priceless

Hendrik makes Alana giggle like crazy in the first video by saying "no tanks" when I ask him if he wants more soup, and in the second he's in bed, singing himself his little birdie song. These kids make us smile! Love love love love love.......

mixed bag blogpost

LOVE this! I love love my girl :)

This morning, the perfect Saturday morning happened: Alana slept through the night (for the first time in MONTHS!!!) and awoke happy, we ate pancakes and then Hendrik sat on my lap and we read The Bunny Who Found Easter, twice. The rest of the day was pretty ideal too - good phone chats with my bestie WHO GOT ENGAGED last week (SO exciting!), a restful afternoon, and dinner with friends. And may I add that last night was also top notch - I went for a run, signed up for my first half-marathon (this one) and had an unplanned impromptu skype with my sis-Sarah. Yes!

Okay, now... where to start. I think it'll have to be with Hendrik's first gymnastics class, which happened on Wednesday. The class took place at the sports centre where the national team trains, which means our schedule should fit with Steve's - we all headed to the gym together and then parted ways at the gym doors. The class was in french, and this may or may not have added an extra element into an already shy-to-start mix - Hendrik hasn't been too immersed en francais here (yet), but it could have been nothing more than his usual reticence. Anyways, I translated a bit and this is how it went: circle time (touch your toes, do some jumps, crawl like a cat etc), circuit time (follow the kidlet in front of you - crawl through the tunnel, jump into hoops, slide along a bench etc), and free time (on the big trampoline, beams and a bar, of the parallel bars). Fourty minutes later we were putting our shoes back on and heading out the doors, and I was wondering if we couldn't come twice a week. Hendrik had a great time, and it was a close, easy, fun activity - and do-able for all three of us (Alana spent the class in the carrier). I came home gunning to find another class for him, and just today nabbed the last spot in Sunday morning's Frosty Blades class at the Sandy Hill Arena... yay! It's something I definitely won't be able to do with a babe on the bod, but Steve should be able to go most weekends, and if and when he has practice I'll look for someone to help with the Miss.

Also of note is Hendrik's follow-up appointment with the eye people at the hospital - that happened Thursday. His eyes are healing as they should be and everything looked good; he was cleared to do all activity, so hopefully we'll make it to the pool in the next couple of days. Dr O'Connor asked how everything went post-op, and when we told him that Hendrik hit the ground running hours later, he wasn't too surprised. He said that adults come in a week later looking glum and down and dopey-mopey, but kids... kids recover so quickly. It has to be a combination of learned behaviour and age-related recuperation-regeneration, but how much of each/either contribute to the difference in recovery time is unknown. Anyways, we'll go back in three months, and at that time the doc should be able to tell just how effective the surgery was, and whether or not Hendrik will need another procedure done. Until then... fingers crossed!

Okay, and now... the memo board - I LOVE it! I haven't stuck much up there behind the ribbons, but that doesn't matter; it looks good just the way it is. By way of complete fluke, there are some colours in the fabric that match the paint that lives on the walls... so, ooh la la it all works just so well together. As soon as I finished the project up, I was already thinking about making another one, which prompted Steve to ask me just how many of these memo boards I was planning on making. Since then, the fabric is back in the closet and other creative plans have taken over (catch up/do baby books, make a photo yearbook type thingy) - we'll see when I find the time for that. Anyways, I more or less followed this tutorial, but found that the whole taping the ribbons down with scotch tape thing to not work at all. Instead, I used athletic tape (no shortage of that around here) to tape the ribbons down on the sides of the canvas, and that seemed to work well. And the rest was pretty easy-peasy... yay!

fabric from Ikea ($4.99/metre!), canvas on sale at Michael's, batting, buttons, ribbon, thread from Fabricville

And lastly, one of my most favourite things is Hendrik acting out his favourite book, and one of his current top picks is Beady Bear. I bought it only because I like a few of the author's other books (Corduroy, Earl the Squirrel, A Rainbow of my Own), and knew nothing about it before it arrived on my doorstep (Amazon!). I can't say that it's one of my top picks, but Hendrik loves it; it's about a toy bear that ventures out on his own to find a cave after being left at home alone to read that bears are supposed to live in caves. The toy bear finds a cave, and then makes his way back home several times to pick up things that he needs: a pillow, a flashlight, something to read (the evening papers), and is finally found by his person (a boy named Thayer). Hendrik and I spent some time in our own cave, reading our own evening papers, under a blankie. It was lovely.

reading the evening papers

vids :)

new look new look!

