Three Days

In just three very short days we get the keys to our new home and what I feel is our new life.

It's.been.a.long.time.coming.

Peter and I spent the entire weekend in Toronto packing what is left of our belongings, and purging the things we don't need to have make the 425km move to Martin Street.  With the exception of a few odds and ends and a bit of a clean up, we're ready. I would love to tell you that I am all emotional about all of this, that this feels like this pivitol moment in time that is going to change the course of our lives forever...  And as much as all of that is true (albeit dramatic), I am just not feeling it anymore.

Maybe it has been the incredibly slow build to this move, the weeks and weeks and weeks of  anticipation. Or maybe it was the time Rory and I spent alone in Toronto together (read - exhaustion) that has made Baltic Avenue day by day feel less and less like "home".  Or maybe it's been the most recent week I spent alone (by myself) in Toronto finishing up work that really made the "readiness" sink in.  But it IS time.  We're more than ready for this new life.   The sale on Martin Street closes February 1st, and Baltic Avenue closes February 6th,  so close you can almost taste it. 

Today Rory, Peter and I drove around Almonte in our family car all together for the first time since Christmas. Not us being together, but just enjoying some weekend sunlight together since xmas. It's that nuts?  Something normal and fun made this town already feel like home. Now we just need the house keys.

Winding things down

Just a few more days of work!  I really don't feel like this whole move has sunk in until this week... I am alone here in Toronto finishing up/packing up and feeling a little lonely actually.  Nothing a massage and pedicure won't fix right?  Lonely but a bit more calm. It's amazing what a couple of nights of mediocre sleep has done for me. But it's time... we're ready to get our family back living under one roof. Our roof.  17 days until the trucks pull out from Baltic Avenue moving our life with it.

Today I had my 30 week OB appointment and all is well with baby. The Baby; (who is the size of a rather large squash), is no longer lying transverse but breech. Keep on turning kid!

I can't help but wondering what the next 10 weeks will bring us. So many changes and new things are ahead. Exciting and a bit terrifying but all heading towards a life goal that is SO good.

A good friend of mine just went back to work after mat leave, and the other night I drove by her husband waiting outside his office to be picked up. It was 6:00pm.  It broke my heart a bit. It broke my heart because somewhere across the city from where they were meeting to start their commute home, their 11 month old daughter was waiting.  They too are from Ottawa and want to make the move happen for their family.   That exact scene has been our life, except Rory has been in the car with us.

If I have learned one thing as a mom, it's that absolutely nothing can replace the value of having family close when you have kids.  I have been so lucky to find the amazing mom friends that I have here in Toronto. They made my first year with Rory incredible, and manageable, and so much fun... but I am looking forward to knowing what it feels like to have family close (sisters, and grand parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends I have known my whole life),  as we welcome another child into our lives and the world and watch/help Rory grow into a little boy.

I am excited to have our village.

Saying goodbye to Baltic Ave

The "move" has finally begun. Stage one of it anyway. Rory is now tucked safely into Almonte at my mom's, and it's just me here now finishing up work, making a few last obstetrician appointments AND... packing. Ugh. Even though I despise packing, and given how much "stuff" we've accumulated since having Rory, it seems that much more daunting...  I know the excitement over this next step for our little family will get me to the finish line. It will. It will.

It had better. I best be getting out to get some boxes tomorrow.

Until then, I thought it would be fun to post the professional shots that were taken of the house when it was listed.  In so many ways we are actually so so sad to leave this house. Our first home together... Rory's first home. This is where we have started our family together. BUT... one door closes and another opens, literally. And as someone beautifully put it once, a house is not a home.

As we say good-bye over the next few weeks to Baltic, I know we're going to be SO happy as we make our home on Martin Street. But saying goodbye is never easy.

So this is the splendor that has been Baltic Avenue. We put so much time and love into this little house of ours. The good thing is, we get to take all that love with us and put it into our new home.

A happy happy family lived here and we hope all that love and happiness gives the new owners the same peace and calm we've had here together.

This picture was take in April of 2010, when we bought the house!

October 2011

 

Our beautiful floors and reno'd kitchen. 

We had so many compliments on the work we did on the house. 

I have to admit, for our first reno together it did turn out pretty awesome AND we learned a TON.

