Night One Update

Sometimes we think that parenting Darcy is just too easy. She's a great eater, a great sleeper, she toilet trained really easily, all that sort of thing.

If last night is any indication, the adjustment to the big girl bed will be no exception.

She went to bed shortly before 8:00 last night and when I went into her room at 7:15 this morning she was just lying in bed waiting for me to come and get her. She looked so cute lying in that big bed. I made a pretty big deal out of it and she certainly seemed very proud of herself.

So, we'll see how it continues on. Sooner or later she's going to figure out that she can get herself out of bed, even with the rail on.

I dread that day...

Great Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend in Cambridge with Nick and all my family.

Darcy was really excited to see Nick again and gave him another warm welcome on Saturday morning. She woke up crying just after he got there on Friday night, but when he went in to comfort her, she didn't seem to know who he was. She just wanted her mommy. Saturday morning was a different story though. She gave him her normal "Daddy! My Daddy!" and then she wouldn't get out of his arms for a couple of hours.

It was great to see Nick and it's even greater to know that this whole thing is almost over. In less than 2 weeks Darcy and I will be in Montreal and that is Nick's last week. Woo hoo.

One of the highlights of the weekend for me was when we were walking through the mall in Cambridge on Saturday afternoon. Darcy was riding on Nick's shoulders and she leaned over and said "I'm so happy to have my Daddy back." Sweet.

On a different note, we're now into night one of the big girl bed. She went to sleep without any trouble. She's been in bed for half an hour so far, so I realize the night is young. I'll keep you posted. Check out our Flickr page for pictures.

Real Beauty

I've posted about Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty before and how much I love it. My sister-in-law, Stef included a link on her blog this morning that I want to put here too. It's a link to another short film which is trying to break down the stereotypes about beauty in our society. You should be able to click on the link below when you've got a minute to watch the film.

http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.ca/bblank.asp?id=6895

Aside from that, I'm in the middle of getting ready to head out of town for the weekend. Darcy and I are leaving for Cambridge this afternoon and Nick will be meeting us there tonight. Woo hoo! We'll also be celebrating my niece Laura's 4th birthday while we're there.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Mattress

Well the mattress store has completely redeemed themselves. After I brought the mix-up to the salesman's attention he assured me it would be fixed and the mattress would be delivered today between 11 - 1. It came at 12:55 and he delivered it himself, along with another guy in a suit. Not the normal delivery team. They seemed to be just driving someone's pickup truck. I think he might have taken his own lunch break to bring it over.

The company also refunded the delivery charge I had already paid. Go Teppermans.

I don't know what their normal delivery policy would have been but these guys didn't take the plastic off the mattress or set it up on the bed. I'm OK with that. As long as the mattress is here and I don't have to worry about anything else as far as that is concerned.

You Can't Complain About The Service At This Place

Whatever has happened to customer service? Can anyone tell me?

We're in the midst of getting Darcy's "big girl bed" ready. I went last week to order her mattress and arranged for the mattress to be delivered tomorrow during the day. I always select Wednesdays for my deliveries because I work at home during the day, so it's easy for me to be there. They book your date, but don't give you a specific time until the day before. So I said anytime during the day on Wednesday would be fine.

Well they called me today to say that someone will be there between 5-8 tomorrow evening. Well, I leave the house at 5:15 on Wednesdays and don't get home until 7:30. 5-8 doesn't work for me. That's why I asked for it to be during the day. I called them back and got a machine, so I left a message explaining that I needed to be called back at work to reschedule. The moron called my house and said he can reschedule for Thursday or Friday for during the day. Well, on Thursday or Friday during the day I'm going to be in my office. That's why I scheduled this Wednesday delivery a week ago. I called him back again and he wasn't around. I was assured that he'd call me back as soon as he gets back from his break. I'm not holding my breath.

The bedding we've ordered for her is also causing me a few headaches. My mom ordered a nice set from the Sears catalogue which arrived the other day. Right after she ordered it, I got a flyer advertising the same stuff at 40% off. She can't get her money back because that's an in-store offer and she ordered through the catalogue. I didn't get her to order the bedskirt, but when I saw the stuff on sale for 40% off, I decided to go to Sears myself to pick up the bedskirt. When I found the set, the sign in front of it only said "30% off". I went to a clerk who had a copy of the flyer and showed her where it said "40% off" so she told me I could get it for 40% off. When I asked for the twin bedskirt in the mushroom colour she said that they don't carry the bedskirts, they're only available through the catalogue. I told her that the 40% offer didn't cover catalogue purchases, as we'd already been told, but that the sign I was looking at said the twin bedskirt was included in the sale. So she begrudgingly placed the order for me through the catalogue along with a note that said I was to receive 40% off when I pick it up. I better not have any trouble with that when it comes in!

