he is Montague, Juliets father. And the next night he was Tybolt. We couldn't end up going both nights so we didn't get to see his fight scene. But, he was great!! We were so shocked that he wanted to be in a play to begin with as "A" is rather a shy boy. But, he was not shy at all when he was on stage. It was great. I even got to make his costumes for him, something I will look forward to doing again next year if he continues in the drama scene.

Opa's coming in two days!

When I asked "J" to make a silly face, that is what he did. Not so silly, just cute as can be.

Hubby's Dad lives in Vancouver. We only get to see him once a year, twice if something fun comes up. Opa is German, born in Germany and immigrated to Canada when he was 11. He never taught Hubby how to speak German, but it is great to hear him speak it. We are getting ready here because Thursday is arrival day. I bring in all his favorite foods, drinks, pillows anything he asks for. I turn the heat down and buy the good coffee. We have been counting down his arrival on our kitchen chalk board for 65 days. If Opa would come for longer we would build him an Opa suite in our basement. I love this man. I am only sorry he decided to retire in Vancouver. Maybe this year I can convince him to move back... probobly not, but maybe I can convince him to come back before the snow flies in the fall.

For the love of photographs

Ever since I was 13 years old, I have wanted to be a photographer. I had even planned to go to Ryerson to study photography after high-school. Certain things in life occured to change my plans. I didn't finish high-school (missed 1 credit), my parents moved to Manitoba, and I got sucked into working full-time. By that time, I didn't want to go to Toronto and I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to pay for University. All the while I never stopped taking pictures and loving photography.

When I did go to University, I went the "safe" route instead of the "art" route and got a BA, concentration in English and Philosophy (the Greek kind). I loved it and am very happy that I did it. After University I did enroll in a couple of photography courses at Algonquin and have continued with my love of the photograph.

Then came the technology age. Ahh technology, some days you love it some you hate it! Hubby bought me a digital camera when I was pregnant with "J" so I could record his every moment quickly and send photos to family who live far away. I love the digital camera, but slowly I started to use only the digital and no longer my SLR. Something about the instant gratification of downloading a photo, touching it up, printing it off that made me stop.

"A" has become very interested in photography and for Christmas he received a camera from his Opa and Hubby and I. And "A" and I have been working together on taking pictures. He is starting to learn that he needs to bring his camera with him if he doesn't want to miss a photo op. Easter weekend, I encouraged him to bring it with him to take photos on the Market and at the Farm. But, it wasn't until we were there that he realized that he was missing out on taking lots of great photos. I took lots, with my digital, not the same for sure.

Where is this story going, you ask? Well, this weekend Hubby bought me my first digital SLR!! A Nikon D-50 . A gift for our Anniversary, which is next week. I am thrilled and excited and feeling rather silly as digital photography isn't quite the same as manual, so basically I have to start over pretty much from scratch. I have already taken quite a few photos (on the automatic setting), and the clarity is amazing. I feel like I can get back to my grass roots of photography and be a bit more creative. I may even have to enroll in a couple of courses again to learn more about my camera and how to get the most out of it. It will be a fun experience and for sure there will be a lot more photos posted here.

Is it wrong?

That we take pictures of our kids at Starbucks every year? We (being my Sister and I) have now shamelessly started Baby "A" on that same tradition. Because we couldn't see anything Starbucks in the background, we added a napkin so we would remember. We have pictures of "J" & "J2" since they were a few months old too. And every year we make sure to take more. In each photo you can see the progression, from bucket seats to high-chairs, from high-chairs to strollers, and now from strollers to chairs with paper and crayons. And a giant chocolate chip cookie for good measure.

That I let "J" run through the hose? I kept telling hubby all week that the water was too cold and we shouldn't let him get wet. Hubby kept calling me a freak. Truthfully "J" loves it and I want him to love the water this year so much. We had a summer filled with fear of water last year so it made for a long summer of me by myself in the pool. I want a water companion this year!

Redemption

After my long post yesterday, I realized that perhaps I should share another story. This is a story of a wonderful group of women that are near and dear to my heart.

