Mama in the City

I've had a really decent stretch of time off of work and truthfully I thought I would have got more done and felt more rested. Instead, I've stayed up entirely too late cramming in back to back episodes of The Killing. I only decided to watch this series after walking by our storage locker and reading a posted saying the show was filming there. So, of course I was curious and now I have a new series to watch. I knew it would be a bit of a scary show as the storage room itself is seriously is sort of scaryish and would be perfect for a creepy crime drama.

One of the reasons I'm intrigued by this show is because it's filmed right in my hood and I love scoping out what location they were at. Unfortunately, this is the same reason that I've watched the Real Housewives of Vancouver and regret that I spent time watching what Jodie did to Mary or what Mary did to everyone else. I just like to see the scene and look at our beautiful city.

My husband and I have had this running joke about how we might randomly be discovered one day and will be asked to audition for a new movie based solely on our natural talent. Of course, this is truly in jest but just in case we always follow up with a big laugh to showcase our acting skills. I totally know that it's a total nerd moment and I kind of dig that.

This past Sunday I told myself that I needed to have a better week with the one that was ahead of me. I wanted to be more productive and check more things off things my 'to-do' lists. A to-do list that had just been sitting there rather dormant collecting dust. So, Monday morning came and I bustled around and mailed off some very belated birthday packages. I bought some birthday presents for wee special friends way back at the start of April and they've been wrapped and ready sitting in my bedroom since then. I've got such good intentions and really bad follow through. I do want to be better and more on top of it. I also pine for a housecleaner and day dream about all the amazing things that I could do if I didn't have to worry about sweeping the floors or scrubbing the bath tub.


I told myself that I wanted to make more healthy delicious dinners instead of ordering in sushi or something. While I do love good sushi I also like it to be occasional. So far there's been more home cooking of all the meals going on, but not without the help of my husband. I do admit that one of the things that sealed the deal in wanting to marry him was his amazing cooking skills. He is a seriously awesome at cooking and sometimes I find myself intimidated in the kitchen compared to his skills.

Today we went to Ben's kindergarten orientation at the 'over flow' school that we were given a spot at. You might remember my post about the lack of kindergarten spaces in our neighbourhood and how Ben didn't get a spot. It turns out that this post was very well read and has been one of my highest reads with many Google searches. I also did 2 different media interviews on the topic and was glad to have the outlet. So, I felt a bit of passion and scepticism about this little kindy orientation.

So, we went to the meeting at the back up school and it turns out there are lots of positives happening and we are feeling really good with things. In fact, we might actually like it more and think maybe we came out ahead. The school we didn't get into is seriously over crowded and there isn't even a true school playground. Instead the children all clamour for the use of the tiny city play ground next to the school grounds. It is so over run that the other day, after preschool, Ben was accidentally bull dozed by a bigger kid and had some scrapes and bruises on his torso, arms and legs from the boy landing on top of Ben. I've heard that the accident and concussion rates have been quite high and I can see how that is unavoidable.

Anyways, it has only been 2 days of trying to be on top of it and tomorrow I will strive for the same. I really yearn to feel on top of things and I know that I actually thrive when I have A-B-C all in place (ahead of time to boot). My to-do list still exists and there is more work to be done so I will just keep moving.

I was growing tired of the mess of old books collecting dust in the kids bedroom. We had piles of books everywhere so I did a massive rotation of the kids books last week. It turns out that we have an amazing collection of children's books thanks to different gifts over the years (side note: I love when they receive books as a present!). I felt a little bit like my sisters and mum, all 3 of them are elementary school teachers, as I sorted through our piles of books and semi categorized them. I put away all the off season books, think Valentines and Easter books, and brought out some old classics that had managed to be packed away in the back of their closet.

We have this tiny canvas bookcase that had been shoved into a corner of their bedroom and I dusted it off and brought it out to a little nook in our living room. The funny thing is, by simply changing the location and display of a few forgotten books both of the kids got really excited over their new book display. Josie has been caught sitting on the floor and flipping through board books by herself and Ben has been helping himself to his collection of Highlights magazines that he had forgotten all about. I love when what was old becomes new again and I really love my kids looking at books.