After all this getting her to sleep in her big girl bed will seem like a breeze!

____________________________________________________________

Update:

After 4 phone calls with my new best friend, Ken, he has assured me that the bed will be delivered between 11:00 - 1:00 tomorrow, as originally requested. We'll see how that goes.

You Come Here Often?

A friend took Darcy and I out for supper last night. He let me choose the restaurant, so I picked Montana's. It's really close to our house and it's very family-friendly. It's a great place to go to eat with a child.

Our friend wasn't there when we got there, so I took Darcy to go potty before we got seated. When we came out of the bathroom a waitress was waiting for me and said "Oh, there you are. You left your bib here the last time you were here so I've been holding onto it for the next time you came in. Here it is." Sure enough, it was our bib. I hadn't even realized we had left it there. It must have been the time we went with you, Stef.

I couldn't believe the waitress would hold onto that for us or that she'd remember us as soon as she saw us again. I guess that happens when you bring the world's cutest child to the restaurant with you.

Of course, it wasn't Darcy who made a mess at the family-friendly restaurant last night. That honour went to Mommy. We were sitting at two tables pushed together and I put my drink down right on the break in between them and it spilled everywhere! Darcy was kind enough to notice and to announce "Mommy made a mess!"

Amazing Race

I haven't said much about this season's Amazing Race, mostly because I'm not finding it to be all that "Amazing". I'm pretty bored with it. I keep watching it in the hopes that it will get interesting, but so far I've been disappointed.

I haven't even been able to settle on a team that I really like and hope will win. I think my leading contenders right now are Erwin and Godwin, the Cho brothers. They've played some stupid pranks (like bringing squirt guns into an airport - hello?!?!?!?) which make them kind of annoying, but I really like their attitude on the whole. They've always been the ones to show respect wherever they're visiting, instead of just rushing through everything. They'll also take a minute just to enjoy the scenery. I think that's cool. I was especialy impressed with them last night when they helped David and Mary get the Fast Forward, even though it meant one of them would have to face their incredible fear of heights to do the roadblock. They put themselves in last place to help another team. I hope that kind of attitude carries them far and that they cut out the stupid pranks.

I was sorry to see Sarah get eliminated, but not her loser partner Peter. He was an idiot.

There are still a few episodes left, so I hope it gets a lot more exciting from here on out. Something that would really help me would be if Lyn and Karlyn got eliminated. Stop whining and play the game.

So there's my little rant about the Amazing Race 10. I probably won't have much more to say about that!

All The Little Ants Go Marching

I've got ants in my dishwasher. Has this happened to anyone before? The other day I noticed ants in the corner of my dining room where we keep the portable dishwasher (no room in the kitchen). I put some traps around and that seems to have cleared up the ants on the floor.

However, last night I noticed the bottom of my dishwasher was crawling with ants. I did a quick rinse cycle of the dishwasher and that seemed to get rid of them. I just went home for lunch and when I was putting my plate in the dishwasher I saw that the bottom was filled with ants again.

How do I get rid of these ants? How do I figure out where they're living? Can anyone help me?

Ummm, I Don't Think So

Nick, you're not going to like this one...

Darcy had a horrible morning this morning. She was just miserable, she wouldn't eat, she wouldn't listen, we just had a terrible time.

I was getting a little frustrated and so was she, so at one point I just picked her up and gave her a big hug. She settled right in and gave me a good little cuddle. I asked her what was wrong and she said she didn't feel well. I asked what was wrong and she said it was her tummy. I asked her if she felt yucky and she said "I've got a baby in my belly."

I laughed and said "I'm pretty sure that's not the problem this morning."

The woman who babysits Darcy is my friend's mother and that friend is currently expecting her first baby. So there's a lot of talk at their house about there being a baby in her belly.

I really started laughing when she walked over to our big mirror, lifted up her shirt and stuck her belly out really far. "Look Mommy, there's the baby in my belly."

We ended up laughing a lot and that seemed to be the end of the cranky morning.

A First

I have a confession to make. I killed a squirrel yesterday. I'm pretty sure that's never happened to me before. I've been in cars with people who've hit animals (Nick, remember that puff of feathers when you hit the bird on the 401???) but I don't remember ever being the one driving.

Yesterday was a wet and rainy afternoon. I don't know if this little squirrel was just trying to get somewhere dry or what, but he ran right out in front of my car. There was nothing I could do. I heard a huge THUD and didn't look in the rearview mirror.

Sorry little squirrel.

