A few reasons why today is awesome...

A few post 'hair do' shots with Baby J.

Today is kind of awesome.

Why?  Well, first thing this morning I got to go and get my hair done with my lovely friend and hair stylist, Hanna.  I have literally been X-ing off the days on the calender in anticipation of "hair do" day.  Although we didn't change it all that much (I need it long enough to ponytail with Baby J on the scene), it just feels good to be freshened up.  Plus I love the 2+ hours out of the house, chatting with Hanna and all the other Angles salon staff.  I pretty much love it there.

Why else?

Because I just finished a mini fashion show for Juliette in which I comfortably zipped up every single pair of pre-pregnancy jeans I own!  Okay, so maybe sitting down in a few of them is still a little daunting BUT this is very, very exciting people.  I can feel that I am just a stone's throw away from my goal here.  And the Fit 4 Two mom and baby fitness class that Baby J and I start next week can only help the situation.  Yay!

Another reason?

Tonight is date night in.  Meaning takeout and a movie on V.O.D.  Our wee little lady is still fighting off her cold (poor girl), so instead of going out to the movies we are doing movie night in with popcorn and everything!  I'm thinking burgers or gyros for dinner.  Yum.

The only thing that could make today even MORE awesome is if Juliette's cold would go away.  Sigh...  Maybe tomorrow.

Happy Friday people!

Sniffles

Baby J woke up with a nasty sounding cough this morning and a wee case of the sniffles.  It's no surprise she's caught some sort of a bug as her daddy has been under the weather all week too.  So far I'm in the clear though!  Hopefully that doesn't change so I can keep this house running like the squeaky, in-need-of-a-tuneup kind of home it is.  :)

Today Jason picked us up for lunch, and despite Juliette's mild cold, we took her out to The Forks to check out The Festival of Fools that is presented by Kids Fest for all the kids on spring break this week.  Jason sits on the Kids Fest board of directors, and we can hardly wait 'til Juliette is old enough to realize that her uber-cool daddy practically runs the whole Kids Fest!  That's a total lie.  He's the treasurer, but we think Little J will be blown away by the fact that her daddy is involved in the organization.

             AMAZING acrobatic act at The Festival of Fools.

I hope you are all having a lovely Wednesday.  And if you have babies, I hope they aren't coughing like mine.  :(

Solids!

Holy macaroni!  My baby started eating solid food this week!  Don't be fooled by my opening 'macaroni' statement, she has yet to try anything so carb-loaded.  Although if she is anything like her momma, she'll be a pasta and ice cream lover some day...

It all started this past Saturday, St.Paddy's day, and also my mother's birthday.  My dad is out of town on a golf trip (on his wife's birthday!  sheesh), so I made sure to invite her over for a b-day dinner with Juliette, Jason, and me.  As a special 'Happy Birthday Amma' treat I thought we ought to try giving Baby J some actual food for the very first time EVER! Having not gone to the grocery store yet to pick up rice cereal, we opted to start with banana.  Her reaction was so-so.  Pretty eager at first, then after a mouthful or two her interest quickly waned.

However, I knew not to let that discourage me from trying again.  The little wee gal is obsessed with watching us eat, so on a grocery run earlier this week I picked up some organic rice cereal and gave solids another shot.  She loves it.  I mix the cereal with breast milk and Baby J laps it up with nothing short of sheer excitement.

I must admit, I had mixed feelings on starting solids.  Up until now Juliette's nourishment has been sustained wholly from me.  It felt like a big step to offer her something other than breast milk. But the kid's gotta learn to eat, right?  And seriously, it's not all about me!  When will I learn that for good?

It's also a super fun thing for she and her daddy to do together.  He makes choo-choo sounds and she giggles and slurps.  She has yet to nail down the whole concept of swallowing, but we figure about 40% of what we spoon her actually makes it to her tummy.  Not a bad start.  I think this weekend we'll try avocado.

Another milestone crossed off the list...  Sigh.

busybusybusy

Last week was crazy busy around here and I sort of fell off the blogging radar.  But now I'm back.  And I am pumped!  Why?  For so many fabulous reasons...

First off, it's unbelievably gorgeous outside!  It is currently 18 degrees out there, going to a high of 24... on March 19th...  whaaaa?  Whatever, I'll take it.

