My birthday and a night out and the rest of the week...

My Birthday ended up being an OK day... Simon let me sleep in which was nice and then I got a nice breakfast that was prepared by him and Xavier. In the early afternoon I went out for a Chai Latte by myself with the Half blood prince but could really stay there long... I missed the kids and it just didn't feel right sitting there by myself... Dh in the meantime baked me a cake... When I got back home I asked my neighbor for restaurant suggestions and talked with her for a bit about Sushi and got a craving so I decided to go to a buffet that serves Sushi about 45 min away... When we got there we found out that they only serve Sushi on weekends....
We got back home tired and didn't end up doing much... It was raining and just too awful to have the fire outside... So we didn't do much and then headed of for bed... (I didn't even get to blow out my candles on my cake)
My mother called to wish me happy birthday and so did a good friend of mine Isabelle but no one else... I am a bit disappointed but I guess that's life...

Wednesday evening however was great... I met my friend Isablle at 5pm and we went to look for a restaurant... It was our first time being together and talking without kids around... It was great.. We were finally able to have a conversation without interruptions!! Anyways... The restaurant was great, the food was great and the conversation was great.. Then we went and got a Chai together and just talked until it was almost 10pm... Then we both had to get back to the kids...
When I got home Colin was sleeping and Xavier was still wide awake... It didn't take long however for him to fall asleep and then Colin woke up soon after and after nursing a few minutes he was also good for the night...

Thursday night I finally got to make a fire outside and roast marshmallows in my own yard...

Today is Saturday... DH and Xavier have gone to the library by bike and I am at home writing this... We should have a friend coming over later today and usually that means that the guys will have a few beers, we will eat well and we will have a fire tonight and have a great conversation around it...

Tommorow's my Birthday....

I'll be 28 tommorow and I am not sure how the day is going to go... I just wish for once that I didn't have to plan my birthday out and that I could get a great day witout being the lead... I am tired of having to lead, I am tired of sitting on the couch and giving suggestions and having questions as answers asking if that is relly what I want to do.... This year when asked what I wanted to do for my birthday I responded that I didn't want to make plans and that I wanted things to be planned out for me... we have no plans for tommorow... though I will make marshmallows on the new fireplace rain or shine..

Just a Monday

Today we lounged around and got some house work done.. not the stuff that you see however, but the real stuff that just gets put off all off the time... going through the kids drawers and taking out what doesn't fit anymore, finding all the shoes mates, unclogging the kids bathtub drain etc... then I went out and bought a present for myself/the family that we have been wanting for a while (an outdoor fireplace) After supper and while the kids where in the bath I assembled it and it is really nice... I can't wait to try it out and roast some marshmallows in my backyard...

Weekend up North...

Over the weekend we went up North to our Cabin and had a great time... Really our Cabin is my Uncle's Sugar Shack that we use in the summer as a Cabin but it is a great place to hang out and be alone...
We got there Saturday afternoon and got installed, then went to a friends house, went out for supper, made a big fire, roasted marshmallows, got the kids to bed, watched the stars and talked... In the morning we got up early had coffee and toast but mad on the gas stove and then headed out to a flea market that is on the way home... We got a few things there and then headed back to the ferry to take us hoime and to our swimming pool...
Here are a few pics that I took over the weekend...

Frog

Xavier and the Fire

The Cabin

The outhouse

Fire

The Cabin

The Cabin

Xavier helping Daddy

Xavier

Colin

On the Ferry

The Day in Ottawa....

On Wednesday we went to Ottawa for the day.... I got lost on the way there by taking the wrong highway (towards Toronto instead of Ottawa) and I still don't know exactly where the mistake happened... Anyways... We got to Ottawa a bit later then planned but it worked out well cause we got there for lunch, DH wanted to try Taco Bell for the first time in his life (we don't have any in Quebec) and then we went to the Museum of Science and Technology... There we got to go on a small train ride which Xavier loved and then we explored the museum for a few hours... It was great... Colin was happy in the sling, in his daddy's arms and in the stroller... and Xavier was happy that he could touch everything and that everywhere there were buttons that did cool things...
At 3pm we decided to watch a show on electricity, we didn't know how Xavier would be because he could never sit and listen to anything like this before... It turned out great... Xavier even put up his hand like the other kids when the guy asked questions and clapped when others clapped... (this is the first time I have seen Xavier do this)
At another part of the museum, while each of us parents were with Xavier respectively we got to send a picture post card by email at a cool both explaining how pics are put on computers and what pixels etc mean.... here are our postcards...