Interesting Tidbit of the Day

I heard about an interesting website today. Here's the only useful thing I found out there...

"There are 37 days till your next birthday on which your cake will have 34 candles.Those 34 candles produce 34 BTUs,or 8,568 calories of heat (that's only 8.5680 food Calories!) .You can boil 3.89 US ounces of water with that many candles."

On Our Own Again

Well, Papa Titcombe is safely back in Montreal after a long train ride and a full week at our house. He did a lot of great work here, for which we're really grateful.

Darcy has said so many funny things over the past few days and each time she's said something new I've thought to myself "I need to put that on my blog". Now I've forgotten what they all were. Here are a couple...

While putting her arm around me as we're sitting on the floor colouring - "Mommy, you're my best friend!" (Just wait until you're 12 kid!)

After Papa and I each took a side of her high chair try to remove it after supper - "Thanks, guys!"

Talking about her crib this morning when I got her out of bed - "This is too high to climb." (note to self, get moving really quickly on the big girl bed.)

While sitting on the toilet tonight, straining to do "number 2" - "I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll huff and I'll puff..." (I couldn't have made that one up if I tried!)

On a different note, one of my lifelong concert dreams is about to come true! Elton John will be playing at the Bell Centre when I'm in Montreal in November and we've got tickets! Laugh at me if you will, but I really love Elton John and I'm really excited to see this show. Even better, it was 100% Nick's idea and he is actually going to sit through the concert with me. I can't wait. I think I'll wear my new suede jacket.

New Recipe

While reading the most recent issue of Glow Magazine, I came across this recipe for pumpkin muffins. I love pumpkin-flavoured foods so I figured I'd give it a try. I was not disappointed. They were extremely easy to throw together, baked in 20 minutes and are absolutely delicious.

Stef, you wanted to know how they'd turn out and I highly recommend them.

Nick, you'd hate them. More for Darcy and I. She loves them too.

Breakfast Time

I had a meeting last night that lasted until nearly 9:00. Papa put Darcy to bed while I was out and she went to bed for him with minimal trouble.

When I got home and Bill and I were having our tea, we heard a little voice over the monitor say "Mommy". I heard a bit of moving around after that, but thought she had settled back down.

When I went up to go to bed, I checked on her and I saw that she was wide awake. Then I heard, "Mommy! Breakfast time!" I told her that Mommy hadn't even gone to bed yet, that it was time to go back to sleep. We had a little cuddle time in the rocking chair and she went back to sleep. I didn't hear from her again until nearly 7:30 this morning. Woo hoo!

Hero

Darcy was a total hero this afternoon at the clinic. She didn't cry once, she just laid down on the bed and let the technician do all the tests without complaining. She did ask me to give her a hug once, which I was more than happy to do.

Just a note for my family members... The tech couldn't say much about what she saw but I did confirm that she did indeed see two kidneys.

One funny comment from this afternoon came when I was trying to pay for parking, get Darcy's diaper bag, my purse, Darcy and her stuffed kitten into the clinic. She was meandering around and not coming with me, so I juggled all that stuff and picked her up. I said, "Darcy, you're getting heavy!" and she replied with "I sure am!" I cracked up.

Also, I would never have considered taking my camera to the ultra sound, but I really wish I had. They got me to take Darcy's clothes off and put her in a hostpital gown. That is one of the funniest sights I have ever seen. The smallest one they had was just enormous and she looked hilarious walking around in that thing.

Because of the snow that was still falling (heavily) when we left the clinic we decided to hit Mrs. Fields for our treat instead of Laura Secord. I think we chose wisely. We even brought some little cookies home for Papa to enjoy with us.

When we were going into the mall we got caught in snow squalls and Darcy didn't have a hat. It really seemed fine when we left the house this morning. I thought about it and figured that the hat she has she's already worn for two winters, so I would be dreaming if I thought I could pull a third winter out of it. So, while we were there we went into our new H & M store and got a sweet little hat. You know the kind with the little braids coming down over the ears? She loves it. Of course, we also got the matching mittens.

So thanks for your thoughts and prayers. I don't expect to hear anything from these tests, but if they did see something amiss, I will likely hear back from the doctor by the middle of next week. I'll keep you posted.

Snow

It won't be long before we'll all be there with snow. Irving Berlin, "Snow" from the movie "White Christmas"

It's snowing in Windsor. Global warming my eye. I moved here to be in the tropics of Canada, not to have snow on October 12th. This stinks. It's not accumulating, but the fact that I was driving through snow this morning is totally unacceptable.

It is currently 4 degrees. In case you're wondering, that's cold! There's a freezing warning in effect for tonight.

Can you tell that I'm not happy about this?

