Opposite Day

Yesterday was Opposite Day.

I woke up and showered right away (I usually shower somewhat later), got all dressed up (I'm usually not so dressed up...no sweats, but jeans and whatever shirt I can find), and went in to work (I usually stay home...duh). I went to work at my non-Katie job. We had a retreat yesterday to which those of us on leave were kindly invited. It was fun getting back into work thoughts again and seeing colleagues.

Missed Katie lots but she was in good hands with Grandpa Dan. The end of day report from him was that she was happy all day, napped well and ate well.

I have no pictures from yesterday (I know you really wanted pictures of a conference room.) but I do have some from the day before.

Grandpa Dan made a mobile (a while ago...!) that we put up in Katie's room. Cute elephants and piggies. They float nicely and I think Katie likes them.

Monday night we went to (great) Auntie Joan's for dinner with my cousins...like old times!
John-Paul says Katie's much heavier that he was expecting!
Grandpa Dan had just returned from England and barely said hello to anyone before running over to say hi to the girl he missed most.
Uncle Joe was eager to spend some time with Katie and learn about dresses, leggings and girly stuff while teaching her the mechanics of clapping (he's a smart engineer).
Grandma Mary was enabling Katie's wine habit.

And David (in from Vancouver) spend quality bonding time with K. Smiles everywhere!
There were lots of people for a weeknight thing (Mark was there too...did we forget to make you hold Katie? We'll have to do that soon!).
And Auntie Andrea worked her magic and whispered funny secrets in Katie's ear.

It was a very fun evening and a special thank you to Auntie Joan for hosting!

And thank YOU for stopping by. Have a nice day!

Fish and Lights

Good Monday morning! How was your weekend? Mine was good.

Friday (or maybe Thursday..I don't know I'm just a baby) mom and I went to Grandma's place to do laundry (mom says the new washing machine will be here on Thursday...she seems pretty happy about it.).
I thought doing laundry was boring so I sat and watched Grandma's fish.
Whoever thought just sitting and staring at a big box shaped thing could be so much fun! I could have sat there for hours.
But mom decided we should do some reading too. We read a book about kitties. I like it when they go "meow". My love affair with kitty meows started when Grandma Cheryl read a book about kitties to me and said meow. I just LOVE it!

Saturday mom and dad thought it would be fun to take me to dad's school and watch something called "Voleebal". It was dad's school against Grandpa Ken's...so he and Grandma were there too. And mom and dad's friend Coreen was there...everybody was there...why weren't YOU there?. So, yeah, they thought it would be FUN to take me to LOUD place with lots of screaming teenagers. Are they CRAZY? Do they remember how I freaked out at dad's school on Halloween when there were lots of people? I have such good hearing that all that RACKET hurts my ears. Anyway, I knew what to do and as soon as I started screaming and crying they got me the heck out of there. GOOD!
So dad and grandpa stayed while mom and Grandma and I went back home and played. Nice and quiet. Grandma brought me a new toy...something nice to chew on that makes my gums feel all nice. And we listened to some nice music from when Grandma was little...something called "beetles?" Part of my "muoosyc edookasion" they said. Whatever that is!

Sunday mom and dad got these neato blue sparkly things and said they were going to put them on the house. I don't know why but I don't care. The sparkly things were neat.
Can I put some up in my room mom?
And so we had a nice weekend. I am very good now at moving backwards while on my tummy. And I'm an expert sitter upper. So if you know any babies that need some sitting up tips, you tell them to talk to my mommy and arrange a play date.
Today we're meeting babies at Strollercize because mom's knee is feeling better. And we're meeting mom's cousins for dinner. And Grandpa comes home today from England! I can't wait to see him...I missed him!

Have a nice Monday!

A bit of this and a bit of that...

Not much going on lately and no photos to prove it!

Last night was Thursday, so bowling and babysitters. Andrea and Sheldon who also came over for dinner (YUM...couscous stuffed chicken with orange sauce and orange rosemary green beans from the new Canadian Living...CL has the best recipes!)

Katie's flu shot on Wednesday was such a non-event...she didn't even blink when the needle went in. I don't know it it was Dr magic or what, but this was the best shot yet. We go again in 4 weeks for the second half.

Hmm...I did something to my knee...nothing major I'm sure, but it hurts a bit and I'm skipping Strollercize today. Again...that's twice this week. Skipping more than attending. Let's hope this is a phase. (and a short one!)

We might be having a visitor this afternoon, so I may have pics for you later.

Still doing laundry at Grandmas. Washing machines have been scouted and we may choose soon.

And that's all for now, have a super weekend!

PS...I made banana bread yesterday from this recipe...omygoodness is it good. Try it!

Baby's got a brand new...

...pair of mittens! With the weather staying on the colder side I felt it necessary to whip up a pair of mittens. They, of course, match her favorite hat.


Once I knew Katie was appropriately protected against the cold, we walked over to Southgate to look at Washing Machines. And warm fuzzy sleepers.

Shopping was fun...didn't buy any WM but did come away with two sleepers, which I can now say, result in a very good night's sleep.

We were lucky to get a call yesterday from Joanne who stopped by with C and G for a visit. Katie just loves Those ___ Girls. Toys were shared, Bumbo was sat in and Goldfish were consumed in great quantity. A good time was had by all.

Today we prepare for Katie's flu shot. And think about dinner...Any suggestions?

Bad News and Good News...

We have good news and bad news...can you guess?

