What about the Canadians? Life here, north of our American cousins, with our dog, Scout.

PERSPECTIVE

2012-01-26T13:16:00.001-08:00

You ever walk by a toddler or infant in a public place,doing something that made you ask, “Why are his parents letting him/her dothat? I certainly wouldn’t let my kid behave that way…” I am sure youhave…before you had kids of your own. If you still ask this question, then you probably don’t have kids ofyour own yet. See most scenarios that make kidless people ask this question,are simply a matter of perspective. I completely understood this yesterday as I found myself one of “those”parents….

Marty and I are planning a snowboarding trip to Big Whitethis weekend, so we decided to treat ourselves to new mitts. Sport Check was having a “buy one, getone half off” sale. We werepumped! Our own mitts are old and barely qualify as “warm” anymore. We started the quest with dinner atSushi Boat. If you’ve been there, you know that it is a very quick place tograb a yummy sushi meal. You can sit right at the counter and watch the boatswith individual plates of sushi go floating by. The idea is you just grab theplate that holds the rolls you want, then at the end of the meal, you arecharged by the amount and color of plates you have stacked in front of you.Yummmy! They do have high chairsthere but they do not have trays on them and they are too short to actuallyreach the counter, but Ryder could see the sushi boats going by and this kepthis attention…for a while. I had hoped he could try some California rolls orsomething, but without him being able to reach the table to feed himself, Iopted out of trying to actually feed him the rolls, just seemed like it mightbe too messy, even for us. Instead, Marty pulled the plates off the boat for he and I to sharewhile,I fed Ryder the yummy chicken, apple, prune puree I had brought. Just forhim. Once done the meat dish, weoffered Ryder the finger jello from one of the sushi boats. He was actuallyfreaked out by it, NOT liking the feel of it at all. To keep him busy, so Icould eat, I put the squares of jello in front of him, on the counter and lethim try to grab them. I knew he was just going to knock each jello square onthe floor, but it kept him quiet, happy and entertained just long enough for meto shovel a couple sushi rolls into my own mouth. I also knew that Marty and I would pick up each piece of jelloat the end of this dinner. I also let him grab frozen peas by the mitt full outof the container I had brought them in, knowing that more than half of themwould end up on the floor under his chair. This also may have looked, to the adult with no children, like a a kid throwing his food on thefloor, just to watch him mommy and daddy pick it up, but to Marty and I thislooked like 5 minutes of entertainment that allowed us to enjoy the cream puffsfrom the sushi boat. We left onevery sticky chair and few squished peas at the Sushi Boat, but our bellies werefull and our kid was happy.

Trying on mitts is impossible with a kid in your arms andsince we were planning to buy warm, expensivish mitts, trying them on was goingto be imperative. Ryder waswiggling in my arms, eager to get down and finger walk so he couldexplore. I glanced around andnoticed a low shelf filled with lightweight plastic boxes containing longunderwear. My eyes lit up and so did Ryder’s!! I set him down so he could leanon the shelf. He proceeded to pull boxes off the shelf at a rapid pace. Theboxes tumbled around his feet and piled up to his knees. He was quiet, happyand entertained. Marty and I got to try on and choose perfect mitts to suit ourneeds. Lucky for us, all thepeople who walked by giggled at Ryder in his Long John Box Fort. Many commentedon how cute he was and how “busy” he was going to be when he could walk on hisown. He grinned at every one of his admirers and continued pulling boxes offthe shelf until Marty scooped him up so I could place every box back on theirshelf. I am not guaranteeing thatI got each box stacked in it’s exact place or that each size sticker was facingout, but our mess was off the floor. We left the store with new mitts, promises of warm hands, and happy…allthree of us.

It wasn’t until I got home that I realized how some peoplemight have judged us for the scene that unfolded in that store, but I alsorealized that all judgers would be those without kids, or those whose kids havealready grown up and they’ve forgotten exactly what harmless distractions theywere willing to look the other way from, in order to get a few preciousuninterrupted minutes to make a decision.

Ahhh, parenting is humbling. Again, I am amazed at the things, I thought I would never dothat I am doing and the things I swore I would do that I don’t! What a journey!J

WINTER WONDERLAND

2012-01-24T21:52:00.000-08:00

Today, I was reminded how magical winter can be. We spent the afternoon at Lake Louise in Banff National Park. It is just over an hour from our house, and we had some friends staying there, so we decided to meet them for lunch. We dined at the beautiful Chateau Lake Louise before heading into the beautiful snowfall to take in the ice sculptures. This was the kind of snowfall they show in movies. The kind that romanticizes winter. This beautiful winter, we forget about when we are scraping our windshields, navigating icy roads, bundling up our children so they can barely move, chipping away at the water troughs and shoveling our walks. This was the kind of winter one needs to be reminded of more often!

It was cold enough that the ice sculptures were not in danger of melting, but it was warm enough for families to be out skating on the lake. It was warm enough for babies to be out in back packs and strollers. The snowflakes were big enough that we could catch them on our tongues and it was falling hard enough that it made us giddy enough to wanna twirl around with our arms wide spread like they do in the movies...It was an absolutely perfect snowfall and we got to share it with Ryder. This, Ryder, is what winter is!!!!

One day, I will actually ride in one of these horse drawn sleighs.

Yes, Mom!! I am warm enough! Quit worrying.....

Ryder loved being in the pack. He could see and he was sooo happy!

Ryder rode in the back pack and his little friend, rode in his stroller.

A great way to spend an afternoon!!!

SCIENCE CENTER

2012-01-23T10:20:00.000-08:00

The city has built a brand new science center, so, Saturday afternoon, we thought we'd go check it out. Yep, you gotta pay to park and you gotta pay 20 bucks each to get in, but WOW!! It is awesome!!! I am not a big "science guy" at all, but this place was more like a giant center of discovery and caos, than a boring Science lesson. The whole place is soo "hands on friendly," kid friendly, adult friendly and FUN!! Ryder was actually too small still for a lot of the stuff, but there were definitely things he could do!! They even had an area just for babies under three. Here he is enjoying some of the fun things he could do!

Working on crawling over the obstacles.

Discovering it's actually easier to just go around the obstacles.

Getting his hands dirty at the river exhibit.

Playing behind the shadow screen with mom.

Next year, when Ryder is older, we'll get a membership and go there more often. So fun to discover new places to play and learn!!!

2012-01-20T20:39:00.000-08:00

Ryder is 10 months old today!! TEN MONTHS OLD!!! I have no idea where the time has gone!! Every day, Ryder gets more and more interactive which makes everything so much more fun! He is very social, squealing with delight everytime he sees other kids, big or small. Most little girls get this urge to hug him whenever he walks into a room. We were just at a birthday party where the 2 year old sister of the birthday boy walked right up to him and grabbed his cheeks. Last weekend in a play area, a little girl hugged him before trying to feed him a plastic hamburger and Wedensday, at the library another little girl, grabbed Ryder's hand and insisted on "walking" him up and down the isles. Adorable!!!

I take Ryder to the public library once a week for a Mother Goose Program. Last week we went for the first time since the Christmas Break. I noticed, seeing, Ryder next to his peers, that he is huge!! He is way bigger than all the other -10 month old babies. His size was more comprable to the 13-15 month olds. Looks like he is gonna take after his Daddy! Yay!

Ryder is still experimenting with walking, but after a major face plant the first time he started taking steps on his own, he lost some of his confidence. Just recently, he has started taking risks again and has started taking more independent steps. He continues to cruise around the house using the bench, the chairs, the rubbermaid tubs and even Scout for support. He has mastered bending down to pick stuff up which always makes me laugh. He concentrates sooo hard and everything about his little determined face makes me grin. His crawling is getting better, though he still prefers "finger walking" as his way of getting around. He has figured out how much fun it is to pull tupperware out of the cupboards, all the plastic bags out of the holder, all the pot holders out of the drawers and all of the books off the shelves. Just the other day, he figured out how to stand in his crib. I thought he was napping until I heard loud clunking noises. I raced upstairs to find him reaching over the crib into the book basket. He was able to pull books out of the basket and obviously thought it was so fun to drop the books onto the floor...I've had to move the basket and the table it was sitting on. Tonight he started trying to climb the stairs, scary and exciting! Everyday he learns something new and I am sooo glad I've been able to witness every discovery.

It's been crazy cold here, so the other day, I brought a portable heater upstairs, plugged it in to make the temperature in Ryder's room really warm. I then put on these cute overalls and had a little photo shoot. Marty can't believe his hair is this red. I mean, when you see Ryder in real life, his hair does not look this red. Either the lighting made it this red or maybe my editing..or maybe it is really more red than we think....

PLAY DATE AT THE MALL

2012-01-17T19:57:00.000-08:00

Brrr! It is cold outside. Like really, really cold! This is not good. It is especially not good for "stir crazy" mommies, like myself. The thought of having to stay in the house all day, makes me crazy!! I know it's not really fair to take my little baby outside, but it's also not fair to have a crazy mommy is it?? LOL Today, we met a friend who has 2 little ones (talk about stir crazy mom) at the mall. NO, we didn't go shopping, that would NOT be fun with three kids under 3, we went to the play zone. Okay, I don't actually know what it is officially called, but you know that play area in the middle of the mall? The one with a gate all around it and lots of kids running and playing on large foam play things? Yeah, that. We went there. Luckily, we got a parking spot in the underground parking lot, so we didn't have to go outside or worry about the truck being ice cold when we were done.

I had never been to a mall play zone before, so this was a new experience, but I was desperate to find something else for Ryder and I to do besides eat dog food. Apparently, you have to put your name on a list and wait your turn to get into the play zone. We were lucky, we got there 5 minutes before the announcement that says, "Play time is now over. Please exit the play zone." Came over the loud speaker. Once the place was cleared out, we parked our strollers and unleased the kids...okay, unleashed is an exaggeration. Neither one of our youngest kids could actually walk without our help, but they took off as fast as their little legs and our fingers would let them go! I was surprised at how many of the things Ryder could do. He crawled (a new skill for him) over things, under bridges and after other kids. He walked holding onto the foam wings of airplanes, doors of police cars and railings of bridges. He laughed, he got excited and he concentrated! So much fun! Who knew??? I used to laugh at people who took their kids to the mall play zone for exercise, but now, after trying it out, I can see how valuable places like these actually are, especially on freezing ass cold days like today!!!

LEFTOVERS

2012-01-10T21:44:00.000-08:00

I am now able to clean up the meal messes right after the meal, instead of waiting for nap time, thanks to Scout for teaching Ryder about secret leftovers. As soon as I take Ryder out of his highchair he pretty much "dive bombs" out of my arms. He, I figured out, wants to stand at his chair and search for leftover cheerios, broccoli, pasta, or sweetpotatoes. These are the things, Scout has taught, Ryder, that hide in the folds of the highchair. Seriously, this is how every meal ends and lucky for me this little "treasure hunt" usually lasts long enough for me to get all the dishes washed!! Yay, Scout!

The laundry basket was leftover after folding clothes. Ryder kept pulling it over on top of himself, eventually I just stuck him in it. Too cute!!

NAP TIME

2012-01-08T19:28:00.000-08:00

Ryder's nap wasn't over but our walk was. I begged Marty to help me carry the chariot into the house so that Ryder could continue his nap where I could keep an eye on him. He used to transfer easily from the car seat or stroller into his crib without waking, but I am afraid those days are over. Today, I just wanted him to sleep, so that I could actually rest too.

I parked the chariot in the entry way, grabbed my book and settled in for some RARE "me" time, while Scout kept watch over our precious sleeping angel!

FYI, he slept for over an hour right there in his snowsuit, in the chariot!

Sharing the Ball

2012-01-07T20:29:00.000-08:00

Ryder is getting more and more interactive all the time. I love watching him interact with other kids, but so far his opportunities are limited. He spends a lot of time interacting with his very patient, very kind, very fun BFF, Scout!!

Every morning, I bring a smiling, happy Ryder down the stairs straight to the laundry room, where we feed Scout. Her food is kept in a big red pail on the floor. I scoop out two scoops and Ryder giggles and kicks as the kibbles drop into the bowl making loud tinny sounds. Apparently, he has been doing more than giggling while I feed the dog, he has been paying careful attention to the process. He deomonstrated this last week, when he led me (I was finger walking him) to the dog food conainer, let go of my fingers, leaned on the bucket, pulled the lid off all by himself, scooped food out and promptly put it in his mouth! This was funny and kinda cute the first time (who hasn't tried dog food at least once in their childhood?) However, he has become obsessed! Everytime we walk, the laundry room is where he wants to go. The dog food container is what he wants to play with. The dog food is what he wants to keep sucking on. Actually, I am beginning to think it is all animal food. At the farm yesterday, he sat with the pail of horse treats between his legs, pulling them out one by one sure to lick each one. He got close enough to the grain tub at one point and began shoveling oats into his mouth fast as he could. I am beginning to think he needs to spend less time with animals and a little more with 2 legged friends. LOL

2012-01-05T20:28:00.000-08:00

Today, we went to the zoo!! The unseasonably warm weather made a trip to the zoo with friends especially fun today! This was Ryder's second trip to the zoo, but it was the first time he stayed awake for almost the whole visit.

I don't know which animals Ryder loved the most, but my favorite were the hippos. We were able to get close enough to their pool that we could touch the glass. When they's swim by us, we could see their giant, wiggly lips and thier tiny, stubby tails. We were close enough, had there not been glass, we could have reached out and tickled their toes!!!

It was a good day!

FIRST STEPS!

2012-01-02T20:49:00.000-08:00

Ryder took his first steps tonight!! It was such an exciting moment and Marty, Scout and I were all there to bare witness!! I had been on the phone with Aimee who asked if Ryder was "free standing" yet. I said every now and then he'd let go of whatever he was propping himself up with and just be standing on his own. She bet he'd be walking soon. Max walked within days of starting to free stand. I didn't think Ryder was that close to walking at all. He seems so young. He's still my baby, but tonight just for giggles, I faced him towards me, made sure he was standing good and sturdy on his feet and then carefully let go of him. He stood there smiling at me and took 2 small steps. Just to make sure I did it again and same thing. Before long, Marty and I had him "walking" between us, just one or two steps, but he took them all by himself before launching himself into our ready open arms! Finally we decided to try to snag a video. Our own little record of the memory. I have no idea if he is actually that close to walking all by himself, but he took his first steps and as brand new parents were are sooo proud and excited!!!!

RYDER'S FIRST CHRISTMAS - 2011

2011-12-29T10:43:00.000-08:00

Ryder's first Christmas was awesome!! Yeah, he really was too young to understand or get excited or even to really enjoy his presents, but I wasn't!! I loved spoiling him, I loved surprising him and I loved sharing all of the memories with my family.

It really was the Christmas of "Plan B." It was actually our year to go to Vancouver to spend Christmas with Marty's family, but with me on maternity leave and plane tickets costing a ridiculous amount over the holidays and with Marty only having from the 24h to the 2th off, we decided to just stay in Alberta. We'd go to BC in January and spend a few days. Ofcorse my sisters and I have it planned so that we always get to spend Christmas with Mom together, so this was also the year that Nic and Troy planned ot have Christmas with Troy's family. Fair enough. Lucky for all of us, his Family lives close, so with a little juggling, we were able to all be together for Christmas..sort of.

