Getting excited!!!

I am leaving tomorrow (well technically today since it's after midnight) to go to Niagra Falls for a girls weekend. I am getting so excited!!! I don't think I've ever done a go away girls weekend (other than the one with my mom last summer but that was different) We are staying at a hotel that is a 5 min walk to the falls. I can't wait to sit back and relax, and go swimming and hot tubbing. I won't be on updating until at least monday. Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and Happy February!!! (Hopefully only one more month after that until winter is done!!!)

101 in 1,001

I have been debating doing this for quite a while. I have finally decided that I want to set the goals and attain them. Here is an overview and my list.

The Mission:Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days? Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Read more at: http://www.triplux.com/dayzero/default.asp

My Start Date: Friday January 30th 2009
My end Date: Friday October 28th 2011

Items in blue - Task completed
Items in green - Task in process
Items in red - Unable to complete

My 101 in 1001

Creative
1. Finish wedding scrapbook
2. Paint basement bathroom
3. Make at least one thing for everyone on my Christmas list (I say christmas cards and gift tags count. lol.)
4. Set up craft and sewing area in Office
5. Make and send 6 random gifts (0/6)
6. Make my Floppy eared hat
7. Buy clips and snaps to make own soother straps
8. Make grandparent albums
9. Start making cards (Birthday, baby, just because etc) to sell
10. Open an etsy store
11. Get a video editing software and learn how to make videos of Austin
12. Do a "day in the life" of Austin at least every 6 months. (1/4)
13. Finish making recipe cards for Margaret. Did not happen, probably won't be finished. :(
14. create logo for adam
15. Take 10 (or more) pictures at least 2 days a week for a month
16. set up super awesome craft area in basement

Health
17. Walk at least once a week for at least 1 hr for 4 weeks.(4/4)
18. Play on a baseball team
19. Take a dance class (With or without Dave)
20. Cut out pop for one week (7/7)
21. Cut out pop for 2 weeks (0/14)
22. Loose 3 pants sizes (0/3)
23. Do at least 1 yoga class
24. No fast food for 3 weeks (0/3)
25. No eating out for 2 weeks (0/2)
26. Take Austin to the park at least twice a month for 2 months (0/4)

Development
27. Read 25 books in 2009 (17/25)
28. Read 30 books in 2010 (8/30)
29. Make 1 dinner a week for a month (0/4)
30. Make 3 dinners, (one must be a new recipe) a week for a month (0/12)
31. Make and decorate a cake using the cake decorating tips I got for mother’s day.
32. Go golfing
33. Try snowboarding
34. Do 3 puzzles (at least 1,000 pieces each) (0/3)
35. Read the Diary of Anne Frank (can count towards yearly book goal)
36. Read to Kill a mockingbird. (can count towards yearly book goal)
37. Plant and maintain a garden for the whole summer (Big fail summer 2009, will try again summer 2010) I say it was a success, the few flowers the squirrels didn't eat came up!
38. Start a class with Austin
39. Take a class on my own, no husband or kid (Actually taking 2, a card making class and an accounting class.)
40. take 2 classes per semester to finish bookeeping certificate - This will be temporarily on hold until I can figure out what will happen with Alberta

Financial
41. Do not use credit cards for 2 months (2/2) YAY!! too bad it's because there was no room.
42. Pay off half of Master card by Dec 2009 (This was a fail. I am going re-set the goal for September 2010...ok yeah, maybe won't happen for a while.)
43. Have both credit cards paid off by end of 1,001 days
44. Don’t go over my daytime minutes on my cell phone 12 different months (4/12) *Sept 09, Jan 10, Feb 10, March 10*
45. Put $2 in savings for each completed task and $5 for every incomplete task (0/101)
46. Save money to have remote door unlock/lock installed on car
47. Try to put $20 per month into savings while on Maternity leave (Actually managed $40/month)
48. Follow the budget we worked out for 6 months (0/6)
49. Save enough money for Fun trip

Relationships
50. Have a formal dinner for friends
51. Write 30 letters and mail them to friends/family (0/30)
52. Send Kiddie Valentines cards to all my friends in the mail
53. Take Emily out for a day just the two of us
54. Document Austin’s Monthly Birthdays for the first year by Pictures (except first Month) (11/11)
55. Take professional family photos at least twice a year (0/6)
56. Make and send 10 random gifts to friends and family (0/10)
57. Have 15 Dates with my Husband. (2/15)