New look new look! Do you like it? I hope so. I was feeling like it was time for something different. There's more to come some time soon (or soon-ish), so ummm stay tuned.

This graphic has been making its rounds on facebook, and if you ask me, truer words were never spoken. The number of mental tabs that pop open in the morning as soon as I wake up is way too many, as are the number of tabs open in my browser at this very moment - see for yourself:

1.  Top Pot Hand-Forged Donuts - it's a cookbook, and I bought it. I also bought this donut cookbook, because don't I just need it? I love donuts.
2. Alphabet Glue -  an e-magazine full of activities and inspiration, for families who love books. One of these days I might get around to buying a subscription.... because as much as I love donuts, I love books. Wait...
3. DIY Fabric Memo board - that post is coming.
4. Lindenlea Community Association - I'm hoping we can join a playgroup that meets Tuesday and Thursday mornings. It'd be good for me and for Hendrik and Alana, since most of the drop-in groups lack continuity with participants, in my opinion. I'd love to meet some other moms, and for Hendrik to meet some other kiddies... (read: I want friends! in Ottawa)
5. the life cycle of a bean plant
6. clone of a cinnabon recipe
7. Skip the Framer: 10 Creative Ways to Hang Art
8. The Experimental Farm... I might wait for Spring to arrive before planning a trip here.
9. Mr Recycle Head Man / Grass-head craft - with wheat grass.
10. How to grow wheat grass without dirt. To do before I think about Mr Recycle Head Man
11. Story Machine craft. Love it!
12. The Crafty Crow - you know, for when I find some spare time to plan more crafts for more spare time.
13. Desktop organizer - I want/need to find or make something like this. The desk area WILL get cleaned up and become a space where productivity can stop by.
14. The Scuttlefish
15. Half-marathon calendar. Shanti might just get me to sign up for this....
16. Young House Love (I love the graphics on this post)
17. Young House Love (Inspired to make an annual photobook!)

Like, when am I thinking that I'm going to get to it all? Bah, whatever.

And more (most) importantly... I bought running shoes! I left the house at 8:10 (pm) and was back by 9:00 with a new pair of oh so comfortable Asics in hand. I love them and I can't wait to go for a run - eee!. If you must know, I ate two cookies, watched a handful of joggers zip by outside, looked up the hours of the closest Running Room, and left.

One year ago this week:
(I miss Italy!)

week, weekend, projects

What has happened to this week? What did we do? Hm. Steve's parents arrived Wednesday, and we've pretty much stayed close to home (I think), with a few outings on the balmy days to the park, the mall and mmmmm... is that it? There were flurries this afternoon (rrrrreally) and it was super blustery, so besides a quick trip to Fabricville to pick up buttons and needles and thread, we stayed put. Steve and Poppa Brinks are at this very moment sitting inches away from the ice at Scotiabank Place; Hendrik saw Grandpa's white hair "peeking out!" - a very entertaining observation indeed. Alana's teeth are coming in like popcorn, and if the gaps don't fill themselves in, she'll end up looking like a hockey player - three bottoms plus 10:00 and 2:00 teeth. This is without a doubt the only explanation for a double wake-up last night, plus a 7:00 start to the day. If I'd been in bed at a decent hour, it wouldn't have been that bad (so I tell myself), but since we have babysitters and Dan and Milka in town, we went OUT, to The Shore Club for a few drinks. It was amazing to be out sans enfants and feel like a normal this-is-my-life 30-something-year-old, but it was not amazing to be up at 2:00 and then again at 4:30. However... if it made Alans feel any better (which it did), then it was worthwhile. Right?

While the kids were sleeping this afternoon, the grown-ups did jobs: Bob put up my complete French memo board, and Steve pasted a grandfather clock decal underneath a black Ikea Bondis. Check it out:

Not that this applied to any of our recent Ikea purchases (we also picked up a few of these for bathroom storage and laundry solutions), but we were completely unaware of the Ikea Family Card and her discounts - are we the only ones in the dark about this? The card is free, and there's a good selection of monthly deals that save you more than just a few bucks; other perks include free coffee or tea and monthly draws for gift cards (yes please!). Here's a look at some of this month's deals at the Ottawa store (find your store's bargains here):

Needless to say, I am planning my return.

From the past few days....

doing "double doves" (aka face plants into cushy covers) in new pjs (thank you ellie and jenny, he LOVES THEM!)

there were at least 8 pictures like this one to get the nice double dove pic seen above above

playing with cars never gets old

hendrik, reunited with his bean plant

love this pic - it looks like alana just won :)

family!

post-op cuteness + etc.

