Under pressure

Ever since we attended our friend's two-year old's birthday party last month, I've been thinking of going low-key for little c's 2nd birthday.

However, with all of the hits I'm getting from his Winter Onederland party from Pinterest, I think my ego might need to do more than order some pizza and blow up some balloons, as I originally planned.

Now that my Christmas cards are ordered (as of 10:00 p.m. last night), between starting my Christmas shopping, working full-time, visiting my father-in-law in the hospital, attending Christmas parties, and getting ready to go home to Canada for the holidays, I'm now needing to find time to figure out exactly how crazy I'm going to go with this 2nd birthday party, which much like the first birthday party, will be for me, not the birthday boy. At least I can admit it, right?

Why do we Type A personalities do this to ourselves?

Did anyone read "I Don't Know How She Does It", by Allison Pearson or see the movie starring Sarah Jessica Parker? I read the book and found myself relating to the heroine of the story on so many levels. Except instead of buying store-bought tarts and smashing them to look like they're homemade, I'm the nut-job baking the tarts at midnight and letting other needed chores lie unattended. Who needs clean plates or clean underwear? I just don't think someone who works part-time or "from home" could ever understand the challenges we full-time working moms face, or the same guilt. As mother's we all have the dreaded mother's guilt, whether we  have the luxury or made the choice to stay home OR whether we choose or have to work, but I think full-time working moms are dealt an extra helping of the guilt along with the need to make people think we've got it all together somehow.

Wow, I think I could write an entirely separate entry regarding this whole notion but instead I'll stop right here.

Maybe I'll come to my senses in the next couple of weeks as I procrastinate further and further to the point where I say "SCREW IT ALL!" and revert back to the plan of calling Dominoes and hitting up Zurchers for some streamers and balloons.

Maybe.

Cohenisms

I find myself with a couple of minutes before little c wakes up and I thought I'd jot down some of the funny things he's been saying for the last little bit before they're gone from my memory.

In no particular order...

Caddapehveht - Caterpillar (sounds like he's saying Cater-pervert)

Uh-oh dee-zee! - Oopsie Daisy!

I tooted and it was weally youd!! - No deciphering needed I hope.

Elpha-ant - Elephant

Ama-mals - Animals

Pway pease - Pray please. And then when we do pray, he lets us know what he wants us to pray for, like choo-choo trains, elpha-ants, lions, bouncy balls, etc.

Sussasses - Sunglasses

Oh my guhness, look at all the pwetty yights! - The kid LOVES Christmas lights, like REALLY loves them.

No-man - Snowman

There's more but I can't remember what they are right now. I'll probably do a "Cohenisms" post more frequently as the little chatterbox says more funny things.

Have a great week!

Pretending he's an elepha-ant.

 

 

Happy Halloween

So I'm two weeks late. Whatevs! Enjoy the photos of our little monkey. Next year? Garden Gnome or something equally hilarious. I promise.


With his buddy, Bean (aka Charley).
All in all, Cohen loved trick or treating. Maybe because he was with his favourite buddies from the neighbourhood. Maybe because he liked saying "twick oh tweet". Who cares. He had a great time but knew his limits and asked for night-night right around the time we decided we'd hit enough houses. And he also enjoyed the one sucker we allowed him out of his stash. (Mummy, Daddy, and their friends enjoyed the rest)

Here we go again

I was reminded that the season of sickness is now, unfortunately, upon us. Little c was diagnosed with croup on Monday and hasn't made a full recovery yet. Poor little guy has had 3 doses of steroids and is still gasping for air and waking up throughout the night to cough and try to breathe. It's such an awful sound and provokes an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach when I'm awakened at 3:00 a.m. to the sound of him gasping. My poor little man. But the weekend is here and hopefully he'll be on the mend soon enough.

I suppose I should go get him up from his nap as he's crying out for "Mummy-oh!"

More very soon. I'm finally feeling like writing again after a sabbatical of sorts. And besides, Halloween is coming up and I can't wait to share c's costume with you...if I can get it done in time! Damn croup has foiled my plans this week.

Looks like someone got into...

...the boursin cheese when Mommy and Daddy were entertaining guests. Looks like there's a little dirt too.
Yes, the kid continues to eat everything. His former nemesis, cucumber, is now on the yummy list (but only if it's served with hummus). Lettuce, though, is still on the yucky list. It's a rather short list, the yucky list, with cottage cheese and carrots rounding out the list. What's at the top of the yummy list you might be wondering? Corn on the cob! He cannot get enough and asks for "corn cob" every night. Fortunately we've got it on the menu every night so the kid is happy.

It's about time

Wowsers. It's been a whole month since I last wrote. In between a trip home to Canada, a visit from Nana and Auntie Gram, a trip to Tahoe, a visit from Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Kim, my busiest time of the year at work, and Big C starting grad school and hogging the computer 24/7, there hasn't been much down time.

