Monday, December 31, 2012

Holidays

 Happy holidays to all my friends and family out there who take the time to read my blog. I know that keeping a blog keeps my loved ones who live far away in the loop.

This Christmas was a special one since it was Grayson's first holiday season. He, and sister Mira, were spoiled rotten by grandparents and friends. We tried to keep things low key this year, but somehow, the kids always get more than we anticipate.

Mira's big presents were a set of golf clubs (she was surprisingly THRILLED by these), a trip to Great
 Wolf Lodge, tickets to see Shrek the Musical (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Seymour!) and a Furby (any parents of a younger kid will know what I mean and will also understand my inner desire to throw it off the nearest bridge onto a set of train tracks---wow they are annoying and LOUD).

Grayson's big present was an exersaucer. He lived in it all Christmas morning. Grandma and Grandpa Seymour came up on Christmas morning to spend time with the kiddos and watched them open presents before Mira set off to spend time with her Dad.

We took a trip to Great Wolf Lodge where Mira enjoyed exhausting herself with Geoff on the water slides. Grayson spent some time in the wading pool with both Mama and Geoff, but also spent some time napping in front of the fireplace in the lobby. Mama liked this part the best :)
Great Wolf Lodge over the holidays is both good and bad. It is super busy, but not too busy that you can't enjoy yourself. On Friday nights they have a dance party which was very similar to a rave. Glow sticks were available (at a cost of course) and kids were sweating and pink in the face after going ballistic to the music they played (which was straight from 103.5 I think). Even Grayson got in on the dance action.

Mira enjoyed some time sledding and snow playing yesterday with the kids on the street and now we are ready for 2013 to roll in. Grayson has been on puffers for bronchiolitis, but luckily has maintained his little happy spirit.

 Our little family has a lot to be grateful for. We are happy, healthy and we have a lot of love to give one another. We can laugh at ourselves and my children love one another immensely. Life is good.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Engaged!

On Wednesday, Geoff was upstairs changing Grayson. He came downstairs and handed me our son. I immediately wondered what outfit he had put our son into as I didn't recognize the shirt.

I looked closely at Grayson's shirt and read the words "Will U Marry Daddy".

It took a minute for the words to sink in and make sense.

Then, there was Geoff, standing beside me, a ring box in his hand. He pulled out a gorgeous diamond ring. Mira stood next to us, a little confused.

Of course I said a tremendous YES. I hugged and kissed him, as well as both of the kids. Geoff then said "everything is complete now".

I agree. Our little family has another milestone to share together. A wedding in paradise and a lifetime of happiness together. xo

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Yogi In Me

Back in the summer, I had mentioned my desire to take up a new hobby, preferably one that was physically beneficial. With 2 kids and bus schedule to adhere to, it has been difficult to find something that is a) cheap (or free)-being on maternity leave is costly, b) kid-minding friendly and c) physically beneficial.

One option has been sitting right in front of me all along and it went unnoticed. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't consider it earlier, other than there is always a fear or hesitation of the unknown. I had a fear of trying something new with a group of people who have been doing it for a long time. I'm not sure of the protocol, what type of people partake and how I would feel physically. Would I be able to keep up?

I'm talking about yoga. My gym provides group classes called Yogafit and Bodyflow.I have always wanted to try yoga but I didn't want to spend the outrageous money it would cost to belong to a yoga gym. Cost effectiveness is at the top of my "must-haves". Well, included in the price of my gym, I can do yoga!! They have AT LEAST one or two options per day for either of the classes. Yogafit is yoga. Pretty traditional and standard. It seems to be quite a bit more relaxed than the Bodyflow, which is a combination of Thai Chi, pilates and yoga. Both have their benefits and I have enjoyed both classes.

These classes are included with my gym membership and the best part is that I already have the "child minding" condition met. My gym provides great childcare that works really well with all of the classes. Grayson loves going to the daycare and I'm happy to have great girls working in there to play with him while I do something for myself. This is important to me knowing the rest of the day is all about Grayson, Mira and Geoff. 

Even more than enjoying the class atmosphere is the way I FEEL. Already, I feel the benefits. After having two babies, my joints (especially the pelvis/back) are all out of whack. I have successfully lost the baby weight and toned most parts of my body, but I need to be functionally balanced and strong.

Yoga is my perfect fit. My running plus yoga/pilates/thai chi will produce a very healthy and strong body that can keep up with anything I throw at it (including chasing after two little kids). Yay for yoga!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Mi-a-kon-da Mira

The start of a new era is in the works.

Mira is 6 and will be 7 years old shortly after the summer. As you know, my parents own and direct an all girls residential camp up in Parry Sound. My stepmother has been going to this camp and involved in some capacity in the Camp Mi-a-kon-da experience since she was a little girl and eventually came to own it and take over camp operations from the previous owners.

I started going when I was 11 or 12 years of age and continued until university life took over.