Second, we had an unbelievable few days visiting with our niece and nephew, Kaitlyn and Logan, last week.  They were on spring break visiting from Minneapolis (oldest brother Riley opted to stay home and hang out with his buddies) and we had such a blast!  We ate pancakes and pizza, we went to the Children's Museum, we had a girls Twilight night, we wore monkey masks, AND we even baked cupcakes.  It went way too fast and now Jason and I are looking forward to our next visit with the kidlets when we head down to the good ol' U.S. of A. in June.

Also, it looks as though I have firmed up some work commencing in the fall (!!!), and although it will be hard to leave my Sweet Baby J, it's an incredible opportunity for personal and professional growth.  I will follow up with more details as my start date approaches.  For now let's just say I'm more than just a tad excited over here.

In moments from now I am going to wake Baby J  up from her nap and we are heading over to visit our friend Hiede and her lovely wee baby Emily, then later I have a cleaning crew coming in to work their magic on our house.  Life is so good right now I'm not even bummed about my dentist appointment later this afternoon!

On My Own

The last few days I have been solo parenting.  Jason is in beautiful British Columbia on a business trip, which leaves Baby J and I to hold down the fort.  He has been away a couple of other times on two or three day trips since Juliette's birth, and every time he goes I am reminded of what a huge blessing it is to have a partner in this parenting adventure.

Granted, Jason does have a full time and rather demanding career, so when he is not travelling he works long hours.  But J&J always have their early morning play dates, allowing me to blissfully sleep an extra hour while they have what J. Sr. has lovingly titled 'The Morning Show'.  For me, that extra hour in bed all on my own is really the most luxurious part of the day, and I must admit, I miss it dearly when he's gone.

Jason generally gets home from a long day shortly before it's time for J. Jr. to hit the hay.  My heart always sinks a little for him as I hear him bound up the stairs to the nursery only to find Juliette nodding out on my lap.  We are working on this time of day though, hopefully by a combination of stretching Juliette's bed time out a little later (thank you Daylight Savings!) and Jason coming home fifteen minutes earlier we have it resolved so that daddy and daughter get some evening snuggles in before snoozeville.

For the rest of the evening the two of us  relax, share a nice meal, watch a little boob-tube (latest tv obession: The Voice), and chat about our day.  It's really lovely.  And when he's gone, it's what I miss most.  So it got me thinking of how many single moms (and dads) are out there who do it all on their own all the time.  I applaud these women, they are warriors.  As much as I love spending the days with my beautiful baby gal, I look forward to some adult conversation and company to wrap up my day.  Particularly in those first three months of having a wee one.  I would count down from about three o'clock on, waiting for the familiar sound of the back door opening up, thankful for some respite and a good strong hug.

There are many women out there who don't have this at the end of the day.  This is not to say that you need a man, or a woman for that matter, to make life better or easier, as we all know this is not always the case.  Sometimes having a partner can make things worse, depending on who your partner is.  But I am so grateful to have mine.  Although I know if faced with the situation of having to raise Juliette alone, I could do it.  I could dig deep and do whatever it takes to make sure Juliette knows she is loved and protected, but I hope I never have to.

J&J in Mexico this past January

And you gotta see this girl with her daddy.  Her whole aura changes.  It's magic.  It's beautiful.  It's pure love.

Spring Has Sprung

It looks as though spring has sprung in Winnipeg this weekend!  The snow is melting into sloppy slushy puddles, the sun felt downright hot today, and that crisp winter scent has left the airways.  Yes, I do indeed believe we are in for an early thaw this year.  At least I hope so, it's so hard to predict in this crazy nordic climate.

The only downside to spring in the Peg is that it's hard to get out there and enjoy it to the fullest on account of all the muck.  Months and months of snow has accumulated, and before we can really revel in long leisurely sunkissed walks, we need to do some serious puddle jumping.  So why not do it in style?

Don't you just LOVE Julianne Moore?

I went down to my basement on Friday afternoon and dug up my Hunter wellies to tackle this weekend's rising temperatures.  And they most certainly came in handy.  Today while Juliette was napping at her Amma and Grandpa's house after brunch, I decided to take a little stroll down to Osborne Village to see what sorts of lovely frills and frocks could steal my heart.  As the other pedestrians did a hop, skip, and sidestep combo down the street, I comfortably stomped my way through the deepest puddles giddy as a six year old making mud pies.