Marty and I left Calgary the 23rd, after Marty was done work. We got to Mom's late, but were up early the next morning to get ready for an afternoon at Nic and Troy's with his Family.

Hangin' with Uncle Farn.

Checkin' out the Farn Christmas tree.

Troy had to work at the Fire Hall Christmas Eve, so Nic came back to Mom's so she could go to church with us. We took Ryder to his first Christmas Eve Service, comeplete with a puppet show about Baby Jesus. Marty brought him right up to the front row for that portion. Ryder was super patient, just chillin' while we sang and celebrated the reason for the season!!

Dressed and ready for church.

Getting all his "play" out, with Auntie,

before heading to church.

Anda few pics by the tree in his cute church clothes... I had to, it was his FIRST CHRISTMAS afterall!!

After church, as per tradition, Ryder got to open one gift. It was from Grandma, and it was the special book, one that will be read every year on Christmas Eve, before Ryder goes to bed, just like it was read to us when we were little!!! (We miss you Dad, and the way you read this story to us!)

Once, Ryder was in bed, the Irish Cream started flowing and for the first time, Marty and I got to play "Santa" for real!!!

Nic, and Scout and Duke made great little elves, helping Santa! Because Troy had to work that night and because it was the Farn's turn to spend Christmas with the Farns, we had decided to wait and have our own Family Christmas, Dec.26th when Troy could be there with us for the whole day. That way, we could have a pretend Christmas morning, complete with stockings and all. Ofcorse, Ryder wouldn't have known the difference, but I really wanted him to have a Santa present ready under the tree on the 25th anyway.

Voila! The dancing tower!!!!

The night of the 25th, after Nic had spent the day with the Farns, and after Troy left for work at the Fire Hall, we had Christmas dinner...wow, I just now realized, I had my hat on all through dinner...sorry ma!! Seriously, I didn't even think about it until now!! Ooops!
The turkey, the brussel sprouts, the sweet potatoes and all the fixins were delicious!! After dinner we got Ryder dressed in his Santa suit for more photo ops. This was our Christmas Eve afterall and it was his first!!

Just before bed, we put him in his PJs and showed him how to leave cookies and milk for Santa. Ryder had to sample the cookies ofcorse, his first quick lick of frosting...hey, it's Christmas, I guess anything goes, right? he he!!!

When we all woke up on our Christmas Morning, Dec.26th, Santa had come again for Ryder!! Troy had come over after shift, but he hadn't seen Santa. :) This is what I love about our family, even though it wasn't real Christmas, it sure felt like it was.......

heading to the tree to open stockings...

A new tradition... Christmas hats, the funnier the better!!! Ryder and his Auntie and Uncle Farn!

Gotta go wish the ponies "Merry Christmas" too!!

Scout got a Christmas bone that she actually shared with Ryder..eww!!

I am always sad when Christmas is over. I especially hate packing up the Christmas tunes (good bye for another 365, Kenny and Dolly Country Christmas,) but we made sure to appreciate every single moment!! Highlights were wine drinking, game playing, dancing in the kitchen, Ryder watching, thoughtful gift appreciating and just being together laughing and being loud!! Happy Holidays!!!

8 MONTHS OLD!

2011-12-21T13:27:00.000-08:00

It is December 21st means that Ryder turned 9 months old, yesterday! I can hardly believe that my little plumpkin is soon going to be a "toddler" and not a baby anymore!! He is already changing sooo much. We "Skyped" with my sister in Colorado the other day, and she pointed out that Ryder now has a neck. Yep, he is leaning out. This was confirmed at our 9 month check up where the doc said he is in the 90 percentile for height now and only the 75th for weight. He still weighs 22.6 lbs which is about how much he weighed last time I weighed him. He still has his endearing chubby cheeks and rolly poley wrists and ankles, but he is definitely leaning out. Contributing to his leaning out, is his incessant desire to walk, which at this stage, involves me holding his fingers and "walking" with him EVERYWHERE!!! (How come I am not leaning out like him?? Ha ha!!)

Ryder loves "outside." Everytime I pull out his "starfish" suit (that's what Marty calls his snowsuit), he and Scout go nuts! They both start squealing, Ryder kicks his legs with delight and Scout circles and circles until we're all dressed, ready to head out.

Ever since Ryder discovered he could stand, (with the help of something to lean on,) he hates to sit! I have actually filled big rubber made tubs with heavy books (so Ryder can't pull them over) and placed them all over the house so that Ryder can pull himself up, stand and lean on them. I put toys on top of them. He'll stand there all day...not that I'd ever let him, he he!! He likes standing against fences too....

His 8th month was a huge month for Ryder. He learned so many new skills, big skills! He pulled himself to his knees for the first time at the end of November. He took care of his Mom and Dad while they were both puking their guts out. He took his first steps independent of Me with the help of a table that he pushed across Mom's livingroom floor. He pulled himself to standing and he sat up by himself in his crib for the first time. Month 7 was a tough one for us. Ryder's second tooth caused all kinds of sleepless nights for both of us and his "mama" only thing caused all kinds of sore muscles for me (he is a heavy dude to carry around 24/7.) Month 8? Month 8 has been one of the most fun so far! Ryder has been a happy, smiley, make me laugh out loud kinda guy!!

This si a toy he is learning to push across the floor. He hasn't figured out how to "ride it" yet, but I like to see if he can....

Standing at his "tubs of fun."

Ryder loves to stand at the patio door and lick the windows. (Yep that is a piece of moose carcass on the deck...)

Fun in a box!

Just being cute in my winter coat.

Ryder loves Scout. She loves him too and is sooo patient with him, while he grabs her eyes, ears and lips.

Ha ha! Dad is funny!!

Riding in the sled for the first time out at the farm.

Snow!!!!

Kisses for "Uncle Dirt"

Always happy to be on the move!

Doing laundry with Dad.

O Christmas Tree

2011-12-18T09:13:00.000-08:00

Pick a Christmas Tree out of a lot?

I think not.

Trudging through snow, packs on our backs

making giant winter boot tracks

searching the forest for the perfect tree

that, is the quest for my family and me!

Finding and cutting down that special one

then celebrating with cocoa, and hot dogs is fun!

Christmas Tree Hunt, 2011

Ryder's first tree hunt.

This is NOT the tree we'll take home with us this year

...a much better choice!

Ryder, watching Dad and his friend work the saw

Team work!

Everything is more fun with friends!

The adults had cocoa and Baileys around the fire pit. Ryder had a cup.

HA HA!!

2011-12-14T08:42:00.000-08:00

Ryder is sick. Thankfully NOT the flu, that Marty and I had, but he's got a horrible cough and a stuffed, runny nose. Poor guy. His breathing at night is definitely affected by all this congestion. Poor me! I was up every 2 hours at least lastnight just holding him, letting him nurse for comfort and loving him. He just doesn't understand why it's suddenly so hard to breath and sleep. I am thankful for coffee, lots of it and know that this cold will pass and we'll all be back to getting a little more sleep. In the meantime, check out this link. A friend sent it to all the Moms in our Baby Group. It made me smile....I'd never send mine back, recalled or not! LOL

http://thefeministbreeder.com/massive-recall-of-2011-version-of-babies/

MOOSE

2011-12-11T11:31:00.001-08:00

I got a phone call the other day from the lady who owns the Farm where we keep Dirt. Her name is Karen and she is one of the kindest, most fun people I know. She has loved Scout and Dirt since she met them. She has become Scouts favorite puppysitter, often keeping her for a week at a time when Marty and I head to the USA or to BC to visit family.
Karen called to say that she has quite a collection of Dog bones. Her dogs cannot possible enjoy them all, so I am welcome to come get a few for Scout. I went out to see Dirt that afternoon and when Ryder, Scout and I were done at the barn, we headed to the house to collect a bone for Scout. I was picturing something nice and white for her to chew on, however what Karen actually meant, by "bones" was carcass. Fresh, bloody carcass. I could tell from the hair and hoof still on the leg bone that it was the carcass of a huge moose. The "bones" were scattered all over the "dog room." I was supposed to pick one? Um, ewww!!! I grew up in the country, I get it. Dogs chew meaty, bloddy bones. I just didn't want to touch thema and I certainly didn't really want my city, IN HOUSE dog chewing on those. See, in the country, if the dog gets sick, no one has to clean it up. In the city, even if the dog gets sick outside, it still involves me getting very close to the mess. NO THANKS!!
I didnt' want to seem ungreatful, as I recognized that Karen's gesture of offering the bones to Scout in the first place, was very generous, so I decided I would take one. While I was standing there, in the middle of the bloddy mess, contemplating which was the least disgusting bone, Karen's son came to see what was going on. Since I was holding my baby in one arm, I asked him to bag up one bone, preferably one without hair or too much blood on it for me. He did and I carried the stinky thing to the box of my truck. When we got home, Scout was super excited for this little treat, but since my arms were full, I decided she'd have to wait until I could go back out to get it for her to eat IN THE YARD. As it often does these days with the baby, I got distracted and forgot all about Scout's bone until I came home from being at the grocery store the next day to see several bloody, hairy bones litering out back yard! Since our yard is fenced and the only way Scout gets out there is if I open the door to let her out, I knew she hadn't dragged them here from somewhere else. The only place they could have come from, was Karen's. I am willing to bet, once she heard my arms were too full to carry more bones, she drove them over here and chucked them over my fence as a gift for Scout. Scout was in heaven. She has never stayed outside that long by herself in her life!! She refused to come in, even though it was dark and snowing lastnight. This morning, she couldn't wait to get back out there. When the magpies started swarming, she chased them through the snowbanks. She was soo fun to watch. She was actually enjoying herself in her huge backyard by herself without me or Marty! That never happens!!! I even parked Ryder's highchair in front of the window so he could watch the snow and Scout and the birds. The only person, not impressed, was Marty. He was completely grossed out by the bones, by the fact that Scout and the birds like them and byt the fact that Scout licks Ryder's face after chewing on them. He insisted that I move the moose leg off the porch as we were expecting company and though they would be entering from the front door, not the back, he didn't want anyone to have to look at it. I put on some gloves, stepped out the door, and chucked the hairy leg into the yard only to have Scout bring it right back to the door. I think it is her offering to us. Um, again, eww!! Anyway, right or wrong, gross or not, I am gonna let Scout have a few more days before I chuck these bones into the trash.

Though, I am sure Karen's heart was in the right place, I gotta wonder. Who does that? Who just chucks carcasses into someone elses yard, no asking, no note, no nothing??? Crazy, right?

Santa's Anonymous

2011-12-06T20:43:00.001-08:00

Monday night, I joined the "Fire Fighter's Wives" on their mission to wrap toys for Edmonton's under priveledged in Santa's warehouse. My sister, Nic, had gotten a group of friends (other Fire Fighter's wives) together to volunteer their time for Santa's Anonymous. They needed one more "wife" and since I was in town that day, she recruited me, even though I am actually a Bacardi Rum Sales Rep wife. LOL Anyway, we all met at a warehouse in Edmonton's industrial area where 630 Ched (radio station) headquartered the big toy wrap. The warehouse was filled with bins and bins of donated toys. Our assignment was to "shop" through the bins for a child of a designated age group (girl 3-5 years) (boy 7-9) etc... We had to find one primary gift, one or two secondary gifts, a reading book and a craft or game. We wrapped the whole stack of gifts as one package and labled it with the gender and age. The gifts were then put into carts and wheeled to the back where they were sorted into groups to be delivered closer to Christmas.

Bins of donated toys. I "shopped" here then brought my perfect gift package to Nic, who wrapped and labled it.

Nic and Jackie. They wrapped, I "shopped."

Check out the giant rolls of wrapping paper and the giant "stuffy" Tanis is about to wrap!

I fished this big guy out of a bin. Nic had to wrap it with the other gifts I had selected. Not easy to wrap something like this without a box....good thing Nic is creative....

She used zippy ties to tie his feet to his ears so he was more squishable..and a little more obscene! LOL

The "Fire Fighter Wives!"

We spent three hours together, "shopping," wrapping and sharing holiday spirit! It felt good being a part of this project. Thanks, Nic for organizing your "team" and for including me!! Let's do it again next year!!

SICK

2011-12-06T20:15:00.001-08:00

Last weekend, Marty and I both had the flu. The "both ends" kind of flu if you know what I mean. It started Thursday night, after Ryder was in bed. Marty complained that his tummy was upset and within a couple of hours he was puking. Only an hour after that, I started puking. There were times both bathrooms upstairs were being used at the same time. In between trips to the bathroom, I was up nursing Ryder. I am sure I didnt' get any sleep at all. Come morning, I felt less like puking, but not 100%. I had to get up though, cause I am the Mom and that's what mom's do.
That was the LONGEST, Hardest day of my life with Ryder so far and it had nothing to do with him. It was not fun being the Mom when I felt like I wanted my own to take care of me!!

All the puking we did made me think about puking and some of the memories that go along with it. My first memory of puking has me under the age of 8. I remember that I went to bed with my pyjama top on inside out and when I woke up, I was sick. I remember being convinced that wearing your clothes inside out makes you puke.

I remember another time again, I must have been pretty young, when in our one bathroom home, I had to barf, but someone was in the bathroom. Everyone yelled at me to puke in the kitchen sink, but there were dishes in there and I just couldn't make myself barf on the dishes so instead I puked all over the floor right in front of the bathroom door. Mom and Dad were NOT happy with me.

When we were kids and we were sick, we'd stay home from school. Mom would bring blankets to the couch where she'd lay us down so we could watch TV. She'd put a towel down the side of the couch, to protect it incase we missed the puke bucket (a 4 gallon ice cream pail) she'd placed on the floor beside us. Still to this day, I want my Mommy to come take care of me, like she did back then, whenever I'm really sick.

As I got older, I puked less and less often. I don't know if, as adults we just don't get the flu as often or we just dont' get it to the point where we puke, like we did when we were small kids. The older we get the more our puking is self inflicted, eating things on dares, drinking too much, getting punched in the guts, working out too hard, or being pregnant. In fact the last time I puked this much was when I was in labour! Either way, puking is gross. I am going to stop writing about it, cause just thinking about it this much is making me feel nauseous! Here's hoping Marty and I are never sick at the same time ever again!!

2011-11-28T13:28:00.001-08:00

I know, I know, it isn't even December yet, but we went to see Santa anyway. Apparently Santa line ups can be very long and stressful, best to be early. This according to my friends with Santa experience. I figured it best to listen to them as my own Santa experience is extremely out of date! Ryder and I got to the mall earlier than our friends so we "signed in." We got our names on the list (there were 9 people ahead of us,) took our slip of paper confirming which picture package we'd be getting and entered through the green and red gates into Santa's play yard!

