Would you trade it?

I hope that my son, 

As a grown man

still likes taking selfies with me. 

As he gets bigger, I want him to walk and run and play...

But never get too far away from me. 

Every day this 10 month old looks more and more like a little boy and not a baby. he's growing up and 

I.CANT.STOP.IT. 

When my emotions were running high right after I delivered Easy

I would sit in my rocking chair, holding him and watching him sleep

and I would cry.

I would run his entire life through my mind. 

There is so much that could go wrong. 

the world is such an awful place.

full of anger and hate and mental illness and sadness and tears and bad breakups and addiction and terminal illness and so many things that I just can't control. 

And in 18 (or 30) years…

I'm going to have to watch him go out on his own and face all those things. 

Just like my parents did.  

Sometimes, even now, I can't even bear the thought and I get overwhelmed by the idea that I knowingly brought an innocent thing into this angry world. 

But I try to turn it around. 

I try to remember that the world does have all of those awful things

But it also has 

friends

adventures

concerts

firsts

forevers

good times

L.O.V.E.

And most importantly…

We have EACH OTHER. 

and we have him. 

Sure. Life can be hard sometimes. 

harder than most people really think they can handle. 

but for all the bad out there… 

would you ever trade it for all the good?

xx- r

Things Busy Kids Do.

I have been a little

Under the weather. 

So has T

So has Easy. 

Its been pretty germy and sucky around our house lately to be honest. 

BUT

Things have still been happening.

This kid is BUSY.

so I put him to work ;)

you know, sweeping

Laundry

But of course we make time to 

just hang out 

Go find fun things to play with

EAT.

This kid has really been figuring out solids since he got his front teeth (were at 6 now!) - he loves veggie straws from Costco and toast with peanut butter. an he also wants a bite of whatever I'm eating… usually lucky charms ;)

and of course…

We always make lots of time to cuddle. 

I would also like to Officially state that Easy has taken his first steps!

At 9 (almost 10) months old he's cruising!

Right now he only likes to walk between furniture and mommy and daddy, but he's hilarious and always so proud when he does it. 

 Here is a little video I caught yesterday.

He also loves to dance. 

Video to follow.

I recognize that this isn't a very exciting post. buuuut, it seemed like it was about time to blog SOMETHING now that my kid is sleeping like a human again and not some sort of nocturnal animal.  

xx - r 

Stay at home mom.

I think initially I was a little bit intimidated by the term "stay at home mom"

I feel like there is a stigma attached to it. like I am required to automatically attend every community meeting, mommy group, and know all the best playgrounds in my community. 

It was so intimidating, that I spend a lot of the first few months of Easy's life alone. In my house. Counting down the days until I go back to work.

"Stay at home mom" was not for me.

It was never that I wasn't invited out, of course I was always extended gracious invites by other moms to activities… But I couldn't get my mind away from the stigma… Do I want to be "that" stay at home mom? It didn't hurt that I am a little awkward, and not really great at making new friends.

 I was stuck in the concept that had worked for me for many years in the office… just work hard by yourself and you will succeed. you have to work. And work has to be hard and challenging to be rewarding.

As the weather turned, I started feeling a need to get out… do more things. Working by myself was making me crazy… and wasn't socializing my son.

but what kind of things could I do?

I got a random email from a mom that lives near me with a son just over 1. She invited me to the pool with her son.

We had a blast. 

Him and Easy get along famously!

We now frequent the pool and go at least once or twice a week. 

I have a great friendship.

Im opening up. 

Costco dates and going to the local theme park just to go on the free baby rides. 

Being a mom that is with your child 24-7 around the clock every day ever is work. Hard work. 

But it isn't the same kind of hard as working at 12 hour day at the office. 

for me, it is so much more rewarding. 

I am embracing my gift of being a stay at home mom. 

It really is a gift

 I'm now struggling with the idea of going back to work. 

My son enjoys swimming and stroller rides and even just hanging in the carrier off of my stomach while I read the labels on cans at the grocery store. 

The last 9 months has been the best of my life. 

Being a stay at home mom is a blessing.

And I feel selfish for ever taking advantage of it. I know there are lots of moms who cannot afford to even take the one year maternity leave that we receive in Canada.  

SO…

I guess what I'm saying is

If you get that gift

Get out. 

