My Lenten Fast

Lent is a period of forty days of fasting, prayer, and penitence before Easter.

Every year I pick one or two things that I'm going to "Give Up" for Lent. This year I have given up one of my favourite TV shows and... complaining.

I have to laugh at myself for this one. So far not watching the TV show is easy! However... I can honestly say that I think my complaining has gotten worse since Lent started! I actually wrote a whole complaining blog on Ash Wednesday, the day Lent began!

But one of the best things about being Catholic is the ability to always start over and begin anew!

So today I begin again... I WILL BE POSITIVE! I WILL NOT COMPLAIN!

Living Room Slumber Party

Saturday night was so hot that we slept in our living room where the air-conditioner is. John had his little crib mattress squeezed between ours and the couch.

When we were setting up, it was like I had a 2 year old - not a 5 month old! He was so excited!! Rolling around and giggling. He knew we were having a slumber party!

And even more amazing - he had a great sleep too!

Just to Claire-ify.

"What do you do when you see a spaceman??... Park in it man!"
Unless of course it's a parking spot for a disabled person or a space for people with small children in their car.

I'm going to rant... I promise I won't make a habit of this... I like to keep my blog as positive and uplifting as possible!

Going shopping with a little one is NOT an easy thing. It takes me at least twice as long to get ready to go, I have to allow time for getting John in and out of the car-seat, add in stroller set up and take down time... believe it just takes longer.

But this is not my rant.

I really don't mind that it takes longer! I don't go shopping that often and when I do - I just allow more time!

When you finally get to the shop you basically fill up half the cart/trolley with your diaper bag and green bags before you even begin to shop!

But this is not my rant.

This next one is a "hot climate specific problem"... Once you finish your shopping and get back to your car, what do you do first?? You have your baby in the cart/trolley and it's hot outside! But it's even hotter in your car! WHAT DO YOU DO FIRST? This is what I do... I put John in the car first, leaving the door wide open (hoping for a breeze) and then I turn the car on and blast the air-con (even though it doesn't really make much of a difference until the car is moving). Then I quickly load the shopping... but then comes another problem... if there's no cart/trolley rack nearby what do I do? I'm not about to leave my child in a hot, running car to go return the trolley! So... I just leave it as out of the way as possible, and hope someone will come and collect it soon! It's the best I can do.

But this is not my rant.

Some very nice person came up with the idea of adding parking spaces for people with small children in a lot of carparks. They're usually right next to the shop - second only to disability parking spaces. Having the "Baby parking" (as I call it) is great! The spaces are usually wider that allow for a safer place to park your cart/trolley to unload, set up and take down stroller and of course awkward climb into that backseat to get your child in and out of their car-seat.

THIS IS MY RANT...

Nothing bugs me more than when people who do NOT have small children, park in those spaces! I've seen middle-aged couples park there, parents with kids who jump out of the car on their own, and (this is the worst) people who DO have a car-seat in their car... but no baby with them!

Ok... now I'm finished my rant. Thank you for reading! And to parents who don't have the luxury of these parks and have to struggle getting in and out of your car... I salute you. I guess I am a bit spoiled!

Just to Claire-ify.

It's So Hot...

Yesterday it was soooo hot... 36degrees HOT! There isn't much you can do around here on a day like that - Just sit in the air-conditioning and try to stay cool... but it's pretty difficult sometimes, especially with a 5 month old. He can't have his naps during the day in his room because it's too hot in there - he doesn't go to bed at night at a decent time either... it's just too hot. I have to admit that I am REALLY looking forward to when it's not so hot.


Yesterday however, we discovered a way to stay cool. After the hottest part of the day had passed and there was a bit of shade in the back yard - we got out one of our sprinklers! We set up our new shade tent and John's baby bath and had a blast! (And our grass got a nice watering too!)

Side Note: Joe and I are renting this house and until yesterday didn't know how many sprinklers we have... WE HAVE 3!

At first John was loving running through the sprinkler with me - but then I think he just got a bit overwhelmed and had a little freak-out. So - out came the baby bath and he sat in it in the shade. I think he was still a bit overwhelmed by the idea of having a bath in the great out-doors, but it was a great way to cool him off!

It is definitely an activity that we'll have to do again!

Just to Claire-ify.

All About the Books

While I was pregnant with John I was constantly reading about the importance of READING to, and with your kids. This was a bit obvious to me because... well... smart people read lots!

My sister and her husband are constantly reading with their, now almost 3 year old son and he is SUPER SMART! While we were visiting over Christmas I would ask him if he would like to come and read a story with John and I, and he would take on the reading role! He'd sit there with the book and make up the story to go with the pictures! Pretty good for a 2 year old!! He knows all of the letters and even knows who they belong to... Mom's letter is "M"!

So the point is... READ TO YOUR CHILDREN!

But here's the thing... it takes time right?

Well, at our pre-natal class we had a guest speaker come in about this. She literally sat down and asked someone to time while she read a children's story to us. It took a total of 2 minutes. She said that reading just 3 books a day to your child (and eventually with your child) will dramatically help with their intellectual development.

3 books... that's 6 minutes!

So, Joe and I have taken it upon ourselves to be ALL ABOUT THE BOOKS! We were reading to him even before he was born! And I have to say that he has loved it ever since! We read to him a few days after bringing him home from the hospital and he actually started complaining when I finished one book! So I read another!