I feel like I have quite a few different things to write about, so I'm going to go straight to bullets:

"have YOU seen my hat?"

1. Recovery-Recoop
Steve and I were both prepared for Hendrik to be down and out for a good three or four days post-op, and so, we are in no way prepared whatsoever for a full-on-hyper little kid. He is full on on fire these days, and if you didn't notice the redness or puffiness or darkness in and/or around his eyes, you'd think the only thing he was suffering from was a cupcake overdose. Seriously. And so it's been quite the challenge getting him to take it easy. He'll sit and be quiet through a good book session (we bought him some new Don Freemans - A Rainbow of My Own, Earl the Squirrel, Beady Bear) and then proceed to jump on the futon, jump into the couch, and run everywhere in between. All of that said, we are trying. And even though we could have used a good dose of mellow toddler, we are both much relieved that he is happy and feeling good. Fingers crossed that the healing isn't negatively affected by a bit of hyperactivity.

2. Boston Marathon
What is wrong with people? I could litter this part of my post with thoughts and reflections and a lot of unsuitable and inappropriate language, but since there are lots of other people already doing that, I'll move on to #3. 

3. Craft Project
Does every summer bring a new crafty craft project? Kind of! It's unplanned though - I mean, we don't plan to have a new DIY artsy thing each year, even though we do (check out past projects here and here). This one that I've sort of started is a french memo board, and it's going to live above the desk by the dining room table (the perfect place for a home office, no?). I thought about buying one, and then had no luck at walmart or winners or michaels, and the ones on etsy were a bit pricey, so I figured I'd make my own.

4. Meals
I thought I'd recap what I've been cooking, since I sometimes forget and I'm always interested in what other people make and eat for dinner. So, some of the (dinner) meals I've made since we've been back from Vancouver:
- Salmon (Orange-Glazed) with quinoa salad (quinoa, roasted pine nuts and cranberries), and zucchini (steamed then sauteed then parmesan-cheesed)
- Pancakes and Bacon Dinner (THE BEST pancake recipe, from the back of a milk bag, posted below)
- Tomato soup, biscuits, hearty sa-lad
- Pulled pork sandwiches with spinach + berry + candied almond salad
- Cashew chicken (from this cookbook)
- Halibut Florentine

and that's all I can think of for now.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
2 cups milk
3 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter or vegetable oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Combine milk and oatmeal, let sit for 10 mins, then add eggs and oil. Combine dry, add to wet, cook, enjoy.

5. Alana
Speaking of meals, check it:

food! teeth!

Meal staples are squash and yams, and there's always applesauce on the go in the fridge. Other bowl-full-of-mush ingredients include avocado, banana, chicken, beef, lentils, blueberries, pear and hmmm... that might be it. She also makes a big wonderful mess with those mesh food bag things, stuffed with canteloupe, mango, apple, pear and blueberries. Yum.

I love these two! Alana, coming up on 7 1/2 months

6. Sleeping
Sort of happens. Really, I shouldn't talk about it all for fear that it'll get worse, because I suppose it could. No, I'm sure it could. The last two nights have been a bit better in that Hendrik hasn't woken up more than once with his full belting cry-scream, and I've only had to feed Alana once each night (knock on wood for me, please). She wakes up three of four plus times, but has managed to keep her cries calm enough that we, lying in bed, convince ourselves that she'll settle herself down; either she does just that or we fall asleep, completely deaf to her cries. Anyways, I think I hope I think it's getting better. And daytime sleep is also a bit inconsistent, but I usually manage to get them afternoon-napping at the same time for at least a little bit, and when I do I feel uber victorious about it.

7. Presents!
Steve got me an early birthday present - a Soda Stream! I love it, and there's not too much more to say about it. I love it. And Hendrik loves his new collection of orange hot-wheels track, complete with jumps and ramps and whatevers, Steve's old collection is getting some serious action on the new track - fun fun. PLUS, there's a new quadruple decker car garage, complete with twisty ramps, a car wash and a gas station (more detail-oriented pics to come). The boy is happy!