Do things with your children that they may not remember when they get older… 

but you always will. 

xx - r

The "Better Late Than Never" Christmas Recap.

well, I put my blogging pants away for the whole month of December. I even left my camera at home for the 3 weeks we were gone! (I instantly regretted it) but I really enjoyed spending time with my little family over Christmas. so enjoy some iPhone photos and a few by my amazingly talented sister in law, as I recap Christmas!

T finished his exams and we headed to Red Deer to see grandma Campbell and the rest of the Campbell clan. everyone was there and it was great!

Easy got very spoiled by his G and G Campbell! and all his aunts and uncles, he's a popular kid!

^^^I thought this was appropriate - Click HERE to check out more by this Calgary Photographer.vvv

While We were there - My other super talented sister in law did my make up and we went out and did a little photo shoot. 

Now, I am not easy to make look beautiful (stroke my ego here) but I think my makeup is amazing! Click HERE to check out this make up artist who also does lash extensions in Calgary! 

It was a fun-filled weekend!

Then we continued south to Calgary to spend Christmas with my parents and some of my family that was around to celebrate. Its hard when families are big and start getting older… Its hard to get everyone together you know? But we all know we love each other, and we see each other whenever possible. 

Easy was spoiled AGAIN by G and G Craig (Starting to worry at this point about how we will get all this stuff home!)

After the best Christmas ever we headed to sunny AZ!!

At the airport with pop

He was a champ on the plane. 

We may have tried giving him a little something to help him sleep… but found out that it actually had the opposite effect on him. can you say WIRED??

Once we got there and got all settled in, we spent all our time in the sun/pool/eating! 

Going to a hockey game and the Fiesta Bowl!

He spent most of our time in AZ trying to cut his front teeth… and then we found out the hard way that he has some allergies to some food we gave him there...so he was little miserable at night. 

but on the way home he was so beat, he slept the whole way!

Now we are home and settling in. 

T is back in school and its business as usual. 

I'll get a bit better at this blogging business, I promise. 

January always feels like a squeaky clean fresh start…

Don't you think?

xx - r

Suit Up! Its A little Easy, Update.

Hello everyone!

I am glad we got Easy into this little one piece outfit before he totally grew out of it... 

which was about 5 minutes after he put it on. 

kid is growing like a skinny weed!

he is continually saying "dada dada" and we are graciously accepting that as his first word, which totally melts daddy's heart.  He is perfect!

He is also giving big, sloppy open-mouthed kisses, both on cue, and randomly. 

Im still hoping his little eyebrows come in sometime... ;) (a curse that may have come from me...)

He has recently learned that he is a VERY quick crawler, and that he no longer needs to practice standing or walking... there are places to be!

(that little booty tho... he got THAT from mamma too!)

anyways... thats our little update for everyone. 

Soon, we head for Christmas in Calgary with the Craig's, then a little trip to Arizona! 

Easy's first plane ride! he cant wait! (I definitely can)

 xx - r

Santa, The Lip Tie Finale and Standing Ovations!

Someone went to visit Santa last week!

This was taken approximately 3 seconds before a total meltdown... I died laughing. 

Great looking Santa though, right?

SO, We went to the dentist a couple days ago and it was confirmed that Easy does have a lip tie, one of the thicker ones he's seen. He told me a bit of information about it (already off to a better start than my ped) and then advised me that we should wait until his baby teeth are all in (3-5 years old) to do anything UNLESS there is a speech impediment, then you have it clipped by way of laser surgery immediately. most likely, Easy will need to have his lip tie taken care of before school starts for him. Did it probably affect his breastfeeding failure? YES. absolutely. 

 He also let me know that getting your fang teeth before your front teeth is NOT normal. At all. but it does happen with some kids, and a lot of times it means that there is 3 sets of teeth there! WHAT? 

Okay. Wait. 

im not going to even let that one get into my brain yet. I don't need anything else to stress about. I am staying off of Dr Google regarding this one all together until I feel like there is something to worry about (i.e.... 2 teeth in the same place... ugh)

Moving on!

This little man loves walking along furniture... 

Everywhere is somewhere to climb and walk along. 

But lately, he has been doing THIS!

 Standing!

Wozers! This kid isnt even 8 months old! What a butthead. 

Usually after about 15 seconds he falls on his butt and does this. 

Crawls over and hugs me. 

He has a bit of a "Kim Kardashian, unflattering cry"

But usually, within a minute or two, Hes happy again. 

Bless his heart. 

Im in Love! 

Waiting on those infamous firsts steps! 

xx - r