I feel like I spend a lot of time on here whining. I don't mean to come across that way but I am struggling big time in my life. I dislike that I can't seem to find the energy to do the things that fulfilled me before Austin and my positive attitude seems to have taken a flying leap off my office building.


I remember when Austin was a month old and most of my family came to visit for his baptism, I had no idea how I would ever get him out of the house on my own and begged my mother not to leave. I felt so overwhelmed and alone and the thought of trying to get Austin anywhere on my own was just too much. But over time I managed to do it. I somehow managed to get myself ready and get Austin ready and leave my house to rejoin the world.

Austin and I had a good system going. I would pack his bag up at night if I knew I had to go somewhere the next day, he would sit in his bouncy chair (and later play in the excersaucer) while I got ready, I'd nurse, change and dress him and we would head out. I usually planned my day around his nursing sessions because they were so complicated and would take longer. Once he was 4 months old I abandoned the feeding tube for his supplements and simply gave him a bottle to top him off. My destinations were mapped out before I left the house and I managed to keep to it pretty well. As Austin grew, things got more flexible and we were good. I was happy, I knew what to expect out of my days and I just loved watching him grow and teaching him all about the world around me.

Now that I’m back to work I’ve settled into a routine but it isn’t one that I like. I am tired all the time and drag myself out of bed in the morning and get ready for work. The only time I get to spend with Austin really is nursing him and then the morning rush sweeps over. I work all day and then its home for supper, bath, playtime and then bed. By the time Austin is in bed, I don’t really feel like doing much (that and I usually fall asleep in the rocking chair and end up groggy). I know that I just need to pick a task and do it. I know what I need to do I just can’t seem to force myself to get there. I used to work out every morning before Austin got up but then I got off track. One day turned into two, turned into a week, turned into three weeks with no workout (thank goodness for Weight Watchers or I would be totally off track with my weight loss goals). I know I just need to get off my ass and do it.

No easy ending to this post....I just need to get this out there. I know someone else out there must be feeling the same way...

Off track- H1N1

I know, I know...I am suppose to be blogging about baking and I haven't in several weeks. I am sorry but life is happening and it is keeping me out of my kitchen (that and I tend to fall asleep in the rocking chair with my little man every night!)

Last night my little guy git the H1N1 vaccine. Now I will say that on Monday the line up was ridiculous! Tuesday we got turned away and Wednewsday we were rushed to the front of the line. He was a trooper and only cried a bit when he got the shot and then he was fine. Last night he had night terrors and it was horrible! I took him to bed in the guest room (he was taking up most of the bed and I wanted Gordon to get some sleep) and he tossed and turned and cried and whined and wouldn't wake up. I felt so helpless not being able to do anything. He was comforted a bit when I sat up and rocked him so it was a long night for me. I'm hoping that he will feel better today.

The whole H1N1 thing is completely out of control. People are jumping to conclusions, the media is circulating too many stories about it and people think they are informed but they aren't always reading facts. I'll be happy when things die down a bit and the vaccination process is open to everyone!

Chicken Pox

My poor little man has the pox. He had the vaccine last week and has developed a mild case.At least it isn't a full blown case. I spent yesterday afternoon with him as he had a fever of 104 degrees and was in a very cuddly move. By last night he was back to himself. He is back to playing with his friends today. I wish I could have taken the day off to be with him but he really isn't sick enough to keep him home from Kelly's (or me away from the office). Hopefully he is back to himself soon. He's a lot more fun when he is smiley and happier then when he is whinny!

this sucks

No sugar coating it today. Beinga  working mom sucks. I miss my boy and can not wait for this weekend so that I can speand some quality time with him...even if it means that I have to get into the pool with him tomorrow.

Just venting. Austin is awesome and someone else is getting to spend more time with him then I am...and it sucks!

Work week #2

Okay so I managed to survive working two days last week. Thursday I was a mess. I just missed my little man so much. It didn't help that he cried to break my heart all morning and wouldn't eat his breakfast or cooperate in getting dressed. He was cranky for Kelly too and wouldn't nap well. Friday was much better.
Saturday was Austin's birthday party (see previous post for link to pictures) and Sunday was pretty low key.

Day three of this week already and time is flying by. I have a ton of stuff to catch up on and just the nature of my job is that I am occupied pretty much 24/7 so that is a blessing. I really love getting home at the end of the day when Austin reaches his arms out for me and gives me a great big hug. I love being his mom!! He is so cute and animated....I wonder where he gets his love of chatting from?....

