Home

I've had three days pretty much entirely away from my kids.
Friday was spent at an eye doctor appointment.
Saturday until this afternoon Trevor and I drove to Calgary for a wedding and spent the night at my sister and brother in-law's house.
The kids stayed with my parents.
While it was a strangely nice break it was even nicer to be home. As we were driving back there was a little bit of wistfulness at the taste of the freedom we'd had before kids.
Then I walked in my parents door and the smiles and joy that greeted me totally eliminated any of that. I cuddled and hugged both Sierra and Sawyer and knew that life was exactly as it should be and as I wanted it to be.

stuff

I have pretty much run out of things to blog about, it's been a fun challenging month of blogging but I'm glad it is nearly done!

I was at the ophthalmologist yesterday and fully expected a second needle-in-the-eye venture. Doc said no, not needed! I went home happy.

My dad had the day off so he drove me the 2+ hours and we had a great time hanging out and talking. My dad and I are rarely short of words when we're together. I love my dad and feel very fortunate and thankful for our relationship. It was nice to hang out with him for a change because it's usually my mom I chat with. That happens simply because it's a mother/daughter thing.

After my appointment we celebrated by thoroughly enjoying a large hamburger and fries with coke for supper at White Spot.

Salsa

We had oodles of scrumptious home-grown tomatoes this year that seemed to all ripen at once. So we decided to make salsa.
After chopping tomatoes, various, peppers and onions we cooked the whole mess up and canned it!

Yum!

Passing Time

I stayed home all day on Tuesday.
It was a cold, grey day and I had no errands to run so hanging out at home seemed like a good idea. I even wore comfy pants all day, did not put on make up and I don't think I brushed my hair. All of those things are highly unusual for me. I puttered around my house all morning and played with my kids. Then Sierra and Sawyer both even gave me the pleasure of some time alone while they napped in the afternoon. And by evening I was going stir crazy.

Wednesday I was out all morning until 1 P.M., Sierra did not nap and yet by the kid's bedtime I was not ready to sell them like I was on Tueday.

Hmmmm.

So today I went out for the sake of going out.
I brought Trevor coffee, found some stuff to buy at Walmart, had coffee with my mom, and made a quick trip to the mall to exchange something. While all of it was good and ate up a huge chunk of my day, what I really wanted was to be with a friend for a warm cup of coffee and a chat. Last year this was far less of a problem but this year two good friends have gone back to work full-time, and one moved away for the year.

Most weeks during the hubbub I call my days I'm wishing I could just be at home, but this week is different. My second eye injection is tomorrow so perhaps I'm subconsciously affected by that. The weather has also suddenly turned colder and with all the leaves gone and everything turning brown the landscape is rather drabs so that could be contributing to my mood too. Maybe it's just one of those days, everyone has those.

Anyway, Sierra refused to nap and I've managed to successfully push her to play alone for the past hour but that is soon to end. I need to motivate myself to tidy up and vacuum (I can't stand dirty floors!) and maybe clean the bathrooms. Supper would also be a good thing to figure out too! Maybe I'll procrastinate and pick up the phone....

Me

For fun, how about some random stuff about me?
Okay, here I go:

1. I've been polluting my mind and watching Young and the Restless on and off, here and there for many years. I'm actually at a point where I've been away for awhile and don't know what's going on. Three or four episodes should remedy that..
2. Peanut butter and sliced bananas on toast are my current breakfast obsession.
3. I'm a total coffee snob - no Folgers or Nabob in this household! (To my friends who serve this to us - it's totally okay, I wouldn't drink it if it wasn't okay!) Oh and I don't think Starbucks is the greatest coffee ever invented. I drink it and like it because my city has limited options in few locations.
4. My occupation and training as an optician makes me a high demand employee again. I'm a sought after person these days as my maternity leave is up in two months. I wish it were my husband and not me in this position. I hate making decisions like this. (more details on this another time)
5. I dream of own a small truck. Perhaps that's the redneck in me.
6. I also dream of owning a vacation home. It can be by a local lake or an exotic beach as long as I can get there often.
7. Popcorn is, hands down, the best snack of all time. I could eat it by the boatload.
8. I've only had remotely short hair twice in my life - when I was 9 and when I was 25 (or so). The second time Trevor was so sad that I didn't dare keep it up.
9. I dream of being able to afford matching bras and underwear - many, many sets!
10. I thought watermelon a really bland, uninteresting fruit to eat for the first 29 years of my life, then I got pregnant with Sierra and now my taste buds do a dance when I eat it!