The play yard was decorated with Child safe Christmas decorations including glittery presents-fun to touch and fun to chew! There were toys screwed down onto benches, and a TV playing Disney Christmas cartoons. The play yard was huge and filled with girls in dresses, bows and black buckle shoes. Their bouncing curls framing adorable, innocent faces ready to ask Santa for their Christmas wishes. Boys wearing button up shirts with hair combed to the side (why do parents think that is how boys' hair should be combed when they dress up?) motored around the play yard sucking on the glittery ribbons and grabbing at the Christmas balls...on the trees!!

This being my first time to visit Santa in probably 30 years, I had no idea that it was a "dress up" event. Ryder was not exactly wearing his "Christmas Best" and since he has virtually no hair, it wasn't combed to the side. His hair was covered up to keep his bald head warm.

Ryder strolled around and by strolled around, I mean he drug me (I was finger walking him) all over the play yard. We checked out the big TV. He had to get right up in front of it and try to lick the bottom of the screen (he soo reminds me of Scout when she was a puppy.) We checked out the sparkly presents, the Christmas Trees, and the pretty girls in their frilly dresses. Oh, the pretty girls. They sure loved Ryder. One, she couldn't have been more than 4 years old, took to stalking Ryder. Stalking may sound harsh, but seriously, she followed us everywhere!! She walked right up to us, said, "oh, he is soo cute, I just wanna hug him!" Then before I knew it, she had her frilly arms wrapped right around him, squishing his cheeks against her. After the hug, she was smitten, she wanted to pick him up and carry him. He easily weighed almost as much as her, but she scooped him up, squeezed him tight and lugged him all over the play yard. I followed along, hoping to catch Ryder before she dropped him. She held his little fingers and insisted on "finger walking" him herself. At one point she wanted Ryder to try walking all by himself so she let go of his fingers...I wasn't able to catch him fast enough, luckily he didn't land too hard. We couldn't shake the pretty little girl so she hung out with us for the entire 45 minutes we waited for our turn to see Santa.

Finally it was our turn. Santa was adorable! Though it's been years since I've sat on his knee, he looked exactly as I remembered!! I was worried about Ryder making "strange" as he's been doing that lately so I told the photographer that I planned to put Ryder on Santa's knee and hoped she'd be ready to snap a quick pic. A really QUICK pic! She got in position behind the camera, I dropped Ryder in Santa's lap, backed away real quick and got ready to snatch him when he started wailing....he never did. It was like he knew he was sitting on the lap of someone real special. He turned his chubby cheeks up towards Santa's face and immediately grabbed for his beard. He smiled huge smiles. The photographer, Santa and I were all three stunned! The photographer got an adorable shot of Ryder with jolly St. Nick.

We stopped at the till to pay for our pictures (23 dollars, by the way) and the lady taking money was soo enamoured with Ryder that she forgot to ask for my money. She just kept pinching his cheeks, talking about how cute he was that she started waving good bye before I had even opened my walled. I am not gonna lie, I thought about just walking away with my free Santa pictures but my conscious got the better of me. It's just not right to steal from Santa is it?? LOL

Ryder's first visit with Santa will not be something he remembers, but it will be something I will not forget!

Standing up all by myself, using the presents to hold me up!

Hey, ma! Check this out. Ribbons to chew on!

What? It really is yummy!!

Ryder with his buddy, James. James did have

Christmas overalls on!

Cuties!

Ryder's fist picture with the real Santa.

(8 months old)

HOME

2011-11-26T12:36:00.001-08:00

Ryder, Scout and I are back home! Already I miss Mom and country life, but I am happy to have Ryder back in his Daddy's arms! I'll admit a part of me was worried he might play "strange" with Marty like he did to everyone else the whole time we were gone. Marty plucked Ryder out of my arms and I held my breath.... Ryder took one look at Marty's "movember" decorated face and broke out into smiles!! They were wrestling and giggling within minutes. I feel like I waited the entire 10 days for someone else to hold Ryder without him bawling so that I could do something..anything, for even just 5 mins without the extra 23 pounds in my arms. It didnt' happen until I got home, and as soon as it did, I felt relief...for about 30 seconds. After that I found myself hovering, wanting to hold Ryder again myself! Marty, enjoying time with his son, finally kicked me out of the room. I got to unload the truck and unpack all of our stuff with two free hands. It was definitely easier than anything else I'd done for the last 10 days with Ryder constantly on my hip, but it felt like something was missing....

I hadn't expected Ryder to go through this "strange" phase where he crys (loud, urgent crys) whenever someone else holds him or I leave the room while I was at Mom's. He has, up until now, been sooo happy to hang out with anyone and everyone. I had no idea this phase would hit, let alone so quickly at the most inopportune time!
I knew Mom wouldn't be able to carry him around for this visit, but I had thought maybe Ryder would hang with Nic or Troy or that he'd play in a room where Mom could watch him while I tackled some of the things I wanted to do for Mom, things he normally does with a big smile on his face. But that didn't happen. I'd certainly try to leave him playing, or in the arms of his loving Auntie or Uncle, but within minutes (sometimes seconds) Ryder would just start wailing!
In order for me to go outside to do any of the chores, we had to wait until Ryder was napping or we had to strap him in the high chair where mom could feed him puffed wheat (his new favorite!) I had gone to Mom's with such big plans of organizing and cleaning and "helping," but the reality of being there with Ryder in this needy stage, was that I couldn't do half the things I had planned. I feel bad about that. I am glad we got to keep her company, if nothing else.

I am so greatful to be back home where Marty can hold and snuggle Ryder through some of this attachment phase too. And as tired and sore as I am from not only lugging his adorable 23 pound body around, but being the only one he'll let "finger walk" him around, I know that this stage will pass and soon, I'll be wishing Ryder still wanted to cling to me, so in the meantime, I'll hold him close as long as he needs me too....

GETTING OUT OF THE HOUSE!

2011-11-22T20:44:00.001-08:00

Today was day 6 of the Caos that is supposed to be "Home Care."
Today our mission was to get out of the house! We had to take Mom to the Clinic as she was supposed to have blood taken to make sure that all her levels were where they were supposed to be. We made her appointment for 11:30am, so that Ryder could have his morning nap before we headed into town. The fun began when Ryder woke up. I nursed him to top him up so that I wouldn't have to feed him while we were in town. I dressed him in his winter coat, mitts and shoes while mom managed to use her special shoe horn and got her own shoes on all by herself! Getting into the car was a bit of an ordeal..but we got it figured out. Mom needed a plastic garbage bag on the passenger seat of the car so that she could easily slide into a comfortable position. Her seat had to be pushed all the way back so that she wouldn't have to bend her legs too much which meant that Ryder's rear facing car seat had to be behind the drivers seat. I buckled Ryder into his seat, hurried over to mom's side of the car, made sure she could get in, put her crutches in the back seat, closed her door, closed the back door then hurried back around to my side of the car, hopped in behind the wheel and headed for town. We arrived at the Medi Clinic in time for her appointment, but there was no where close to park. I pulled up to the doors of the clinic, got out of the driver's seat, went around to mom's side, opened her door, opened the back door, got her crutches out, handed them to her, closed the back door, closed the passenger side door once mom was out, got back in the driver's seat, parked the car, got out, opened the back door, pulled Ryder from his car seat, and closed his door so we could meet mom in the clinic. After she got her blood taken, and Ryder had flirted with the cutest twin girls in the waiting room, we walked back to the doors where I left mom and took Ryder to go get the car where we repeated the whole car sequence once again. We hit the bank, the fabric store and the grocery store, perfecting the car entering and exiting sequence with each stop.
Go ahead "time us," guarenteed you'd be surprised at how fast this gong show can get in and out of that clown car!

HOME CARE

2011-11-19T09:57:00.001-08:00

How's this for quiet, peaceful recovery time following hip replacement surgery: One 8month old baby in "that" phase where he crys every time his mom leaves the room, his mom, a tired, tired woman who gets maybe 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night, their overly rambunctious, very needy boxer cross dog, extremely cold temperatures outside, all forced to be inside the warm house with the home's old, grumpy, incessantly barking, resident dog? Well, that's what mom's recovery has been so far...lucky for her?! Yep, Ryder, Scout and I came to provide "home care" for Mom. We are here for at least 10 days and we have brought mostly loud caos and a little bit of helpfulness thrown in! Since we've been here Ryder has entered his "make strange" phase that involves him crying when I so much as leave the room, he's also teething which causes him to wake up a million times everynight looking for comfort (he does this in a very urgent, very LOUD way), Scout has become incredibly bored, begging everyone, all the time to play with her by shoving balls, and toys in their faces and then proceeding to wine until one is forced to aknowledge her just to make her shush! (It's been super cold to the point where even she doesn't want to be outside, frolicking in the wide open outdoor space!!) Tucker (Mom's dog) has taken to doing whatever it takes to stay away from Ryder and Scout, hiding in various places, moulting his hair all over the house. I have gone into task master overload on a mission to accomplish all chores, cleaning and mom maintenance while Ryder naps, IF he actually naps and Mom? Well, mom has been an incredible patient. She has not once complained about anything. Not about the caos and not about her hip. She sits in her chair and watches the zoo the rest of us are. Sure, now and then she'll ask me to bring her something or help her with something, but most of the time, she takes care of herself. I do the horse chores and feed the dogs and let them in and out of the house a million times a day, but mom is pretty self sufficient! We've got a bit of a routine going, which helps keep the caos at bay most times:

We wake up between 7 and 8. MOm has her daily shower, while I vacume up Tucker hair and Ryder plays. Once the floors and Mom are clean, we put Ryder in his highchair and fill the tray with puffed wheat (he is just learning to get the cereal from the tray to his mouth and this challenge keeps him very distracted. Mom sits and smiles at him, while I sneak outside to feed the horses. When I come back in I fire up the coffee pot, make mom a breakfast shake, Ryder some kind of ceral mixture and myself a scone and we eat. We follow the meal with a few laps around the kitchen and living room. This is part of Mom's physio but Ryder loves to race her and Scout cannot miss the action. It's quite the sight the four of us, single file, walking circles through the house! After some play time, Ryder has a nap while I clean up breakfast, shower, or run quick errands. Then he wakes up and we "repeat" everything all over again!!

Ryder and I playing in the living room.

Scout has taken over the best chair in the house.

Gramma lets her on the furniture here. Lucky Scout.

Scout really is a great babysitter. Ryder adores her!

Gramma has bridles in the house. Anything Ryder finds becomes a chew toy. How much animal hair has this kid ingested???

Mom has crutches and a walker. We have a system all worked out now so she can get to around on each floor without me carrying the walker to the top of every stair case...independance!!

Doing "laps" with Gramma!

Nic came over to hang one evening.

Ryder is slowly warming up to Gramma...letting her cuddle him now and then...when he is really tired!

Gramma feeding him breakfast while I get ready to sneak out to do chores!!

BAD DAY

2011-11-15T20:44:00.000-08:00

So, 7.5 months in and I had my first REAL rough day with Ryder. He is teething, he had diarrhea, he refused to sleep at his first nap (something that up until just recently has never rattled me), his nose was running constantly, he coughed all day and he, for the first time demonstrated that he is in the clingy stage, refusing to let anyone else, even Daddy, hold him!

I know I am sooo lucky to be able to stay home with Ryder all day, every day, but today, it was just too much togetherness for me!! The minute Marty walked in the door, I handed him his "bundle of joy," grabbed Scout, and headed for the door. We needed some girl time and a good walk, just the two of us!!! After an hour, we returned home, refreshed, rejuvinated and ready for a fresh start tomorrow!

RYDER CLAP YOUR HANDS!!

2011-11-12T20:51:00.000-08:00

7.5 MONTHS

2011-11-12T19:38:00.000-08:00

Winter has slowly been creeping up on us. It gets dark earlier, thanks to the time change and when the sun starts going down, it really cools off. Despite all of this, we have been making sure to get outside as much as possible before Winter's full force hits us. We've been getting out to see Dirt a lot lately. Ryder does not like sitting in the barn on the blanket I bring for him. No, he wants me to "finger walk" him all over the farm yard. He wants to watch up close while the farier trims Dirt's feet, he wants to lick the rails of the fence, he wants to eat horse cookies so that he can taste all that is farm life!! He lights up when he sees any of the animals and particularily enjoys grabbing at Dirt's nostrils. Dirt Face has begun to associate little people with treats. My girlfriend, oftne joins us out at the farm with her 2 year old and her 6 month old. The two year old, LOVES feeding Dirt treats. He has learned to keep his head low so that when a little person approaches, his mouth is accessible. Ryder likes to stand right under Dirt's face and reach up for those nostrils. Ofcorse Dirt has to check for treats, by sucking off his little fingers. I get sooo much joy out of watching the kids interact with eachother and with Dirt Face who is turning out to be quite a patient "kids" horse.

I brought toys and a blanket to the barn the day the farrier came. I thought Ryder would sit in the warm barn while the farrier trimmed Dirt's face's feet, but Ryder was not gonna miss that party!!
Here he is "helping." He only did that for a few minutes before he insisted that I finger walk him right over to the hoof she was filing so he could watch.

Ryder discovered my computer and how much fun it is to hit buttons...

We make weekly trips to the library. Here is Ryder with his basket of books. He still prefers to "eat" the books but I know one day he'll read them...

My adorable little boy (Thanks, Max for the hand-me-down shirt)

Ryder has begun demonstrating that he has a memory. I really started noticing it when he became obsessed with walking to the bathroom upstairs. Every time I "finger walk" him, he heads for the bathroom. He turns towards the cupboard and looks up. The first time I lifted him up, he grabbed the pink water bottle I keep there and sucked water out of the straw. The next time we walked to the bathroom he did the same thing, walked to the cupboard and wanted up...now this happens every time. He recently discovered the sink and loves it when I run the water. He splashes and splashes. He has started wanting to go "up" onto the counter where he always turns towards the sink and waits for me to turn the water on...so neat to watch him discover stuff as simple as running water.
He isn't pulling himself up yet, but he is trying and now that he has had a taste of standing, he no longer wants to sit at all. He will straight leg it every time I try to sit him down. He is able to balance himself now and will do so on whatever he can find that is the right height.

Scout and I spend a lot of time lying on the floor watching our pride and joy, little Ryder James.

Ryder also likes to come into our bathroom ensuite. He hasn't ever had a bath in our big tub, but he likes to sit in there sometimes while I am in the bathroom.

Just being cute in the cart at Costco

Learning dexterity. Thank you, Cheerios for this lesson....every Cheerio that misses his mouth, Scout thoroughly enjoys!

Ryder has not mastered crawling yet. He can get on all fours and rock and rock. He can move backwards and around in circles. He can finger walk like crazy, but he has yet to master crawling. While we wait for him to be able to move forward on his on, we develop strong back muscles, leaning over to walk with him. I wouldn't trade that "work out" for anything!!!

NOVEMBER 11

2011-11-10T20:55:00.000-08:00

November 11. For the first time since I can remember, I will not be a part of a school Remembrance Day assembly. I will, however still take time to remember, to thank and to honour those who sacrificed so much so that we can have the life, we do. I will think about the families who have lost loved ones so that I may raise mine in a Country we can be proud of!!

