3 and 1 already and 5 in Mexico!!

Well, Natasha celebrated her 3^rd birthday on Nov 22nd. She was super excited and kept saying “It’s MY birthday today!” and you ask her “How old are you Natasha?” she says, full of excitement “Pree!!!!” while trying to hold up 3 fingers. VERY cute!!!

Maya and I made her a cake, and Maya was a BIG help in decorating it. She came up with a design that she thought Tasha would love, and she was right!! Here is it:

Not the prettiest cake, but everyone was fighting over who got to eat the rocket!!!

We didn’t do to much, just had my family over and our friends Teresa, Corey, Sofia and Giorgia…the girls love them all!

JAIDA…my baby. Hard to believe a year has gone by so quickly. Jaida celebrated her 1^st birthday on Nov 25^th. Here is a picture of her in her Birthday Princess hat, courtesy of Anju. Very cute!!!

She really is a princess. She pretty much can get whatever she wants. If Amma or Daddy don’t do it for her, her big sisters usually do, either that or she screams until one of them do. For the most part she is full of smiles and giggles. She’s not quite walking on her own yet, though loves to walk around if you hold her fingers. She is a fast mover, not crawling, but carrying on the Seshadri Lawson tradition of scooching.

Again, a low key birthday with my family along with Jenny and Scott. The cake was a flop this time, but Jaida was too tired and cranky to even try it, so she will never really know! It looked good, but remind not to try a new cake recipe for a special occasion again!!

Maya, the lucky girl will get to celebrate her 5^th birthday in Mexico this year! We are heading this Saturday, for 2 weeks of warmth and sunshine to celebrate Jen and Scott’s wedding!!! I will fill you in on how much relaxation we get with the girls!!!

Happy Birthday Maya! What a lucky 5 year old!!

3 years to the day....

and both parents are back to work!!

I started my leave from Mitel exactly 3 years ago to the day today! Wow! How time flies!

Maya likely does not remember the time when she was with my mom and Lori, so for all she knows I or Grant has been with her since she was born, Natasha has been so fortunate to have her parents at home for her whole life, and Jaida, as well, but she is still a baby!!

I am sad today, I had always thought that the girls would grow up with me at home (or at least a parent), for their younger years at least, but the reality is, we are not quite ready to give up some of the little luxurious that the extra income brings us.

I do realize that we have been so fortunate to be able to home with the girls for this long!! But, we do leave them in very capable hands, Melissa. She is wonderful with the girls, and most importantly the girls just love her! Natasha claps her hands in excitement, knowing that Melissa is coming over!

So, as the next few weeks will be a period of adjustment. I feel better in knowing that we will be lying on the sunny beaches of Mexico in just over 4 short weeks! :)

The Best Laid Plans

I went to work today for the first time in 8 months, my first day of work since February 29th! Thinking back to February, man, did I have plans for this parental leave.

Eight months is enough time to train for a very decent marathon. At the very least I would get more biking in than I have since ’99. On January 1st, I actually started riding the rollers in the basement to prepare my legs for the ensuing punishment that all my free time would unleash upon them. Three times a week I would get up early and ride my bike in the basement before going to work. And don’t forget about the house, a more complete and finished house has ever existed!

The reality, there were times when I could barely find the time to go to the bathroom! Seriously, I remember telling Maya to make sure Natasha didn’t bother Jaida. Imagine that – telling a 4 year old to make sure a 2 year old doesn’t bother a 3 month old, just so you can go the bathroom!

Take away the indoor biking I did in January and February, and I biked less this year than last year. And there is no very decent marathon in my near future. And the house, well, part of the basement did get cleaned and some light fixtures went up, but none of that happened until October when our caregiver started working 2 or 3 mornings a week so that she and the girls could get acquainted.

So what did I do with my 8 months? Basically, I spent a lot of time with my girls.