Our washing machine (WM) is apparently around 20 years old and replacement parts are expensive. How sad! (tee hee...can you hear the sarcasm?)
Good news is of course that this enables us to buy a new WM! Yay! (well, new or new to us, whichever comes first and/or cheapest).

Based on our preliminary research (Consumer Reports and Investigative Grandpa at Sears) we would probably like to get the front loading WM. Less water, less energy, easier on clothes etc. The WM style of the new millennium...(although it's my understanding they've been around in Europe for years.)

We talked it over with Katie while at dinner Chez Russ and Steph (SO Yummy...I know you said it was a simple meal, but it was SO SO good...sorry we took off so quickly...little one slept like a dream anyway!) (Uh...even when mom tripped on the ExcerSaucer and it played music for like 10 minutes after turning out the lights and heading to bed).

Where was I?...oh yes, talked it over with K and she's very excited about the new WM.
So, today K and I are off to the mall to seek info and great deals on a WM. And pick up new fuzzy warm sleepers...it's cold out there!

Stay warm!

A Birthday Girl!

No, the birthday girl is not Katie, obviously, but I'll get to that. Note that today's pictures are somewhat out of order.

We begin with an all too often seen scene from the breakfast table. See empty plates? And lots of tablecloth? So sad. This is the result of the paper arriving later that desired this morning. As a reader of the paper every single morning, I find it hard to start the morning without it. Some of you may understand this. How hard is it to get a paper delivered by 6:33am...Come On People!

(ok, yes, I recognize that perhaps this is a little early to be mad that the paper's not yet come, but honestly, some days (like this past Saturday) it doesn't come until 9am. That's ridiculous!)

Photoshoot attempt at getting pictures of the mystery teeth have been somewhat successful. I believe that if you click to get bigger pictures you WILL see teeth.




Now, the Birthday Girl...? Why it's Great Grandma Toni (two features on the blog in one week..you'd be on the blog lots too if you were turning 90...yes, NINETY years young!)
Celebrating and eating cake and cupcakes were cousin Shannon and her sons Carter and Ryan.
Also present were Andrea, Sheldon, Uncle Jerry and Grandma Mary. (Grandpa Dan is in England...have we yet mentioned how jealous...I mean, how much we miss him?)
Katie did some bonding with GG Toni.
And played with her balloon:


This birthday stuff was all on Sunday. We also had Andrea, Sheldon and Grandma Mary over for dinner. Sheldon was reacquainting with Katie. She's not sure yet how she feels about him. We'll get there! I believe they'll be babysitting this Thursday, that'll be the true test.
We also woke up to real snow on Sunday...the kind I don't think is going to go away until March (ok, that's optimistic, maybe April or May)

Katie was sitting and acting pensive.
And joyful in her real Winter Coat.
We had swimming lessons too. The new thing was swimming with life jackets. Woo hoo! That was neat. Dad said Katie really loved it!
Also, not pictured, was Saturday morning breakfast with Grandma and GG Lill at the Upper Crust. This alone would have made for a lovely brunch, but to our surprise, we also found Grandma Mary and all the Aunts, having their once a month breakfast. AND we also saw our friend Shelley. It was like half the cafe was friends and family. What a nice surprise!

Have a wonderful day. We'll Strollercizing and doing laundry at Grandma's and at Russ and Stephanie's (who are kind enough to have us for dinner tonight too...yay!). Washing Machine is unfortunately broken...and the unfortunate part is that it's nor broken enough to buy and new one. Yep, we can buy a part...wee! =( (kidding, I don't want to spend money on a new machine if we don't have too!)

More Cute

I know Halloween is over, but let's enjoy one last look at our Katie Kat.
We visited Great Grandma Toni (mom's mom's mom). Not sure how impressed GGT was at the costume, but I'm pretty sure she saw us. (These days that's something!)
On the way home we stopped off to visit Grandpa...

And Katie tried to show off her teeth (they're relatively HUGE now but still difficult to photograph) (those glinty white things...teeth.).

I think the costume may have been getting uncomfortable so we took it off. Really, we're lucky it just barely fit this year. We hung around at grandma and grandpa's house for a bit. You know how Halloween makes you feel like not working (when you have a job anyway)...well, when you're a Stay At Home...it makes you skip Strollercize. (that and a baby's crazy nap schedule) Katie looks so sad that we missed it!

What also makes Katie sad is more immunizations...we had her 6 month shots yesterday early morning. She did really well and only cried like crazy when the needles were going in and then I was able to distract her into calm right after. (That must be a hard job...being the nurse that sticks big needles into cute baby legs and makes happy baby's very very sad.) (but yes, I know it's for good reason).
Katie was a bit sleepy afterward and this was what I saw when we got home.
Katie was a little off for the rest of the day...little bit cranky and little bit more tired. I did sneak in a trip to Costco*...and do you know, normally, a cute baby in a Bjorn carrier gets looks, but a cute baby in a Bjorn in a cute HAT...she gets big smiles!

And otherwise, we didn't do much yesterday...Ben and I had bowling and Grandpa Dan came over for babysitting. He's off to England today to visit Uncle Ted, Annie and Beth and Wils (Lucky Man!).

And returned to us is Sheldon! He's been away doing army worky stuff for about 6 weeks so it was really nice to see him again. We'll have to do more visits (when Katie's not so crying) soon.

Hope you're all having a lovely Friday (is it really Friday already??)

* Speaking of Costco...did you notice they're not using tape with their bills anymore?? I asked (because I LOVE the tape) and apparently it costs too much. How the heck am I supposed to not lose my bill and return all the clothes that I have to buy without trying them on since you don't have changerooms? That's craziness.