fotoshoot - warning, picture heavy post

daddy with liam


daddy why did you put this facecloth on my head?


okay, tell me more funny stories!


diesel is a funny dog, making us both laugh


i love baby einstein dvd's!! (not that mommy lets me watch them often.. maybe 2 times a week.. maybe)


liam gives me kisses


this one's for kim: baby feet taste great!


liam trying to crawl over my arm


is daddy making us laugh? yes he is!


because there just aren't enough nekkid baby fotos


loving on the green balloon


chasing mommy, being chased by balloons


the balloons win again!


an excellent example of chubby rolls


mr. crawler loves to crawl!

quiz time - whats your mothering style?

http://www.motherstyles.com/quiz.asp

okay i know i don't have a lot of "mom" readers out there, but a TON of pregnant ladies (hello ladies!), so whatever mom's do read my blog, enjoy this simple quiz & hopefully you'll learn a bit about yourself

Your type is: entj —The “Executive” Mother

“My mind is always going. How can I fine-tune the system to everyone’s advantage?”

• Competent and confident in a management role, the ENTJ mother organizes the needs and schedules of family members into a workable family system. Within the system, she provides her children with care-taking, direction, and limits, but she also gives them space to develop their own self-sufficiency and judgment.
• Analytical and adept at problem-solving, the ENTJ mother listens to her children’s concerns empathetically and then strategizes with them how to improve the situation—either by intervening on their behalf or backing off to let them solve problems on their own. She particularly enjoys watching them take responsibility and accomplish something they find important on their own.
• Intense and insightful, the ENTJ mother is cued in to her children’s intellectual and emotional development. She uses her quickness and communication skills to talk things through and help her children connect with people and better understand life.

retired

i am retiring the "boobs, its whats for dinner" blinky because, technically, its not "whats for dinner" anymore...

for the past 2 weeks liam has been on 4 bottles of 8oz of formula a day. yes you heard that right, i have finished breastfeeding. it was sad for me, i felt very guilty for giving it up, but i couldn't pretend anymore that i was happy to be doing it - the fear (& reality) of having by boobs bitten every time he latched got the better of me. i borrowed a pump from my dear good good friend shannon, set a day & got down to business

here is how it went down:

bottle #1 - all breastmilk - he took to it great!
bottle #2 - 1oz formula, the rest breastmilk
bottle #3 - 1.5oz formula, the rest breastmilk

i did this for 4 days until he was on formula, then i started pumping & dumping (because on day 5 i made the mistake of adding breastmilk to make up the difference in a bottle [b/c we ran out of formula] & then he started refusing formula bottles! smart monkey...)

what followed was seriously painful engorgement - stuffing my bra with cabbage leaves (which works!), drinking lots of sage tea (also works, but very disgusting, like drinking a cup of thanksgiving stuffing), ibuprofen for the pain & swelling, wearing tight fitting bras, stuffing ice packs into my bras & sleeping on my back.

little by little the pain went away & so did the milk. while i'm not back to my normal size yet (will i ever be?? it doesn't seem like they're getting any smaller), i'm not engorged & yesterday when i tried to sqeeze milk out "just to see" i got what looked like a tiny bit of colostrum from one breast & nothing from the other

so, our journey in breastfeeding land is officially over. it lasted 8.5 months - which was 6.5 months longer than i ever thought i'd make it. while it would've been nice to stick to the original plan & make it to a year, this is better for everyone. liam is happier because he's getting enough formula to fill him up (& in hindsight, i'm not sure i was making enough milk to sustain him through the night with no night feedings), mommy is happier because she has her boobs back to herself & papa is happier because he can finally take part in feeding liam & bonding with his son.

last week of being 8 months

if i grab this bunch of balloons & shake them...


they hit me in the face!!


i have to get away!! they are scaring me..


oh no! they're stuck around my middle... they're following me!


okay balloons. you win. this time...

please no more water

this is for all the retro mom's out there who insist that we should be giving our babies water...

http://www.parentdish.com/2008/05/22/babies-under-6-months-should-not-drink-water/

please, stop advising new mom's to give their babies water. they don't need water. feeding them water when they're under 6 months does nothing, absolutely nothing, to help them in any way, shape or form. the only liquid any baby needs is milk. good old fashioned booby or formula milk.
i'm only posting this because its nice to say "ha ha i told you so"
was that rude?
shame on me!

madness

its crazy town over here! we've got meg's bridal shower tomorrow so its been busy busy running around cleaning, buying decorations, shopping for supplies (hello sunday afternoon martinis.. yes please! we're serving.. wait for it .. "Meghan-tinis" is that brilliant or what?) liam has been a champion solidering along for the afternoon & has now crashed out for a hard core nap. thank god we have a bbq (& hot dogs are quick & dirty) or i'd never eat anymore!

last week of being 8 months

this is my drunk face... or "a preview of what liam will look like on his 19th birthday (minus the highchair)"


what is this??? nooo.. not again...


ewww mom i still don't like banana. stop trying to make me eat it!


yay! the nasty banana is gone! (wow he really looks like aunty sarah here! the anstett genes are strong with this one... come to the dark side.. )


happy birthday mom! dad helped me write the card (isn't it cute?)


i want the water!!! i will do anything to get it!! including yoga poses!!

inspirational

When things go wrong as they sometimes will;
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low, and the debts are high;
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you can never tell how close you are;
It may be near when it seems afar.
So, stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things go wrong that you mustn't quit.