One thing about being at work that is nice is that I get to return emails and update my blog in a timely fashion. Lunch breaks are a nice perk!

I have been baking and I promise that I will post pictures and feedback on the receipes this weekend! 

More Birthday goodness!

Austin's birthday party was today. He ha da great time. Thanks to everyone who came and helped us celebrate this special day. You can check out the pictures at:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=150814177875&saved#/album.php?id=514027875&aid=115590

This was a bittersweet day for me. I am so excited that he is growing up and was able to give him a pretty fun birthday party but I really missed my parents and brother and sister and our friends who live away. It would have been nice for them to have shared in this day with us. That is one of the down falls of living away from home. Don't get me wrong we had great family and friends at the party, there were just some people that we missed big time.

Austin loved his smash cake. I have never given him unrestricted access to sugar like that before! Needless to say it took us a while to calm him down and get him to bed tonight. He had so much fun playing with all his new toys after everyone had left. Tomorrow we're going to try to get his one year pictures done. Hopefully teh weather cooperates.

Wow, one year all ready...where did the time go?

Happy Birthday to my Baby Boy

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

If only time could stand still. I remember every moment of the day Austin was born. I can hardly believe that was one year ago. At 8am I called the IWK to find out what time we should be there for the planned c-section (Austin didn't want his little head to squish so he flipped feet down on my actual due date) I won't bore you with all of the details that I remember but I will tell you about the moment that I knew I had a son.


We were both so excited and nervous. I was all ready to great my little girl for I was CONVINCED I was having a girl. When the nurse brought Austin around the corner of the sheet and exclaimed "It's a boy!" I remember saying "Of course you're a boy" as Austin peed on his dad's pants. They whisked him over to be cleaned and weighted and asked us his name. Gordon and I said in unison "Austin Walter Paul". And then they placed our little boy in G's arms while they closed me back up.

Much later, after our visitors had left and Gordon and I were alone in the hospital room, I remember looking down at the baby in my arms and just feeling an overwhelming emotion. It was joy- but ten times what the ultimate of that emotion feels like. I was immediately in love with the little boy in my arms (didn't hurt that he gave me diamond earrings...lol). I don't think that there has been one moment in the past year when I have not looked at him and felt pride and an overwhelming love.

He has grown so fast. Any day now he is going to take off walking and I know he won't look back. His little personality is really coming through. He is a little shy but has a smile for everyone. As much as wish he could stay my little baby forever I'm excited for his future. I can't wait to see what he is going to do next. Every time he looks up at me and says "Mama" or gives me a hug, I am reminded that my world has completely changed and am loving every moment of it.

Thursday I head back to work and can't imagine how I am going to get through a day without mid-morning naps and story time, mid-afternoon walks to the park or Babies First Books. Establishing a new normal will be a challenge, especially because it will mean that I won't get to be with him all day long. Stay tuned to see how that goes!

Midnight carrides and sweet rolls

So Martha has been on the back burner for a couple of weeks. Not that I haven't tried to make cupcakes but I've been so busy trying to get things done around this house and we just updated our kitchen (it's amazing what a coat of paint and some hardware will do) so it wasn't fit for baking in anyways. My main problem is that Martha's book doesn't have any apple cupcake recipes in it and we picked 10lbs of apples two weeks ago in the Valley. So I have been making apple pies, apple crisp, apple muffins, etc. I have also been making a lot of soup and tea biscuits. So it's not like I haven't been doing anything, just not cupcakes.

Which brings me to the subject of this entry. I have never made cinnamon rolls. I have only ever made them from the dough boy. So when my friend Emily made them a few weeks ago, I got a major case of baker envy. Last night I finally got her recipe and was all set to tackle that last evening so that my husband could go to work and boast about the hot, fresh cinnamon rolls that he had for breakfast. Well that was until my darling, sweet little boy couldn't sleep. We tried everything! We walked, rocked, paced, swung and bopped him to no avail. So at midnight we packed him into his car seat and drove around Lower Sackville until he fell asleep and then for another 30 minutes just to make sure he was really, truly asleep.