Jaida was 3 months old when this started. Just giver her 2.5 ounces of milk every 2.5 hours and she was happy. Now she’s eating whatever the rest of us are having. She used to nap a lot and I would just carry her around in her carseat. Natasha was still wearing diapers. I just noticed last week that she can now reach and turn the coffee maker on by herself. And Maya, what can I say about her? Outgrowing her clothes every month aside, she made this parental leave relatively easy. Not just by being a great kid, but she really was a big help to me in taking care of her sisters.

So I was a little naïve in what I initially thought I could do with 8 months away from work but I have no complaints. I just hope the girls have no long-term ill effects from spending so much time with me!

Summer wrap-up....

Here is a long overdue update of what we have been up to over the past several months. Be warned, this is going to be a LONG post!!

We started off our summer with a trip to Lake Placid, where I basically shopped and Grant fit in a long bike ride along the Ironman Lake Placid route. Here we had a quality family night at our hotel, where we went for a swim, had a pizza party in our room followed by ice cream in bed watching T.V.





What a treat for the girls!!


June was spent adjusting to being a full time working mom :( Sadly my time at home had to come to a full stop. Maya's favorite Toronto couple, Ange and J.J came for a visit and spent some quality time with the girls.




In July we headed for a Lawson family vacation to the East coast, where we spent some time in Shediac. The weather was great, the girls re-aquainted with their cousins and relatives and had many family gatherings. Here is a photo of our 'little' get together at the Moncton water park, with only a few of the cousins kids!


As well, it was an opportunity to have a updated family photo with all of Grant's immediate family.




In August, we embarked on our family adventure, the MS Rona Bike Tour. Thank you to all those people who very generously donated to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. My mom, Grant and I, along with Jaida, Natasha and Maya had a wonderful week-end biking to Kemptville and back.




It was certainly far, FAR more exhausting for me than 2 years ago, but I will certainly do it again. You can see more picture from here

Following that week-end in August,Maya completed her 2nd Kids Tri. She had been waiting for the event since last year.




Natasha bowed out for this year, but perhaps she'll want to join in next time around!

We ended the summer with a fabulous week-end get-away to a farm in the Eastern Townships.



We received an offer to stay there, from good friends of mine, who's sister was going to be away for the week-end. We needed to get away and relax and they needed someone to mind the farm, so it worked out perfectly.

It was by far, the most relaxing and peaceful week-end I have had in a long time! It was beautiful and peaceful. The girls had plenty of space to run around and make noise without fear of bothering anyone, but the cows. They won several 'gold' medals in the horse shoe competition!! Here is Maya with her 'medal' and during the singing of the national anthem!




We also embarked on a cow hunt, which ended up in the cows finding us, and running for safety into the hay fields!! You can see all the pictures here

And that brings us to September. We will write more about that in another post!

There were plenty of other happenings that I have not written about, hopefully I have not missed anything major. If you'd like to keep up to date with our photos, you can see them from our Flickr site Sign-up, send me your id, and I'll give you permission to see them

All in all, the summer went by way too quickly. I missed the girls a LOT, being at work, but they got to spend quality time with Grant. What? What? What? Chicken butt... the things only Daddy's can teach!

I'll end with a few pictures ....

9 months

Jaida is 9 months old! I'm not sure if I think it feels like she's been around for longer or shorter than that, so I guess 9 months would be about right. At her checkup today she weighed in at 16-6 lbs and 27 1/4 inches tall; not too bad considering she was only 4-13lbs at birth. No crawling yet but she is by far our most active kid by the 9 month mark. She's already got 5 teeth (3 on top and 2 on the bottom), and she loves to show them off for the camera!

"Key tax?"

I’m reminded of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry is buying a new car. After agreeing on the price of the car, the salesman starts adding on numerous surcharges, including a key tax. When Jerry questions this, the salesman simply replies, “How are you going to start the car?”

We bought our minivan used and it came with only one key. Our salesman said any Toyota dealer could make us another key. We’ve had the van for four months now and having just the one key was never a problem until two weeks ago.