When I ever catch my kids silently 'reading' their books, I never disturb them or call them away. I'm okay with them being a little bit late to bed because they are busy reading. I grew up with a love of reading and it helped my creative side and my writing skills, especially throughout my school years. Reading is one thing that I really want to support with my own children and I'll try to continually encourage them to get absorbed in a good story.


Josie really loves the board books that have mirrors inside of them. Here she is smooching herself back.


Do you have a book lover in your home?

A particular meme has been floating around Facebook for awhile now and recently a friend reposted it leaving me feeling a little bit annoyed. So, what do I do about it? Well, I'm a blogger, so I blog about it of course. Perhaps you've also seen this post too? Maybe you even 'liked' it and agreed with the sentiment? I'm talking about the chastising post about mothers who should hang up their iPhones and be present with their children instead.

This Facebook post actually originated from a personal blog post from a mother of 4 somewhere out in the midwest of the good ol' US of A, 'Dear Mom on the iPhone'. It continues to circulate social media and people are nodding their heads with great satisfaction and overall judgement. If you haven't read the original post the gist is this, mothers should stop pulling out their iPhones when they are with their children as time is very fleeting and you need to be present. This topic seems to go along nicely with the words of wisdom that I was frequently besotted with from strangers when both my children were very tiny babies. The, 'enjoy every minute, they grow so fast' type of wisdom that I constantly heard wherever we went. I really did hear them but I was too busy thinking, 'I'm so tired! I just want a fucking nap!'.

Parents are not perfect and some are better at different parts of child rearing than others. The one thing that I'm most certain of is, no matter how great of a mother you are parents do not get breaks. We don't get time to do personal planning or five minutes to use the bathroom alone. In fact, today I washed my hair which was amazing as it had been 6 days since the last time I was able to take the time off to do so. So, I can't help but to feel defensive to all of the hearty "yeah! yeah! I agree!" in response to the 'Dear Mom on the iPhone' post. Instead, let's be kind. and let's be gentle.

One of the great things about being a parent is you learn how to multitask as soon as you have your baby. So, while I am at the park, for the second or third time that day, I am also on my iPhone texting about dinner plans with my husband. While I'm pushing sweet gorgeous Josie on the baby swing, I'm also taking a cute picture of her to send to her grandma. I might also be texting with a friend about meeting up for a playdate or maybe on Twitter reporting the rainy weather in Vancouver all while Instagraming a photo of my perfect latte.

While the original blogger intended for her post to be more eye opening than judgemental, the spin off of her blog post is just that. It is purely judgemental, which is something that mothers seem really good at doing to other mothers. While I am out and about with my two kids you might catch me making silly faces with them or playing on the playground with my two and from time to time you might see me on my iPhone when I'm with my kids and I am okay with that. I think that to be a good mother and to raise good kids every moment doesn't have to be the making of a Hallmark moment.


Image Credit

What do you think about mom's on their iPhone while they're out raising their children? Acceptable or not at all? I'd love to hear about your practice of using your smartphone while your children are around.

It appears that I've taken a bit of an unintentional blogging break. I'm not sure why as I've been churning out amazing blog posts in my brain and I really really love writing my posts. The truth is, I haven't had much time to sit by myself with out anyone touching me or without something to wrap. Which is okay, and I've embraced it, but in the mean time my regular blogging posts have sat on the side lines.

I've been celebrating Christmas with my family and planning a special first birthday celebration that happens in a couple of weeks. Don't fret, I've got some fun stuff up my sleeves for the New Year. Tomorrow I will celebrate my seventh wedding anniversary with my dear husband over a swanky dinner out with expensive cocktails.



Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? Image credit

The winner of the 2 tickets to the Circle Craft Christmas Market is... Gwendolyn Floyd! It looks like you have weekend plans for our long weekend coming up. Just email me at mama@apartmentbaby.com and I'll send the details to you!