He woke up at 2am and then again at 4am. I rubbed his little back from 4-5:30am and he woke up every time that I stopped. Needless to say today was a two cup of coffee kind of day (those who know me, know that one cup is usually more than enough for me!). He seemed alright this morning so I set out to make the rolls while he ate cherrios and played with his car in his highchair. I have to say that I was very happy with the way they turned out. At 8 points each, they took up most of the points for my day (well they did after I had two of them) but they were worth it!

Check out my boy!

We dropped by to see Sue Siri on Tuesday to pick up some pictures and she decided to take a few shots of our boy! Check out her blog to see how adorable my little man is:

http://suesiri.blogspot.com/2009/09/visit-from-austin.html

Zucchini anyone?

What a great Saturday we had! We got up bright and early (thanks to the cutest alarm clock on the planet!) and drove to the Valley where we took Austin to the Zoo for the first time and then on the way home stopped by Hennigar's Market and an apple upick. I picked up some veggies including a 3 foot zucchini. What's a girl to do with all that zucchini you ask...make cupcakes of course!

Saturday evening I made the zucchini spice cupcakes and they turned out perfectly...well mind you I had to start all over because I cracked a bad egg into the oil...I've never had a bad egg and I don't usually follow the rule about cracking eggs into a separate dish so that if you get a bad one it won't spoil your whole batter...lesson learned! At least I only wasted 1 cup of oil and 2 eggs. It could have been worse.

The cupcakes were not too sweet and perfectly moist. I topped them with cream cheese icing and set them off to Stantec with G. As usual the cupcake caddy came back empty.... :) Without the icing they were only 5 WW points so I got to have one and still stayed within my daily limit.
Now to get started on apple dishes...I've got 10lbs of apples to use before we go back for more in October.

On a side note, we decided to do a cosmetic update on our kitchen. We moved appliances around, installed new shelves and just got the paint for the cabinets....let's hope the renovation works wonders! We'll finally get to see if updating it for less than $200 will make it livable for a few more years. I swear the kitchen situation has led to more than one meltdown by yours truly. Let's just hope that this makes it better!

Chocolate Chip Burntcakes

So Austin and I have been to NL again. It was so great to see all of Dad's family. Everyone was there except for 3 grandchildren so that made all the brothers and sisters +significant others, 15 of 18 grandchildren + some of the significant others and 3 great grandchildren all celebrating Nan Coleman's 80th birthday. It was so much fun. Austin and my cousin Scott's little guy Ethan got along famously and spent most of their time together playing trucks. One thing I will never understand is how Austin knew what sound to make when he was pushing Ethan's trucks around. I don't play trucks with him but somehow he knew to push the truck along and make a "vroom" noise. It is very cute!

Wednesday I decided to bake some banana bread for Austin. Everything needs to be finger foods these days so I figured that was something he would eat (Everything else get flung to the walls or sprayed back out at me). Well wouldn't you know I managed to over bake the bread. It wasn't burnt but it was close. So I don't know what posses me to get back on the Martha Cupcake train that day...it obviously was a bad baking day but I couldn't heed the warning! Open up the book and decide on Chocolate Chip Cupcakes (p.22) The recipe is really easy to follow, I added an extra egg white (didn't want to waste the last one in the carton) and used mini chocolate chips instead of grown up ones. It says that the batter makes 30 cupcakes but I only got 24. I put them in the oven and brought Austin downstairs to play. I checked at 15 minutes but they weren't done and then checked again at 20 minutes, still not done. Austin picked that moment to "doo" his business so I had to wrestle a new Fuzzy Bum onto his bottom (diaper changing really is an Olympic sport these days) and momentarily forgot about the cupcakes. When I was finished I suddenly remembered and raced down to the kitchen. The cupcakes were done alright! I would say only about half had crispy bottoms but that is too many for my liking. I decided that they were sweet enough and sent them to G's work without the dark chocolate frosting (that and no way was I going to defy the baking gods for a third time that day to melt chocolate). His colleagues aren't too picky because they loved them.

Oh and in case you are wondering, They are 4 weight watcher points each without the frosting...Ironic isn't it? The cake lady is counting points...oh well maybe Martha and her peeps can team up with WW on a baking cookbook...just because you are counting points doesn't mean you should never have a decent baked good. Life is too short people!

Why am I baking?!