I was able to beg Big C for the computer (yes, I admit, I did whine and pout and felt like a brat) and I've only got it for a few minutes, so I'll only post a quick photo so you know that we are all still alive!
More updates coming soon. There's so much going on with little c that I need to record--mostly good, some naughty.

Have a wonderful week!

 

On topic

We're going to stay on the topic of stuff on little c's face with this one. Not sure if you can see it since the lighting was poor and I didn't want to use the flash, but the little future makeup artist came home from school like this one day last week. I'd better keep my MAC away from him.

 

Happy Monday indeed!

Had a fun-filled, action-packed weekend, complete with painting our storage room, family trip to Costco, a trek to Wheeler Farm (which should be renamed Dullsville), dips in little c's new pool, navigating through millions of double-wide babystrollers and enormous dogs at the Farmer's Market, delicious sockeye salmon and corn on the cob for dinner one night, and little c's first bee sting!

Photo re-cap soon. In the meantime, you'll have to settle for this one. Let's just say he really enjoys pasta.

Just because

 
Just a cute photo of my little turkey. Enjoy your day!

Free books

A couple of weeks ago I hosted an Usborne Book Party at Hancock Manor. I met a consultant for UB at the Avenues Street Fair last September and she convinced me to host one. If you have little kids that love to read or you want them to love to read, you should definitely think about hosting one of these parties. As a result of my sales, I snagged 15 free books for little c and my nephews.
Can you guess which one will probably be Cohen's fave?
If you guessed this one, you're most likely right.

I'd say these are worth far more than costume jewelry or some Pampered Chef pizza stones, although I'd take both of those in a heartbeat too!

And a happy Monday to you

I guess it's been a couple of weeks since I last posted anything. No good reason why I haven't...just need a break every once in awhile.

We had a very lovely fourth of July long weekend last week. Big C and I both realized it was the first relaxing weekend we've had since little c came along. We stayed at a friends cottage in Park City the entire weekend and enjoyed every second of our 3.5 day weekend. We swam every day, played at an amazing playground, went running at 5000', ate really well, slept in, went to Park Silly and had build-your-own Bloody Mary's (Cohen had the virgin kind), and took it easy in between. So great. So needed too.

If that is the only vacation we take as a family all year, it was a good one. A perfect 10 out of 10 in my book.

Here are some highlights from the weekend.
Surveying the property.
Don't look like you're in pain or anything Cohen!
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Wuv loo

I am the proud owner of an 18 month old today. So crazy. The time really does fly by far too quickly.

The kid has far too many words to count (over 50 and growing every day) and likes to repeat everything we say, including the naughty words. Big C has been working with him on saying "Love you" and his hard work finally paid off the other day when Cohey Bear said "wuv loo". My heart skipped a beat and I of course cried. And now he can't stop saying it. He even told Thomas the Tank Engine "wuv loo" tonight right before he kissed him.

For my friends and family in Canada and the US, have a lovely holiday weekend and know that we wuv loo!
 
 
 
 
I love the look on Big C's face. Pure delight. I scored in the husband department!

Howler monkey

I took little c in for his 18 month check-up yesterday. We were hanging out in the waiting room, watching the fish, colouring on the table because who colours on paper, and climbing up on chairs. Little c's name was called and as he innocently rounded the corner to walk through the door to the exam rooms, he spotted Dr. Rachel's nurse, H, and instantly started screaming like one of those monkeys you see that are being ripped from the jungle and sent to some zoo or lab or somewhere equally horrendous (like Hollywood). Not only was he screeching, he was clawing at me to get away from her. You see, H is in a wheelchair and is the one that gives him his shots. I think he remembered the wheelchair and has figured her out.

Needless to say, it was a tough chore getting his weight and there was no chance of getting his height or head size. But I think it's safe to say he's below average on the height and in the 95%ile for head size, based on how he's tracked all along.

All in all we had a great visit with Dr. Rachel and little c is in fine form and hitting all of the milestones.

 

Pretty in pink

Way back in February I helped my friend with her daughter's teacher's bridal shower (here). She hinted that her daughter's fourth birthday was coming in May and she encouraged me to start thinking of how to pull off a tea party for a bunch of four year old girls.

Seeing as I will probably never have the privilege of planning a daughter's party since I'm destined to have another boy down the road, I took this as my chance to try and pull off a party that I would have for a little girl of my own. There would be loads of pink, doilies, and professionally designed printables.

May came very quickly, but as I had solicited the help of my friend B, owner of a gift and candy boutique in town, we had everything planned and accounted for. And I didn't procrastinate nearly as much as I am known for and it made for such an enjoyable experience. Nor did I have to pull an all-nighter like my crazy cake-decorating sister!