Here are some of our favourites so far are:

Baby, Baby by Phil Cummings
This book is written by a man who was born in our town and went to the local area school as a child and was illustrated by a Canadian born man! It's a very simple yet effective book. I would say it's John's favourite! It's about a baby - what he can see, hear and touch. This is the last book that we read every night... we even kiss the baby goodnight in the end.

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
I think this one has become very popular with parents in recent years. It's about two Nutbrown Hares - a Big one and a Little one, and how much they love each other. This is also a great bedtime book. "I love you to the moon and back!"

The Very Itchy Bear by Nick Bland
We were given this book as a gift - there are other books about the same bear that go before this one, but I haven't read them. This one is about a bear and a flee... it's pretty funny... one of Daddy's favourites.

The Mystery of the Missing Bilbies by Simon McLean
We bought this one from a garage sale! It's got all the great Australian animals in it! It's funny and the illustrations are very creative. I think this one is my fave!

My Aussie Dad by Yvonne Morrison
I bought this book even before we were pregnant! It's really great! It's about all the different types of Aussie dads. It rhymes and the illustrations are awesome. But I don't really think that there's any point of hunting this book down unless your dad is an Aussie... there's also a "My Aussie Mum" which is equally as enjoyable if that's your situation!



P.S. I think my son is already a genius!

Happy reading!

Filling in the Blanks

Life Happens... Sadly I haven't blogged in a LONG TIME! I would love to have some insignificant evidence of the past year-and-a-bit on my blog, but I can't go back now.

Sooooooo much has happened!

Joe and I got married...

3 days later we said goodbye to my family and moved back to Australia...

We moved into our first rental house...

We FINALLY went on our honeymoon 4 months later - to New Zealand. (We were going already for a friend's wedding)...

Joe started his teaching career...

We announced to the world that we were expecting our first baby!...

I experienced morning sickness and everything else that goes with being pregnant!...

We moved to our second rental house (We were a bit out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere with the other one)...

We welcomed our little bundle of joy into the world on September 14, 2011 at 8:40pm! John Ellis (We waited 3 hours to call either of our moms - and are still hearing about that!)...

My parents came to visit us for 3 weeks...

We travelled back to Canada for Christmas (with a 3 month old! - he did great!)...

And I'm enjoying the adventures of being a first time mom!

A lot can happen in 17 months!

I am loving life! We are VERY blessed.

Pre-Wedding

How do I describe the last 2 months? I am certainly not a good enough writer to be able to describe all the wonderful little details of our wedding adventure... but for the sake of those that were not able to join us for our wonderful day and so that I may continue to write "Just to Claire-ify" I feel the NEED to catch you up.

So here we go...

The 3 weeks that I had in Canada before the wedding absolutely flew by! I was forever making lists. Sometimes the same list as the day before... just on another piece of paper! One of my sisters teased me about my compulsive list making when she was cleaning... she said, "I've piled all your lists together... I think there's about 17... and they all say the same thing!" It's true they likely did, and there likely were that many! But it's just how I do things!

My lists and I spent the first week and a half with my family and then Joe arrived and the craziness began. We had one week to get as much stuff done as possible before his family arrived. Joe was a trooper... even though he was totally exhausted from his travels he worked so hard and helped me get soooo much done in a very short amount of time.

Things were finally starting to settle (not fall) into place... The seating chart was almost done, the favours were finished, the program and song sheet were complete, my final dress alterations had been made, gifts were almost wrapped, etc, etc, etc...

Of course I was stressing out and crying more often than a person should about the tiniest little things, but things actually went pretty well considering the limited time that Joe and I had in the town we were getting married in. My family was so great too... everybody helped whenever and wherever they could.

People kept asking me if I was getting nervous and I would respond, "About getting married? Absolutely not... but about all the little details that I think I'm forgetting... YES!"

Joe's family arrived and I have to admit we were a little worried that our families wouldn't get along... I know it's sounds crazy, especially if any of you have met either of our families. But our worries were for nothing. They hit it off!

Two nights before the wedding we all had supper together at my parents' house. (My family of 9 plus significant others and children + Joe's family of 8 and the best man) The food was good and we had a great night... and then it got even better...

We had been trying to organize a time for Joe's family to go skating but nothing was working out until that night. In a short amount of time we found enough skates for everyone and headed to the arena. Joe's little sister made her first (and second) snowball! Most of Joe's family ended up with some sort of bruise the next day, but we had sooooo much fun! The evening ended with hot chocolate and laughter.

The day before the wedding seems like an absolute blur. But these are some of the highlights of what we did...

Girls:
Got our nails done
Went for lunch
Picked up wine glasses
Picked up my dress
I packed for our 3 day honeymoon... and I tried to pack for Australia

Guys:
Played Pool
Picked up tuxes (don't even get me started on all the things that went wrong with those!)

Rehearsal Dinner
Wedding Rehearsal
Put out favours at reception site (so many people helped it was great!)

There was also a lot of crying in the midst of it all that day... I'm a big suck.

I eventually went to sleep that night and thought that I would toss and turn all night and wake up with a giant zit and a big cold sore... but I didn't... I also didn't realize as I was falling to sleep that night that the next day was going to be ABSOLUTELY PERFECT.