It's hot and humid and 9:30pm. We're having a BBQ tomorrow with our friends and I am making, what else, cupcakes! Roasted Banana cupcakes. Now if I had been smart I would have read the recipe in advance and realized today is not the day to attempt to whisk egg whites to a soft peak. I start off by following the instructions to a tee. Although I was very daring when I separated the eggs. (The best method is to crack the egg in your hand and pass it back and forth until the egg white has fallen away, no fancy gadgets required) I had to then pass the egg yolk right over my cookbook...thankfully I had no drips! Anyways then I read on to the part about whipping the eggs and silently swear to myself (G and Austin are both asleep at this point). I start whipping the whites, 10 minutes later they were still just frothy so I made the decision to just add them to the batter as is. The cupcakes don't look to be as "fluffy" as they would have been if all had worked out but oh well at least there will be cupcakes.

This week has been hectic and tomorrow isn't looking much better. We need to clean our house (gotta keep the "Martha" illusion alive!), do laundry and make all the food for the BBQ. Then I need to pack after Austin goes to bed. He and I are heading to NL for another visit on Sunday. We're going to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday. Should be a good time!

I'm off to take the cupcakes out of the oven and then head to bed. I know I'm pretty pathetic but the truth is if I don't get to bed by 10, I won't be a very happy person in the morning...

Sue Siri Photography

Hey! Check out Sue Siri's website (under my favorites). She did Austin's newborn photos and he made her portfolio!! Look at the portraits section. Austin is the second last photo and the photo before that is Austin's feet with our wedding bands around his toes resting in my hand. I'm so excited!!!

Back from our trip!

Sorry I've been mia! We took our first big family vacation to Ontario to see my cousin get married. I did her wedding cake (with some help from my mom) {see above}. I think it turned out pretty good. It was the devil's food cake that I made a few weeks ago. I'm going to make a smaller version of this cake for the party that her mom is having in a few weeks for the people who weren't able to make it to Cornwall.

The trip started with an over night in Fredericton to visit Laura and Dan. Austin didn't sleep really well that night but we did have a great visit. The drive from Freddy to Ottawa was long. It took us 17.5 hours from Halifax to Ottawa.

While we were in town we stayed with our friend Amanda and squeezed in as much sight seeing as possible. We went to three museums, parliament, the market and did some shopping (I cleaned up at the Osh Kosh store for Austin!). After 5 days in the city we headed down to Cornwall.

The wedding was amazing. Andrea was absolutely glowing (I actually think that she still is!) and Austin had a great time. He was so happy the whole trip. We are really lucky to have such a happy baby. Sunday morning we packed up and headed for home. We stayed in Edmunston overnight to break up the drive. Now we're trying to get back to normal.

I'll be getting back at my project this week. I'm going to try the Roasted Banana Cupcakes (p142) for the BBQ we're having on Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed it stays sunny!!!

The science of baking

So if baking really is a science then baking with an infant at your feet is rocket science. It is raining today and not the "oh isn't it lkovely to get a bit of rain to break up the heat" kind of rain. It is really coming down. I had every intention of brining Austin to teh library for sing-a-long but he fell asleep so we baked instead...well I baked and he limbed my kitchen. Things went a little like this:

Huge crash- tupperware is all over the floor.

Cry- Austin is trying to get into the lazy susan

Bang- Austin is beating the dishwasher with his dishes

Big bang- Austin is beating the dishwasher with a wooden spoon and laughing about it.

I started out with the Cherry and Almond Teacakes (p.93) only I didn't have any kirsch so I used amaretto instead. I had bough some cherries for Austin and realized that I had to use them up. Some went to cherry puree to get mixed in yogurt and the rest to my cupcakes. I managed to get through the mixing of ingredients without too much trouble. Austin was loudly banging on a bowl with a wooden spoon (he redirected his enthusiasm from the dishwasher). I tried to tidy up while the batter 'rested' (one of these days I would like to get some rest) but realized that I was fighting a lost battle with a 9 month old. SO I spooned up the batter (why didn't Martha's peeps just put the cherries in the tins and then add the batter? I made such a mess with this one!) and then put the little man down for a nap while the cakes baked.

So I had about an hour...little guy is asleep, now was the perfect opportunity to clean my kitchen, so logically I made a batch of Carrot Cupcakes. There are lots of carrots in the batter and it smelled heavenly. They are out of the oven cooling and at some point in the very near future I'm going to make the cream cheese frosting to go on top of these...but for now I'm going to go back to playing with Austin, who is up from his nap, and letting him destroy my house for his own adventures!