Let me tell you something. Paying someone $15 to design the invitations was the way to go. I knew exactly what I wanted for the invite but also knew I wasn't talented enough or experienced enough in Illustrator. And so I turned to etsy and started looking. It didn't take long to find what I was looking for. A couple of tweaks and the invite was finalized, e-mailed to me, and printed off at home. I used the same designer, who happens to be from the land of tea, England, for all of the other printables at the event, save for the Ella signs. It saved me at least 25 hours of design time, which I clearly don't have. Who does really? Leave it to the professionals I say.

B and I collaborated on the food, favours, activities, and decor and got to work and I must say I was really pleased with the end result.

I don't have anymore parties on my calendar right now, but I'm really looking forward to the next one as I feel like I'm learning so much more with each one. You'd think an event planner would kind of have an idea of how to pull off an event, but when it's a birthday party for 12 four year olds and not an event for 8,000 Asians with a budget of $1.2 million, it's a whole new ball game.

I'd love any constructive comments you might have on how to make it better.
I wasn't content with a plain envelope so out came my doilies and my box of ribbon.

The Ella banner was fun to make once I found the die cuts I wanted at a secret location where you can go and use the die cuts for free.
 
I had to knock back a dozen Starbucks frappuccinos to get the containers but it was well worth the calories.
 
I'd never made marshmallow pops before but they were pretty easy and pretty delicious.
Thank you IKEA for making such appropriate containers. And thank you B for finding them!
 
 
 
 
 
The birthday girl checking out the details before her guests arrived. I forgot to mention the party was held at Baby NeeNee in Park City, a children's boutique with some of the coolest boy clothes I've seen that don't break the bank.
Wishing I'd found a way to hang this behind the food table. You live and learn.
One final shot of the delicious cupcakes on the fabulous paper plate I found online.

Event details:

Venue-Baby NeeNee

Paper printables-Paperspice

Flowers-Anna Fulton

Cakepops, cupcakes, and sugar cookies-Two Queen Bees Confisserie

Paper plates-Modernlola

Styling-Two Queen Bees Confisserie & Kristyn Hancock

Happy Birthday

To the woman who gave me life, loves me unconditionally, made me practice the piano, cooked a stuffed onion for me when everyone else in the family was having stuffed peppers,

 

 

A trip down memory lane

I decided to spend some time looking at photos of little c's first month last night. Yes, I teared up just looking at him as a 7 lb 13 oz wonder child.

I just had to post this photo because I still can't believe he came out with that red hair!

Cohenisms

Like almost every toddler, little c has his own words for general day-to-day things. Some words are very clear and fitting, like "cheese" or "elbow", others are not and I try really hard to figure out how the word came about.

I thought I'd share a couple with you to see if maybe you could figure them out for me.

1. Nanoo. These are his soothers, or pacifiers. Every morning we hear a tink, tink, tink as little c throws them out of the crib. When we go into his room to greet him in the morning, we send him under the crib to locate all of the nanoos that he has thrown out.

2. Budgie. His blanket. That boy loves his budgie.

3. This isn't so much a word as a noise. Whenever little c sees a balloon, he makes a noise with his tongue that sort of sounds like blehb-o-blehb-o-blehb-o. The funny thing is he used to say the word balloon, but over the last few months he's changed over to the sound. We'll be driving along and he'll make the noise and sure enough, there's a balloon.

Those are the only ones I can think of for now. But as more develop, I'll most likely post them so I never forget them, because let's face it, who has time to update a baby book!?! 

Like father like toddler

 
Pulling weeds with Daddy.

Easter brunch

So I'm 6 weeks behind in posting. Whatevs.

As I mentioned last week, we had a really great Easter brunch this year. Great friends, excellent food, a successful egg hunt on a perfect Spring day, and mimosas for everyone!

I entered an on-line drawing of sorts on the blog Hello My Sweet  featured in April on the amazing Amy Atlas' blog, right here. The prize was custom Easter printables for the brunch. I had been on the fence about whether to hold the brunch, but then when I received the notification that I won, it was game on and out came the cookbooks to figure out the menu.

The menu included candied bacon, goat cheese frittata, Widmer apple pancake, roasted asparagus, mixed green salad, Grand Marnier french toast, ultimate banana bread, trifle, French macarons, fruit kebobs, mango mimosas, and mocha frappuccinos. It was a feast! And that ultimate banana bread was the best I've ever had. If you want the recipe, leave me a comment and I'll e-mail it to you.

A HUGE thank you to the gang at Hello My Sweet for hooking me up with such great printables. It really pulled the brunch together and they were great to work with. I'll definitely use their services for future fetes.