bonne fete

i am 31 years old today


thanks for an amazing birthday shaun. i got to sleep in, he made me bacon, eggs, toast & coffee. then we spent the day with our amazing son at the tulip festival. lunch with bex in the park. dinner with my favorite people at the blue cactus. games after at local hero's. all in all, a fabulous birthday :)

click here to experience our amazingly busy weekend

our dog stinks

as in he smells, really really bad

last friday i was feeding liam a plum & i put the pit aside so he wouldn't grab it. dumb jenny, i put the pit aside on the highchair food tray... which i always dump on the ground after feeding liam so that diesel (the dog) can enjoy the scraps (which he does, a lot)

well friday afternoon all of a sudden he starts throwing up, hard core. enough that we had to put him outside on the balcony all quick styles. up came out a pit. a plum pit.

did you know that plum pits contain arsenic?

what followed was literally hours (& now days) of vomitting & runny poops... everywhere... sometimes he can't even whine fast enough to let us know he's going to be sick. he just gets sick in the same spot he's standing in. hence the mother's day happiness that shaun was cleaning up the poop, because it was (literally) poop house over here with 7-10 spots of defecation on the main floor, the stairs, i even found some behind the couch (?!?! how did he fit back there??)

my poor dog. i've been waiting for the runs to subside before i give him a bath... but it seems like they still haven't run their course (hardy har i made a pun)

so - we have an incredibly stanky smelly poop bum covered mangy fur dog. poor fluffer.

so wrong but so funny

http://www.apa.org/monitor/2008/05/marriage.html#chart

how do you score?

a mother's day post for my "mean mom"

Someday when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a parent, I will tell them, as my Mean Mom told me:

I loved you enough to ask where you were going, with whom, and what time you would be home.

I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover that your new best friend was a creep.

I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your room, a job that should have taken 15 minutes.

I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment, and tears in my eyes. Children must learn that their parents aren’t perfect..

I loved you enough to let you assume the responsibility for your actions even when the penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.

But most of all, I loved you enough to say NO when I knew you would hate me for it.

Those were the most difficult battles of all. I’m glad I won them, because in the end you won, too.

And someday when your children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates parents, you will tell them.

Was your Mom mean? I know mine was.

We had the meanest mother in the whole world!
While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast.

When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches.

And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too.
Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You’d think we were convicts in a prison.

She had to know who our friends were and what we were doing with them.

She insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.

We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making us work.

We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty the trash and all sorts of cruel jobs.

I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds and had eyes in the back of her head.

Then, life was really tough!

Mother wouldn’t let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up
They had to come up to the door so she could meet them.

While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16.

Because of our mother we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced.

None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other’s property or ever arrested for any crime.

It was all her fault.

Now that we have left home, we are all educated, honest adults.

We are doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was.

I think that is what’s wrong with the world today. It just doesn’t have enough mean moms!

PASS THIS ON TO ALL THE MEAN MOTHERS YOU KNOW (and their kids)!

ps. mom i love you so much. since having liam i finally get IT. all of it. you are & have always been the best mom. you mean the world to me. thanks for always being a "mean" mom. i deserved it.

first mother's day

i woke up to find shaun elbow deep in batter making this for me



which i quickly devoured. he said he made 9 pancakes until he got 3 that were just right... (which are the ones above)

isn't that just the sweetest??



it means so much to me! its hard to cook bacon. i am very impressed!

not only that but diesel the dog was very sick yesterday & last night & while we were sleeping was sick sick sick all over our carpet. shaun cleaned it all up! then cleaned up the kitchen from the breakfast he made me.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to my mom, shannon c, jule, mishky, carole, kristen, all my september mommies, carey & maureen xxx

(Happy Soon-To-Be-Mother's Day to Kim & Sarah)

our trip

my aunt connie, me & liam visiting her in oshawa on our way back from brantford. she is probably the strongest person i know right now. has been fighting her cancer for a long time & is doing so well. i'm very proud of her. she's an inspiration!!


liam feeling the blades of grass in the backyard at my parents house


okay funny boy, laugh it up!


crawl to mommy!!


baby liam with baby owen, sadly we had 2 playdates but only got a small handful of pics. hopefully my girlfriend Jule will send me some she took of the boys at her house


garden's are fun!


uh-oh, picked nanners tulips, the special ones they brought all the way from europe...


playing with pop-pop


visiting great aunt connie who is looking very stylish. that necklace didn't last long around her neck. liam grabbed it & pulled it right off!

a baby shower, 2 teeth & an engagement

it was my sisters baby shower on saturday. unfortch we were so busy i didn't get any photos, but lots of fun was had by all. liam & i are staying at my parents until the end of the week & so far its been an amazing stay. we've hardly watched any TV & i am loving it!! liam is enjoying lots of time with naners & pop pop & playing in the backyard, examining the flowers. he ate pork for the first time & really liked it. he's been just great on this trip, a happy boy full of love & giggles..

... but he is cutting 2 more teeth!! yes, thats 4 new teeth in under 4 weeks. why can't we catch a break? poor muffin...

my sister looked amazing at her shower, all pretty belly. she got a lot of great stuff including lots of cloth diapering supplies. we often joke that kim is very "granola" but seriously, i am very proud of her for deciding to co-sleep, cloth diaper, baby wear & community live. she's a lean, green living, inspirational machine. her hubby brad isn't half bad either.

in AMAZING news my sister Bex is engaged!! her fiance Justin is a big strapping man from BC & she'll be leaving in July to join him there. while she'll be sorely missed, we are all very happy for her. i have honestly never seen my sister in love like this before & its inspirational.

on that note, this song by (i think) beyonce, has been giving me a lot of inspiration lately. it goes:

sometimes there's going to be days like this
sometimes there's going to be rain like this
sometimes there's going to be pain like this
sometimes you have to work hard for it

i'm not afraid of hard work, or the pain... but it would be nice to skip ahead to sunny days & green grass; lately it feels like i'm working really hard for it - can someone please tell me what "it" is??

peace xx