The first batches

My backyard is overflowing with rubbarb. Every summer is seems that more rubbarb grows and I never do anything with it, so I let my friend's mom clean out the patch. There was a little bit left when she was done so I thought I would try to make the Rubbarb Cupcakes with Whipped Cream (p. 33). Once I started cooking I realized that I didn't have enough rubbarb to make the rubbarb vanilla bean topping so I will have to try these again after my rubbarb patch has refreashed in August. Overall they were really nice, light and not too sweet. Austin really liked these ones too, he tried to grab the full cake out of my hands and he is getting quick!

Sobeys had a sale on blueberries a couple of weeks ago so I bough some and attempted to make the Blueberry and Cream Cupcakes (p.42). The batter base is very similar to the Rubbarb Cupcake, only I used buttermilk in the batter because I didn't have any whole milk on hand. It made the batter just a tad acidic but the cooked up just fine. The whipped cream topping gives keeps these cupcakes from becoming too heavy.

The last batch that I made last week was the Devil's Food Cupcakes (p. 34). Now there a cupcake I can sink my teeth into! Choco-holics beware! The batter is so yummy that you'll want to lick the spoon, bowl and beater. The Chocolate Ganache Frosting was a bit of a challenge. After 1.5 hours in the fridge it still wasn't thick enough to pipe so I diped the top of each cupcake in the ganache and then used the emersion blender to thicken the frosting up. I then piped a flower on top of each and thenfinished it off with a little silver candy. They were perfect to send to my cousin's bachlorette party (I missed out on a good night thanks to some mystery illness that stayed with me for 48 hours).

Humm...what to tackle this week?...

My new project..Cupcakes & my creative spirit!

For sometime I have had a pretty close relationship with Martha Stewart...not the personal connection but my obsession with all "good things". Although Martha did send me a lovely note at my wedding (I'm pretty sure that my cousin Laura had something to do with that though) I've never had the opportunity to meet Martha outside the pages of Martha Stewart Living or through the CBC when I used to have the opportunity to watch Martha weekdays when Austin would do nothing but nurse for hours on end.

Long story short, I need a hobby. My days are filled with chasing my sweet little man around the house and cleaning up after him. I love what I do but I need to unleash my creative side again. It's been a long time since I decorated a cake (check out my Gimme that Cake photo album on Facebook for pictures) and I don't have time for anything too time consuming. For my 29th birthday this year, Gordon and Austin gave me a new cookbook, not just any book either...Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book and a cupcake caddy. The logical thing for me to do is to bake....all "175 inspirational ideas for every's favorite treat". I'll have to do 3 recipies a week to cover them all this year and that just might not be practical but between birthdays and holidays I just might be able to pull it off. I admit I've been inspired by the previews of Julie & Julia. I don't expect to get a book deal or a movie but maybe, just maybe I can inspire someone to bake or create something for themselves. Right now I'm doing this for myself...and for G's coworkers who will be getting to eat my treats because if I keep them at home I will never lose the last 5lbs of baby weight or the 30lbs of wedding weight that I'm working on getting to disapear! Humm..Martha there is an awful lot of sugar in that book!!!

My messy house...

So people who know me well know that when I say my house is messy it really isn't that bad. I just like for it to be really clean and I like everything in its place (except my bedroom for some reason but the rest of the house has to be just so). I find that more and more I would rather spend my days cuddling with Austin, playing music, reading books, helping him learn to crawl and just chatting with him then keeping my house tidy. Someone posted this little poem on one of the discussion boards that I belong to and I wanted to share it:

"I hope my child looks back on today
And sees a mother who had time to play.
There will be years for cleaning and cooking,
But children grow up when you’re not looking.
Tomorrow I’ll do all the chores you can mention
But today, my baby needs time and attention.
So settle down cobwebs; dust go to sleep,
I’m cuddling my baby, and babies don’t keep"

I want Austin to remember that his mom had time to colour and paint and search for monsters and fight dragons and fly with him to the moon. Who cares if the house isn't as prestine as it was before he came along. It isn't dirty it's just a little unorganized. My little boy is growing and as much as I want to freeze him as he is, I am loving watching him grow!

7 Months today

I can't believe it. This time 7 months ago I was waiting to become a mother.....fast forward to today and I have an fantastic little guy who is pulling himself up and babbling like crazy. Where is the time going????