On The Bottle

It seems that Sawyer has decided that he's had enough of breast feeding.
For a good month now I was only nursing him during his one nightly/early morning wake-up. Then one night last week he didn't even feign interest in me and wailed until I got him a bottle which he promptly drained before going right back to sleep. He did that again a few nights later and now it's been two nights in a row and I think he's decided to go completely on the bottle.

Formula was already his primary form of liquid. I stopped taking my milk enhancing drugs soon after he went on solids and then of course my production went down and so formula entered the picture. I would try nursing him here and there but then the teeth came. Teeth and breast feeding with Sawyer were not a good combination. At night he was too sleepy to practice his new chewing capabilities on my nipples so it wasn't problem.

Now he's decided that bottle is better. I have mixed feelings about the end of this phase. I definitely had a much more positive experience breast feeding Sawyer than with Sierra but I wouldn't say it was the greatest thing in the world for me or anything. Although I would say I enjoyed it for the most part, I did it because it was easy and free and good for Sawyer. Many times it was just a nuisance and I felt merely like a dairy cow.

I suppose it's more what it represents than the actual breast feeding being over. It means that my baby is growing up at lightening speed and I'm not ready for it to be passing so quickly. He's getting more delightful everyday as his personality is increasingly coming through so I don't really wish him to be a newborn again. But the fact he's all baby now and no longer an infant and the fact that I will likely never experience this again is causing me to swallow a little hard.

Carla's Buffet Challenge

Kids have to be the most frustrating beings on this Earth to feed.
My husband may grumble at some of what I make - but he eats it because he didn't have to prepare it.
My parents and in-laws are generally just appreciative of my providing them a meal and aren't that fussy anyway.
My cat gets no choice and doesn't seem to care, he eats what I give him and adds the occasional mouse to his diet. (he's caught 4 since we moved in to this house - ewww!)
Dogs will eat pretty much anything and think it's the most divine culinary creation to ever cross their taste buds. (well my dogs I had while growing up were like that)

My children write a whole different story.
Sierra would exist on pasta and bread if I let her. Oh and chocolate, or anything sweet for that matter. She's a true female! Oh wait, that is what she live on! I wrote this post a year and a half ago and not much has changed except her ability to verbally communicate her dislikes about what I offer her.

Sawyer, to my dismay and while still limited to baby mush, is already showing strong dietary preferences as well. When I offer peas or some other veggie mixtures he will obligingly eat a few spoonfuls before either spitting it at me or clamping his mouth shut or looking around at anything but me and the loaded spoon. It doesn't matter if it's homemade or store bought, he turns his nose up at it. Last week I tried a pasta and veggies combination and he gaped his mouth open like a baby bird in between spoonfuls and nearly polished off an entire jar! Most fruit gets the same response, his cereal is eaten well too. He is also very texture sensitive, the new pasta meals I've been giving him contain tiny bits of noodles and meat that are not pureed and if he feels them in his throat he gags, sometimes until he throws up a bit. He doesn't choke, the bits are far too soft and small, so it doesn't worry me. He just needs to swallow and all would be well.

Meal times take an hour most days.
I prep Sierra's food with all her particulars, I prep mine (usually healthier, with less carbs and more veggies) and while trying to eat my meal run back and forth to meet Sierra's demands. Then I feed Sawyer. It is sooo frustrating and not only does it take a considerable amount of time to make there is also a lot more clean up too.

It feels like a restaurant buffet in my house and I'm the chef!
Yet what else do I do?
My kids have to eat and I do my best to get at least some healthiness into them. (Sneakily I might add but whatever works sometimes) The food Trevor and I occasionally prefer (such as salad and steak) would get the scorn from many kids so for those meals I prep something separate for her. I often try to cook meals that Sierra might enjoy but reading the mind of a three year old?
Ha!

So I spend what feels like a ridiculous amount of time in the kitchen and pray my kids don't suffer malnourishment.