So, on a Thursday, I go to the Toyota dealership. I tell the Parts department I would like another key. “Do you know the key code?” I have to call Toyota Canada to get the code for the key. I give them the VIN and all of the information they ask for, but for security reasons they can’t just give me the code over the phone. The superiors at Toyota Canada need to review my case and if they think I have honorable intentions they will give the key code to the dealership. Everything is in order so the code is given to the dealership after only 1 day. I then have to show all sorts of id to the parts department so they will actually cut the key for me. They cut the key no problem, but lucky me, my key has a transponder in it for extra security. After tax this key costs me $48 and it’s now Friday. “You’ll need to get the Service department to program the transponder for you.” You see, a cut key gives you access to the car, but you can’t actually start the engine until the transponder is programmed. The next available appointment with Service is the next Thursday. So off I go with my $48 key that unlocks the doors lets me listen to the radio. Sure enough it won’t start the van. The radio never sounded better, though. The security built into my key is very reassuring (I remember being able to start my dad’s truck with the key for my mom’s car, and you could get a key made for $3 at the hardware store).

Next Thursday finally comes around and the Service department is able to program the transponder. The kicker: the $48 I gave the Parts department doesn’t include the cost for programming. The sad part: I wasn’t surprised. Another $33 and I have a key that will actually start the van. Eight days and $81 for this key. I should mention this is for just the key, if you want another fob that unlocks the doors remotely, that’s another $200 for the Parts department, I don’t what the Service department’s cut would be.

Let’s see, when you buy a new vehicle, you get 2 master keys with fobs, and a valet key. The valet key would have a transponder in it so you’re looking at $643 to start your car. Key tax indeed.

10 hours gone long....

We finally made it!!

Grant and the girls picked me up from work at noon on Friday, and we headed East for a family vacation. We opted for a noon-time departure hoping the girls would nap and get us through Montreal before making our first stop.

Boy, were we wrong!!! We got on the highway at 12:20 and as planned the girls fell asleep shortly after, likey around 1:00pm. Unfortunately, we had to make our first stop, after listening to Jaida scream for 15 minutes, at 1:30pm. Turns out she was NOT hungry, but just angry at having to be in her car seat! At this point, Maya and Natasha woke up from there nap, and then began the "Are we in New Brunswick yet?"

15 minutes later, it was time for a pee break!! By this point we were almost at Hudson/Oka, exit 17. We all got out for a quick pee/feed, (30 minutes) and headed off, hoping to make it incident free through Montreal.

Montreal...well, let's just say, was a LONG drive. We were stuck in stop and go traffic, for a long long time. Thankfully, Natasha and Jaida had a little nap through all the traffic.

By the time we hit the sign that said 35Km to Drummonville, we had been on the road for 4.5 hours!!! It was 5pm and time to feed Jaida, so we decided to stop for dinner and playtime. We found an Irving Big Stop with a great play structure, where the girls played while Jaida had her supper. Then we had our little picnic, more play and bathroom time, and headed out. It was about 6:15. A good long stop, for the kids to burn some energy and tire themselves out for the next leg.

Our next stop was not until Montmagney, which marks the half way point. We stopped at Tim's there for a pee break and a coffee for Grant. When we left it was 9:30pm. By this poing it had taken us just over 9 hours to make it half way!!! We were exhausted and a little frustrated.

Thankfully the girls fell asleep quickly and stayed asleep most of the rest of the drive. With only the occassional wake-up and crying from Jaida, I was able to get some sleep while Grant drove.

Anyways, we finally pulled into the driveway at 3:30am ... 14 hours later!!!

Bad News: We are exhausted, and Natasha just threw up in her bed...

Good News: We made it to the market in time for delicious smoothies, orange juice and samosas. And, I bought myself a new peice of excerisize equipment...and it's pink!!

Ahhh...the joys of vacation!!

What a way to start the summer....

What a wonderful week-end!!