I know one thing that isn't going...my waistline. I have been walking everyday and now I'm killing myself with the 30 Day Shred (Jillian is the meanest trainer ever!). Clothes still don't seem to fit right. I am really hoping to see a change on the scale tomorrow. I feel like I've had the last 7lbs to lose forever. Then I need to get to work on the 30lbs I gained since I've been married. It would be nice to have all that off by the time we (hopefully) go on a cruise next March. I don't want to show up the bride or anything but it would be nice to feel comfortable in a suimsuit.

Congratiulations Annette & Derrick!!!! (the ring VERY pretty and shiny!)

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there. I can't believe that I get to partake in the celebrations on team mom this year! In recent years I have developed a very deep appreciation for my mother and for all of the sacrifices that she made for us. Since Austin's birth that appreciation has only deepened. I am so grateful to my mom for everything and especially for being so supportive and helpful since I had my own son.

I truly understand what it means to say that I would do anything for my child. I would give my life for Austin. Becoming a mother has changed me in a whole bunch of ways, one of them being that I think that I really know what love is now. I know that sounds corny but the minute they placed Austin in my arms, I felt this whole other emotion that was so intense I was overwhelmed with it. Everything that I do is for him and I think that it makes me a better person in the end because of it.

My first Mother's Day as a mom was fantastic. Gordon got up with Austin so that I could sleep in and then made me breakfast. We hung out and had a great family day, visited with G's mom and then G cooked supper and did the dishes. What more could a girl ask for? (I also got a gift certificate to the spa...no complaints there!) I really love spending a full day just spending time with my boys without being distracted by chores and other responsibilities. Nothing is better than being able to sit and babble with Austin and just listening to what he has to say.

So Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms, honorary moms and moms to be. It is the greatest job in the world.

Austin is super baby!

Well it fianlly happened! Austin slept last night from 9pm until 7am without so much as a peep...now mind you he was sideways at the top of his crib when I made G check on him this morning but that is besides the point. A full night sleep and I feel like a new woman! Well a new women with incredible stiff and sore legs. I started the 30 Day Shred workout yesterday. I can hardly move up and down the stairs today. I missed on of the reps of the lunge with arm curl because Austin fell over at the musical jungle and I'm thinking that this is Jillian's punishment for me. I've stretched and had a hot bath and still the stairs hurt. I didn't think I was going to make it out of the rocking chair to get AUstin into his bed tonight so G did teh honors while I soaked in the tub.

Another milestone for Austin today. He moved forward about 6" on his but and he pulled himself up while holding onto my hands. I have a happy super baby! He really is the happiest kid I've ever seen (Annette will vouch for that!). I just hope he is still that happy when he's 17 and I don't let him take the car! :)

Sleep..or lack thereof

Poor Austin...I'm not sure if its teething or a growth spurt but the poor little guy is just not sleeping well. He was up about 4 times last night and then up bright and early at 4:50am. Yet, even with little sleep, my boy is still smiling and happy...he for sure doesn't get that from me! I miss the nights of putting him down at 8pm and him waking at 7am...I felt refreshed in the morning and it didn't worry me that he didn't nap during the day. Now I find myself going for drives just to get him to have a snooze.

Hopefully today he will have a nap in the car and tonight he will sleep better. I don't want him to be cranky tomorrow. Janice is in town and we're taking her shopping. Austin is pretty good in the mall but without a good night sleep I'm not sure how he'll react.

Who needs sleep anyway...not me! I can function..kind of... granted I say words that don't make sense, burn toast, drop spoons and baby food (today it was bananas all over my jeans) I can function perfectly well on 3 hours of sleep...(stop laughing....I can do it...maybe) Okay so maybe I do need some sleep (more like a lot of sleep).

But who am I kidding...those gorgeous blue eyes and his bright smile...you can't get down about broken sleep! He is just too important for that.

Visitors!

We've been very busy with visitors lately! Laura and DAn came by during their March break, Janine and David were here while David was on course, my mother was here for Easter, Janice is here right now for a band trip and Annette comes on Sunday.

I love being off on maternity leave and having so much time to spend with our family and friends! Laura and John are coming in June and then Gordon, Austin and I are headed to the Rock for Janice's graduation. I am loving being able to take the time to visit home. I haven't been able to spend this much time in NL since I moved away to University. It's so nice and I will really miss the flexibility when I go back to work.

The only thing that is bothersome about visiors is that they leave...