****

I recently had issues using Disqus on my site. I've been using it for a couple of years actually and it was only recently that it was glitchy for me and not connecting with Blogger. So, I've taken it off and reverted back to the old Blogger comment form. Which apparently is much easier for people to use, but it doesn't allow the comment interaction/reply that I really enjoy. What is your favourite commenting system? What's your opinion on Comment Luv?

****
Even though we've only been home for a week, we are already planning another trip to my husbands home state of sunny Florida. This is a much overdue trip and something good to do while I am still on maternity leave and not trying to plan family trips around my work schedule. It just so happens that the Florida crew is having a big get together in about a week and a half. Good thing my husband has left the luggage up in our apartment and hadn't taken them back down to the storage (hehe).

****

I have 2 other giveaways that I'm hosting this month and both are awesome. I'll get around to posting about them really soon!

I just got back from an extra long weekend away with my two littles and I'm happy to report that this solo parent gig of traveling with my 2 is getting much easier. I was thinking back to our first trip together when Josie was 8 weeks old and how much worry I had about not having my husband around for back up or reinforcements. Now that my baby is 8 months old things are much more finely tuned and I've gotten this specific trip to my parents down pat. Of course, the fact that the baby is teething her top two teeth through didn't make the nights easy for me, but it was fantastic not having to cook meals, worry about laundry or cleaning house.

Really the highlight of our weekend away was celebrating a couple of special birthdays (my mum and my nephew who are 1 day apart in the birthday department). Rainbow cupcakes, lemon mousse cake and more assorted cupcakes were added to the mix and are what powered Ben for the weekend. Hey, it's not a birthday unless there's lots of cake!


Celebrating your cousins birthday with a rainbow inspired party was definitely long weekend worthy!

Even though the weekend was pretty low key for me I'm still feeling tired tonight. I'm ready for a long warm bath with a good book before I pop back into routine tomorrow morning. Long weekends like this one are something that will be harder for me to do once I go back to work this Winter, so I'm trying to make the most of my time off from the grind by heading out of the city and to my family over on Vancouver Island.

While Ben would be quite content to have stayed away for longer, my girl seemed quite happy to be back home and see her dad. When she saw him she shook with happiness and squealed all while fist pumping. Now, it's back to her playroom overlooking the water (AKA our living room).

It was a cool day last March and Josie was just 8 weeks old and we were in a rush to get her passport done for an upcoming trip to the US. I was lucky because Ben had daycare that day so I only had the baby to take care of. We walked in the blustery wind and slanting raindrops through the city and to the passport office.

We got in the long winding line with a mass of other people and I kept telling myself that my baby would sleep and not be overly fussy or need to cluster feed. The room was packed and people were either grumpy, impatient or overly chatty and everyone was definitely damp from the rain outside. I kept eyeing my sleeping baby in her bassinet and kept on checking my ticket number against the number counter on the wall waiting for it to match up; it was at least a 2 hour wait and every minute felt heavy and long.

That's when I saw another mom with her older baby just across the way from us. She slipped him out of her carrier and he stood on the ground squawking for something. She rummaged through her big purse and pulled out a pouch of baby food with a little spout and the baby clapped with happiness. Then she proceeded to squirt it into his mouth like a tube of toothpaste. He looked like a little baby bird suckling on that tiny spout and it was this exact moment that I caught myself ever so slightly judging the mother. Oh, I would never use such prepackaged food for my baby. I'd have brought proper containers of food and spoons to feed my baby with. Seriously, what a fool I was.

It turns out those little squeezy pouches of baby food are actually pretty awesome and I really hate that I judged the other mother for something so ridiculous as her giving her child nutrition. In fact, this other mom was totally on to something and very smart for bringing a portable snack into the boring passport office.

Sometimes I will buy a few of the Buddy Fruits pouches and stash them in my purse for moments when we are short on time or when we're out and about and Josie wants needs a snack pronto. I don't need to worry about having a spoon around or having to put that sticky spoon back into my purse. This is really pure convenience that works out really well. For the most part we are making Josie's food from scratch and she is also eating what we eat, but these are really great to fill in the gaps when the girl needs a snack.



(I feel like I need to add that the US trip NEVER even happened despite getting the passport done because my husband had a major work deadline pop up. However, we are hoping to use her passport very soon for a sun filled family vacation!)