To celebrate this lovely and oh-so-messy time of year, I thought I'd showcase some of the cutest rubbers to keep those tootsies clean and dry.

Gap rain boots, $54.95

I was in the Gap yesterday getting an absolute STEAL on a pair of rose coloured skinny jeans and a denim top.  For those of you who remember my ode to chambray post, you can all relax, the itch has been successfully scratched.  Anyhoo, back to boots.  While I was looking around I came across these fun little numbers!  They come in hot pink, lime green, navy blue, and bright orange.  How fun is that?  And Gap is always, always, always spamming us with sale emails, so there is certainly no need to pay full price.  If you're not signed up to receive their emails, go to the website right NOW and get on it.

Hunter boots at Browns, $150.00

Hunter of Scotland are the tried and true classic wellies that I mentioned earlier.  I quite love my Hunters.  They are very on trend right now (and have been for a couple of years), so it's really just a question of whether or not you're prepared to spend a hundred and fifty bucks on rainboots?  I tossed and turned many nights before finally springing for them myself.  And it was pre-baby, I may have talked myself out of it if it were today.  But I do really love them...

Tretorn rainboots at Town Shoes, $85.00

Tretorn makes these adorable red rubbers.  What attracts me to these cute little puddle jumpers is not just the vibrant red, but the height!  I love that they are not a full blown wellie style.  I think this mid-calf height would be perfect for crouching down and playing with Juliette at the park and the lake.  The problem with Hunters, and other wellies, is that they are knee height which can make them feel a little cumbersome at 

times.

Old Navy rainboots, $34.94

Looking for the most bang for your buck?  Check out these royal blue splash makers at Old Navy.  At just under thirty-five bucks, I'd say that these will not only serve their purpose of keeping your feet dry and toasty, but you'll be left with a few extra bucks to splurge on something a little more glamorous than rubber booties.

Toddler rainboots at Old Navy, $22.94

Of course, my wee lovely's feet will need to stay warm and dry too!  How cute are these cherry print galoshes for girls?  Adorable.  Seeing as Juliette can't walk yet, I think I'll hold off 'til next year...

Weekend Update

Hey, fellow parents out there, I have a question.  Do you ever wake up in the morning and look at your baby and swear she grew overnight?  We're having one of those days over here.  Jason agrees, Juliette looks WAY bigger than she did yesterday.  And older!  It's weird.

It really is a remarkable thing to actually watch your little one grow right before your eyes.  Like magic.  She's also been making these new vocal sounds lately, and I'm pretty sure I am starting to hear what her actual voice will sound like.  It's not just gurgles and coos anymore, there is a little voice developing in there.  It gets me thinking of all the wonderful things we will talk about someday.  It also gets me thinking that she will use this voice to 'talk back' someday...  (I must keep this in mind when talking back to my own mother.)

The Mister and I had a night out last night!  It was one of our friend's 30th birthday and her husband threw her a surprise party at a great restaurant downtown that specializes in South American cuisine.  So fun!  We got to eat yummy food, I wore lipstick, we laughed, and celebrated our friend Lindsay.  It's amazing how a night out can rejuvenate you and exhaust you all at the same time.

The picture above is a DIY idea I saw on Pinterest earlier this week and decided to give it a shot for my friend.  I didn't take a pic of the one I did (not nearly this tidy and cute) but it turned out pretty decent.  The birthday girl loved it and party-goers all thought it was kinda cool too, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Happy Saturday!

Chambray

I've got Chambray on the brain tonight...

I had this chambray shirt from J.Crew, but it tore in my washing machine the second time I washed it so I sent it back.  Now I want another.  But not this one, it's not well constructed enough for the price tag.  I think a $98 shirt should be able to stand up to two washings, don't you?

They also have this one online at J.Crew.  But it's like way, WAY outside my budget.  ($234 - ouch!)

I like this one from Old Navy, but I think I'd prefer two chest pockets.  Although it's a much friendlier price at only $34.94.

And Banana Republic has this one, which could be worn casually with jeans (I'm thinking red denim) and professionally if paired with a nice trouser or pencil skirt.  Now that's some serious shirt multi-tasking.  It's like two shirts in one!