7.5 MONTHS

2011-11-06T21:07:00.001-08:00

Ryder got his first Halloween card from Gramma Mimi. He sat with it for about 5 seconds before he ate it..he eats everything these days. So, Gramma, he LIKES the way his card tastes! :)

We were lucky enough to have Nic come for a quick visit this weekend. She just wanted to come "love" her nephew and love him she did!! I came back from the park with Scout, to find the two of them asleep in the chair in Ryder's room!! Adorable! He hardly ever falls asleep in our arms anymore so this was such a precious moment!!

Yep, it has turned to winter out there...snow and everything!! Sure doesn't stop us from getting outside! We brought friends out to the Farm to visit Dirt Face a couple times last week. James showed up wearing the same outfit as Ryder...definitely a photo op!!!

Ryder is a walking machine these days, wanting to hold our fingers and walk everywhere...especially towards Scout. He is pretty sturdy on his feet. People keep telling me that he just might skip crawling all together...guess we'll see. He wanted to stand up on the fence at the farm, probably so he could "eat" it, but I snapped these pics while my girlfriend held him, before he bent down to chew on the boards.

Ryder is suffering with a cold right now. I can't believe that much snot can come out of such a small nose!!! He wakes up in the morning and both nostrils are caked over with green boogers! Ewww! I will never be mature enough not to be grossed out by that!!! Poor guy, his breathing is all gurgly and he keeps waking himself up.....I sure hope he starts feeling better soon. I hate to see him all uncomfortable like this!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2011-10-30T19:14:00.001-07:00

Today was Oct.30. Not Halloween yet, but Ryder didn't know that. Ryder also didn't know that he was gonna get stuffed into a big, pouffy pumpkin suit, attire suitable for his first Halloween Party!

The party was for all the babies from our Pre-natal class. Some of them we've seen often and some we hadn't seen since April! I couldn't wait to see all the little cuties! This was going to be possibly one of the cutest days of the year...yep it was!!!

The babies were dressed in costumes fit for a Canadian Halloween...WARM ONES!!! They all got really hot in the house, but we got a group photo before they all stripped down!

We were among the first few guests to arrive and within minutes Ryder had grabbed both these guys' costumes and tried to eat them, making them both cry.....

Ryder spent most of the party in his diaper (his pumpkin suit was too hot.) Taylor lent him her sumo wrestler robe....

VISITING AIM

2011-10-26T19:36:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, Marty, Ryder and I flew to Denver, Co, to visit, Aim, Shane and Max.

On the way home, Marty and I discussed our "highs and lows" of the trip. The highs included, bike rides, the pumpkin patch, the Mexican Feast Shane made us Saturday night, visitng with Julie, Todd and Elodie and watching Max and Ryder hang out together.

The bike ride was higher on Marty's list than mine. Aimee took me out despite my reluctance. The bike ride was the first since I broke my collar bone a year ago and I was scared shitless the entire time. Aimee was very patient with me, even though I was in full panic mode the entire ride!! I am glad I faced my fear though and had we stayed longer, I would have had Aimee take me out every day until I had my confidence back.

The pumpkin patch was something I had been looking forward to for a long time. I had never been to a pumpkin patch before and I had never seen sooo many pumpkins in one place. This patch had a petting zoo, bouncy houses and a hay maze! It was a great family place and it was packed with kids of all ages, excited to celebrate fall!

Shane's Mexican Feast was incredible!! No one makes enchilladas and beans like him!! :)

Julie, Todd and Elodie were in Denver so they popped into Aim's for the afternoon, Sunday. It was great to see them too. Elodie has grown soo much! She had beautiful eyes and a great smile. She looks like a perfect "mini me" of Julie!! :) I was also excited for them to meet Ryder!

Ryder getting to hang with Auntie Aim and Uncle Shane was pretty special!!

Actually, watching Aim with Max was pretty special too! She is a great Mom, so happy to just play with her adorable son!!

But the BEST, I mean the BEST was watching Max and Ryder. Max was sooo excited to see Ryder when he woke up Saturday morning. I wish I had recorded his voice saying, "Ryder, come. Ryder have. Ryder get me." I miss it already. Max made a point of making sure Ryder always had a toy, or a snack or a hug whenever he got one! For an 18 month old, Max sure is thoughtful! Just watching them interact was so entertaining! At one point, Max was on all fours trying to teach Ryder to crawl!! Adorable!!

Thanks, Coles, for a great weekend!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

2011-10-25T21:42:00.000-07:00

October 25th is Dad's birthday. On this day, in memory of him, we still celebrate Dad's life with his favorite birthday dinner...Hamburgers and French Fries, Apple Pie and Ice Cream!!!

Obviously, this is from a long time ago, but I love it!! Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

For our burgers tonight, we went with some good friends of ours to a "build your own burger" joint downtown. Of corse, Ryder came too. Dad would have wanted him there and he would have spent the meal laughing at Ryder's chubby cheeks, his huge grin, his "flirting" ways with the waitress, the way he grabbed my plate while we were "cheersing" and almost dumped the whole thing on himself and me, the way he grunted the entire time I fed him his pureed carrots and apples and the way he took a huge dump, right there at the table, head turning red and all...yep, it would have all been right up Dad's alley!

I am sad that Ryder won't ever be hugged by his Grandpa Chet, but he will know lots about Grandpa because who wouldn't have a million questions to ask about a man who chose Hamburgers and French Fries, Apple Pie and Ice Cream for every birthday meal???

Questions like:

Did Grandpa used to read stories to you before bed? yes he did, all the time. He would also tell us his own stories, like the one about the "Boogie Man" who lived in our closets. He had us all believing...still to this day, I hate sleeping with my closet door open....

Did Grandpa make his own burgers from scratch? Yes he did! He'd make real fat ones and he'd use saltine crackers to help them stick together. One time he held a bunch of crackers over Auntie Dic's head and told us he could make them disappear, then he crunched them all up in his hands and dumped them on her head...it was funny....for me and him and Auntie Aimee!! LOL

Did Grandpa always play jokes on you? Yep! He was a real big joker. He sure like dumping things on Auntie's head. One time he dumped a huge can of glue on her head....Grandma and Nic DID NOT find that joke as funny as the rest of us did!! He had a real big laugh, it was loud and contagious!

Did Grandpa like Hallloween? Grandpa always helped us make our costumes! There wasn't anything he couldn't create with a garbage bag and some bale twine! He was also a master or design when it came to birthday cake creating. He and Grandma could make a cake into any shape we wanted!!

What was his favorite kind of cake?? I don't know...I'd have to say, he was more of an apple pie guy. That's why every year, on this day, we have pie to remember Grandpa and make sure that he knows we still think about him and love him!!! :)

7 MONTHS OLD!

2011-10-19T18:29:00.001-07:00

Today, Ryder turned 7 months old. 7 months old!!!! He has grown cuter, louder and happier everyday! He now recognizes, Marty, Scout and I. He can giggle, eat mushed up "real" food, bathe in a tub, walk while holding our fingers for support, reach for things...(favorites include, the dog's water, my hair, Marty's nose, the remote and anything else he is NOT supposed to have.) He can anticipate rymes and enjoys story time. He can sit infront of the fridge and pull all the magnets off and he can fill a diaper to the brim!!! He probably could sleep through the night, but both he and I are in a habit (that we both secretly like) of getting up at least once to spend time rocking in the dark nursery, just he and I.

I cannot believe 6 whole months have gone by so quickly. I cannot believe that 7 months ago today, I became a MOM!! This is the BEST job I have ever had!!

As a 6 month old, Ryder....

...went on his first hike in the big backpack,

had a naked photo taken of himself and his dog,

...went to his first NHL hockey game,

...started eating baby food

..had to start wearing tuques to keep that bald head warm,

....ate his first hunk of cooked steak,

...went swinging with Dad,

....tried to "ride/eat" Scout,

...hung out a lot with his BFF, Scout!

SWIMMING

2011-10-17T14:52:00.001-07:00

Took Ryder swimming today. We went to the public pool for the first time. I actually HATE swimming and figured the swimming thing would be Marty's job, but, Marty is busy working. I want to make sure we keep getting him in the water while he is a baby so maybe he won't hate swimming as much as me. We had a few opportunities this summer to get him in Lakes and outdoor pools but with the end of summer comes the end of outdoor swimming. Sooo....today, I decided to take him to the indoor pool just a few minutes drive from our house. I'd never been there before. I can't remember the last time I went to a pool just to "frolick." Anyway, we walked in at 2pm, public swim time. There were only 4 other people there and we were the only 2, under 50 years old in the place. Thank God, as I may have majorly underestimated the still ginormous size of my boobs!! Yikes! I had brought this string bikini to wear but it turns out the top was WAY to small for the parts I expected it to cover!! I promised myself that if my assets actually stayed hidden beneath the tiny spandex triangle, I would buy a tankini or a more "momish" suit to wear at the public pool next time!!

Ryder and I had the shallow end to ourselves. The lifeguard threw some toys in the water and he and I splashed and floated and chewed on pool toys for half an hour. I even dunked him three times. He didn't even cry once and my nipples didn't get out of my top, so I too left the pool without shedding any tears!

Day 1 of public swim: SUCCESS!!!

I AM TIRED!!

2011-10-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

I am tired! Exhausted, actually.

Yep, I get to stay home all day with Ryder. Every day. I love it, I do, but that doesn't mean, I am not tired. I know, I know, I don't have to "go" to work. I could go to bed earlier, like at 8am, when he does. I could nap when he does (does he nap???) and blah, blah, blah, but, I don't. And I am tired.

I get up at least once, more often than not, twice in the night with him (hey, you can't maintain a figure like he's got without getting up in the night to eat,) I choose to walk while he naps in the stroller, or clean, or cook or fold laundry while he naps in his crib and I choose to stay up late watching crap on TV, blogging, editing pictures or talking on the phone. I know it's my own fault. I am tired. I never thought I would be. I mean I am one of those people who can normally function quite well on little sleep. I am a bit of an energizer bunny, going, going, going all the time, but the lack of sleep, after almost 7 months has caught up with me!! Fatigue is starting to mess with me. This morning, I woke up convinced it was the 15th of October. It's actually the 16th. This, I found out, after dragging both Mom and Ryder at 9:30am, 30 minutes west of Calgary to a Used Toy and Clothing Sale that was actually YESTERDAY, Oct.15th!! Ummm, what??? Am I really that messed up??? Apparently!!

Mom? Mom's been known to get her dates confused, or show up at things on the wrong day, but not me. NOT ME!!! That being said, I am glad Mom was with me. She has a great attitude about these kinds of mix ups. She just stood in the hall where we thought the sale was, staring at all the dressed up people who'd shown up to worship there, today. Sunday. The day that hall is transformed from a place where Toy sales are held, into a place of worship and laughed!! I think she was just glad it was me who had messed up the date and not her for once! Ha ha!!! I figured that all was not lost and that we could still make something productive come out of the drive. We could take the long way home and stop by the Farmer's Market..which we did, but, duh. The outdoor Farmer's Markets all end at the end of September as it gets too cold around here come October.

So, that ended up being a bust too...good thing Mom is a good sport! :)

The morning wasn't a total bust. We did drive by Dirt Face at the Farm where we stopped in to say hi. Good thing he is always there, nomatter what day or season!

I am tired and I really want to Blog, but I am going to go to bed. I will post a couple of fun pics just cause it's more fun to read Blogs with pics and then I am going to bed......apparently I need sleep....

Mom, Ryder and Scout, hangin' out.

Ryder in his car seat. He just looked so damn cute!

We will all be happy when Ryder is big enough to "chuck" the ball for Scout by himself!

THANKSGIVING

2011-10-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we celebrated Thanksgiving, Ryder's first.

It was super special to me because I got to show him how much we have to be thankful for!!!

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving this year involved food, yep, alot!

Family and friends, both furry...

..and not

A visit with my 31 year old horse

and a pumpkin suit ofcorse!

In the leaves we held a photo shoot

We laughed alot, it was a hoot

Thanksgiving this year involved giving thanks for the health of those we love

And for the love we shared of those looking down from above

Though we missed our family members who live far away

we thought about them lots on Thanksgiving day

And this celebration was super fun

because it included a special little one!!

6.5 MONTHS OLD

2011-10-04T22:32:00.000-07:00

At 6.5 months old, Ryder:
loves eating food (I make it with my "Baby Bullet")
Growls and hollers with excitement when he sees his bowl or spoon
is eating sweet potatoes, pears, apples and cereal.
does NOT like avacado
can stay in a sitting position without tumbling backwards
loves bathing in the big tub and plays with bath toys (ok, he mostly just sucks on the washcloth, but he has a bunch of cute bath toys that float around in the water with him)
still wakes up once or twice at night
goes to bed really easily around 8 or 8:30pm
can nap anywhere (stroller, crib, car seat, couch, floor...)
can sit and entertain himself for quite a while (he loves to empty containers-buckets, baskets, boxes)
puts everything in his mouth, including Scout's chew toys
interacts with Scout, smiles when he sees her, grabs at her tongue and ears and eyes and...
has decided he does not like getting dressed
enjoys a good book (mostly the taste of it)

A BOY AND HIS DOG

2011-09-30T22:02:00.001-07:00

There is nothing sweeter in my mind than a boy and his dog. Scout and Ryder have quite a bond and I love to watch them together. Ryder is beginning to interact with Scout and it is adorable. The other day, he was concentrating soo hard, trying to grab her tongue as she stood beside him panting. I laughed and laughed as he made an honest effort to grab it, but tongues are too quick for little boys still trying to figure out their limbs. Today, I wanted to snap a pic of the little cuties with their bare butts and Ryder just reached out to put his arm on Scout and she looked down at him, like she was saying, "gosh, thanks,Ryder for loving me." Adorable!!!!!

Make your own free collage

ALL CANADIAN BOY

2011-09-25T21:11:00.001-07:00

When you are Canadian and your Father is a hockey player, you learn to love hockey and Ryder will be no different. Sunday night, September 25th, Ryder went to his first NIHL hockey game in Calgary. You will notice in the pictures that Ryder is wearing an Edmonton Oilers T-Shirt (and he is grabbing his Dad's beer.) He is dressed in the orange and blue because the Calgary Flames were playing the Edmonton Oilers that night, because I dressed him and because the Oilers are "my " team. When I say, "my team" it sounds like I am a hard core fan. I am, but not the kind of fan that knows all the stats or even all the players names. I am the kind of fan that cheers for the Edmonton Oilers even though we live in Caglary and I have been to more Flames games than I have ever been to Oilers games. I am the kind of fan that cheers for the Oilers even though we personally know one of the Flames players. I am the kind of fan who cheers for the Oilers even though some of the kids of Flames players go to our school and I teach them. I am a huge Oiler fan because....my Dad was!

Even though my Dad was as American as they come, when he moved to Edmonton, he became a hockey fan, an Oiler fan. I can remember Dad taking over the TV, announcing that Hockey was what was on the agenda for the night. Forget the "Cosby Show," "Full House," "Friends, "Seinfeld" or anything else us girls might have preferred to watch. Begrudgingly, we'd grab our homework, the phone or whatever other distraction we could find and flee the room. When the Oilers played, Dad watched.