Anyways... we left the musuem all with a smile and I even got to grab a pack of freeze dried Astronaut "ice cream" from the gift shop which has always been my treat when I go there!

After the Museum we wanted to go to the Byward Market in downtown Ottawa... and we where trying to get there when we got to a construction zone... There was two ways to go... straight on the road that we were headed but we had to go around something for a few feet and go into the other lane or in another direction that we had no idea where it would lead to... we say another car going in the straight direction that had ont licesence plates so I decided to follow him... well we get pulled over right away and along with 5 other cars that made the same mistake... the lane that we had to go in for a few feet was a bus lane... while the officer was in his car doing all of his checks and writing up 6 tickets more then 2 dowzen cars passed my in the "forbidden lane" and one even ran a red light almost hitting a pedestrian.. a few even got warnings but there was no more place to pull over so they only got a warning... us 6 got tickets of 110$... ARGHHH....
My first Ticket....
Well.. after that I didn't want to go to the byward market anymore and I when I stopped to ask directions I asked a few locals if they knew any good places to eat in the area and they pointed us to Elgin street which had quite a few restaurants and we ended up eating quite well! (I had fried zucchini sticks and a plate of mussles)
We then went to get sweets to calm me down from what happened before... When we went into a really candy candy store there called Sugar Mountain I got the suprise of my life when they had Chocolate Frogs (with a collectable wizard card)... and then I went to get a gelato...
Anyways... we left Ottawa at almost 10 pm and I had to drive the 3 hours back home... I listened to my audio Harry Potter (I am re-reading the fifth book before I dive into the 6th) and in the last half hour I woke Simon up to talk to me but finally got home at about 1 am.... I really hate driving at night!!
Well that was our day in Ottawa... in general it was fun but I wish the signs were clearer and the local knew where they were going! lol

Things that Irk me!!

• People that think babies have to be trained like Dogs and make their kids CIO, or even go as low as following ‘To Train up a child” by the Pearls.. (I can’t believe that kids are subjected to such abuse!) So many people actually think that this is "god's" way to raise a child... with "Obedience Training" (really they even use that term) ...the jist of it... whenever a child does something swat them and they will associate pain with doing the "bad" thing so finally they won't do it anymore... in other words beat into submission...
  
• People that try to convert me
• People that think Ezzo has anything good to say
• People that read books about parenting but never just listen to their own child
  
• People that believe everything the doctor says even though it is proven wrong and contradicts all research out there..
• People that beleive their doctor but ignore their childs needs (especially about night feeding)
  
• People that think there is a difference between CIO methods (modified CIO, "fuss it out" Ferber, Ezzo etc)
• People that make up excuses just because they don't want to say the true reason for something because they don't want to look bad... This irks me especially with something like breastfeeding because the excuses that some people use can really hurt someone elses nursing relationship...
• People that say they are going to do something and don't do it
• People that are late
• Bad Drivers
• People that don't let others speak their mind, or even don't let people be happy about something justbecause they don't want to feel guilty about their decisions
• My mother
• People that always compare my kids with others
• Family members that play favorites with kids
• Mainstream parenting books and magazines
• Formula Companies
• Nestle

More to come....

He was walking before but now he's REALLY walking!

I got a great video of Colin walking tonight before we put him to bed...
I can't believe how good he's getting and how fast time is going by...

http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Colin-walking-2

Happy Birthday Xavier!

Xavier's Birthday present!

By George I thinks he's got it!!

Xavier has been 100% accident free (Toilet trained) while naked for a few weeks now but it wouldn't work with underwear etc... However, Yesterday at Xavier's Birthday party we decided to put him in a pull up, so that we wouldn't have any accidents because he was all nicely dressed, and he didn't use his pull-up once yesterday!! He pulled them down and went to the potty each time!! Then, This morning we woke up completely dry, took off his diaper and peed in the toilet!! YEAH!! I think he finally understood!
I seriously think that I am no longer buying diapers for him... I think he has really got it!!

I'm now nursing a 3 year old!