Saturday afternoon, organized courtesy of Jako's parents, Dave and Julie, we went to a picnic at Vincent Massey Park, to celebrate with Maya and her classmates "surviving JK!!!" Not sure if the surviving was geared towards the parents or the students, but in any case we survived!! I personally found the beginning of the school year quite challenging, trying to keep up with what was going on and what I was supposed to be doing. (I vaguely remember Cristal mentioning something to this effect when Iona started school) Thanks to Mrs Wong, Maya's wonderful teacher, for being a great teacher and making this year so much fun for the kids, and really, how do you control ALL those kids??? fyi...Maya used to refer to me this way, but very quickly once school started, it was "Mrs Wong is the smartest person I know!!"

The picnic itself was great. It was so nice to chat with the other parents, while the kids ran around, and of course stuffed themselves with sugar...Maya commented later that evening that she "ate too much junk at the picnic". (Our deal was if she had a good lunch at home (barley vegetable salad) she could make her own choices and I wouldn't try and control her eating at the picnic)

This picnic gave us the perfect opportunity to get out for our first family bike ride this week-end. We pulled out our tandem, had Maya on the rear seat, and Jaida and Tasha in the Chariot, and headed out. It was a short trip (17Km round trip, I think) but a good start for the year. I had forgotten how much fun it was to ride together.

We arrived back home at 5:15pm, with 3 sleepy girls, got Maya to sleep for an hour, got Jaida and Natasha to my mom's and got ourselves cleaned up for Matt and Alix's wedding.

This was a fabulous wedding. I personally loved the music and the live band!!! We brought Maya with us, where she had a chance to see what the 'big kids" do. She had a great time hanging out with 'adults'. I am not sure what she enjoyed best, but she was certainly mesmerized watching the people dance and paid particular attention to the Macarena...especially the moves courtesy of Dana, Jody, and Tanya!!! If she tries any of these moves, Grant will be knocking on your door!!

Thanks to Matt and Alix for including us and the kids in your celebration and for providing great loot, to keep them entertained, the jewelery was especially sweet! ;)

Here is a picture of me and Maya...courtesy of Darcy (if anyone else has any good pictures, send them our way, since we forgot our camera and have no pics)




Sunday morning was EXHAUSTING!!!! I made a BIG parental mistake, and ended up waking up hours too early, but the day was saved by having breakfast at my mom's and going to a nice bike ride along the river. This time Grant towed Natasha and Jaida, and Maya rode with me on her Trail-a-bike. Again, not a long ride, 14Km return, but it was really nice, and a good distance for Maya's first 'long' ride.

Following an afternoon nap, Jaida and I headed out to dinner for some planning for Jenny's wedding.

All in all, and exhausting, but absolutely enjoyable week-end... 2 family bike rides, a class picnic, and a fabulous wedding!!!

It's what I don't do that matters

Things are still going good on the father front; although all of our activities (teeter tots, playgroup, story time at the library, swimming, and dance lessons) are ending for the summer. Maya will be out of school next week too so I'll have to start entertaining more. I picture sitting on the back deck while the girls entertain themselves with the turtle pool and the newly built play structure!

Last weekend Maya gave me a Fathers Day present that she had made at school. It was in the shape of a mens dress shirt and in the front pocket there was a piece of candy, a standard black comb, and a carpenter's pencil, all good stuff. Opposite the pocket was a typed poem proclaiming me to be the "Best Dad in the whole world." Under the poem there were a few lines where Maya could add her personal thoughts. With her teacher's help she wrote:
- he does good things
- he doesn't yell at me

Half year update...

Well, we have been a little delinquent in keeping up to date for the past several weeks. There certainely has not been a lack of activity, perhaps just lack of time.

Jaida is 6 months today! Wow, how time flies. At her check-up on friday she weighed in at 13 lbs 8 ounces and 25 inches. That is about 8.5 pounds and 8 inches larger than birth. She is doing great! She ate her first food today!! Oatmeal cereal.




She seems to really enjoy it, even whimpered when I took a little break from feeding!

Natasha is 2 and a half now. She is so silly and fun. Apart from night time, where we are really close, she is out of diapers.