Dad would holler at the TV, sometimes cheering, sometimes cussing, but always with the passion of a man who loved his hockey team. He'd stomp his feet in disgust or in excitement as the plays unfolded and before we knew it, his cheering would become contagious. Slowly we'd drift into the livingroom. One by one we'd gravitate towards the TV and the game. Dad's enthusiasm and LOUD unignorable cheering made a fan out his three daughters. Before we knew it, we knew the players names and numbers and all about penalties and good fights and bad calls. We were Oiler fans during the Gretzky era, when the Oilers won the Stanly Cup a few times. We were fans when Craig Simpson was the league hottie. We were fans when Aimee bought a car and randomly got the bill of sale witnessed by Essa Tikkanen. We were fans when the Oilers were the best in the league...but we were also fans when things weren't so great. When the Oilers traded Gretzky, when the Oilers slowly fell from the throne and we are still fans today, during the "re building phase."

Dad never owned an Oiler jersey and I am pretty sure he never went to a game, but because he loved the Oilers, I do too and always will.

I loved being part of Ryder's first NHL hockey watching experience and I loved carting him around the arena in his Oilers shirt, but I wouldn't blame him if, when he is old enough to dress himself, he pulls on a "Canucks" jersey because the Vancouver Canucks are his Dad's team and everyone little Canadian wants to cheer for his Daddy's team...unless he becomes a Flames fan because probably all of his friends will be....LOL

Ryder, at his first NHL hockey game, sitting on his Daddy's knee.

I love that hockey games are places where you don't have to try to keep your kids quiet! Loud cheering is encouraged!!!

No, Ryder didn't drink the beer that was in this cup, but he sure loved chewing on the cup once it was empty...

Proud Papa, sharing his "love of the game" with his first born son!!

Love going to the games live!!!!

6 MONTH OLD IN BANFF

2011-09-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

Ryder turned 6 months old, Sept.20. The day itself was marked with a trip to the Public Health Nurse for his 6 month vaccinations. He weighed in at 20.14 lbs and measured 70cm. Despite my nervous anticipation, the vaccination happened without incident. It was only one shot this time instead of three and he didn't even cry. Then, because I was sooo brave, we stopped at Starbucks for a Skinny Vanilla Latte!

The next day, we had to go to the Children's Hospital as we had to see a physiotherapist for Ryder's Tortacollis. (Basically, he has a stiff neck.) This was a follow up appointment that led to a phone call with the "Head Shape Clinic." We will head to the "Head Shape Clinic" in October to see if Ryder needs to wear one of those plastic helmets to shape his head. He has a little bit of a flat spot and though Marty and I are not really worried about it, the docs and nurses around us seem to be a little concerned...we'll see what comes of his little assessment in October.

Friday, was unseasonably beautiful here in Alberta so after a morning of hanging out in the yard, we decided as a family, not to let this sunshine go to waste! We packed up the holiday trailer and headed out for one last camping adventure this summer. We hadn't really intended on stopping in Banff (the park is only an hour from our house) but the allure of the mountains, the short drive and the huge campground drew us in. It's funny, Banff is a World famous National Park, but we live so close that we NEVER camp there. Sure, we have a park pass and we hike there, we snowboard there, we go there for New years and for the occasional Stag or Staggette, but we never camp there. This weekend, we decided to. We stayed at Tunnel Mountain, a HUGE campground with all kinds of bike and hike paths, large sites and FREE fire wood!!

We set up camp, Friday evening and realized with horror that in our spontaneous haste to leave the house, we had forgotten to pack Ryder's Jolly Jumper!!!! Ryder had spent our entire 18 day road trip in August, jumping near oceans, in forests, and lake and poolside, but he wasn't going to get to "jump" in Banff! Instead we tried to come up with other fun things to do besides eating pine needles and dirt...reading wasn't as much fun, but it grew on him! :)

Saturday morning was crisp! I had bought Ryder and new tuque. He rocked it!

Once we were all properly dressed for the crisp morning, we headed out on one of the trails in the campground so Scout could pee...apparently, Marty had to pee too.....

We came across a wood pile, a cute backdrop for capturing my favorite smile!

Once the sun came out, and we had eaten a hardy campers breakfast, we headed to the base of Sulphur Mountain. There is a steep, switchback hike under the Gondola that we had decided would be the site of our adventure for the day. This was going to be Ryder's first big hike in the Baby Back pack I bought at a garage sale last weekend. Though we agreed to take turns, Marty wore the back pack all the way to the top. We stopped only once to feed Ryder and secretly, I think we were all glad for the short break. All of us except Scout. She had to be on leash and we were clearly slowing her down!!! Ryder "talked" alot on the way up, he looked around, he chewed on the toys attached to the back pack, but he did not sleep. He was not going to miss one minute of this adventure!!!

It was super windy at the top, but it was a welcome warm wind and we sat on a bench near the look out, enjoying the view we had earned.

Ryder has just begun eating SOME solid food, mostly cereal and so far only in the mornings, but he is definately interested in anything we eat. Enjoying snacks has become challenging as Ryder is determined to grab anything we are eating. The snacks at the top of this mountain were just as tempting to the little guy ever. Other than the fudgesicle Marty let him suck on and the animal crackers I let him taste, our apples were his favorite thing to drool all over.

We rode the Gondola down the mountain, which was a big "first" for both Ryder and Scout.

The rest of the day, we spent relaxing. I even got to sit in my lawnchair and read my book. I would have read a lot more of it too, had Ryder wanted to nap, but there was not one minute of this day he wanted to miss...that or, the big Starbucks I enjoyed after our hike, had enough caffeine to keep both he and I alert for the rest of the day.....LOL

We ended the evening with a trip into Banff for ice cream and a big fire in the fire pit!

Sunday, we packed up and headed home. We had a big date planned for 6pm, Ryder's first NHL hockey game. (I will write another post about that.)

EXACTLY!

2011-09-23T07:41:00.000-07:00

The following link is to a post that sums up my philosophy on teaching and child rearing 100%!!!

I am currently downing my first cup of coffee today, so I am not functioning at my own full capacity, so I am not sure if this address will work as a link or if you'll have to cut and paste it into your browser. It is a quick, happy read, so please take the time to check it out. It just might be your philosophy too!!!!!

http://magicalchildhood.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/what-should-a-4-year-old-know/

6 MONTHS

2011-09-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe how lucky I've been. For the last 6 months I have spent every single day with Ryder James Wright. Forget about him becoming a "mama's boy" I know that I have become a "boys mama." I am soo attached to him. I am finding that as his independence increases, I don't know what to do with myself. He is starting to sleep longer and longer at night though I continue to wake up and sneak into his room, just to make sure he doesn't need me. He has just started eating foods other than breast milk, though my boobs continue to fill up and wait for him to need them. (He still nurses, but he doesn't seem to be as desperate as he used to be.) He has mastered sitting, rarely wobbling over backwards, though I continue to hover over him. He has found great conversation with Scout, yes, she talks to him, though I continue to try to decifer the stories I think he's telling me.

Ryder is growing up already...time is going soo fast....I don't want to slow down time, I just want to keep soaking up every second!!!

Ryder. Sept. 20, 2011

His 6 month birthday.

Sept. 20-6months old

I was going to wait for his 6 month birthday to feed Ryder, food, but I got a "Baby Bullet" and got excited. I fed him pureed bananas a week before and yesterday, I tried giving him rice cereal. You should see him, hammer back cereal!!! I am excited, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about him not wanting to nurse anymore...I plan to keep nursing for the full year if Ryder is interested, but we'll see....

Oh, Scout loves to hover VERY close to his face...hoping for a little taste...

Today, Scout and I took Ryder for a "hike" in his new backpack.

Ryder with his best buddy, Scout!!!

5 MONTHS ALMOST GONE!!

2011-08-30T21:22:00.001-07:00

Ryder will be 6 months old in 6 days! I started writing this blog and had originally titled it, "5 and a half months old", but the month got away from me so I have just added pictures and am gonna have to make this blog all about the entire 5th month!! I intend to write more regularily so that I wont have to cram an entire month into one post.

Ryder's 5th month was one filled with firsts and that list continues to grow. I share his experiences with the pride of a happy mom, soaking up every single milestone!!!!

First time posing with his shirt over his neck with his family.

First time sitting in the shopping cart!! I really didn't think he was big enough to this, but when he got heavy in the Baby Bjorn, I tricked Marty into holding him, by saying that I just wanted to turn him around in the carrier. As soon as Marty picked him up, I grinned and began walking down the isles in Costco. Marty stood there, surrounded by giant blocks of cheese and huge tubs of sour cream, threatening to put Ryder in the cart if I didn't come back and hold him....I decided to test his willingness to follow through with his threat just to see what would happen....and to my surprise, if he was propped up between the buns and the diaper bag, he was able to sit all by himself in the shopping cart!!! Yipppeee!!! This has changed my life. See, Ryder outgrew his carseat buckte, you know the one that you can leave the baby in and put the whole carseat in the cart. Anyway, he outgrew that so early that he was in the awkward, between stage where he couldn't sit on his own, but he couldn't stay in the carseat, so all shopping involved me carrying him on my front! I love carrying Ryder as much as possible, but if I'm being honest, he is getting HEAVY!!!! Now, he can simply ride in the cart!! Wow!!

Ryder has also been working on "sitting." Here he is just trying it for the first time, yep he is falling over, but excited to be seeing the world from a whole new perspective!!!!

He is getting better and better with practice!!!

Ryder also got his very own library card!! Now I can register him for programs and we can borrow lots and lots of books without having to find a permanent place for them all!!!!

Ryder also had his first bath in the tub. He's been ready for that for a while now, but because bathing has been Marty's job, we've kept him in his blue whale tub at the kitchen sink as long as he can sqeeze into it so that Marty doesn't have to kneel down and bend over so much to bath him...but Ryder and I stayed at mom's for a few extra days and since we are both short and mom doesn't have a whale tub, he got a real bath!!!! Adorable!!

It was a month of sad firsts too..Ryder went to his first funeral in Illinois. He came with me to say goodbye to my Grandmother. She was 93 years old when she passed away and though she didn't get to meet Ryder, I hope she knows I will tell him all about her! We had to fly to Illinois to attend the funeral and though the occasion was sad, there were happy firsts on that trip too...

Ryder was read his first story in an airport by his Aunt Dic.

He met the Schoenhard Family for the first time.

Ryder with his second cousin Ryan and his daughter Lizzie.

Ryder with my cousin Andi's husband, Pic.

Ryder with Andi's daughter, Garrett

Ryder, getting his first quad ride from Andi's son, Keaton.

The entire Schoenhard Family

Ryder also got to meet 2 of his Great Aunts from my Dad's side of the family. They each drove at least 2 hours to come to the funeral to pay respect to my Grandma and to hug my mom, sisters and I and to meet Ryder and Max. My cousin came too with her beautiful twin girls who loved Ryder.

Ryder and I had our first big sleep over in a lake house in Illinois with Grandma, Auntie Dic, Auntie Aim and Max.

Ryder shared story time for the first time with his cousin, Max.

Ryan shared Grandma's knee for the first time with Max.

He had his first water slide experience with help from Pic.

He got his first VERY close up look at a bottle fed calf.

He rode his first pony with his Aunt Dic.

Ryder wore his first full "sun suit" in the backyard pool.

After Ryder spent several days meeting his extended family, he came back to Alberta and got to visit his Uncle Farn at the Fire Hall for the first time where he saw his first fire truck!!

5 MONTHS OLD

2011-08-30T20:43:00.000-07:00

Ryder turned 5 months old, August 20th while we were camping with the Farns. We found this amazing free camping down by a river where the dogs could be off leash and Ryder could jolly jump with a mountain view. We had an awesome time hangin' out and Ryder got to bond with his Aunt and Uncle!

Our awesome camp spot!!

Troy and Ryder in the river.

Scout enjoying the freedom of NO LEASH!!

Duke...just being beautiful!

Nic, kissing those yummy cheeks!!

Those cheeks are sooo kissable!!

Nic and I rockin' our "smoke hats" (to be worn at all campfires!!)

Me and Farn

Nic and Marty

NIc and Troy woke up to a flat tire. We decided to make this a "learnable moment." Nic and I, under Troy's supervision, took off the flat....

Ryder jolly jumping in the river!!

Life is good!!

Ryder, hangin' with the boys!!

Ryder, hangin' with girls too....

Road Trip -Part 5 - Back to Canada

2011-08-25T15:20:00.001-07:00

We headed for Penticton and Marty's best friend's mom and dad's place. They were going to let us camp in their driveway for the next few days while Marty and his best friend took part in pre wedding responsibilites...you know, golf, floating the channel, dinners and other groomsmen stuff. Ryder and I hung out soaking up amazing hospitality and the odd dip in the backyard pool.

Saturday we went to the wedding where Ryder was a hit. Not only did he look super cute in his little button up shirt, but he was the happiest little guy! He flirted with anyone who tried to make him smile and even got a few kisses from some two year old cuties!! He fell asleep in time for me to eat supper but woke up again in time to dance with Marty and I to his favorite country song, Sugarland's "Stuck like Glue."

We headed for home Sunday, after a delicious breakfast of blueberry topped waffles! We drove for an hour before stopping in Kelowna to get one last hug for Ryder from his Grandma and Grandpa (Marty's folks) and then hit the road, determined to make it home that day no matter how long it took. We hit Revelstoke and saw a sign saying that the highway east of Golden was closed. We called mom who googled road closures and told us the info on the internet suggested that the highway would be open again by 9pm. NO problem! We wouldn't even make Golden until then, but once we arrived, we learned that the highway would not be opening again until 1am. At this point it was raining and dark. We decided to just pull over, and because we could, camp on the side of the road. I have never been more greatful for our holiday trailer than I was that night. It was soo easy to just run from the cab of our truck into the trailer into our already made beds!!!

We made it home, Monday by noon! Vacation was over, Ryder's first road trip a huge success!!!

Road Trip-part 4- Twin Harbour State Park

2011-08-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

August 7th, we drove to Twin Harbour State Park, near the tiny fishing town of Westport, Washington. The park was huge and after being turned away at the first couple of places we tried, we were greatful for a spot basically right on the ocean. We spent lots of time walking on the beach, throwing the ball for Scout and just soaking up all that is "The Coast!"

This was where I lost my 19 dollar Walmart shoes. They were cheap shoes, but they were the ones I had worn every day the whole trip! I loved them! I thought they were attached to the diaper bag as we walked barefoot on the beach. When I went to get the camera out of the bag, I realized the shoes were gone. They must have fallen off and been swept out to sea! I was dissapointed, but greatful they were just cheap shoes....but on the way back up the beach, Scout found them!! She was chasing her ball when she got distracted by something. As we approached, I discovered she was sniffing my shoes!!!! They were soaking wet and full of sand, but they had washed back on shore!! If only they could talk!! They must have had quite a little adventure!! My shoes were not the only things that washed up on shore while we were exploring the beach. After a bike ride into Westport to check out the fishing boats, and after a yummy dinner made on the camp stove, we went back to walk on the beach before bed. The beach was nearly empty, so when we saw a little bird being tossed around by the surf, I couldn't just stand there and hope someone else would do something! I couldn't stand to see it flop around, gasping for air, trying desperately to fly out of the water.