Wow... I can't beleive it!
Xavier turned 3 yesterday... 3 years ago I knew that I would nurse past a year but never thought about nursing to age 3... now that I am here though I wouldn't have it any different... I still love nursing Xavier and I hope that his brother will nurse for at least the same amount of time...

PPD.... (and breastfeeding.... or lack of)

I have encountered many people lately that have suffered greatly from PPD (post partum Depression) A running theme that I have often encountered is that many of the Moms are not breastfeeding and have never breastfed, or tried and it didn't work out for whatever reason (informed or uninformed) ...
I believe that PPD is very real and that it is something that many women go through... However, I also believe that it is diagnosed too much and that medication is given when it is not always the best answer... However, there is something else that I am starting to believe more and more...
When our child is born the natural thing is to breastfeed (Formula is not natural no debate could convince me otherwise) when a women doesn't breastfeed however, the body stops producing the hormones to make milk....(milk production is activated by demand which then makes the body produce hormones which develops the milk) Anyways, when these hormones are no longer in production the body actually think that the baby has died which makes the body in question start the process to become pregnant again...
If your body believes that your offspring has died wouldn't the logical conclusion be that sometimes the body reacts negatively chemically and therefore not breastfeeding could be a cause of PPD?
Another thing is that breastfeeding helps create a very strong bond between Mom and baby. This is why Breastfeeding is one of the fundamentals in Attachment Parenting. Couldn't it also be that this lack of bonding that is often a cause of PPD also come from the lack of not breastfeeding?
I do completely understand that PPD is a medical condition that can stem from many reasons or even no reason at all but I really believe that the lack of breastfeeding can often have a lot to do with it...

Simon's on Vacation!

The week is over and I am starting to feel better though I still don't want to eat much of anything... Simon had his last day of work today and is home for the next 3 weeks!! YEAH! I really want to take this time to get some alone time.... I usually don't feel I need it but at the moment I really do... I just want to go have a coffee alone and read a book or something... something that I haven't done in so long and miss terribly at the moment...
There are also a few things that I would love to do...

• Go to the Beach
• Go to the Science Museum in Ottawa and take a train ride
• Go to Upper Canada Village
• Go to La Ronde (amusment park)
• Go to see my Dad up north
• Go Garage Saleing with Natalie
• Go out for Supper with Isabelle (the first time we would see each other without kids)

Hopefully we will do most of these and more!

Food Poisoning....yuck!

Saturday, DH the kids and I went for a car ride along the Richelieu (a river that runs near my house) and we went to my old family Cabin now owned my my uncle.... I hadn't seen my uncle in years and he didn't even recognize me right away and it was a little awkward at first but after a few minutes it got a lot cozier and it was really fun...
He brought us out on the boat and we sat and talked while the kids ran (and crawled) around...
On the way back home we decided to grab something to eat (St-hubert's chicken) and stop at my MIL's house to eat it... we stayed there for a few hours and then decided to make our way back home...
When we got home I came on the computer a bit and then made my way upstairs and I realized that I felt a bit dizzy... I watched a bit of TV with DH and then we decided to go to bed... I was still feeling a bitdizzy and then I started to have cramps and my stomach felt really hard... Then came the nausea and all of the other fun stuff... DH also had the same....
We are pretty sure it was food poisoning...
Yesterday was awful... I can't describe it in any other way then that... AWFUL....
Today I feel weak but better... thank goodness... I couldn't have stayed alone with the kids if I was still feeling like I did yesterday...

Just had to share...

Sleeping

Colin's walking!!!

Colin has been taking a few steps here and there for the last few weeks but hadn't really started to walk and really didn't have any confidence to do so... Today however, he got the courage and started to really walk...
Sometimes I forget that he is growing up and is not the same little baby that I brought home almost 10 months ago... (10 months tomorrow!)
He is changing and growing so much that everyday he amazes me!!

Click here to see Colin Walking!

Happy Canada Day!!!!

It's Canada Day and nothing is happening... In this little Quebec city all of the festivities were last week for "La Fête Nationale".... So We are going to have our own little Canada day festivities in our backyard... no fireworks though!! The neighbors would kill us!
Ah... the joys of being a proud English speaking Canadian in a small very French (99%+) Quebec town....
Hey the uposide is that we get 2 long weekends in a row! Woohoo!