Ben has settled into the rhythm of heading off to junior kindergarten each morning. On that note, I have also got into the flow of our new routine and am patting myself on the back for handling the 'up and at 'em' mornings. I had gotten really used to our lazy mornings that stretched on and on. We puttered and lounged and I sipped coffee and didn't rush to get the kids out of their pyjamas.

7:00 AM We are all awake and have a very short lounging session in my bed together. I make a french press of coffee and get the baby dressed first and then help Ben get ready too. I've started to pull out his clothes the night before so it is just one less thing for me to think about.

8:00 AM Ben is busy playing on the living room floor and I'm getting myself dressed and sipping coffee. By this point Ben is hollering at me to come and play with him. I've tried to take at least a 10 minute block to sit on the floor and play. Something I think is really important instead of me always yelling, 'mama is busy! Not now!'...something I was doing too often.

8:30 AM The baby is in the stroller and Ben hops on his piggy back board with his back pack in place. He gets his own shoes on and needs a little bit of help getting his hoodie on. Milestones people!

8:35 AM We are successfully hitting the pavement and currently enjoying the very glorious Autumn that Vancouver is having. We stroll at a good pace along the seawall to the school and I often break a sweat. Now that we have preschool in the mornings we get to see all the parents herding their own children off to the local elementary school. Lots of other apartment mamas with their own broods of 1, 2 and even 3 apartment kids coming out of condos!

8:50 AM We are a bit early as I'm ALWAYS the first parent at Ben's school. I just can't help being early, it is in my blood. The same thing happens when I go to work and I've actually never been late.

9:00 AM Goodbye Ben! Off we go back home.

9:15 AM Josie is so excited to have the opportunity to play with some of Ben's toys without him around. Today she dug into his wooden play food and was actually squealing with delight.

9:30 AM Josie has been awake for about 2 hours now and is ready for her first nap of the day. She is like a text book baby when it comes to most things. She is awake for 2 hours, naps, awake for 3 hours, naps, and then 4 hours later the girl is ready for bed. I'm digging a predictable baby, it is such a difference experience than when Ben was a baby and I didn't know what was going on.



I'm already used to our morning routine and am loving that once the baby goes down for her nap, I've actually got a bit of time to myself. That might be me showering and doing my hair or doing a bunch of cleaning or prepping food for Josie. As of late it also includes making breakfast for me and my work at home husband. What a shock he will be in for when I go back to work this Winter!

So, tell me...what is vital for you to have a stress free morning? Share your tips with me!

The day before I was going into the third grade I was having a playing with my friend Elizabeth at her house and had a bicycle accident. I gashed open my chin and tore half of my front tooth off during a play date that went wrong. I'm sure that at the time my mum was enjoying me being out of her hair while she got our school supplies ready for the next day. She definitely didn't expect to get a call that I had been in a bike accident and was bleeding and hysterical and probably needed to go to the ER.

One moment I was cruising like a boss on a street in the suburbs and the next I was on my back in a gravel ditch. I'm pretty sure I blacked out and when I woke up I was bloody and in pain and scared. It was my memorable first traumatic event as a child and to this day I could relay every single detail that happened.

Like how freaked out the friends dad looked when he came to get me after she ran back to get him at their house, or how I insisted that he go back to the house to look for a towel that I had come with. I had been instructed by my mum to ensure that I bring that towel back home and not forget it outside by the sprinkler or something and I was a girl of my word. I remember how we spent some time in the emergency room being sutured and the doctor was trying to be patient with me but I was not a super cooperative patient.

I missed the first day of school that year and was terribly embarrassed by the blue stitches that held my bloody chin together. I was crazy about the snaggle tooth that was now one of my front adult teeth. To this day I still have the fake cap that they put on my tooth all those years ago. I remember going to meet the teacher and carrying one of my dad's handkerchiefs in front of my face so I could hide from my classmates.

On that note...what's going on for your long weekend plans? I'm getting Ben ready for a slow transition into Jr. Kindergarten and my husband actually has three days off in a row. We have a final pool party of the summer to get to tomorrow and I'm contemplating trying out Zumba for the first time sometime next week.