Right or Wrong, I decided to try to save it!! I handed Ryder to Marty, I stripped off my shoes, rolled up my pants, grabbed Scout's "chuck it" and headed into the water. Damn, it was cold, but for some reason, it didn't bother me the way it had earlier when I was trying to just wade in. I was focused on the little birdie and the huge tumbling waves. I used the chuck it as an extension of my arm, reaching as far into the surf as I could. I couldn't scoop the bird up, but I could use the chuck it to hopefully, gently fling the bird to the dry beach. After several attempts I managed to get the bird on the beach. It hopped around trying to fly, but couldn't quite catch it's breath. Marty and I piled seaweed and sand around three sides of it, creating a wind barrier in hopes to allow it time to recover from it's journey at sea. We talked to the bird and tried to care for it the only way we knew how without actually touching it. We left the beach that night, hoping the bird would miraculously find it's strength and venture into the blue, blue sky....it didn't. The next morning we saw it a few feet from the shelter we had created, resting in peace...poor little guy! Perhaps I should have just left the bird in the water and allowed nature to take it's course, allowed God to carry out his plan. Maybe then, things would have ended differently for this little creature..but I hadn't. My own instincts had taken over and I selfishly needed to "save the bird!" Ugh, I felt soo sad!!

We left the next morning and headed to Tacoma, Washington. We were hoping they'd have a good mall as we were almost out of the USA and had not done any shopping yet. We found a mall, put Scout in the trailer with the Air conditioning blasting in the parking lot and headed inside...disspointment!! The mall wasn't anything special, but we did enjoy our lunch at the food court. After filling our bellies, we headed for Winatchee National Forest and camped at Kachess Lake in the mountains. It was an amazing spot, soo beautiful!!!

We decided to take advantage of the scenery and walk around the lake. It was time for Ryder to attempt being "worn" on my back. My shoulders are in a constant state of fatigue from wearing him on my front...he is just getting soo heavy. Marty helped me strap him in the Baby Hawk, on my back and as he was leashing Scout a jet passed overhead. The jet was super close and super LOUD!!!! The noise scared Ryder and he lost his mind..I lost mine too as he was on my back, too far away for me to hold him close and console him. I frantically undid the straps and scooted him around front so I could hug and hold him. Once he had calmed down, Marty insisted I try the back carry again. We didn't get very far before Ryder began protesting...he just wasn't happy or ready to be back there. I was determined to finish our walk, but I had to admit Ryder was just too heavy to carry in my arms over tree roots and stumps for that long. Marty suggested I kind of balance him in the baby hawk, facing out, just to help take some of the "load" off my arms..I did, but I wasn't happy about it. I love "wearing" Ryder, but we are at that in between stage, where he is too heavy for the front, but not ready to be worn on my back.

After Ryder went to bed inside the trailer, Marty and I enjoyed our first fire of the whole trip. For us Albertans, it was weird to not even feel like having a fire most nights as it was just too hot. That NEVER happens when camping in Alberta. EVery night a campfire is a must have. NOt just for the yummy s'mores that almost always get cooked over the fire, but to keep warm! We had a couple drinks, listened to the Hag, on the ipod stero and shared our favorite parts of the trip so far. I had not had the opportunity to shower for three days now and still we had not located a campsite with running water!!! I went to bed, after that smokey fire in desperate need of a shower!!!!

We left Kachess Lake at 9:30am and arrived at Petaros at 12:15. We had lunch in a park by the lake and cuddled with Scout.

After lunch, we learned there were no campsites in Petaros. We actually decided to backtrack half an hour to Chelan Lake as we heard that was an amazing place to camp....only to discover there was no vacancy anywhere!!! We decided we had no choice but to push on until we came to a place that had camping, hopefully before the Canadian Border....We hit Omak, but it was their stampede weekend, so the place was a zoo and ofcorse no camping left!! We stopped there long enough to feed Ryder and have a quick snack ourselves. We arrived at Osoyoos Lake State Park, at 8:20pm. They had vacancy and I finally got to have a shower!

This was one of those campgrounds where everyone is pretty close together, but it is right on a lake so I could see the appeal of the families that obviously came here for a whole week or two to boat and swim and tube! The weather was beautiful and the showers were awesome!!!

In the morning, we'd head for Canada!!!!

Road Trip part 3-Fort Stevens....

2011-08-18T19:24:00.000-07:00

We left Hood River and headed for the Washington Coast. Plan A had been to drive the Oregon Coast, but we had to be in Penticton for a wedding Aug.13th and we wern't gonna have enough time to drive the Oregon Coast. Turns out the Washington Coast is not as picturesque nor as beautiful as the Oregon one, but the point of driving the coast was to see the Ocean and see the Ocean we did!!

Our first stop was Ft. Stevens State Park. OMG! Beautiful park!!! The kiteboarders at Hood River had told us about this spot. They said when the wind dies at Hood, they all go to Fort Stevens. What they didn't tell us was that the campground in this park books up a year in advance for the summer season! There was no camping when we got there, but that didnt' stop us from checking out the beach. The miles and miles of empty beach on the ocean! Scout and I were like animals who had just been released from a cage. We ran and ran and ran on that beach, enjoying the freedom of all that space!!!!!

Poor Scout couldn't figure out why the water tasted sooo bad. She'd run until she was dying of thirst and every time she'd take a huge gulp of water out of the ocean, you could see the question mark in her eyes: Why? Why does this water taste like shit??? Lol! She did it every time, she just couldn't figure it out.

Fort Stevens is an amazing state park with tonnes of beaches and paths and hiking and biking. We checked out a couple of the beaches in the park. On our way from one to the other, Marty didn't feel like taking Ryder out of the Baby Bjorn, so, for the first time, Ryder got to "drive!"

At Parking Lot B, the parking lot, the kiteboarders had told us about, Ryder touched the Ocean for the first time. It was damn cold, but he felt the waters, with Marty's help. Fort Stevens was the first place Ryder and Scout saw the ocean! It was as special time for our family and a super fun one!!!

Ryder, holding a crab claw...

All four of us made footprints in the sand

Since we were unable to camp at Fort Stevens, we drove until we saw a campground with vacancy. Near the town of Long Beach, Washington, we found an RV park. This was the kind of RV park that had all the hook ups you could ever want. The kind of RV park that handed you a TV guide when you pulled in. The kind of RV park that charged 40 bucks a night and had a fenced dog park. The kind of RV park that was 25 meters from 28 miles of beach!!!! WE could only afford to stay there one night and we only did because it was right ON the beach and because everything else was full. It was here I learned that the beaches along the ocean are WAY better than the beaches at lakes. These ocean beaches are fun and free and there are no rules! You can have bon fires, you can let your dog run free and you can even drive on them!!

We spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach. Ryder got to sit in the sand and take it all in...

There was an outdoor shower at the RV park, perfect for washing the sand off kids and dogs! After rinsing off, we headed into the town of Long Beach for some ice cream. Yummmy!! Ryder and I spent the rest of our 40 dollar night, up every 2 hours! His worst night of the trip..wonder if it had anything to do with the ice cream????

Road Trip part two USA-Oregon

2011-08-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

We made the American Border late in the evening. I had been all worried about the food in our fridge and our dog food and various other things, I'd heard you were not able to take across the border, but the only thing we had to throw out were our green peppers...oh and the fire wood Marty has been hauling around for over a year. Every time we go camping, he loads the wood we had left over from the last fire we had in hopes that we'll burn it. It's been over a year!!! Anyway, the border crossing official made us carry each piece out of the box of the truck, back to the fence that divided the USA from Canada and dump it. Yep, just dump the wood on the other side of the fence...weird!

We camped at Sullivan Lake at the Noisey Creek campground. It was a chilly evening with lots of mosquitos, but we made ourselves at home for the night. In the morning we woke up and took Scout and Ryder for an early morning hike near the lake.

It was a great way to start the day. Looking back I am glad we got some "activity" in early as it turned out to be a very long travel day. One that involved another Ryder poo explosion in his car seat! I was tired and grumpy by the end of that day, so I was really happy when we finally pulled into a campsite in Plymouth Washington that had full hookups! I soo needed a shower and was desperate to do laundry.

Ryder's laundry was really starting to smell and so was he, so Marty agreed to take him to the shower with him. I went to. I stood in the change area of the shower stall and sudsed up Ryder while Marty held him. Once he was squeaky clean, I wrapped Ryder in a towel and went to sneak out of the stall so Marty could finish showering and so I could diaper Ryder before he peed all over. I opened the stall and...there was a guy standing at the urinal. I slammed the shower stall door closed, embarrassed. I gave the guy a few minutes, then quietly creaked the door open again, but the guy was still standing there! Clearly he had seen me and now had stage fright. I waited and waited, hoping Ryder wouldn't pee on me and listened for the heavy door to the Men's bathroom to close. Eventually it did and I could escape....awkward!

Once Ryder and Marty were clean, I had a quick shower and headed to do laundry. Funny how desperate one becomes to do laundry when several pairs of baby shorts are brimming with poo!!

Ryder happily "bouncing" in the RV park!

In an effort to keep out of the trailer so Marty (our driver) could sleep, I tried to take some cute pics. I propped Ryder up against Scout and to my surprise, he put his own arm over her and she stayed put!! Once Marty woke up, we packed things up and headed for Hood River, Oregon. We were super excited to get there as this was the destination where Marty would get to kiteboard. Hood River is known for it's wind, guarenteed wind and Marty couldn't wait to get his kite up in the air!

One of the greatest things about driving up the coast, aside from the scenery, were the drive through espresso places. Tiny little shacks/cabins that had a drive up window and served smoothies and coffees. We loved the mystery of where we were gonna get our daily java (lattee for me and smoothie for Marty)but we were never dissapointed. The only trouble with java on the go, as opposed to java before you go, is that it makes me gotta go...if you get my drift. This particular day, I couldnt' wait for a rest stop or gas station. My urge to go was urgent, so Marty pulled over on the side of the highway so I could run back to the bathroom in the trailer!!! Have I mentioned yet, how much I love having a trailer?????

Hood River was my favorite destination in the US. The city is quaint, tourist and dog friendly. The wind was perfect and the temperature warm! The only trouble with Hood River are the trains!! They run constantly right along the Columbia River blowing their horns at all hours of the day and night. WE found this out the hard way. The lesson we learned was, any time you pull into an otherwise full campground and feel lucky enough to get a beautiful site right on the river, you should wonder why? Why are you so "lucky?" I'll tell you why: the train pretty much runs right through your camper blowing it's horn when it hits your pillow!! The first time we heard the train whistle, I was feeding Ryder outside in a lawn chair. He absolutely lost his mind. I have never heard him cry like that. He was shaking he was so scared. I guess he just got startled, big time!!! After that we decided we'd have to move campgrounds. Ryder couldn't take the whistle and truth be told, neither could we. We had paid for two nights in advance, to stay there at Viento State Park, but after the first one, we decided just to donate our 20 dollar fee...not worth staying there at all!!

Marty's Dad and his wife, Trish, joined us in Hood River. They left their home in Kelowna on their motorcycle, pulling behind them the coolest little tent trailer.

We ended up all moving to Tucker Park Campground. A quiet oasis far away from the train. Debbie was the campground hostess and she was awesome!! There was a little hike down to the river where we found a cool little piece of private beach.

Jim and Trish had brought their little yorkie puppy, Angel with them. She and Scout are great friends. Watching them play together is hilarious!! They play hard and they sleep hard when they are together!

Marty and Ryder played hard too...but I didn't get any good pics of Marty kite boarding, it's just too hard with Ryder and Scout under my supervision.

It was easy enough to get pics of Marty watching the other kite boarders...

The rest of us tried to get a little exercise in too...

On the last day, Marty, Ryder, Scout and I found hiked to a waterfall that had a beautiful pool at the top that you could swim in. I had Ryder, in his carrier, so I didn't swim, but Marty did. It was the kind of pool, you basically had to jump off the cliff to get into. Marty surveyed the area for a bit before taking the plunge. Scout was right there by his side and when he jumped, I was sure she was gonna follow him in. She wanted to, but she chickened out! She ran across the top of the cliffs, crying and whining, wanting to join him. I have never seen her display such intense loyalty!! Eventually she found a place that only required a small leap and she took it! She swam right into Marty's arms. When it was time to get out, he had to help her as there was no real steps out. Adorable!!!

Looking back, Hood River was a place I wish we had stayed!! Saying Bye to that place was tough, but we knew we had many more adventures ahead of us. Jim and Trish headed back to BC and Marty, Scout, Ryder and I continued up the coast.

ROAD TRIP!!

2011-08-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

We are back from our 18 day road trip and what a trip it was!!! We left here July 28th and headed for Fernie B.C. We spent the night at the Fernie Provincial Campground...in overflow camping. We were soo excited to camp in our "new to us" holiday trailer that it didnt' matter that we didn't have a fire pit.

After a meal of smokies, baked beans and chips, cooked over the stove, we enjoyed time with Ryder in our arms in lawn chairs, walks with Scout and just soaked up the first night of holidays!!

Eventually, exhausted we climbed into bed. We had bought a "sleep donut," for Ryder.

Ofcorse it is called that but it comes with a disclaimer advising against letting babies actually "sleep" in it. We got the thing in the mail days before we left and had no plan "B," so slept in it he did on the bed under the window (the one that starts as a table and turns into a bed,) despite the over protective warning. Marty and I snuggled into the queen mattress on the big bed and Scout had her bed on the floor by the door. It was cozy and I went to sleep thinking that everything I loved most in this world was right there with me in that tiny space!!

The next morning we woke up early, and headed for the ski hill. In the summer they downhill bike there and Marty was anxious to get out on his Yeti.

After my big accident last spring, I was quite content to stay in the parking lot, at the trailer with Scout and Ryder. It was hot and when, Scout and I were not walking, pushing, Ryder in the chariot, we hung out in the shade we made at the trailer. I got pretty good at making shade by tying blankets to the stroller and whatever else was around.

It was here, in the parking lot at Mount Fernie, that I experienced my "Mother of the Year" moment. I had just returned from a walk and Ryder was sleeping in the chariot. I had to pee, so I parked the chariot outside the trailer and ran inside to use the bathroom. (Have I mentioned how much I love having a trailer????) anyway, when I came out, the chariot was rolling mock chicken, backwards down the parking lot with Ryder inside!!! I had to sprint after it!! Ooops, guess that's why those strollers have a brake!!

Marty biked for half the day, then we loaded everything back up and headed for Nelson, BC. In Nelson we met Marty's cousins and Aunt and Uncle at the Nelson city campground where we had full hook ups (for the first time we got to enjoy unlimited electricity and water in our trailer, even the microwave worked!!) The weather in Nelson was beautiful, hot! WE spent one afternoon at the beach...well, Marty, Scout, Ryder, Auntie Grace and I were at the dog beach while everyone else hung out at the real beach. The dog beach was actually really nice. It was quiet there and since our kid was too young to play in the sand anyway, it was perfect for us. Marty even dipped Ryder's toes in the water (it was super cold, too cold for him to go any deeper.)