 

Rory's First Bedroom!

 

Basement Playroom

 

The reno'd deck that daddy worked so hard on to make safe for Rory and his 1st birthday celebration!

xoxo Baltic Avenue, you'll make another family just as happy. We know it.

Bye Bye Distillery Early Learning!

It's Rory's last day today at the Distillery Early Learning Center.  We made cupcakes together and a card.  Here's a little mommy wisdom I can pass along though... if you don't plan on letting your kid have a cupcake with smarties on it for breakfast, don't let him see them in the morning. :)

So Rory and I turned these... (should have used a flash)

Into these...

And made a little card to go along with them to say how much fun he had with the Distillery team.

Thanks again for everything! We can't say enough good things about the team at the Distillery. XO

Update - I definitely had to include the little cards Rory's friends made him in this post! So cute... and sad too. I hate good byes.

What happened to my sleeping child?

I’ve admitted it before.  If baby sleep is a spectrum, we safely landed on the good to great end of it with Rory.  We struggled in the first three months like all new parents do, but by the three month marker (like to the day) our little man was sleeping through the night (from 9pm to 7am) and making most other moms want to scratch my eyes out.

Well, if any of you are still harbouring any baby sleep animosity about how good we really had it, let me officially put that to bed for you. We are having MAJOR toddler sleep issues, and at 7.5 months pregnant and a mother already...  I can honestly say I have never been this tired in my life, and I have no idea what to do about it. I am losing (what is left of ) my mind.

So here’s the skinny. The only thing skinny right now. :) Our bath/book/bed routine hasn’t changed, Rory is napping well at daycare, they tell me he’s super happy at daycare and I can see that when I pick him up, he’s getting tons of fresh air, he is eating well, he is drinking enough, he is happy at night before bed – I JUST DON’T GET IT.    I would love to blame it on all the changes that are swirling around, but the truth is, he’s been doing this for a few months now. Maybe since about 14-15 months so that really can’t be it.

So here is what is happening, it’s pretty simple.  We put him to bed awake around 7ish. He chats for a bit in bed and usually is asleep by 730.   That part is great.   What happens is he wakes up in the middle of the night, maybe around 11, sometimes around 1am, sometimes it's 2am, and he just starts playing in his crib.  He laughs, he talks, he sometimes jumps, he basically parties in his bed.   And he is LOUD.   It’s almost impossible to sleep while he is carrying on. Mostly because I am worried he will stay up all night, which he has done TWICE already.   ALL NIGHT!!!!   He’s 18 months!?? How is that even possible???

I asked our doctor about all of this at Rory’s 18 month check up, and she shrugged and told me to ignore him. “Shut your door, don’t go to him, and he will eventually go back to sleep”.  The thing is, I don’t actually think he cares if we go into his room or not. He’s not crying, he’s not calling for us,  he has his blanket and soother, he is not asking for milk, or to be rocked, or even to be picked up... he is PARTYING.  Most nights he is having way too much fun to be bothered with a visit from his ma or pa to tell him to quiet down.  He just says “Hiya”, or tells us to “Shush” or says “Night Night” when we come in.  I know – cheeky little child I have.

So here’s the thing I’ve noticed recently that I am wondering about... More than a few times now I have gone in and he is actually lying down with his eyes closed. He seems asleep. At first I thought maybe I had been hearing things and he wasn’t talking but then I get back to my bed and it starts again, then I thought he is just trying to fake me out and pretend he is sleeping?  But now I think that some of the talking and laughing MIGHT just actually be in his sleep?? Is that possible???  Last night this went on from 1030pm to 230am?  I am a WRECK.  And he woke up with a HUGE smile on his face?    So I guess I need to do some research, is it really possible that this is sleep talking?  Could this be some weird state of REM where he actually is getting sleep/rest?  Because if not, there is no way a kid his age can be functioning as well as he is on such little sleep. I know I am barely functioning and I am just listening to it!!

HELP!

Date Night with Mom

Tonight I was brave enough to take Rory to a restaurant all.by.myself after daycare pick up.  I know, I am crazy right??   We arrived right during the dinner rush... aka - the end of day witching hours for kids. Evenings are a hit or a miss in terms of Rory's mood and general tiredness and it was a bit of a gamble considering Rory's sleep has been brutal lately.  I think he's definitely sensing major change ahead and missing his daddy a lot.   But mommy is exhausted and had nothing planned for dinner... and was majorly craving a burger.