She is doing great! Not a single pull up used, and knock on wood, no accidents outside of the house! She is still a little shy of letting non parents know when she needs to use the facilities, instead she holds it, and cries!! We are working on that, but at least she holds it! She has managed to keep her night time cloth diaper dry most of the time, we are working on getting 5 nights in a row. For now, we have been checking out all the public washrooms, even if, for just a drop of pee!! :)

Maya is almost 4 and a half. She is loving school. On a recent trip to Lake Placid, (More on that in another post) we were going for a little hike in the woods. She took my hand and said "Amma, I really miss my friends at school. Do you think they miss me too?" It was only Saturday, and we'd left home on Friday!! She did have a great time on our trip, but was very happy to get back to school and tell all her friends of our close encounter with a snake!!

Maya had her first ballet-jazz dance recital. It was really cute, and if I must say, apart from the really tiny kids who were absolutely adorable, her class had the best performance! Crazy parents would just about sum up that whole experience for me. With 3 girls, I wonder how many more years of this we will have?

As you can see the girls are doing great, keeping us on our toes. They are truly amazing, they bring so much joy and laughter into our home.

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

Wherever I go, with my three girls in tow, people are constantly telling me two things: how beautiful my children are ("Yes they are, thank you, they look just like their father don’t you think?"); and, how I must have my hands full. And when I say constantly, I mean to the point of being annoying. I had to make new plans after story time at the library. Usually, we go to the nearby mall and have our lunch in the food court. But this mall seems to be very senior heavy at that time of day. I realize you’re probably lonely, but if you think my hands are so full, why are you interrupting our lunch to tell me about your grandkids?

Anyway, my hands can’t be that full since I’m usually able to hold a cup of coffee in one of them. Why is that? Well, I’ve been to grocery stores, play groups, the library, food stops, and numerous coffee shops, and I’m convinced that I have the best behaved children in the history of children, seriously. When we’re out, if I ask them to do something, they do it. They make it that easy for me. Notice that I said, "When we’re out", at home it’s sometimes a different story.

Less laundry and less garbage...

Since Jaida was born, it seems as though we are constantly washing, drying or folding diapers, on top of that the amount of disposables, though we don't use that many, makes up the majority of our weekly garbage.

So, last week we decided that Natasha would be done with diapers (during the day). We made a considerable big deal about it all week, colored in the calendar so she knew the day was coming. I also laid out 12 pairs of underwear, hoping it might last her 2 days, and made sure I had lots of clean clothes.

Friday morning came, she herself said "No more diapers for me!" So, that was that, she is done.

She did have many accidents on friday, but since then she has been really good. We took a trip to the bathroom every 15-30 minutes, and by Sunday afternoon she was pretty good at letting us know when she had to go. She still has some work to do in the #2 dept, but yesterday she was almost accident free there as well.

Natasha continues to impress us...we went out for dinner last night, (to and Indian restaurant...yummm) In the 3 hours we were out, we made at least 6 trips to the bathroom, mostly on her request, and she did manage to get a trickle out each time, and each time coming out of the bathroom saying very loudly "I pee'd on the toilet!!" The last time she came out running, and almost yelling "I had a BIG poop!!!"

So now, we have saved ourselves a couple of loads of diapers a week, though I am sure there will be more of her clothes to wash for the next several months. As of last night, I still had 6 pairs of clean underwear!!

We will tackle night time once she gets comfortable during the day, but for now during the day, as Natasha says "NO MORE DIAPERS!!!"

5 Months old...

Here is are a few pictures of my little baby at 5 months.

and, Jaida and Grant thinking...

It is actually a couple of days earlier, since it was a milestone day for her...based on our track record, I was fairly certain that this day was not going to come for at least a month or two, but she proved me wrong, as I am sure she will for many many things...Jaida rolled over, both forward and back...we tried to get a video, but she decided not to co-operate with us.