I built another shade area for Ryder so that I could soak up the sun without him getting burned..

It was so hot that Marty's cousin went out and bought a kiddie pool. The kids had fun playing in it...again it was a little too cold for Ryder, but he still got his feet wet. The kids loved splashing around until one of the little cousins, pooped in the pool! Ewww!!!

Ok, it was pretty damn funny! Marty even took a pic, just so you all could be grossed out too!

The time in Nelson was special because we hardly ever get to see Marty's cousins and for once we were all there together!! The entire weekend was about family!!!

Marty's cousins were competing in the Triathlon, so Sunday morning, we woke up early and headed down to the beach to cheer them on!! LOL While watching, Ryder had a major poo explosion (Alexis calls them a "poocano," while I was "wearing him!" I was just standing cheering, when all of the sudden I felt something running down my leg!!

Marty grabbed, Ryder out of the Baby Bjorn and Alexis, bless her heart, came over and cleaned the whole mess up...she did it with a big smile on her face! She is awesome!! I was grossed out! I had brought extra clothes for Ryder, but not for me! I spent the rest of the day in shitty shorts!! Eww!

It was so inspiring watching them swim, bike, run and cross the finish line! I left almost motivated enough to take swimming lessons myself...almost!

That afternoon, we left Nelson and headed for the USA!!! I will write about that tomorrow...G'night!

4 MONTHS!!!

2011-07-24T13:25:00.000-07:00

Ryder turned 4 months old, July 20th. That day marked more vaccinations and a weigh in. Yep, he's a healthy, huge, 18.25lbs!!! While last week marked a lot of "firsts" for Ryder, this week has been more about firsts for me.

For the first time since he was born, I have felt comfortable to leave the house while he is napping. I even got some weeding done, trusting the baby monitor for once. I finally went for a 5km jog, two nights in a row and I got back on my bike. I discovered that after 9 months of pregnancy and 4 months after giving birth, I am still able to vault on my horse bareback and I even went for a ride! I have been enjoying this new burst of energy and this small stage of letting go...a little!

Ryder did have some firsts this week too.

First time for nice enough weather to hang out on lawn with Scout!

First time wearing big cousin Max's hand me down Tonka shirt!!!

Not the first time for mamma's kisses.....but I posted the picture anyway...

He got his first "Sophie " the giraffe, whom he can hold and chew on!

First time stopping napping on the coffee table in the bouncy seat and started napping in his crib...in the bouncy seat, in his crib

he got his first "big boy" car seat (he has offcially outgrown the "bucket,") No pics of that though....

he went for his first bike ride in the chariot behind Marty's bike

First time surfing Kijiji for chain saws with Marty....and he learned to stick out his tongue, though I am not quick enough to get a pic of that yet.....

SO MUCH LOVE

2011-07-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

I just put Ryder down to bed in his crib after staring at him in my arms for the last hour. Sometimes my heart just swells with so much love that I think it is going to burst! Sometimes I am so happy I wanna cry!! It is amazing how someone so small, can captivate us the way he can. Marty and I spent a long time this evening laying on our bed with Ryder between us just watching him. We were entertained forever admiring him as he grabbed the soother from Marty and attempted to put it in his own mouth. He was sometimes slow and methodical, staring at the right end of it before bringing it carefully down to his mouth, only to end up with the wrong part of it between his lips, leaving the "sucking" end to poke him in the nose. Other times he'd grab the soother from Marty and try the fast and furious approach, shoving it towards his face. Once in a while he'd actually achieve success resulting in cheers from both Marty and I. Just watching him think and figure things out is sooo cool.

16 WEEKS

2011-07-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

Ryder's 16th week of life coincided with the infamous Calgary Stampede! The whole city was caught up in Country spirit and Ryder and I were no different. Our stampede spirit took us to the Farm to visit Dirt and soak up some authentic "country!"

My handsome little cowboy!

Ofcorse we did head down to the Stampede grounds so Ryder could check out all that is "Stampede!"

Ryder's 16th week of life was a busy one filled with FIRSTS!!! Mom and I took Ryder on his FIRST plane ride to Colorado to visit Aim, Max and Shane.

At the airport with Ryder

The plane was tiny, like crazy tiny! Good thing, Marty, wasn't with us, he never would have fit!! The roof was low, the aisle was tight, the seats were miniscule, they didn't even recline and the bathroom was built for a midget!! I noticed right away that there was no change table in the bathroom. The ride was only 2 hours so I crossed my fingers and hoped Ryder wouldn't have any major need for a diaper change until we landed. HA!!!! Three very full diapers later we landed in Denver!! A diaper change on a plane, in a bathroom with no change table looks a little like this: Me on kneeling on the floor holding onto Ryder who is balanced on the toilet lid with his head hanging over the edge. Mom standing in the aisle of the plane with the bathroom door open armed with wipes, diapers, vaseline, blanket and other accessories necessary for a diaper change. I opened the first diaper and like a surgen calling to his nurse, I hollered to mom, "more wipes...and keep 'em coming..." It was a messy job, but we handled it quick and made our way back to our seats. Not 5 minutes later, we found oursleves back in the bathroom, changing the second VERY FULL diaper. After returning to our seats, Ryder puked on mom, and promptly followed that with a loud grunt, a beet red face and another full diaper!! Mom and I made the collective decision to wait until we landed before tackling our third poopy diaper in 2 hours.

Aim met us at the airport and drove us to her home where Shane met Ryder for the first time

and we got to hug Max!!! We spent the next three days soaking up the Colorado sunshine, Max's happy babbling, his loud laughter, very muddy hands and lots of sisterly love!!! It was in Colorado that Ryder experienced many of his "firsts...."

The highlight of the weekend, was the time we spent swimming in Aim's neighbours pool. Carol is a 77 year old woman who lives down the street. At the beginning of summer she sends out invitations, inviting the neighbourhood children to swim at her pool. If her back gate is open, the pool is OPEN!!!

Aim, Max, Ryder and I in the warm pool on a hot day!

This was Ryder's FIRST time swimming!

I was too chicken to dunk Ryder, so Aim volunteered to do it. First time being dunked!

Gramma bought him the cutest swim trunks!! FIRST swim trunks!

Carol had a floatie the perfect size for a 16 week old Baby! Ryder's first pool floatie!!

Aim bought his "swim shirt." Adorable!! FIRST swim shirt!

There was a hammock in Aim's yard. Looks like Ryder is sitting in it by himself, but he's on Aim's lap. First hammock!!

We went to the park every morning. Ryder even got to try out his FIRST swing!!!

Ryder also decided it was time to start "standing." He felt like such a big boy. First time "walking."

Mom bought the boys matching PJs!! FIRST matching PJs!!!!

Mom spent all weekend soaking up all that it means to be a "GRANDMA!!"

Thanks, Aim for an awesome weekend!!!

PS not sure how to make this underlining stop......

15 WEEKS

2011-07-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

This week, Ryder went to the zoo for the first time. He slept through most of the visit, but I got to see elephants, the new baby giraffe, Jengo, and the hippos! We ate lunch in the sunshine with some friends at a picnic table by the elephants and we bought a season's pass.

He woke up as we were leaving. This photo is taken at the gate as we left the zoo...

Ryder also got to see his Grandmas and his Grandpa.

Ryder on the deck with Grandpa

Grandma T got to bath Ryder

Ryder got to snuggle with Grandma J

Check out that bald head...Ryder's not mom's LOL

Ryder got to see his first cowboy hats as the boys got ready for Stampede!

And he got babysat by his Auntie Dic and Uncle Farn. This was a HUGE deal..for me, not so much for Ryder. I was attending a photography workshop with mom. We were going to learn to take pictures of horses. I was excited for the clinic, but a very nervous mom. I have not left Ryder for any length of time at all and I have not left him with anyone but Marty for more than an hour. I had pumped milk, showed Nic and Troy how to use the baby bjorn, the car seat, where the soothers, diapers and wipes were and made them PROMISE to answer all of my crazy "how's it going?" texts. Still, I had troubles walking out the door. Turns out, they couldn't wait for me to leave so they could have fun with their nephew. Once at the clinic, during introductions, I made sure everyone knew I was a new mom, leaving my son with babysitters for the first time and that if I was distracted or checking my phone I was not intentionally being rude, I was just being a new mom. I got several texts over the four hours each one accompanied by a photo of the fun the Farns were having wiht their nephew....gotta admit, the pics made me laugh. I was actually able to enjoy the photo clinic, knowing Ryder was in fun hands!

GROSS!!

2011-07-04T19:17:00.000-07:00

Have you ever squeezed your nose together and been stabbed by a sharp booger?? That is what happened to me on the way to the Farm tonight. Scout and I were heading out for our "girl time," going to ride Dirt Face, when I itched my nose and got poked with the jagged edge of a booger. Irritated, I started digging. Yep, digging in my nose like a 5 year old, trying to scrape out this giant, pointy piece of snot. I had made very little progress by the time I reached the farm, so abandoned the mission. We had a great time running through the fields away from mosquitos. Scout and I got back in the truck, memories of the contents of my nose replaced by those of happy horse riding. I pulled onto the main road and my nose memories came flooding back, literally! Blood began gushing out of my one nostril. I squashed my hand against my face, trying to catch the blood and looked frantically for a place to pull over! As soon as I could, I pulled into a driveway, rummaged through my console for kleenex, relieved that I had some and began the task of trying to open the mini dollar store packages of tissue. Those things are sealed up like Fort Knox...at least they seem like it when your trying to open them with one hand. Eventually I had to grab an empty ziplock bag, and let my nose drip into that so that I could pull my hand away from my face and use it to help my left hand with the stupid plastic around the kleenex! By the time the whole "crisis" was done, I had blood on my shirt, spread across my face, all over both hands and in a ziplock bag! Ewwwwwwwww! Thank God it all that blood was from a nose bleed and not anything serious!!

Lesson Learned: Don't Pick your nose! Not when your 5 and not when your 35!!!!!!

14 WEEKS

2011-07-04T11:25:00.001-07:00

At 14 weeks old, Ryder went on his first camping trip! It was the "Maiden Voyage"in our "new to us" holiday trailer too! We headed west of Sundre with some really good friends to find the perfect camp spot! We drove down dusty gravel roads until we came to a beautiful spot right by a river. We cut out own fire wood and had the BEST time!!

Happy Canada Day!!!!!

We all got tattoos for Canada Day, even Ryder!

Made in Canada!!

Just before we left, I bought a chariot from a teacher at my school. (She gave us a great deal on it.) We brought it camping, it handled the rough terrain great!!

Some of us sat in lawn chairs, some of us sat in Bumbos!!

Ryder was sooo easy to take camping, especially since his food is very portable!! Here I am feeding him at the Big Horn Falls!

He is big enough to face out in the Baby Bjorn now!! His hat was a little too big, so I had to fold it up so he could see, but that meant his face got a little sun, ooops.

Happy Camper!!

Happy Family!!! Scout ditched us to hang with the kids that came camping with us. I am sure she felt like she was in heaven with all the kids throwing balls and sticks for her!!

Now that he's got it figured out, the Jolly Jumper goes everywhere with us, even out west!!

Ryder was a natural little camper!! He just "rolled" with everything we did! He would fall asleep in the arms of one of the kids at the fire pit, then around midnight, I'd feed him and put him to sleep in the bouncy seat on the floor right by our bed. I wanted him in our bed, but Marty insisted this Queen size mattress was too small for the three of us. We started with him on the other bed, you know the "table turned into bed" but he was right under the window and when I checked on him, his little hands were freezing!! I tried to sneak him into our bed, but Marty woke up and wouldn't let that happen..party pooper! LOL Anyway, I set him in the bouncy seat, wrapped in blankets, right beside Scout, who was in her own bed right by the door. We all slept super well the first night!!! The second night, after sooo much fresh air, Ryder James slept for 7.5 hours straight!!!!! That is the first time that has ever happened!!! Was it the bouncy seat?? The company of Scout right beside him? The fresh air? I don't know but it was amazing!!!!! I did NOT sleep for 7.5 hours. I still woke up at 1 and 3 and 5 am wondering if he was still breathing! By 7:38am, when he finally stirred my boobs were soooo hard, I thought they were gonna pop right off my body! Thank God he was ready to eat!!!! Last night, after we got home, I was sooo tempted to just put him back to sleep in the bouncy chair, but, I didn't. He slept in his crip for 5 hours straight, which is still pretty good for my hungry little man!!!

All in all, the camping trip was so much fun!! I can't wait to go again!!!

13 WEEKS

2011-06-25T14:01:00.001-07:00

Ryder spent his 13th week, loving the jolly jumper (I gotta get a pic of that!!) He hasn't quite figured out how to really make it bounce yet, but he moves his feet and squeals with delight (I can't believe I dont' have a picture...)

Ryder came with me to take Scout to the vet yesterday. Turns out the poor girl has a little incontinence! She isn't even 3 years old yet! Boo! WE got some meds to help "tighten" things up a little, here's hoping they work so I don't end up with both a baby and a dog in diapers!!

Ryder was also my date for the Grade 8 Farewell. I had promised all the kids I'd come back with my little guy to see them "graduate" from our school. What a special night for them, I can't believe how much they've grown when I first met them in gr.5! Ryder was sooo quiet and patient all night! He never fussed and he even drank a bottle of ice cold breast milk! I had packed it in a cooler (I didn't want to nurse him at school) and when it was time for him to eat, one of the other teachers wanted to feed him. We didn't even heat up the bottle, he just gulped it down right out of the cooler. That was his first COLD milk shake! LOL Clearly he is not a picky eater!!!!

Ryder had his first majoy "poo blow out!!" I mean I had to cut his onesie off, for fear of getting poo on his face if I tried to pull it over his head! Ewwww

Ryder still has bath time with Dad every night. They crank the tunes and Ryder splashes away in his plastic whale tub on the kitchen counter wile Marty talks in a high pitched voice, tickles his son and dances when good old Michael Jackson comes on!!

My handsome date for gr.8 farewell

Another rainy day photo shoot

Silly boys getting ready for bath!

BEDTIME SURPRISE!!

2011-06-21T16:21:00.000-07:00

I had a great visit with the ladies from our Baby Group today. It is soo great getting together with other moms who have babies the same age as Ryder. I always tell him we are going to visit friends he had before he was even born as these are the moms from our pre natal class. We lined the kids up on the couch and took pictures of them all sitting propped up with pillows. Ryder is by far the baldest and the chubbiest and ofcorse, I think, the cutest!! He was the happiest, squealing with delight at all the new things (he tried the jolly jumper and a fancy bouncy seat) but he was also the spit uppiest too, puking all over the adorable outfit he was debuting.