I am happy to say we made it out of the restaurant unscathed. Thank you Mill Street for accomodating my utensil throwing child. My burger was delicious too :).

Bittersweet Daycare Success

This is Rory's last week at the Distillery Early Learning Center. It really is bittersweet. I finally feel we have hit daycare gold and we're leaving!  So sad.

Since Rory has switched rooms, things have been amazing at the Distillery Center.  He is learning a TON, super cute artwork comes home everyday, he is napping like a champ there, and so happy at drop off and picks up. Oh, and we haven't had a single incident report and get this... they even have him FOLLOWING RULES?!!!  What??!!!   Is this my child?

Each day this week the staff has been telling me how sad they are going to be when Rory leaves. Yesterday and again this morning, it almost made me cry. But what doesn't these days?

I am baking a cupcake extravaganza to celebrate Rory's last day (on Friday).  Just wait for the pictures.

Anyway, isn't this just the cutest picture ever?  Rory is way in the back on one of the teacher's knees.  As we prepare to say good-bye, I really can't say enough great things about this place!  They gave us a spot when we were totally in a bind during the daycare strike, they have been incredibly receptive to our feedback, eager to calm our concerns and answer questions, and most importantly have taken great care of our little guy. What more could you ask for in a daycare?

We will miss you!!

Blades of Rory

A very mild weekend in Toronto inspired us to get Rory out on skates for the very first time!  Like everything else we do for the first time, this was a learning experience for everyone!!   We headed out to one of Toronto's many outdoor skating rinks and all in all, we had some good laughs and there were lots of smiles.  

Rory LOVED the skating part of our excursion and got the hang of the gliding movement pretty quickly,  but without a doubt was NOT a fan of the helmet that is part of the skating deal. Thus the soother in most of the pictures... TOTAL FREAKIN' MELT DOWN when that thing was put on his head. 

And poor daddy did his very best to stay out as long as possible, but with mommy sitting sidelines only able to take pictures at this stage of pregnancy... his poor back and neck took the brunt end of the outing. 

Not that I am one of those moms who talks/thinks about their kid one day being in the NHL. But I couldn't help thinking that it would be SO funny to show a picture like this one day if they did.  The soother just kills me. 

So much for being a tough hockey player.

Well hello baby!

Yesterday I had an ultra sound at the 28 week marker.  We didn't have an ultrasound at this stage with Rory and Oh my god... how amazing it is.  Honestly, they say everything happens for a reason and it has been a rough week. I needed something THIS uplifting.  The truth is that I've been feeling really beaten since Christmas, I actually felt a bit beaten through Christmas, and maybe even a bit sorry for myself.  Or a lot sorry for myself. Exhaustion and lack of sleep is doing weird things to me...

Anyway, yesterday was a full day of pregnancy related appointments and the grand finale was this very special ultra-sound.  A very young and enthusiastic technician came to greet me in the waiting room, and she was super talkative during my scan.  I was able to ask her tons of questions.  So fantastic. It's amazing how the person actually doing your ultrasound can totally change your experience.

They called this ultrasound a sizing and dating scan and everything checked out great!!  Our baby is healthy and happy in there, despite currently lying in the transverse position (which means sideways and causing me a lot of discomfort grief) and measuring slightly larger at 29 weeks.  Anyway, what made this ultrasound SO amazing and SO special is that I actually was able to see our little baby's face! It is a bit hard to decipher in the image below, but on the screen and in the actual print it's clearer.  Hello little person!!  We can't wait to meet you!  You all of the sudden feel very real to me and I know it's crazy to say, but I think you kind of look like your brother already! HA!

So, on another note... I've made the decision to start winding things down here at work. My last day will be the 20th of January. I am just so so so tired. In my first pregnancy I wanted to work up until the day I delivered, but not this time around. We just have so much on our plate and THAT, combined with mothering our amazing little guy Rory who is so fantastically busy, and actually doing my job full time... is just a lot. Right now... it's too much and physically and emotionally taking a toll I am not comfortable with. I don't want to push myself to the point where my health fails again and it effects the little person I have growing inside.