I'm also taking Darcy for her kidney ultra sound this afternoon. I'm also not excited about that. I explained to her last night that they'll be putting jell-o on her and looking inside her with a special machine. She was pretty excited about the jell-o (I told her she couldn't eat it) but not so excited about the machine. I also told her that if she was good I'd take her out for ice cream (I'll probably need it more than her, who am I kidding???). When I promised that I didn't realize it would be snowing!!!!

Just trying to keep warm here...

Does This Sound Familiar?

I read a lot of books. Well, not lately. I haven't finished a book in ages.

I read so many books that I often forget what they were about or the details of their plots. Yesterday a section of a book came to my mind and I cannot for the life of me remember anything about it. I can't remember the name of the book or who wrote it and it's driving me crazy. I'm wondering if it rings any bells for any of you...

The book has three major plots, in three completely different time frames. The first part involves a gay man who takes a job as the personal assistant to a cranky composer. The second involves an elderly man trying to break out of a nursing home. The third is a futuristic account of (I think) Korean society and the havoc their technological advances wreaks. There is a recurring mention throughout the three sections of a peculiarly-shaped birthmark, but I can't even remember what that birthmark is.

Isn't that pathetic?

Clearly the book didn't leave any sort of lasting impression on me. If you've read it, can you please help me?

Some Things I Forgot

I forgot to mention that I did go rock climbing on Friday night. I actually gave it a shot and did pretty well for a first-timer. I was more nervous about belaying (sp??) someone else so thanks to Jill and Paul for trusting me (and the floor anchor) with your safety!

The best part is defnitely rapelling (I think that is now the correct spelling) down the wall once you're done climbing.

Then a family story...

We ate our Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday evening and as usual, we all ate too much. We were all feeling kind of sleepy as well. Stef leaned back in her chair and said "Man, am I pooped."

Darcy looked at her, started waving her hands under her nose and said, "Hoo hoo! Stinky!". When you're in the midst of toilet training, "pooped" only means one thing!

Great Weekend

What a fantastic weekend! Nick arrived home shortly after midnight on Friday night. When he went into Darcy's room on Saturday morning she greeted him with a very excited, "Daddy! I have to go pee." So he got a very warm welcome from his little girl. Plus she had peed so much through the night that his first task involved changing her sheets. It was good to have him home.

We did a lot of shopping on Saturday afternoon but the highlight for me came on Saturday night. Stef wrote about her great find ($23!!!) on her blog, but here's my story...

I wrote last week about the great new dress I'd found. I want to wear it to Nick's graduation next month, but it will be pretty cool in Montreal at that time of year, so my mother- and sister-in-law suggested I look for a jacket to wear with it. We found one that was OK, but not fantastic. Then we went to Danier to look for a jacket for Stef. I was just kind of browsing for fun when Gigi approached me with a beautiful navy blue suede jacket that would look amazing with my dress. I tried it on and it looked like it had been made with me in mind. It quickly became an early birthday/Christmas gift from my in-laws. I love it and I know I will get a lot of use out of it. Right now I'm just really enjoying the way it's making my closet smell.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, which caused us all to eat way too much. Nick, his Mom and sister left at 11:00 this morning and his Dad (Darcy's beloved Papa) is staying with us for a week. That really helped ease the blow of Nick leaving. We spent a long time at the park this afternoon, had some delicious leftovers for supper and are just getting ready now for Darcy to go to bed.

I'm exhausted but it was well worth it. What a great weekend.

Today's the Day!

Nick is coming home tonight! It's only for a visit, but it's something. We're looking forward to a great weekend with him, his parents and Auntie 'Tef. I'm sure there'll be some walks to the park, maybe some shopping and a lot of good eating. We may even squeeze in a few books and some hide and seek.

On a different note, I'm facing a bit of a fear tonight. The youth group from the church is going rock climbing tonight, something I've never done before. I went repelling (sp??) when I was very young and remember cutting my elbow pretty badly.

I would bungee jump in a heartbeat, if given the chance. However, the whole "climbing" thing freaks me out. I know I'll be harnessed in and completely safe but I'm still nervous. I'm going to give it a shot though.

If I never post again, you know that's bad news...

Anyway, it will give me something to keep me occupied until Nick gets in at midnight!

Thanksgiving Reflection

It's Thanksgiving this weekend, which always makes me reflect. Of course I have a lot for which I'm thankful, but today I'm reflecting about the day my daughter pooped so loud in the middle of Thanksgiving Day church that nearly everyone heard it.

It was two years ago and Nick and I were spending Thanksgiving in Cambridge with my family. Darcy was four months old. She had kept Nick and I up all the night before, so Nick stayed home from church to sleep. Steve had forgotten their diaper bag at home, so Lynn was at church alone with Laura as well.