Back in January I shared my story with you all. When we had decided to go through with IVF, I started to look for drug side effects on the web (there is never enough info from the Doctor's as I think they don't want to scare you). While searching I came accross a website, IVFConnections. I started reading some of the posts and continued to do this for about a week or so. Then, one day I decided to join one of the groups. I figured nobody knew me, I could always drop out if I found I didn't like it. So I started to post on a board for people going through IVF at the same time as I was. A few weeks into posting we all shared the city in which we lived, lo and behold one of the ladies was from Ottawa. She told me about an Ottawa specific board where I could meet others in our city going through with fertility treatments. Gutsy that I am (not), I joined that board.

What I didn't know was that these group of women would meet in real life for breakfast. What should I do?? Do I meet them? Do I drop out? I was so scared and nervous, I had never met anyone over the internet before. I sucked it up and went. I had the greatest time!

You would think that all we did was sit around and talk about IVF, but that was not the case. We talked about work, staying at home, husbands, everything you could imagine, with a little fertility talk just to remind us how we met.

Four years later, I am still friends with all these women. We chat through email, we meet for dinner (no longer breakfast, we need nighttime meals now), we go away on trips (although I only went once), we have playgroups and we chat. This mix of women is truly amazing, not all live here in Ottawa, but even those that are farther away feel very close. The group is made up of Career Moms, Stay-at-home Moms, Crafty Mom's and Organized Mom's. A little bit of everyone put together into the mix makes for the perfect bunch.

I truly love these women, they have made a huge impact and difference in my life. I don't know how on earth I would have gotten through the scarey fertility treatments without the support of all of them, they made it so seem so easy. And of course I got to meet all the kids who had come before "J" to show me that it does work.

I may have had one friend turn out to be not so great, well she did introduce me to matching underwear at LaSenza and Mexico, but that is about it. But, I have a whole group of friends ( I want to say 24, but that is a guess and it is too early to actually count) that have been so supportive and enjoyable to be around that I am truly Thankful that I met them all.

Shocking

I had a friend. Well, I have a few friends, but this story is about a friend and I that parted ways.

Our friendship started when we worked together at Eaton's in Winnipeg, Christmas 1991. She was a Lauder girl and was assigned to work with a few of us in a standalone shop in the mall, called "Eaton's Soap & Scent Shop". She was one of those gorgeous girls who had the perfect hair, perfect smile, knew exactly how you should apply your make-up and was earning her MBA to boot. So basically, she was not only beautiful, but smart too!

We had lots of fun working together, I learned a few good things from working with her. I had been laid-off from my Assistant Manager position at Cineplex Odeon. It was good to get other working experience and to see if I would like to work in retail as it appeared that I would be needing a new job soon. Well, after Christmas, I was offered my old job back at Cineplex, which I was more than happy to take. I would often go back to visit my friend at the Lauder counter and in turn she would stop by the cinema with her Hubby to catch a flick.

Fast forward a year and a half... It was spring 1993 and our family had moved back to Ottawa, I was still at Cineplex and enjoying being home. Then, I got a phone call from this friend in Winnipeg, she was moving to Ottawa! I was thrilled. I got myself prepared to help her find an appartment and orient her with the new city. Which I did! I found her an appartment, took her on endless tours of the city, invited her to join my friends in the clubbing circuit, had her for family dinners, we really had lots of fun. Her husband finally joined her in Ottawa and I was able to help him adjust to being an outsider in a new city ( he was not adjusting well, and I knew exactly how he felt).

The next spring (94), I took my first trip to Mexico with her and her hubby. And that is when I learned that you never know your friends until you go on a trip with them. She was nasty!!! Although I was loving Mexico, I was certainly not loving my traveling companion. And then she got a tad bit of heat stroke and whinned like a baby for the last two days of our trip and our ride home. We continued to hang out, but I felt a strain on our relationship as I now knew what she was really like and all I could see was that she was really fake and used people to get what she wanted. I also didn't enjoy the fact that when we went out clubbing, her main goal was to see how many guys she could pick up and dump by the end of the night (yes with her Hubby waiting at home, if he only knew).

Canada Day rolled around and I had orchestrated plans for about 30 of us to get together at a club downtown. Apparently she was a little upset that I didn't check with her to see if this was OK. And when I got off the phone, I just knew, I would never speak to her again.