Then I can get these adorable baby chambray pieces from The Children's Place for Juliette and we'll be matchy-matchy!  Done.  I'm going to go dream of a spring filled with singing birds, frresh flowers, sweet Baby J, and chambray....

Fun Day

Today is a fun day.  Baby J and I walked to Breastfeeding Buddies this morning with a couple of moms and their babes from the neighborhood.  We often go to BB Wednesday mornings.  It's a great way to get out of the house with your wee one in a 'boob friendly' environment.  Not only does it help relieve any winter isolation you may be feeling as a new mommy, but it's also a great way of comparing notes with other moms.  'My baby won't sleep, is that normal?'  'My baby has a weird diaper rash, should I be worried?'  'My baby loves it when I...'  And so on and so forth.  It's a pretty great resource that's presented by the local public health nurses.  If you're a new mom looking to get out, I'd suggest checking out a BB group in your 'hood.  Plus all the babies playing together is pretty much the cutest thing I've like EVER seen.  Seriously.  Cute.

When I got home from BB I was ever-so-excited to see that the mail had come, and Juliette's wall decal arrived all the way from 41 Orchard in AUSTRALIA!  Remember the decal I told you about here?  Well now it's actually HERE.  In my house.  More specifically in Juliette's room.  And it looks amazing!  Even better than I'd imagined.  Yay!

I thought it would take like a month or something to get here 'cause it had to come all the way from the other side of the planet.  But it didn't!  It only took about a week and a half.  Oh air mail, you sure do know how to make a momma happy.

Next up on my list of fun today?  I'm bakin' a cake.  Carrot cake for my book club tomorrow night.  Some girlfriends and I started this book club in September whilst my wee girl was still in my gigantic baby belly.  Our first book was We Need to talk About Kevin.  Never read this book while you're pregnant.  Better yet, just never read this book.  That's all I'm going to say about Kevin.

For this month's selection, it was my pick.  My first choice (The Paris Wife) was only available in hard cover, so I switched to The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings.

I'm sure you've all heard of it by now as the book was made into a movie and the movie was nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards.  It didn't win.  Neither did George Clooney who was nominated for best actor.  Poor George.  Anyhoo, I picked this book so that the cheaters in the book club (you know who you are!) who didn't get through the whole novel could just go see the movie.  And we ALL benefited by picturing the handsome Mr. Clooney in our heads whenever we sat down to read a chapter or two.

In any case, we'll only talk about the book for like five minutes.   The rest of the time we'll likely spend talking about pretty much anything but the book.  That's how my book club rolls.  It's awesome.

On that note, I best go bake me a cake while my baby is still slumbering in snooze-land.

The BEST Belly-Busting Breakfast

Morning is hands down my favourite time of day.  If you'd have told me this would happen when I was 22, I would have called you a liar.  But I would have been wrong then, because this is absolutely the honest to goodness truth.  My wee gal shines in the morning.  She squawks and talks, wriggles and giggles.  She is definitely her happiest self during this oh-so-magical time of day.  And weekend mornings are the BEST of the best!  Jason gets Juliette from her crib while I run downstairs to make coffee, then all three of us lounge in bed laughing and playing for a few hours.  It's bliss.

Here's the thing.  About a month ago, mornings got even BETTER.  Totally true story.

Why?  Because I discovered one of the yummiest (and healthiest!!!) ways to start my day.  It was after much prodding from my mother that I finally tried this new breakfast that she was raving about.  Alas, I am a creature of habit, and for the last I-don't-even-know-how-many years I have been eating vanilla yogurt with meusli, sliced banana, and berries in the morning.  Sounds good, right?  It is good.  Delicious even.  Problem is that by half past ten I am STARVING again and in need a mid-morning snack.  Particularly now that I'm nursing sweet Baby J.

So this new breakfast.  It's probably not so new to some of you, but it is to me, hence I'm going to share.  I should probably give credit where it's due.  My mom saw this breakfast on Dr. Oz as a way of reducing belly fat.  The Doc said that after just five days of eating this for breakfast you should see a visible improvement around your waistline.  Anyone who has had a baby ought to know that this is definitely a selling point for new moms. Was for me.