In other news, we are going to attempt to 'lose' the diapers with Natasha this week-end. I'm pretty sure it won't be as successful as it was with Maya, as she is far more 'strong minded' than Maya, and doesn't aim to please as much, but her humor more than makes up for it...good thing!

More updates to come...soon, I hope.

Cool morning air

With the temperature rising and the snow melting, I decided it was time to start biking to work.

The water level has still been rising this week, and the path where I get on, by our house, has been threatening to be covered, and this morning it was. But there was only a very thin layer of water, so I just biked through. We'll see how it is on my way home. There is a section just west of our place, where the water has completely covered the path and it looks to be fairly deep...it is sectioned off, so no one can get through.

Anyhow, I believe the ride is about 5 Km from home, (I don't have the odometer display on my bike, mostly because I'll likely forget to take it off when I park the bike at work, and someone may mistake it for theirs) and it takes me 20 minutes door to door, I try not to work up a sweat on my way in, so that I don't need to change or shower.

It is chilly by the water in the morning, but it is so nice to be out on the bike. I hope to keep this up for the next several months. I don't prioritize getting out on my own enough, so this may be the only 'alone' exercise I get. I'll work on changing that over the next few months. Grant has suggested running and/or roller blading to work as well...we'll see if I'm up to that challenge. For now, I'll just stick to biking.

Fitting in...

The time finally came to make the big move. I swore I'd never do it, but since Jaida was born, I quickly realized that I was living in a dream world. I still have some reservations, but I really do think this will be the best thing for our family adventures.

So, we said good-bye to the old, and welcomed the 'new'...here is a picture.


Yup, that is right! You are not seeing things. Grant and I, mostly I, took the big plunge and gave in. We bought ourselves a 2008 Sienna LE.

We traded in the old Subaru,for what I think was a very good deal, considering it's condition, and were able to get a good deal on this 'boat'. It has just over 6000 miles, yup, that is right, miles. It is an american model. (I had some issues with buying a US model, but decided that we are not in the financial position to be able to spend the extra money)

I have been having a hard time the last few months with squeezing into the car. Maya needs help with her buckles, Natasha is squirmy, and Jaida's car seat takes up so much room, I have to sit squished in the front seat. This will certainly be far more comfortable and spacious, and can include my mom on our adventures. We can even relegate kids to the back if they are being too noisy...now we just need to find a retractable sound barrier!!!

(this is Grant)
Fourteen, yes 14, cup holders and a 6 disc CD changer!

So long Scoobie...

Stanley's Olde Maple Lane Farm

What a beautiful day!
On Sunday, we headed down past Metcalfe to a Sugarbush, called Stanley's Olde Maple Lane Farm. They still use the traditional horse drawn sap collection process, and burn sap over a wood fire.


The grounds were beautiful and there was a plenty of activity for the kids. We enjoyed a sleigh ride, taffy on snow, had brunch and even went into the barn where the girls could pet some farm animals, and almost got eaten by a goose!!

Unfortunately our camera batteries died part way through our morning, so our pictures are limited. But we did get a nice shot of the horses, and of Natasha tasting sap from the trees...


It was by far the nicest sugarbush I've been to, and even with the long line-up for the brunch, it was most enjoyable. If anyone is looking for a place to get married, this would be a great place!!

FREE bus ride this morning

Good Day everyone!!

I got a free bus ride this morning. What a great way to start the day! I guess the ticket/money collector was broken, so the driver said "Keep your tickets!" Since I didn't have to transfer buses (I caught the 105 at Tunney's which goes straight to my office) it was a free ride!!

On a separate note. I've managed to get into work by 7:30am, and have been putting in longer hours, so I will be taking every Friday off, until I start full time.

Stay tuned for our week-end update and trip to the sugar bush...yummm!

Earth Hour

Well, we did it! We managed to have our home lights off for the full hour, well, more actually, since we weren't even home. (We were at my mom's for dinner, along with my sister and their 2 kids.) 8:00pm rolled around and we decided to partake in Earth Hour.