Travel
58. Go on at least 2 trips to destinations outside of Ontario and Quebec (2/2) *Edmonton Alberta July 16-18 2009* *Buffalo NY camping August 10th*
59. Go to the zoo once per year (2009,2010,2011) (2/3)
60. Go to the theatre at least 3 times (1/3)Jersey Boys March 31st
61. Go camping 3 times (1/3)
62. Go to the drive in at least once each summer (0/3)
63. Go to Parkwood. *yes, I've never been
64. Go to Marineland. *yes, I've never been there either

Future
65. Prepare a basic contents list of house and store a copy in fire box and both our emails
66. Create a will
67. Start a RRSP
68. Start and Education fund for Austin

Miscellaneous
69. Mail all Christmas cards on time!! Every single one made it out!!
70. Remember to take cloth bags for shopping for a month
71. Buy myself flowers 5 times (2/5)
72. Size my wedding rings or get a cheap replacement ring - My rings actually fit now so I don't need to do it now.
73. Pick a tv series I haven’t seen and watch the whole thing - Freaks and Geeks. Finished March 2nd 2010
74. Buy 2 more ‘art’ pieces for our house (2/2) Hung the pictures I took last fall of the trees in frames.
75. Hang dragonfly lights in backyard
76. Keep car free of garbage for a month
77. Clean the office
78. Keep office clean for 30 days (0/30)
79. Get rid of all clothes we don't need – did a big clean out and sent them to CDA when we cleaned up for moving.
80. Clean out Hall closet upstairs - also did this while cleaning for moving
81. *private* sorry, don't want all of internet land to see
82. Hang pictures in Austin's room
83. Hang shelves in Austin's room - This will be on hold until we move. Austin has tons of storage space in his new room now so there is no need for the shelves.
84. Actually get my computer updated and pictures put onto dvd's (I have the laptop with the dvd burner on it, I just need to get the dvd's and the pictures moved.)
85. Finish redecorating the living room.
86. get back into girl guides
87. watch casablanca
88. watch a movie for every letter of the alphabet (13/26)
89. Finally finish all adam's filing
90. re-arrange bedroom
91. Double my blog posts for 2010 (had 85 in 2009) (0/170)
92. Use twitter and do at least one tweet a day for a month (0/30)
93. Keep house in current selling condition until we sell. (so clean it every day! Eek!) It was hard but I managed to succeed!
94. Wear makeup every day for 2 weeks (0/14)
95. Enroll Austin in 2 different classes (0/2)
96. Create and mail thank you's for business by Dec 31st
97. Have at least 10 items in my etsy store by April 1st 2011 (0/10)


98. Create 3 new goals by April 1st 2011 (0/3)
99. Create 3 new goals by April 1st 2011 (0/3)
100. Create 3 new goals by April 1st 2011 (0/3)
101. Celebrate completing 1,001 days.

What makes my day.

I love how I can make Austin smile. I lift him above my head so he's 'flying' and say hello and he goes into the biggest grin imaginable!!! Then if I keep him up there and keep talking to him he will kick his legs and giggle. It makes my day. He even makes me laugh because he can be crying the hardest he's ever cried and I can't get him to stop, but I lift him up and say hello, he'll start crying then halfway through switch to a giggle. I will have to see if dave can help me get it onto video.

Speaking of video, we have been unsuccessful in getting Austin Rolling over on video yet. Sunday at my mom's we propped him up on his arms and he rolled over. We did it again and he rolled the other way. He was definately putting some effort into it. I know some may say it wasn't a true roll but I'm saying it was his first assisted roll. When we laid him down without propping his arms under him he was working hard to get rolled over but couldn't get his little legs to go.

Happy Birthday Dave!!

Today is Dave's Birthday. It was so great he even called in sick to work today. This is how the day went: Wake up, go downstairs. Dave fell asleep in the chair, baby in the swing. I woke up, go downstairs, Dave moves to couch - falls alseep. I feed Austin and watch some recorded shows off our pvr. Dave sleeps all afternoon, I watch tv, play with Austin and generally do nothing. Dave wakes up, we feed baby, watch some more tv. Austin falls asleep, I go have a shower then we go to Dave's parents for dinner, come home Austin goes to bed, dave goes to bed, here I am.