I have seen her around town a few times over the last 10 years and her Hubby worked at the same company I did before the lay-offs started. She hadn't appeared to change, she seemed the same. Then, yesterday, I saw her! Oh My Word!!! Of course it took three sightings to be sure it was the same person, and confirmation from my sister. The only way I could describe it, would be to say that she looked like perhaps she had been doing some hard core drugs. Her once beautiful brown hair, was bleached blonde and frizzed up and stringy. Her once perfect complextion touched with the latest hues from Esteé herself was pale and sallow, with the most hideous coulour of eyeliner possible for a bleached blonde.

I am not one to knock someone when they are down, nor am I one to judge another. But, for some sad reason, I felt a little better about myself yesterday. This is a girl who used to give me flack because I didn't use brow powder everyday on my eyebrows (good thing I never told her that I didn't pluck them!). Who used to call me up and suggest what I should wear to work that day. The same one who thought I wasn't worth something because I didn't have a man (which was by choice at that time). So, is it wrong that I walked a little taller away from her yesterday? I don't know. I have mixed feelings about it really. On one hand I feel sad, so sad for her, but on the other I feel good knowing that I am still the same person and that I never let her change me.

New Look

Trying out a new look. Simple so far, but there will be some additions as the week goes on. Stay tuned.

Easter Part Deux

For the second half of Easter, we went to the Experimental Farm. We went last year and although "J" loved it, he loved it twice as much this year. He is really into cows and pigs so seeing them in person was a big treat.






"J" still doesn't get the whole Easter Bunny thing, but he was more than happy to eat lots of the chocolate that has been left lying around. It will be very hard to wean him off the chocolate over the next week or so. Weaning Hubby will be just as hard.






All the babies were out in full bloom and we had to ask a question to one of the ladies working at the farm. None of us had the answer, which was bad, because "A" came too and he is still in school. Hubby has also always wanted to work on a farm so he should have known the answer. So, we asked, "What is the difference between lamb and sheep". I thought it was that the lamb was the baby and the sheep was plural, but it didn't entirely make sense to me. I was halfway right. A lamb is a baby, an ewe is the Mom and the ram is the Dad. Sheep is the whole family!

A great time was had by all, "J" keeps asking if we are going again this week, but he wants to bring his Auntie and his cousin "J2". "A" wants to go back because he didn't bring his camera and he realized that it was a great photo opportunity. And Hubby wants to go back so he can pretend that he is really on a farm.

Another update on my experiment, we are done for now, now we just wait. But, after my trigger shot on Saturday, I was so happy when I got on the scale Sunday morning to see that I had triggered 7lbs to come out overnight! Ack!! I tried so hard, but alas, there is nothing to do. I had pretty sore ovaries yesterday and although they do feel better today, they are still tender. On the good side, no more drugs and on the bad side, we have to wait, and wait, and wait... two weeks can seem like forever when you are waiting for good news. Hopefully the trigger will wear off in a few days and I can work on reducing the weight.

Happy Easter!!

We are halfway through the weekend, but fun is being had by all. Good Friday was a glorious weather day here in the Capital. And I was able to convince the boys to go Downtown (or Treetown as "J" was calling it) for lunch and some walking around. We stopped to listen to a busker, he was singing "Walk this Way" and was pretty goood. I just love the Market on a nice day!!



The boys had a great time tonight at my Sister's. She did up a great turkey and we picked up a few fun things for the kids to play with. They reserved their wild antics all day in order to show off for all the adults tonight. Hubby was a little shocked that our son could run around in a circle screaming for about 15 minutes. As he doesn't do this for Dad at home, just for Mom!




Little Sis played a game with the boys on her lap. Bless her as there was a good 80lbs of toddler bumping on her knees!








Happy Easter Everyone!

Spoiled Rotten

With the great weather. Today is so cool and gloomy, it hit me like a ton of bricks. As much as I like Spring, sometimes I hate it. Yesterday we were wearing shorts and sandals and today it's long pants and sweaters. Gah!