I think some time to focus on our family, my health and getting us all settled into a new home is what the doctor is ordering. :)

Thanking about baby

My mom commented over the Christmas holidays that our baby #2 hasn't really gotten their fair share of blog time.  It was an innocent comment, but it made me a bit sad. It's true... I can't really easily explain the reason why I haven't journaled about every stage of my pregnancy, but what I can say is how VERY excited we are about our growing family addition. We are talking about names quite frequently now, and I think we're happier to have kept the gender of this little one a secret.  There really is something pretty special about that.

I think I comment every day now how strong this little person is.  Maybe I have forgotten what 28 weeks felt like in my first pregnancy, but these kicks feel POWERFUL for this stage!  Powerful and plentiful actually. So strong and so frequent that I have actually wondered if there is any possible way I could be carrying TWINS!!???  From the research I have done online though... mistakes like that seem to have been long eliminated with extremely good sonogram machines.  Nevertheless, I have another ultrasound Friday to confirm once more that there is just one little baby in there and get a full status update on our little ones health and growth.

So far, I am actually feeling pretty good albeit tried, achey and sleepless. I now have to go to the bathroom a couple of times a night and feel just restless in general at night when I should be sleeping. In good news, the severe nausea I experienced in my first/second trimester is a distant memory and since I started sleeping on my side with the pregnancy pillow Peter bought me in round one, my back feels much better.

So, the real big news as we kick January off, is that this month has brought my third trimester and made our move to the Ottawa Valley just weeks away.  Moving 'home' before we had Rory was all I wished for, and here we are now making that dream come true.

I am so blessed to have the husband I do, and to be given the opportunity to raise our family is this beautiful home, surrounded by amazing friends and family, and in an incredible town.

While Rory and I traveled back to Toronto yesterday, Peter spent some time in what will be our new home in the afternoon.  I was excited to hear that it's even better than he remembered. I can't wait to make it ours.

One day very soon we will be opening this door to welcome family and friends into our new home and to meet this little one bouncing around inside. 

Christmas 2011

In a blink of an eye Christmas is over and we are a couple of days into the New Year!!   I will be honest, it wasn't my favourite Christmas.  It was a long December for us, and the holidays spent living in someone elses home with an 18 month old, pregnant, and exhausted... was hard.  I just can't wait until next year when we will finally be in our valley home and for the very first time be able to just be at our own house through the holidays.

I know I haven't blogged at all about the "BIG MOVE" yet.  It really has been out of fear of someone finding my blog that shouldn't. I've made it private with the intention to use it for a while for what it really was always meant to be.  My personal journal of our family life.

So yea, December was long.  Our poor little family doesn't know heads from tails right now.  Rory and I spent most of the month of December alone here in Toronto with Peter traveling back on weekends because he started his new job at the beginning of the month. So we were all exhausted and each out of sorts in our own way. Thankfully, once we all actually did arrive in Almonte, we didn't have a lot of traveling to do and played all "plans" by ear for most of the holidays.

Rory is just too much fun these days and is saying so many more words,  and/or at least tries to say/repeat almost everything we ask him to. It's hilarious. He can point out most of his body parts, has a few animal sounds in his repertoire and with the new kitchen from gram and grumps we're working on all the fruits and veggies.  I think at 18 months he was still to young to "get" Christmas this year but he loved the lights and the decorations. And candy. Oh, and he knows Santa says HO HO HO and who Frosty is! :) Our routine before xmas was to get home from daycare/work, and I would plug in the xmas tree and I would say "are you ready???" and then he would clap and say YAY!!!! as the lights came on.

Here are a few snapshots from this year's xmas.

Jenna and Rory Christmas Eve

Jenna & Peter Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve Pajamas!

My what changes happen in a year! Rory is tackling Jenna this year!

Daddy's first Christmas Eve Toy Set Up! The new kitchen from Gramma and Grumpa

Finished Assembly Awaiting Christmas Morning Smiles!

Christmas Morning! Excited about my new tool table from Santa!

Some new Christmas books... taking time out for a read.

And lots of visits with cousins!

SNOW! You love it!!! If only you would keep your mitts on!!

Back to Toronto!! Keeping you happy on the 401 jaunt with a chocolate milk.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!