Long weekend lazing in the grass

For me there are two different official starts to the year. In one corner there's January as the traditional start to the year. January is filled with hope and expectations and the traditional New Year resolutions. In the other corner we've got September, which for me is another chance to kick start the year! September is my second New Year mostly due to all the years when it meant going back to school. There was always a certain freshness that came with brand new school supplies ready to be devoured by the upcoming year. Since we have obvious shifts in seasons in Vancouver September will always be my unofficial start to another new year.


October, 2010

As summer comes to a close I'm feeling a special excitement about Fall. I insisted on celebrating by going out and buying a new pair of lovely flats. Shoes that will soon enough take the place all my Summertime flip flops that I've been hanging out in. As the days get shorter I've even started to dream about baking apple crumbles and burning my favourite spice scented candles well into the evenings. I'm really a big fool over everything to do with Fall.

This September Ben is heading to a new Junior Kindergarten program and I've had a fun time picking out a back pack and buying him a few new school clothes. He will be going every morning for 3.5 hours and I know he will thrive and love it. So, once again September means back to school in our family. I'm looking forward to the crisp walks along the seawall each morning as we walk to school together. We've already spotted the leaves changing colour from that healthy green hue to the vibrant orange and golden colours of Fall. I can feel the extra nip in the air and I'm enjoying the warmth of the sunshine and the coziness of my light sweater. It's almost Fall and I'm loving it.

What is your favourite part of the upcoming Fall season? I'm sure there are a few of you who are excited for Pumpkin Spiced lattes....and maybe wearing socks?

This weekend it's a long weekend in British Columbia and everyone seems to be in an extra good mood anticipating the arrival of extended down time out in the sunshine. I'm taking the baby and going to visit my sisters and parents on Vancouver Island. Most importantly, I'm fetching sweet Ben who has been away this past week doing a summer day camp with his cousin in Victoria. We have missed Ben so dearly and only having the baby has seemed like a relaxing get away. Funny how that works.

We got dressed up and went to the swanky Hawksworth restaurant at the Hotel Georgia on my birthday; leaving Josie with my sister at our apartment. Josie has been lapping up all the extra one on one attention that she has been getting without big brother Ben around.





I'm guest blogging over at another mama's Vancouver blog, Lilahbility on adjusting to having a second baby. Go over and give Amanda your own tips on going from 1 to 2. I've also been busy writing a product review on some local organic baby bath products over at Vancouver Mom.

What do you have planned for your weekend?

1.My favourite shade of lipstick is Wild Plum by Aveda. So favourite that it could be called 'my signature' shade.
2.I am a good friend.
3.I buy lovely cards for various occasions and have dozens of them stashed away in my vanity. I'm always on the look out for a perfect card for someone in my life.
4.Fresh sheets on my bed make me feel happy.
5.My love of candles is so fierce that on a recent trip to Ikea I stocked up on their vanilla scented ones.
6.My middle name is Gail. So, my whole name is Andrea Gail much like the boat in that old George Clooney movie, 'The Perfect Storm'.


7.I didn't always love having sisters as a kid but as an adult I love my sisters!
8.I met my husband ON LINE. Back in the day when it wasn't really cool to talk about it.
9.Every day I have a bit of chocolate.
10.Usually it is Lindt's 65% dark chocolate.
11.Any day that has a massage in it is the perfect day in my world.
12.Hawaii is my idea of a perfect vacation. Maui being my island of choice.
13.I like tuna sandwiches.

14.I'm planning to breastfeed longer, this time around, than the 12 months I did with Ben.
15.I like to tweet and am on Twitter as @Apartment_Mama
16.I don't like talking on the phone. It's not a phobia, I just don't enjoy long phone conversations.
17.However, I'd totally write you a letter!
18.If I had an afternoon to myself I'd have a nap.
19.I still think it is interesting that my older sister and I have pretty standard 70's names (Sarah and Andrea) but our younger sister has a more unique name (Glynis).
20.Growing up I lived in a yellow house.
21.I hate small talk in taxi cabs.