On a good note: Experiment #2 is going very well. So far the only side effect I am feeling is the headache that can go from bad to migraine in about a half an hour or it can just linger all day. It's ok though, because the end result if all goes well will be worth a thousand headaches. So far no extra weight too, which is great because this is the exact same few days last time where the pounds just showed up. And after talking to the nurse this afternoon, I have discovered that this go round is going exactly like it should, with no worries of overstimulating my ovaries. Phew! I feel a relief, mixed in with a little pressure. The pressure is coming from wanting this to work out. I want to try not to think about it too much but, I do want it to work out. Last time I had the added pressure of my Sisters having their babies and since that is out of the way, now perhaps it is my turn. We will see.

Now, back to my blanket, hot tea and fireplace :)

2 1/2 hours

Is how long "J" & "J2" played in the sandbox yesterday!! When it is just "J" and I he will only last about 20min. But, with his cousin to play with yesterday there was no stopping the sand.

"J2" was covered head to toe with sand. Apparently he feels that throwing sand or dumping it on your head is a very good thing to do. My oh so clean son would have nothing of it and remained fairly clean, which was surprising considering the sand that was flying.

My sister and I along with Baby "A" sat at the table, I in the sun, the other two in the shade. Having cold (non-alcoholic) drinks and snacks. It was a glorious, glorious day. It was very, very close to feeling like it was indeed summer already.

If this is what is in store for us this summer, bring it on!!

The little helper

I know I have referred to my son as my own personal slave, but this is a bit different. As I wasn't even there. I dropped "J" off at Grandma's house yesterday morning so I could get a little work done. My sister went over with "J2" so they could play.

I have always been a bit of a Mama's girl, hanging around the adults, helping out, not always playing with the other kids. It was mostly due to my extreme shyness, but sometimes it was just because I wanted to help, feel needed. I dodn't want my son to turn out exactly like me. I kinda want him to be able to go out and play with other kids and not hang around my ankles all the time.

I guess in my absense yesterday, "J" decided that he was to help everybody. He was helping his Aunt feed baby "A" (not that he could really help, but he kept offering), change her and keep her happy. With a little sprinkling of play time with his cousin. Then, they went to the park. Apparently he was having lots of fun going down the slides and having his Grandma catch him at the bottom, until he decided that he had had enough sliding. "J" decided he would be the one to catch his cousin coming down the slide. Standing at the bottom of the slide yelling "don't worry I'll catch you!".

It makes my heart happy to see (or hear) that my son is so helpful and kind. I don't always get to see it when I am around because of course he acts a little differently when Mom is there. I just hope that he doesn't get as shy as I did and can get out there and play with the other kids as well as sprinkling a bit of a helping hand when it is needed.

Photos for Nancy

Here you go! I got soaking wet, but took a couple of photos for you. BBQ at my house!!!

Public Transit

Hubby just boarded his first city bus since.... well even he can't remember. I hope he isn't bored, I hope he likes the ride. Because in about three weeks this will be his main mode of transportation.

Danigirl, don't be shocked if you see Hubby on the bus some mornings :)

BBQ Time!

We have a new addition in our house and it is an awesome rockin' BBQ!! I am so excited, but I don' t have a photo right now. I love to BBQ!!

Last year after our move our old BBQ, which had seen better days, blew over in a wind storm. It was never quite the same since. A couple of weeks ago, I put some steaks on and went to come back in the house only to see the flames shooting out the bottom of the bbq. Nicely warming up the propane tank. So that was it. No more bbq. We shopped around and compared and settled with one from Loblaws, they don't have a photo of it either. It is a beauty. Stainless steel, four burners, a side burner (no more running in and out of the house to check the potatoes or whatever is boiling in the kitchen) and the best part of all... it hooks up to the natural gas on our house so we don't have to worry about the tank running out when we are cooking for a party. That is when it usually runs out here. So, although we have had a few dinners already, I am gearing up for a new summer of bbq!! Can't wait, nothing beats meat cooked on a bbq :)

Experiment #2

Experiment #2 is about to start. Hooray!! Hopefully with the reduction in drugs, and the salad and fruit that I have been eating (not that the pounds are going down, but I really feel better overall). This experiment will turn out much better than the last one.