Good idea? Well, it was certainly a little difficult with 5 kids under the age of 5. Between running to the bathroom, catching falling kids off bar stools (Natasha, of course!) cleaning spit-up and changing diapers, the hour was way too long!

I've always thought of myself as being somewhat environmentally concious, but last night I realized how much I take for granted...

FREE hat with purchase of shoes...

Grant and I each bought a new pair of shoes on Saturday. When we got home, we realized that with each pair, came a free hat...pretty sweet deal, don't you think? The girls quite enjoyed them.

Growing up...too fast :(

Jaida has turned 4 months (March 25th)!!

update: as promised, here is a photo...

We had a successful doctor's appointment where she now weighs 11 lbs 8 oz and measures 23 inches. She is so chatty and smiley, really a fun little baby!

Maya and Natasha are doing great! They are enjoying Jaida far more these days, as she is so much more receptive and interactive...though, Natasha frequently has issues, as she often comes to us and says, in a cute and whinny voice, "Jaida pulled my hair" or "Jaida hit me" ...

The barriers I face

So I've finally adjusted to daylight savings and was able to get out of the house in the morning once this week, as alluded to by Bonnie's previous post. Maya goes to school in the afternoons and Jaida isn't very picky, but poor Natasha was probably getting cabin fever so I manned up and headed for a drop- in play group.

I made my way to the building and asked for directions (I must be absorbing estrogen somehow) to the specific room. There I am, standing in the doorway, holding Jaida in the carseat, Maya holding my pant leg, Natasha holding the other, and I'm fully aware that out of the 30 people in the room, I'm the only guy over the age of 5.

I find an empty adult-sized chair and plant myself, rocking a wide awake but quiet Jaida in her carseat while Maya and Natasha explore. A friendly enough looking lady walks over and introduces herself, she's the one running the play group, and charms me up with, "Are we giving mommy a break today?".

-----

In unrelated news, by a quick show of hands, how many of you have ever stepped in poop inside your home? And we don't have any pets. I don't know if I should call that the Natasha-ism of the week or the daddy-ism of the week.

Yet to do laundry...

Well, we are just about finished my third week of work, so far it is going quite well. I am having a hard time getting up and out of the house in the morning, the nights have been more disrupted lately, hopefully that will change soon.

Anyways, it has been 3 weeks since I've done a load of laundry...can you imagine the pile up? Well, have no fear, Grant is here!!! Apart from taking great care of the kids, he has managed to keep up with the crazy laundry, AND he is on top of the girls bathing schedule!! I know, who is this guy??? What is the catch? Good question. Well, they spend a LOT of time at home...but from what I hear they are headed to play group today...!!!

I'm headed home for a great week-end. Have a great long week-end everyone...I'm looking forward to chocolate!! :)

Deep Snow....

This post is intended mostly for those who aren't in Ottawa.


With the 12 feet of snowfall so far this year, it has been a great winter for outdoor play!





Here is what our front yard looked like, after the snowfall last week-end... Our front porch is about 4 feet above ground and the railings another 2 and a half feet high.







Our snow banks are definetly the largest on our street, due mostly to the fact that we (ie: Grant) shovels at each snowfall. Here is Maya sliding down. I believe she now refers to this slide as the 'bumpy' one.





Here is Natasha getting a push.




Grant would have said something along the lines of "I wonder how far you'd sink if you jumped in" I, of course, without thinking, I jumped... there was still a lot of snow under my feet. I had to dig myself out, as my boots were stuck, and Grant was standing there laughing at me saying "don't worry, you'll be able to get out in the spring."!!!




But, not to worry, Maya came to my rescue.

Slippery Slope

Going into this parental leave, I was fully aware of the dangerous trap of morning talk shows, afternoon soap operas and staying in your pajamas all day. With that in mind I had set some very modest goals of personal hygiene: shower every day and shave every other day. I knew if I didn't shower before Bonnie left for work I would be doomed. Well, the switch to daylight savings has been my downfall. It's Wednesday morning and I haven't showered since Monday. I'm wearing the same pajamas that I was wearing yesterday afternoon.