Thanksgiving is normally a pretty joyful service at church, but a woman in the congregation there had just passed away in the week leading up to that Thanksgiving, so things were a little somber at this point in the service. I was holding Darcy as everyone was silent for a time of prayer when I suddenly felt her little body clench up. She was still being nursed 100% of the time then, she hadn't had any cereal or anything to that point. Moms, you'll know what I'm talking about here. All liquid in, all liquid out.

So, right in the middle of the prayer there is suddenly this loud, ripping "SQUIIIRRRT". Poor Darcy doesn't have any idea what is going on, but suddenly heads are ripping around all over the place to see what the source of that horrible noise was. Lynn and I were crying we were laughing so hard. My Dad and brother were sitting in the band and they both heard it. After the prayer I tried to slip out unnoticed which was hard because we were sitting at the front. When I got to the nursery, the pastor had sent someone out after me to make sure the door was unlocked so she clearly heard it too. Then when we went back into the service, my Aunt Joan walked past me during the offering time and leaned over and said "I heard that!". She was sitting at the back! Then when everyone was down in the nursery later, a woman I barely know saw us come in and said "Oh look, there's the girl who blew through her diaper!".

Even earlier this year I was at a youth conference, rooming with someone from that church and she was telling someone else there about the time my daughter pooped loud enough to disturb the whole service.

I'm very proud. I'm not normally one for bathroom humour, but that is always going to be one of my favourite Darcy stories. I'm holding onto it in case she ever gets married.

Anyone else have any happy Thanksgiving reflections?

Birthday Ideas

My birthday is only a month and a half away and I know there are plenty of you out there who are still stumped for that perfect gift idea. Well, look no further. The whole catalogue is amazing, but you should definitely check out the "fantasy gifts".

I'm especially interested in the charter trip to space.

Random Thoughts of the Mother of a Toddler

These are the sorts of questions I find myself pondering in recent days...

Ernie once mentioned that he hasn't started grade school yet. Then why does he have his own apartment? Shouldn't he be living with his parents rather than Bert?

If a cow is singing a song, should that cow's voice be that of a male?

Why is Roo the only one of Winnie the Pooh and his friends with a Mommy?

On Franklin, why is his name Franklin, but his friends are just called Bear, Snail, Beaver, etc.?

If Dora always needs her backpack, why not always carry it with her? Why do the kids always have to help her find it? She's not very prepared for the life of the adventurer.

How long can I drive in the car after dropping Darcy off before I realize that I don't need to have the Sesame Street CD playing anymore?

Why is Barney still on TV?

Does it seem like I need another adult to talk to?

So Very Tired

We had a great, but busy weekend. Our church was celebrating their 25th anniversary, so I had a lot of extra stuff to do because of that. Plus, my family was all here visiting, so I wanted to be spending time with them. Then there's the fact that we stayed up really late on Saturday night, but the kids got us up at the regular time on Sunday morning. We were all pretty beat.

I had a great shopping experience on Saturday afternoon that just made my weekend. I think I've mentioned before that I hate buying clothes for myself. There isn't a lot of selection out there for a woman in her mid-30's who has the body of a 12-year old boy. It's hard to find things that fit me that are appropriate for my age. If I wanted to dress like a 17-year old, no problem. However, if I want something that I can wear to work, it's not so easy.

Dressy clothes is a complete nightmare. I hate shopping for nice things for myself. It's just such a frustrating experience and more often than not, I come home empty-handed.

Part of the anniversary weekend was a banquet on Saturday night. I have not bought myself anything nice to wear since Darcy's dedication. For those of you keeping track, that was 2 years ago! I had borrowed a dress from a friend, but it was a little too big. On Saturday afternoon I had to go to the mall to pick up my Dad's birthday cake, and I walked past Reitmans, so I figured I'd take one last look. I was having my usual frustration when I saw this dress. I loved the pattern and the style and when I looked at the tag I expected to see "L" or "XL" because that's how my luck usually works. I was very surprised to see "XS"!!! I tried it on and it looked like it had been made for me. I even looked like I had curves! The dress was just one big optical illusion. I had to buy it and I'm so glad I did. I want to wear it every day.

We had Thanksgiving/Dad's birthday lunch yesterday, which was delicious. It went a little long, so Darcy didn't end up having her afternoon nap, but we worked around that. She slept well last night though!

Now the countdown is on to Nick's visit this weekend. We can't wait. Darcy and I were looking at the calendar we're checking off daily and she got pretty excited that we can see the happy face marking Daddy's visit home. 4 more sleeps!