Ahh the weather

Well it is suppose to be raining today. So far the rain has not yet come but Austin and I got our walk in bright and early this morning because I didn't want the rain to keep us indoors all day. The sun is actually coming out a bit so we might go out again to get a bit more fresh air in my little guy's lungs.

I am so sick of winter. I just want the rain to come and get rid of the snow. I am ready for the sun to shine and to get Austin out of the house everyday to explore the world around him. I'm hoping that baby number two will not be another winter baby (no we are not expecting...nor will we be anytime soon!). Austin and I are starting a Stroller Fit class next week. It will be fun to get out with some other moms and babies. I'm in need of shaking up our regular routine.

I can't get over how quickly Austin is growing! He is pushing 16lbs and is quickly outgrowing his 3-6 month clothing...darn now I will need to go shopping :) He'll need a new carrier soon too as he is fast approaching the weight limit for the Snuggly. I am so proud of my little guy! He is "talking" up a storm and is really interested in the world around him. I can't wait for Nanny to get here for Easter and see how much he has changed!

My 3's- from Laura A.

THREE NAMES I GO BY
1. Lisa
2. Arrr (Mommy in Austin talk)
3. Sweety

THREE JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE
1. Mommy
2. Executive Assistant
3. Communications Coordinator

THREE PLACES I HAVE LIVED
1. Corner Brook
2. Church Point
3. Halifax

THREE TV SHOWS THAT I WATCH
1. Oprah
2. Grey’s Anatomy
3. Elmo's World

THREE PLACES I HAVE BEEN
1. England
2. France
3. Eastern Carribean

THREE PLACES I WANT TO GO
1. Tuscani
2. Rome
3. Behamas

THREE OF MY FAVORITE FOODS
1. Turkey
2. Dark Chocolate almost anything
3. mac n cheese

THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO
1. Hearing Austin call me "Mom".
2. My Mom's visit during Easter
3. Going home in June for a visit

THREE PETS THAT YOU HAVE OWNED
1. George (our budgie).
2. Bailey (the family dog)
3. Wed and Ding the fish from our wedding reception

THREE FAVORITE BANDS/ARTISTS
1. Sarah McLahlan
2. Dave Matthews Band
3. Elton John

THREE FAVORITE TEAMS TO WATCH
1. The Sackville Rangers
2. Boston Bruins
3. The Mooseheads

THREE FAVORITE DRINKS
1. Ice Tea
2. Vanilla Bean Hot Chocolate
3. Skim milk

Three months in and this is my first post!

Well 2009 is almost a quarter over and this is my first post. I haven't been feeling like myself until recently. I have to admit that I had the baby blues pretty bad. Austin was incredibly well cared for I just didn't think I was doing a good job. Part of the problem came from the issues we have been having with breastfeeding and Austin not gaining weight at the rate his doc wanted him too. I just felt so overwhelmed. I really missed my mom and didn't like being cooped up in the house every day.

In January I took Austin to NL for a visit. It was a real turning point for me. I was able to see just how far in a funk I was. It was awesome having Mom, Dad and Janice spend all kinds of time with Austin and I got to spend a bit of time by myself. I actually read a book that had nothing to do with breastfeeding and/or baby care! It was great. Since coming home from NL, I feel a lot better and now that the weather is starting to warm up, Austin and I are spending a lot more time outside going for walks. I also take Austin to a Babies' First Books class on Fridays. He seems to love it. He is really interested in all of the babies in the group.

Austin is doing awesome. He is growing like a weed. He started cereal last week and really enjoys it. We're going to feed Austin a diet that consists of organic foods and no sugar outside of natural sugars in fruits and veggies. Yup...that's right...the cake lady is going sugar free. Gordon and I are going to try to go sugar free. I really need to because I'm fairly positive my inability to lose weight probably has something to so with the fact I can't seem to pass up dark chocolate. It's hard to cut out of our diet. I mean we don't eat white anything, barely any convenience food because I cook everything from scratch and we don't eat out very much at all. I think we did the big diet overhaul a few years ago and now we have to go through with a fine tooth comb and find out what we are eating that we think is good for us but really isn't (case and point- granola bars...very yummy but not exactly health food!).

Having a little boy is such an amazing experience. Austin is really starting to develop his personality! He is "talking" a lot and laughs all the time. I don't think he is going to be a quiet child!!! (but then how could I have ever thought that?...I am his mother :) )