My throat is still a little sore but it doesn't seem to be getting worse. Dave I think has killed whatever cold was in him by sleep (I hope) and Austin is smiling again today. The entire time he was sick we couldn't get a smile out of him. Today he was all smiles so I take it as a sign he's getting better. His nose is still running a little bit but not bad.

This is a picture of Austin Monday. He was fussing like crazy and as soon as I put him on the Panda pillow he passed out.

These are a few pictures I took while on my road-trip on Tuesday. This is out by my grandma's house.

Still sick.

Austin is getting better but still a little sick. I feel so bad for him. He sneezes and snot comes out his nose. He manages to suck it up his nose but then 'chokes' on it which makes him cry. Crying causes more snot that he sucks up and 'chokes' on then cries some more. Last night was lots of fun..lol. And now dave is sick too. Today when Austin cries Dave says, "I know how you feel buddy" Ummm you don't really know. You can blow your nose and take the good drugs to help it. Maybe I should get dave to suck choke and cry to see how it feels. I am killing myself laughing at the image of a 26 (tomorrow!) year old man doing this. When I am getting grumpy today I shall think of this and laugh. hehe.

We are supposed to have a play date tomorrow but I have a feeling we need to cancel it. Unfortunately I have woken up with a sore throat this morning. I guess the rest of the week is a write off.

A nice Sunday

We had a great day today. Daddy and Austin had some bonding time while mommy got to sleep in. Then we hung out around the house. Dave's parents came to visit and to see Austin. I tried a new recipe for dinner tonight. I think we over cooked it a little. It was mexican rice and chicken wraps. It was pretty good though for being a little dry. Here's the recipe:

2 cans of campbells chedar cheese soup
1 cup water
2 cups salsa
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken cubed
1 1/4 cup reg long grain rice.
Put all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low for 7-8 hours. (We didn't have that much time so we put it on high and cooked for about 3 hours.)
Put rice mixture onto large tortilla wraps and enjoy.

We didn't quite have the 2lbs of chicken so instead we put in 2 cups of rice and 1 1/2 cups of water. I was worried it would be too watery but it thickened right up. I'm kind of excited to try new recipes. I think the next one might be the chicken parmesean that I've wanted to try forever (it has cream cheese and spinach in the middle of it.) Wish me luck!

Austin's coughing sneezing and running nose has gotten worse. Not too bad and thankfully he's not too grumpy about it. My heart becomes just a little sad though when he's trying to cough. I just want to teach him how to clear his throat. Poor guy. I hope it starts to clear up tomorrow!

Speaking of clearing up, I think it may be time it stopped snowing. We had no snow on our deck yesterday. Now there's a whole lot of it. I can't believe that it hasn't stopped in over 24 hours!!! I know, I know, I live in Canada, but come on!

A lot of firsts.

This week has been full of firsts. Austin had his first shots, accompanied by his first tear. He sat up on the first time on his own. And today he got his first cold. It's the gross crusty nose kind of cold. And with the cold came the first time he expelled a booger from his nose. When telling Dave this he responds with : Awww I missed his first booger???

Ah yes, a week of firsts.

2 Month dr's appt.

Today was Austin 2 month appt at the dr's. He now weighs 13lbs 14oz. According to the dr's measurments he has shrunk in length. (which I know isn't true) How the dr measures the length is to lay the baby down, mark where the head is then stretch out the foot and mark it then measure the paper underneath. That way there you don't have to try and stretch the baby out and keep him still. His head is 41 cm now. I asked the dr to check out his super dry head and he said to put either vaseline, baby oil, moisturizer or lubriderm on it and see if that will help it.

Then we went for his shots. It didn't help he was starting to fuss because he was getting hungry. I was in such a rush this morning I forgot to grab his bottle to take with us. It was already made, just not packed. So he got his 2 needles, one in each thigh. And he cried. He cried so hard that he produced his first tear. It was kind of sad that he had cried so hard to get the tear. A lot of people (including our dr) say that the shots are harder on the parents than the baby. I have to say I did pretty good. Austin however, isn't doing so great. He's pretty grumpy. They warned me that he could get a low grade fever from the shots and to give him tylenol. He's still pretty grumpy with the tylenol so this could be a fun night. Hopefully he's so exhausted from the day that he just sleeps and doesn't fuss all night.