When the Doctor suggested dropping my meds by almost half (Puregone @ 75), I came back and suggested we meet halfway with more bloodwork. So, I will start off a little lower (Puregone @ 100) than last time(Puregone @125), and have my bloodwork checked earlier and more often. Hopefully we can avoid a major stimualtion of my follicles. I was leary to drop right down to 75 as you can actually go the other way with stimulation. I could have ended up taking the drugs and had absolutely no effect on my follicles what-so-ever. That would be a waste of needles in the belly for sure.

I am hoping that I can keep the weight gain down to a minimum this time, through my "Operation Healthier You". This past week was a bit of a bust with a weekend long celebration of a birthday and dinner out with the girls. But, I have not gained any back, just haven't lost anymore. Having Farm Boy so close has meant better eating for everyone in our house. We actually started running out of the stuff that you can't get there, so I had to make an emergency run to our old grocery store yesterday, for things like apple juice and paper towel, and crackers. I am hoping that I can keep the pounds at bay by eating super healthy this time. Hey it's worth a try :).

Time Out

We have successfully been able to avoid official "time outs" here, that is until now. Previously, if "J" got into trouble, we had a little chat. If things got a little out of hand he would have to have some alone time in the living room on the couch. My sister uses her stairs for time out, and for some reason this didn't work for "J".

Yesterday, "J" was lying down on the bottom stair with his blanket. I asked him what he was doing, he said taking a time out. He thinks it is fun to get in trouble and be sent to the stair like his cousin.

Recently, we have run into a bit of difficulty with "J" slapping or attempting to slap me, if I took away something he was destroying or if I told him he couldn't do something. Also, he has been pushing his cousin out of the way, although it was his cousin who showed him this. I don't want this behaviour to go unpunished or to continue. So, last Friday after a particularily hard hit to my nose, instinct told me to put him in a chair in the corner of the kitchen where he couldn't see anything and had to stare at the wall. Well, believe it or not, it worked! We have only had to do it maybe three times, but he knows right away that he was wrong. And after his two minutes in the corner, he came out a much calmer, appologetic little boy.

I hope I don't have to use this too often, but I am glad that I found a special way to deal with the bad behaviour here. And hopefully this bad behaviour will be short lived, I don't like to see my good little boy getting mad, especially at me.

April Showers

Bring those flowers, that bloom in May.

And I only wish I had been able to get a full garden planted last fall. I love seeing flowers start to come to life after a long (or mild) winter. My favorite Spring rain is the kind we are having today. Big plentiful drops that clean away a lot of the winter grime and is just warm enough that the grass starts turning a better shade of green. I know we are supposed to maybe get a little tiny bit of snow, but I am hoping that the weather man was wrong last night. I don't want to have to pull any winter stuff back out. I have slowly been washing the jackets and putting everything away for another spring, summer and fall.

Another of my favorite things is the colour of green in May. I love the colour or new leaves, freshly sprung out of their branches. The first green of the year is fresh and new, it hasn't been beaten by the summer sun, dry winds or summer thunderstorms. All of which are good, but it is nice to see the beauty of the first green, untarnished.

I welcome the April showers. A little messy for a day or two, but I say bring it on, the beauty that is unveiled is worth every drop.

edited to add: Of course the weatherman was right and a mere two hours later those warm drops of rain have turned to wet snow. Hopefully it will be over soon.

Happy Birthday!!

Can't .... believe.... "A".... is... 14!!!!!!

It seems like only yesterday, he was a young little kid running around pretending he was a video game. Here he is now at 14 playing video games. Poor kid, I made him blow out the candles, and no there weren't 14 candles, but he wouldn't let me put the votives on the cake to make up for it. But, I did make him a home made double chocolate (or Choc-0-latté as "J" would say) cake.

A great weekend was had by all, "A" got some great gifts and some new clothes and he even made me proud by getting a golf shirt. I almost cried in the store when he asked for one in addition to all the t-shirts he was picking out. I said of course, but you will have to get some proper shorts to go with it, you can't wear a golf shirt with basketball shorts.

We love you "A" and hope you had a great day!!!