22.On my 30th birthday my husband gave me an orchid lei; it smelled so divine.
23.My favourite glass of wine would be Kim Crawford's Sauvignon Blanc.
24.I am really sentimental when it comes to my babies.
25.If we hadn't of named her Josephine she was going to be Claudia or Elise.
26.I waited till the birth of both my babies to learn their sex.
27.This past weekend I watch 'Silent House'.
28.I love a good scary movie! The scarier the better!
29.Sometimes I text back and forth with my husband when he is in the next room.
30.My favourite ice cream is a tie between chocolate chip mint and chocolate.


On my 30th birthday wearing a special gift from my husband. A month later we had a two week holiday in Hawaii.

31.Back when I turned 31 it was my 'Champagne Birthday' as I was 31 on the 31st!
32.I have hardly worn high heels since I had my first baby back in 2008.
33.Today is my birthday! I'm 33 years old!

Oh, how I have missed you! We have been in a terrible rut over here this past week and a half. A rut so deep there was no idle time for writing, thinking or commanding my husband to edit miscellaneous photos for my blog.

No one enjoys reading blog posts about where you go on and on about how sick you all were, so I will just give you a caption. 'Two Ruptured Ear Drums! One for me! One for Ben!'

Oh, and ear infections are said NOT to be contagious but me and Ben are two peas in a pod right now. I think I must have got a sympathy one for my dear little boy.

I haven't gone out and about in a long time and was recently feeling the cabin fever of being cooped up in our apartment with sickness and a baby. Luckily, the excruciating ear pain kept me good and distracted! Let me be the first to say, I'd rather have a few good labour contractions than the pain of a ruptured ear drum. Or at least give me some good ol' Entonox to puff!

I'll be back with something fabulous soon. In the meantime check out some other blogs I like to read!

New blogger Jenna blogged all through her single mama adventure in Central America and is now back home in Vancouver. Read about her adventures over at Solo Mama On The Move

Mitzi, also a registered nurse in Vancouver, writes about being a first time mama to her Winter baby boy. Catch her at East Van Baby

Another new Winter mama had her second baby boy and he is luscious and plump and delightful to look at! She writes from Minneapolis over at her blog A Graceful Disaster.

Sending healthy warm weather wishes to all of you readers!

Ben and I are currently on a quick little getaway to Vancouver Island to visit my family for a weekend of birthday celebrations. We hoped into the car and wouldn't you know it, the boy who has been waking up super early had a wee little car nap the moment we started cruising.





I used to love going up and into the boat. You know, sitting up there with everyone else and lining up with every single person to get a snack, but after 101 ferry rides that got a little old. So, we stayed below deck and I played some Curious George on my lap top in the comfort of the front seat of the car. Occasionally, I still go up but the overall novelty has worn off and I'm tired of combating the parentless children playing in the children's section.





One of the things that I love to do when we get to Victoria is to hit up Crumsby's Cupcake Cafe in Estevan Village. We go almost every single visit to Victoria and it's a must go to spot if you have children and enjoy a good cup of coffee. Of course, the trio of cousins enjoyed a special tea party while I sipped a cup of coffee!


A lemon chiffon cupcake for this boy!




Just before our arrival it was my mum's birthday, so today we handed off the kids and my sis and I took our mum out for lunch at the infamous Pagliacci's. We followed that up by a bit of shopping in the downtown area and coffee at Murchies. There is more fun to come before we head off on the ferry boat tomorrow afternoon. We've got a special boys 4th birthday party to get to!

Our home has been invaded by a miserable case of the contagious grumps. It started off when my husband contracted a man cold and it progressed to Ben just being a normal 3 year old. After battling the boys grumps and airing out the apartment, I thought it was over. Unfortunately, the grumps spread to me.

People! Stand back!



I am going to blame my case of grumps on the amazing fluctuating hormones of pregnancy. I woke up feeling just fine and had a sweet cuddle in bed with Ben, but after that sweetness the whole day deteriorated into a stream of toddler antics with an emotional mama with a short fuse.