Other than that we are good. I've got to run though, Austin is fussing. I think it's time for nap bottle then bed.

Dr's appt

Well, we're just getting ready to leave for Austin's 2 month appt. This is the one where he gets his shots!!! EEk! I can't wait to see just how much he weighs. He's definately a lot bigger!

2 Months old Today

Here are some pictures of Austin's 2 Month old pictures and yes, he is sitting up all on his own in the first picture. We sat him in the chair, let go and he was leaning forward sitting up for a good 5 minutes on his own. Then he fell over. This is a milestone though because this is the first time he's done it! Go Austin!!

Scrapbook Pictures

Here are some pictures of Austin's scrapbook. I can't wait to get it finished, I have over half of the book done and I am only on day 2 of his life. It is going to be a big book I think..lol.

Leaky Diapers

It took almost 2 months..... Last night we had a diaper leak. I thought it was just a random occurance, thought nothing of it. However I woke up this morning to another leak. This time it was worse. I thought maybe the diaper genie needed to be changed because of the smell. Nope, it was the baby. Almost 2 months and we finally have a need to change the crib sheets. (Well, to be fair, he didn't sleep in the crib for the first month anyways...) We now have yellow spotted sheets, not that anyone cares.

My 2 month old (tomorrow) is a big boy. He just went through a growth spurt. Now all of his 3 month clothes are tight on him, when I put on the sleepers his feet pull the sleeper tight because he's grown longer. He is now in 6 month clothes. Holy. Who would have thought!! When you look at him though he doesn't look like a fat baby, just a big baby. We've already had to thin out his drawers. It's good though because after Christmas I had a hard time getting all of the clothes in the drawer.

He's also become a sucker. Not just from his soother. He will suck whatever he can find. I was holding him and he started sucking on my arm today. He will also suck blankets, sweaters, toys and his knuckles. He doesn't suck his thumb, it's his knuckles. It's really cute.

Those of you on my facebook, I've also uploaded a video taken today of him laying on the change table making faces and wiggling around.


Ok, enough about the baby... What is new with me........... ummm.......... wow. I've become one of those people who doesn't have a life outside of their baby. I'm sure I could think of something... yeah maybe not. That kind of sucks.

Well I guess I'm off, there's a sink full of dirty bottles calling my name.

My First blog!

Well, it's about time I guess. I have been trying to think of what to name my blog for a few weeks now. Where did the name come from you ask?? My mom's christmas present that came out of mine and my brother's annual-midnight-walmart-christmas-shopping trip. We had already walked through the store a few times and he still had no idea what to get her. Then we wandered into the garden centre and found it. A bear leaning on a sign that said wipe your paws. He had one paw lifted with a lawn gnome squished on the paw. We laughed at it and decided we had to get it. It was the only one on the shelf so it was destiny. I still giggle every time I see it in my mom's living room. It's just so freakin cute!! I'm trying to find a picture online to no avail so I will have to wait and post a picture when I go to my mom's next. (and when I empty my memory card on my camera.)



Speaking of the camera, I was trying to get some very cute videos of Austin in the tub kicking and 'talking' when I got the message - No more memory. I don't think I've deleted anything off the camera since July, I guess it's time. I'm deleting pictures now. I've deleted about a dozen pictures of brooks falls, some drunken ladies dancing on a table, fake tattos and some flowers. My grandma's suprise 70th birthday party, some very adorable babies (not mine), a sewing project, my brother's drunken broken leg pictures, my swollen pregnancy feet that felt huge at the time but really don't look swollen in the picture and a bunch of horribly fuzzy pictures that I have no idea what they are supposed to be. Most of the pictures are on my computer anyways and will be backed up to a disk drive this week because my computer is being redone. I can't wait to get a DVD burner so I don't have to leave all my pictures on the computer taking up space.



I think that may be all for tonight. I am going downstairs to continue scrapbooking. I have almost an entire album finished I haven't even gotten all of Austins first 2 days of life in the book. I may end up with 6 albums of his first year alone. I will have to post some pics of the adorable pages I created later... have a good night.