And lastly, (and I can't believe I almost forgot to write about this) Alana had her first crawl today! It was totally singular - as in there was one self-propulsion that happened - but it was still crawl-esque.
Eek!

surgery plus

cutest EVER in his hospital jammies

 Hendrik had his surgery this morning and it went well! Hurray. Here's how it all went down, in a nutshell: Steve woke Hendrik up this morning at 6:30, and the two of them motored to CHEO. It was snowy and blustery, and thankfully I managed to snag a few more zzzzs - and caught up on some that were eaten by baby-Alana wake-ups (12:00, 4:00, 6:00 - ugh). Then the two of us took a cab across a snow-stormy city and met up with Steve; Hendrik was likely still in surgery when we arrived (9:45ish), but we didn't have to wait too too long until our little guy was rolled out and taken to recovery where we could all sit with him. Steve's report of the morning was all positive: Hendrik cooperated 100% and the only hiccup encountered was with the machine used to administer the gas - it wasn't working, and Hendrik ended up waiting on the bed for a good 25 minutes before the problem was resolved, during which time he was on his best behaviour. (Which made Steve a very proud papa!) The only other thing of note that I remember was that the nurse that helped Hendrik get ready for surgery was named Nella - which brought a teeny tear to my eye (we love you Antonella!). Everyone managed to keep it together, and the tears and uncomfortableness that I prepared myself for were absent; the only thing lost was Hendrik's popsicle - upchucked on our way out of the room. He was definitely out of it while we were in recovery, and was still a bit foggy and slow-going back here, but after a 2:30-4:00 nap he was ripping around as if he'd been colouring all morning, leaving both Steve and I shell-shocked in his wake, spouting "slow down!" "stop running!" and offering up easy activities like colouring and looking at pictures. And just now - 9:45 - he settled down to sleep. Fingers are big-time crossed that he gets some good rest tonight and feels good in the morning. And afternoon. And evening. You get it.

post-op popsicle

back at home after a power-up nap

 Okay, and the weather? IS RIDICULOUS! Steve had to take 10 to scrape the ice off of the windshield before we could leave the parking lot this afternoon... in APRIL! Ridiculous. Ridiculous! Also extra ridiculous because most of my friends have spent the last week in Maui and are posting the most amazing pictures on facebook and here we sit in snow. Ugh. I get it - it's winter's last ditch effort to hang on, and spring is really right around the corner clawing her way through this disgustingness. Right? Yes, right. Okay - to sleep I go. If tonight is anything like last night, I'll be up in a few hours and then a few hours later and then a few hours after that. Bonne nuit!

forgotten photo! and a hospital morning

I forgot to add the above picture of Saturday's optimistic walk to the park... I was freezing. Anyways, we had a series of pre-op appointments this morning and it all went well; Hendrik was such a good listener (to us, the nurses, the doctors) and there were no accidents (ie wet pants). (Yesterday he peed through every single pair of pants he owns.) Steve and I looked at a few blogs last night in preparation for the big day - Friday; here are a few if you're interested in what he (and we) will go through. Sigh... it'll all be okay. Now, since that whole sleeping thing that I said was looking up ISN'T looking up after all, I'm napping. Les blogs:

Surgery Redux
Strabismus Journal
Our Journey with Strabismus

back east

Coming off of a cloud nine Vancouver visit, at least I have this kind of stuff to entertain me:



Here in these eastern climes, things are a bit dreary, but with more separation from our awesome-incredible-best trip west (and the fact that we are getting further away from winter and closer to spring - right?) it's getting better. There - that's me being positive... never mind the melting snowbank garbage, grey-brown grass, subzero temperatures or playgrounds that are still fully submerged in snow and slush. Sigh... oh well. Here are some pics - of Easter and our last days in beauty:

hunting for eggs!

hendrik and ellie ... love!

love love love

looking not so sure about something....

waiting in the airport in ottawa - happy!

west coast woods walking

haircut!

we had an awesome morning with rod and colleen and kai and nyla - breakfast and fun in the back yard

down in point roberts with family from my side - it was awesome!

This'll be short and sweet - Hendrik has his pre-op appointment tomorrow morning (eek) and I'm running on empty (the kids are sleeping a little bit better, but I'm not), so it's bed early (and sleep early too - I hope) for me. More news soon!

island adventures post #2

I can't believe our BC trip is coming to an end already, even though I feel like we've been here for a while, and done a fair bit. Here, Comox pics...

almost 7 months

with Auntie Sarah

camouflage bebe

family!

hiding in the tree, owls they be

a delicious feast, put on by Sarah :)

us

auntie sarah took a nap on the grass, and so hendrik wanted to too... love!

west coast beauty

My next post will likely be from a chilly climes - winter still has its hold on Ottawa/Gatineau, I do believe. Ugh... I'll have to put away my Toms and get my parka out, Oh Canada. Easter pics to come, and more. Now, it's time to pack (again) and prepare myself for a cross-country flight; may it all be smooth sailing!