I forewarned my husband, who by the way has fully recovered from his man cold, to stay far far away from the apartment. I was really looking out for him. I think it is better to be honest with your moodiness than to just ignore it (or even blame it on someone else, which I've done before).

The hard part is, everything and anything annoyed me today. That kind of painful annoyance that feels like stepping on a Lego with your bare feet when you are especially tired.

The rain annoyed me.

The messy apartment annoyed me (seriously, did I not just clean it?).

Running out of dish washing cleaner annoyed me.

The over abundance of 'stuff' sitting out in the apartment annoyed me.

The dental hygienist calling me with a reminder annoyed me.

Running out of my favourite Kiel's shampoo annoyed me.

See what I mean? Seriously! I need to shake this mood! Let's hope tomorrow the scrub pants I'll be wearing will replace my current grumpy pant attire. Somethings got to give.

Dear Sweet Ones,

I'm sorry I've been out of touch this past week. I have the usual 'I've been busy' excuse that seems to go around. Maybe a little lack of time with a mix of lack of inspiration too. I've mostly been flipping between work and being at home. Nothing too exciting to report to you. I've even neglected visiting my usual blogs that I read. Must make time to catch up with all of you!

Today my mother in law came from Florida for a week long visit. We only see her about once a year but Ben's little face lit right up when he saw her at the airport. He also adored the big Curious George stuffie that she brought with her on the plane. It's nestled in his crib alongside him right this very minute while he has his afternoon nap. It was rather cute when he got the connection that this was his daddy's mama. We've been hearing, 'Daddy! Your mama is coming! YOUR mama!' over and over and it doesn't get old. It's so cute when little children get family connections like that.

I've treated myself to a few little luxuries this week as I'm celebrating 'self care' mode. Which just means that I get myself treats and don't feel an ounce of guilt. Take a peek at my treats!


I love a good bath and this scent is so fresh and delicious. I've recently been on a Summer fruit binge and these bubbles by Philosophy are the perfect fit. Don't fret, I won't be eating them just bathing in them!



The Help by Kathryn Stockett has quickly become a novel I can't put down. I've even given up the chance of an afternoon nap and have chosen to get lost in the pages of this book. One of the doctors I work recommended it to me and now I'm highly recommending it to you!





I was recently looking for a shower wash when I found this little luxury over at Lush. It also works amazingly well as a shaving gel and the scent is a perfect mix of soft coconut and fresh almond with a bit of vanilla. A lightly sweet mix that has become a current favourite for me. Bring on the bathing!




Right now I'm on a short vacay from work and am I ever so happy, as it was much needed for sure. Heck, we all deserve some time off from routine every once in awhile! I've got a few Summer plans up my sleeve and can't wait to post more as my vacation ticks on.

Love,
Mama in the City

PS. Let me know how you all are holding up?

I'm post night shift and feeling rather blah at the moment. Which is the usual feeling I get after swinging around and working through the night. Right now I'm craving endless moments of lounging in my bed and eating a massive amount of carbohydrates and fat. Something about that combination seems like the perfect rescue from a night shift hangover, and a big stack of pancakes will often do the trick.





Lately I've been dreaming about going to Hawaii again, specifically the island of Maui. A coworker just came back from two weeks away there and she was oozing relaxation and sun kissed skin. I've been letting myself day dream about eating pineapple at the beach and taking in the sunny sights with my little family. The idea of a few weeks away in the bliss of Hawaii is helping me get through this night shift hangover.


Walking the beach in Maui, 2009

Hopefully, tomorrow the sun will shine in Vancouver and I can kick this sluggish post night shift feeling. I'll walk around the seawall with Ben and wave our little Canada flags in celebration of Canada's birthday. What are you doing this long weekend?

Occasionally I get an email from my husband on a random topic that he's come across. Sometimes it's a picture of a dog doing something ridiculous and sometimes it is an insightful article about something of interest to me, like birth.

Today I opened my inbox and saw I had another one from him. All I can think about is that poor little Greyson really wants to go home. Look at those tear splotches on the paper! It just reeks of authentic childhood homesickness, doesn't it? I would have loved to have known what the recipient thought when they opened this note from him.



Reddit