Here it is:

• one whole wheat english muffin
• one teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
• a poached egg
• one quarter of an avocado, sliced
• sliced tomato (I've been using halved cherry tomatoes lately)
• one slice of swiss cheese

Easy peasy.  Toast your english muffin and poach your egg (we have a nifty l'il egg poacher which makes this task super simple, but if you need a little help, the lovely Ms Martha Stewart can show you here).  Drizzle the olive oil over english muffin and top with egg, cheese, avocado and tomatoes.  Deeeeeeelish!

Aside from this being a healthy AND tasty way to start my day, it also keeps me satisfied all morning.  But does it REALLY bust my belly?  I actually think it DOES!  I have noticed a definite decrease in belly fat over the past four weeks since I've been eating this every morning, and it's really the only major dietary/lifestyle change I've made.  I've also lost four pounds.  Go figure.

There you have it.  Mornings just got even BETTER.  Yay!              

Five Months

Juliette is five months old today!

I really wish I had started this blog sooner so I could have documented months one through four this way.  But I didn't, and it's better late than never, right?

I mentioned in an earlier post that Juliette was born via emergency c-section, after many, MANY hours of labour.  You see, the little gal's cord was wrapped around her neck a whopping THREE times, which was preventing her from descending to the birth canal and preventing me from dilating.  It took about 27 hours to get to seven centimeters, and I only got that far because the doctor administered an inducing drip through my IV (yes, I most certainly DID get the epidural!  cheers to all you women who went drug free, I am not that tough).

                               This is Juliette at about 12 or 14 hours old.

On the one hand it seems like she has been in my life forever, and on the other, I can't believe it's already been FIVE months!

What's the one thing EVERYBODY says to new parents when they have their first baby?  "Enjoy this time, it goes so fast."  I got really sick of hearing that.  But it's true.  These last five months have flown by!  And now she rolls over, she giggles all the time, she squawks and screams (happy screams as well as sad/angry ones), she grabs and pulls.  It's unbelievable.  She started off as this little wee ball of helplessness and now she's got all this... personality.  She's amazing.

So how do we plan on celebrating Baby J's five month birthday, you ask?  Well, she and her daddy had a morning full of fun before I even got out of bed, which she is now recovering from with a luxurious mid-morning snooze.  When she awakes we will rock on our glider in her nursery while she eats and I sing to her. And I believe we will fill our afternoon with snuggles, giggles, coos, and kisses.  We'll likely wrap up the day with a bath and storytime.

                            Happy, happy day to you, my sweetest love.

Quinoa salad. Yum.

Okay, so tonight we ate quinoa salad for dinner. It was, in a word, delicious.

You see, lately all I've seen all over the foodie pins on Pinterest is 'quinoa this' and 'quinoa that'. Then on Friday night I was at this fancy-shmancy gala dinner with my pops (my mom was standing on her head all weekend at a yoga workshop, so I was the backup date) and he ate the vegetarian meal which was served with... quinoa!

When I commented that I've been noticing loads of quinoa all over the internet, one of our dinner companions mentioned that it's like super easy to prepare. Turns out, she was right! It IS easy. And tasty.

All I did was cook the quinoa according to the instructions on the box, after it cooled I added some chopped red bell pepper, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, scallions, cilantro and feta cheese. Then I drizzled extra virgin olive oil, lemon and balsamic vinegar and chilled it in the fridge for a couple of hours. Served it up with teriyaki baked salmon and asparagus spears. Yum. Yum. Yum!

You are such a good girl, Juliette.

Baby girl, you are such a lovely little lady. Tonight your dad and I took you to party at your Grandma and your Auntie's house. You stayed up much later than your usual bedtime, there were all sorts of faces and voices that you are not familiar with, and you were just as good as can be!

Sure, maybe there was a pouty lip here and a little cry there, but all in all you exceeded my expectations for the evening.

You charmed the socks off the other dinner guests when you flashed them that gorgeous gummy smile, you rocked the adorable Carter's frock I dressed you in, and you gave your Grandma some pretty spectacular coos and giggles (which I know were the highlight of her night). You were even a wee bit playful with your older cousin Lila.

Thank you for being such a delight to take out and about. My goodness, sweet Baby J, you are a charming, precious girl. And I love you.

Juliette in her jam-jams at the party.