I'm now thinking that if I let my beard go for the full eight months, it might actually fill in.

At least the kids are clean.

First week back...

Well, I am happy to report I survived my first week of work!! The girls were happy, Jaida fed well, and I feel better than I have in a while!! I have to admit the stress and lost sleep over returning, was completely un-neccesary...

Ahhh, the bus, I'd forgotten what it was like. Since my office is at Terrasse des Chaudiers, in Hull, I am taking the bus to work, first time since 1997. It is about a 10 minute walk to Tunney's Pasture, where I can take pretty much any bus. I have to say, the bus service is extremely convinient. On Monday it took me 40 minutes, and by friday I had it down to 23 minutes. I was a little worried about the mid-day service, but it too is great; I'm really getting good at speed walking!!

Working part time is fantastic, that is, of course, due to the fact that child care is essentially free for now (Grant). I'll certainly enjoying it while it lasts.

I think Grant enjoyed his week. He got the girls dressed, fed and Maya to school. Though, there were no 'outings' for the girls, he certainly accomplished a bit around the house. He had partial help 3 out of 5 days, but he did manage to cook 2 delicious meals for us when I was on course Thursday and Friday!!! I could definetly get used to this! Though I'm not sure my ego could handle Grant being a better chef than I!!!

Chinese Food?

The first week is over. Not only did I not lose any of the kids, but I didn't even have to make any emergency trips to the hospital! Some people have wondered how I would survive and have warned me that I was going to be shocked at how difficult it would be. I know it's not easy but I haven't exactly been an absentee father for the the past 4+ years. No crash courses on how to change a diaper were needed. Maya made it to school on time everyday, even the snow day when buses were cancelled (Bonnie later admitted that she would've kept Maya home that day).

Maya-ism of the week: After setting up her tea set, she announced to all her guests to "Please enjoy yourself at the good-luck buffet party". This request was followed, as I assume is customary at all tea parties, by the singing of O Canada.

I hope everyone is enjoying the good-luck buffet party that is life.

Changing times....

Well, things have certainly changed at our place this week.

After being home with the girls for nearly 2 and a half years, I started a new job on Monday. I have mixed feeling about this, but it was bound to happen at some point soon (for mostly financial reasons, but if I had to be honest, also for my sanity). There are so many good things about this job, but the biggest downside is leaving Jaida. Though, I have to say, I called home yesterday and heard 2 out of three crying, and thought to myself "I am glad I am at work!!"

I've been trying to get into the federal gov't for a while now. In all honesty I hadn't been trying hard until about the end 2006. In any case, I wrote some exams, had some interviews and about 14 months later got an offer for a permanent position. Unfortunately Jaida was a week old at the time, and the timing was not ideal. My manager has been great, and agreed to let me start part time, which, from what I hear is a pretty sweet deal for an external employee to get a permanent part time gig to start.

So what happens to the kids now? Well, one of the many benefits of being a gov't employee enables Grant to stay home for 35 weeks, with 93% top-up!!!! So, Grant is being Mr. Mom for the next 8 months. So, while Grant is getting used to the noise and hoopla at home, I am trying to get my head into servers, programming, and taking quick breaks at work to pump. Ahhh...I get home at lunch time, I'm starving, I get a crying baby, feed her, then get Natasha down for a nap. In the mean time, Grant drives Maya to school, then we have lunch and a little break. I am sure it will take some getting used to for both of us.

Finally a BLOG

Hello all,

Well, everyone is always asking us to send updates and photos. I always say I'll get on it, but never seem to do a good job of keeping up. So instead, I decided to start up this blog, and when there is news, and I find the time, I'll keep people posted. I say I, because Grant has no idea, as of now, that I have started this blog, and those who know Grant, will guess the chances of him having more than a few words to write, are slim...but who knows, now that he is Mr. Mom, things may change.

My first post will come shortly. Until then, have a great day!