We spent 3 hours sharing baby talk and yes, the talk did turn to sleep and sleep habits. What I love about his group, and didn't give them enough credit for during my rant in yesterday's "sleep blog", is that everyone of these ladies is pretty honest. Surprise!! When it got down to it, every one of them admitted that though they may have posted on Facebook from time to time, that their baby had slept through the night, it was just that, sleeping through the night from time to time. Once we really got talking about it, there were others who confessed to bringing their babies to bed and some who even sleep with them all night! Turns out we are all rebels, thinking we should be obsessed about sleep and doing it "right" but really arn't!! :) Great minds think alike!

BEDTIME

2011-06-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

It's 10pm and after sitting in my chair with Ryder asleep on my chest for an hour, I finally put him in his crib.

OMG, I put him in his crib at 10pm, after he fell asleep on my boob and slept snuggled up to me for an hour! If you are a sleep expert you are cringing right now, arn't you? You are thinking that I am committing every "sleep stealer" sin possible. I know you think this because I have been reading "sleep" books lately. I am not reading these "sleep" books because I am concerned about Ryder's sleep, but because I feel like I am supposed to.

Infact, just a few minutes ago a Mom from our baby Group, emailed an entire sleep book to all of us, bragging about how the tips in the book were working for her. Apparently, it only took three nights to get her little one sleeping from bedtime until morning without waking. I know some of the other moms will be scouring this document, desperate to be competative in the race to be the first ones to get their babies sleeping all night.

Every morning, after getting up at least once or twice to feed Ryder, I check facebook and read all the posts by other moms boasting that their baby "slept through the night," or that they got "6 hours of sleep in a row!" It seems like everyone I know who has a baby right now is obsessed with "sleep." I am NOT...not yet anyway.

Ryder is only three months old. He is soo little, so young and he won't be for long. He wont want to fall asleep cuddled up on my chest at night forever. How many Moms of grown children do you talk now, who say, "don't listen to people who say you'll spoil them if you hold them too much," or " hold them as much as you can, they grow soooo fast," or "don't worry about spoiling them, hold them, cuddle them and snuggle as much as you can, I wish I had." I have never met a high school student who still needs their mom to rock them to sleep every night. Somehow all of that makes all my cuddling, snuggling and other "sleep sinning" things I am indulging in now, justifiable.

I am lucky, I guess, that I don't have to go back to work yet. I have a whole year to "teach"Ryder how to sleep independently. I feel for those moms, like my sister, who had to go back to work when their children were so young. I understand that they have to get their children sleeping so that they can get enough sleep to be successful at their careers and as a moms. (My sister did an awesome job at "teaching" her son without making him "cry it out" to sleep on his own and I appreciate her advice and will one day, when I am ready, use it.

Right now though, I am not worried about being tired, or about me getting enough sleep. I am still in the honeymoon phase where I love seeing Ryder's happy little face in his crib when he needs me at night. He also goes right back to sleep after he feeds, which makes the time we spend together, just the two of us in the quiet of the night, so pleasant and positive. We wake up usually at 2 or 3am and then again at 5 or 6. At 6am, I bring him into bed with me, nurse him there, then let him sleep on my chest. GASP! I bring him into my bed! GASP! I let him sleep on me! Some of you may be thinking, "just wait...she'll regret this." But I am convinced that I won't. So far, actually, I feel like this 5am, "bring him to my bed" thing is the smartest thing I've done. Finally, we all get to sleep until 8am. When we get up, we are all happy. 8am is a much better time to start our day, than 5 or even 6am! How will I regret all the skin to skin time I still get to have with Ryder. How will I ever regret watching my beautiful baby boy sleep so soundly, happily and peacefully without tears or fear? How will I regret that I didn't put him in his crib and listen to him cry and cry and cry?

I know, that according to all of the sleep experts (real or self-proclaimed,) that I am doing everything wrong, so remind me, in a few months when I desperately want Ryder to sleep by himself, that I said this, but I am glad I have chosen to "screw the experts." I nurse my baby to sleep, allow him to sleep on my chest and to put him into his crib already sound asleep knowing full well that I am not "supposed to." So far this is working for us, and why would I fix it if it aint broken? Tomorrow, I am meeting with the moms from our baby group and when the discussion moves to the subject of sleep, I will sit back, listen to the stressed out bunch who are trying to get their tiny babies to spend 8 hours in a room all by themselves without the only people they trust coming to them and be happy that I dont' have to wait a full 6 or 8 hours to see Ryder's smiling face.......

DISCLAIMER: I am sure there will come a time when I write about the trials and tribulations of putting Ryder to bed.....I won't blame you if you say, "I told you so...." LOL

FATHER'S DAY

2011-06-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

Today is Father's Day. It's a sad, day for me. We celebrated almost 23 Father's Days together. We spent these days spoiling our Dad, being sure to make sure he had time to himself, though knowing what we do now, I bet we'd all trade that "time to himself" for one more day all together. Dad's Father's Days were filled with tradition (giving Dad home made gifts, key chains and pencil holders,) celebrating, (group rides on the motorcycle and "turn overs"on the couch), Family Time (BBQ dinner, French Fries) and home made Root Beer! I am mourning the past....

Today is Father's Day. It's a happy, happy day for us as it's Marty's first as a Father! We spent the day hangin' as a family, giving Ryder time with just Dad and allowing Marty time to himself, so he could work in the garage on his Land Cruiser. This day will be filled with tradition, celebration, family time and beer for years and years to come and I am soo excited for the Future!

THINGS THAT MAKE YA GO HMMM......

2011-06-17T16:46:00.000-07:00

Three things happened this week that made me go, "hmmmmmm....."

1) I walked into the tanning salon (I KNOW, I KNOW, tanning is BAD for you, but I have been feeling gross and depressed and void of all vitamin D with this damn rain, so I CHOSE to go soak up some fake sun...that's besides my point though..) Anyway, I walked into my tanning salon after Bootcamp Monday night, ready for my 11 minutes of uninterrupted sleep (yes I can fall asleep and feel rejuvinated in only 11 minutes.) The girl at the front desk checked me in while a man (I am assuming he is the owner/esthetician,) slid an advertisement across the counter in front of me. "You should try this," he said as I quickly scanned the little sign, "it will get rid of freckles and really tighten up your skin. It's new, you could really see a difference from something like this, even in one treatment." The young girl, followed his pitch with, "yeah, look at his skin, see how tight it is? Oh, room 4 is ready for you." I headed to the tanning room, wondering if he was just trying to selll his new little skin treatment/machine, or if he was actually suggesting my skin is losse, freckly, old and unattractive. Hmmmmmm...........

I couldn't help but think a Tanning Salon was an ironic place to sell skin treatments, I mean, seriously, if I was worried about my skin, wouldn't all my "problems" be solved if I stopped tanning? LOL

2. Three of my girlfriends and I, all of us on maternity leave, met at the mall, Thursday. Plan A had been to go to the zoo, but because of the rain, we went with Plan B, the mall. We were not the only "moms" with this plan either. The mall was full of strollers and Starbucks sipping mommys. We wondered through the mall with our lattes and steamed milks, until it was time to feed our hungry babies. We made ourselves comfortable at one of the many seating areas in the mall. There were four comfy chairs arranged in a square with flowers and little counters. One by one, we put our nursing aprons and blankets over our chests and tilted our babies towards their meal. We sat visiting while the little ones ate. A woman with a name tag, indicating she was mall personnel, approached us. She commented on how cute the babies were and then proceeded to tell us about the "Family Nursing Room" located just around the corner, "The door is locked, but if you ask at customer service, they will give you a key. There's room in there for all of you, it might be more comfortable." Hmmmm.....

More comfortable for whom? Her or us?? Was she asking us to go there, or was she simply informing us......

3) I just picked up my truck from the Windshield repair place. I finally got the new windshield I was in dire need of. The receptionist, took me out to my truck to "inspect" the windhield and make sure it looked good. It did. She then removed the cover off my driver's seat. Hmmm....

Was the cover on the seat to protect my seat from broken glass? Greasy Coveralls or was the cover on the seat to protect the greasy Coveralls from all the dog hair covering the seat???

12 WEEKS

2011-06-17T13:01:00.000-07:00

Ryder just turned 13 weeks old today, Father's Day. I can't believe I've been on mat leave for almost three months! The time has flown by! My sister had to go back to work after 12 weeks. I can't imagine how hard that would have been! I feel soo lucky that I get to stay home with Ryder for 9 more months!!!

We only swaddle him from the armpits down now..he likes his arms free these days!

Hangin' with mom!

The Wrights

Can you just hear him saying, "Aww, Mooooom, stop it!"?

I just can't resist kissing those cheeks!

This is his inquisitive look.....

11 WEEKS

2011-06-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

It has almost been 12 weeks since the day Ryder was born! I have been a "stay at home mom" for almost three months! I have been a "stay at home mom" for three months and if you were to ask me, "what do you do all day?" I'm not sure I'd even have an answer for you. I look around and my house is NOT clean, there are no suppers ready at 5pm, I have NO beautiful flower beds or bountiful garden. My yard is NOT dog poop or weed free and the lawn is NOT immaculately cut. I don't have time to do all of those things because I am busy. I am not sure exactly what it is I do all day, I just know that I am busy all day and exhausted at the end of it!

I am lucky that I have a husband who seems to understand why I cannot do all of those tasks. He picks up the slack, no questions asked. He makes dinners when he gets home and mows the lawn on weekends and we both ignore the dog hair and dust that piles up on the floors and shelves inside the house.

I know that I spend a lot of time "watching, Ryder." By "watching" I mean literally watching him. I watch him while he sleeps. I watch him while he eats, I watch him while he plays and I watch him while he cries. He is facsinating to me and I don't want to miss a thing!

I spend hours on the floor with him on his mat, just watching him. He has begun to swing at "lion" and "red bird" who hang from the gymboree mat and he is starting to grab things. He has found his mouth and he spends a lot of time trying to stuff his entire fists into it. I watch as his expressions change the shape of his face from the furrowed brow of frustration, to the contagious curve of his toothless smile, to the puffy pouty lip he sticks out just before he cries, to the peacefulness that overcomes his face when he falls asleep.

I watch the way his eyes change when he recognizes a voice or Scout's kisses. I watch the way his toes curl while he eats and the way his fingers knead my chest. I watch as he splashes with delight in the tub and I watch his eyes as they soak in the world around him every day!

Ryder, humoring me, by being the subject of a rainy afternoon photo shoot!

This is the smile I get to drink in every day!!!

He looks like a truck driver or something here...an adorable truck driver!

fishing anyone?

See Red Bird and Lion?

Just being adorable!

He loves Scout and there is no doubt she loves him too!!

THE WALK

2011-06-06T20:50:00.000-07:00

The rain has really settled in here, covering our blue skies and masking the sunshine with dark clouds. Even when it isn't raining, it feel like it could at any moment. Tired of being cooped up inside just because I have a baby, I decided to rebel against the weather. No more is Mother Nature gonna dictate my days! In desperation for fresh air, I remembered that we had a rain cover for the stroller! Yipppeee! Scout and I grinned from ear to ear as I pulled it out of the closet and realized that it would indeed fit the bassinet of the stroller!

It wasn't raining when we headed out, but it sure looked like it could start spewing from the skies at any time. I wrapped Ryder in two blankets, put a tuque on his head, the soother in his mouth, velcroed the plastic cover closed, grabbed a leash for Scout and headed OUTSIDE!!! I walked happily down the paved paths in our neighbourhood, so pleased with my sleeping baby and my well behaved dog. I was LOVING having this rain cover, thinking to myself what freedom is was giving me. Though, I love to "wear" Ryder in a carrier when I walk, there are times, like when the weather sucks, that a stroller is more practical. I especially loved the stroller when I took off my hoodie and mitts and had somewhere inside the stroller, to stash them. There are times, I've seen ladies at the mall, wearing their babies and pushing a stroller. "silly," I've thought to myself. Why bring a stroller if you are just gonna carry your kid? "I will never do that," I thought outloud to myself today as I happily pushed my baby in his stroller, "I will always commit, one way or the other. Either I will wear my baby or I will push him." I had barely thought that thought when my peacefully sleeping "bundle of joy" woke up. He blinked his eyes a few times, looked up at me through the plastic rain cover and began to WAIL!!! I was shocked! According to my calculations, I had at least one hour before he should have been hungry, it was nap time and he wasn't too hot or too cold. Technically there was no reason for him to be awake...or so pissed off!! I calmly stopped the stroller, opened the little plastic window, stuffed the soother back in his mouth and continued on my way. The wheels had barely spun around once when he spit out the soother and an ear splitting sound left his little lungs! I played the "stuff the soother back in his mouth" game for what seemed like an eternity before I stopped the stroller, stared at his slowly red turning head and pulled him out. I attempted to burp him, kiss him, bounce him and convince him that we were still a half hour from home and the quickest way there was with him INSIDE the fun, fun stroller. Scout was being incredibly patient throughout this ordeal. I had to let her off her leash if she was gonna get any exercise as I seemed to be doing a lot of start, stopping. Scout stayed close by and even offered a few friendly kisses to the crying boy too...they didn't help. When I thought he was calm, I put him back in the stroller and began walking again. Within seconds the wailing started up again. This was making me distraught as Ryder doesn't normally just scream and cry for no reason. He's actually a very happy go lucky kinda guy, only crying when he is starving or tired....he was probably both at this point, but he was gonna have to wait until we got home to eat. I pulled him out of the stroller again, held him in my left arm facing out, put my right hand on the stroller handle and began pushing. Ryder was happy as could be, looking all around, taking in the sights. Me? I was sweating like crazy, struggling to hold this 14 pound weight, pushing a stroller up hill with one eye on the dog. I could only maintain this little "workout" for the distance of 2 lamp posts before my left arm began to shake. I had no choice, I had to make another attempt at getting my little "bundle of joy" back into the stroller. I quietly layed his relaxed little body down on the super soft, comfy mattress and resumed the pushing position...that lasted about 1 minute before his cries escalated to an ear piercing level. Frustrated, I once again stopped, pulled him out of the stroller, draped him over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes and continued up this ever steepening hill! I had to laugh at myself. I must have been quite a disheveled sight, pushing my stroller, carrying my baby, hollering at my wandering dog. Now I know why those ladies bring their carriers even if they have a stroller. Ryder would have been a lot less awkward in the carrier than over my shoulder. All kinds of thoughts ran through my head, about the lesson I was teaching him, "cry and I'll carry you. Cry and you'll get your way. Cry and you don't have to do what you don't want...." believe me, I thought of them all and I didn't care...eventually though, my shoulder gave up and we reached a busy street. I had to leash my dog and put the kid back in the stroller. Yep, he cried and cried and spit the soother out, but I realized very quickly that the plastic rain cover muted the sound and the busy traffic, made his noises all but dissapear. For the rest of the way home, I plastered a smile on my face, went deep into my "happy place," tried to put on the facade of a mother happy to be outside on this cloudy day with her baby and her puppy and hurried my ass the rest of the way home. By the time I got there, guess what? Ryder was fast asleep.....figures!!!

Anyway, we survived and I will make another attempt, but I think I will bring my carrier, just in case......