When I found out that I was pregnant with a girl, I was immediately thrilled at the thought of my daughter going to camp like I did. I spent years there, enjoy the tranquility of being in the middle of a lake on our own private island. I learned to appreciate nature. I learned to appreciate hot showers and electricity (we bathed in the lake and had no electricity). I loved the new friends that I made and the friendships I maintained every summer over the next several years. Even now, I am still friends will some of the girls from camp. One even lives in Georgetown and our kids are in the same class together!

This isn't just a camp, it's like a family of girls all living together on this little birch island. The girls get to just be girls without the pressure of trying to impress boys. No makeup, no hair salons, no malls. Just enjoying everything natural with some really good, down to earth girls.

I cannot wait for this summer as Mira spends her first session at camp. I have waited years for this and come August, as I send little Mira away on the camp bus, I will be so proud of her and the journey she will take with other girls her age who are just setting out on the path to camp. Ah the memories she will have and the things she will learn.







Saturday, November 24, 2012

Happy Weekend


Just a few photos from this weekend. Grayson has tried some peas and loved them. We went to Geoff's jiu jitsu tournament in Scarborough. Geoff did a great job as always and fought his heart out. It's always awesome to see him compete. I love seeing all the hard work he puts into his training be put to the test in competition.

We had dinner out at Capina's in Georgetown, which is our favourite restaurant here in our little town. Amazing Italian food and the owner, Claudio, always plays the perfect host. Tonight he let us try some caribou sausages. So delicious!

The snow has begun to fall outside and it means that soon we'll have to get ourselves into the festive season. Well, Geoff should get into the festive season. I'm almost completely done my Christmas shopping so I can avoid lines and angry people as we near December 25th. :)

Happy weekend everyone!

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Deerhurst Weekend

 This weekend we took the kids out to Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville. My aunt and uncle own a condo out there and they had offered for us to use it one weekend.

I had never been to Deerhurst (but stayed nearby) and loved the idea of having a little fall getaway somewhere beautiful.

Friday afternoon we took Mira and Grayson three hours north to Huntsville. Mira fell in love with our "hotel suite" as she continuously called it, making it sound like we were staying in a palatial manor. The condo was perfect for our little family of four. We were able to eat our breakfasts and lunches in our condo and save some money to treat ourselves to a super nice dinner at the restaurant in the resort. Ah the food....most amazing, delicious food I have had in a long time. Escargot, venison, creme brulee (a favourite of Geoff's), lamb meatballs...oh I could go on and on about the food. 
The first night, we explored the vast resort and saw all that it had to offer. Wall climbing, stores, pool and an arcade/games room were the highlights for Mira. The first thing we did Saturday morning was go for a swim in the resort's indoor pool. She called the "kiddy" pool the "kitten pool" for some reason (I think that she thought I called it a "kitty" pool). We took Grayson for his first swim and he seemed to enjoy it. 
I took full advantage of the hot tub they had :)
We never did make it to the spa, which had been on our list of things to do. We each wanted to get a massage and take advantage of some pampering. However, as any parent will tell you, sometimes you just can't pull yourself away from the fun you are having with the kids.
After some swimming and hot tubbing, we went into Huntsville to do some shopping. Geoff and I are looking for a nice rustic dining room table and we've been having a hard time finding one. We figured that the one place we were likely to find it would be Muskoka. We were right! We found some gems!

We enjoyed a beer (and hot chocolate) in an adorable pub right on the water. It was the most cozy pub I have seen. We warmed up and took in the stunning sights of the still water, sunshine and the Christmas decorations while Grayson took a nap on the pub seat next to me.

After our shopping trip, we went for our second dinner at Eclipse and made plans to take Mira horseback riding the next morning-as a surprise. A surprise it was!! We took her to the Deerhurst Stables where, for $25, she got a full riding lesson! She got to brush and tack up the pony and then got a full lesson in the sand ring. She felt like such a young lady and it was well worth the trip out to the farm.

What a great weekend we had together this weekend. Family weekends mean so much to me. Although Grayson is still little, I love doing things that create memories for my children. I want them to experience things more than I want them to have fancy things. Experiences and good memories are way more valuable.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Closing to an Opening

Our house now officially belongs to someone else. Our house closed today and although we'll still get 3 months to enjoy it (we've arranged to rent it from the new owner until our new place closes), there is a part of me that is sad to see my little house move on to someone new.

Our builder is making great strides with our new place. We are excited to see the progress being made. Every week we take a trip to the site to see how much they have done and we get another jolt of adrenaline and excitement :) I can't wait to host our first party !! 

It'll be the start of a new era. Our Weavers Mill era. The era that begins with a house that Geoff and I chose together. It's not him moving into my place or vice versa, it's a home that we have chosen together, as partners. That's a pretty cool feeling. We can make it "ours". That will be the fun part- especially since its a new build and nobody else has ever lived in it before.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Date Night + 1

 This week Geoff had his week of vacation. We spent the majority of the week getting stuff done around the house. We did all of the usual things that a domesticated family does. Costco. Groceries. Cleaning. *YAWN* (except Costco-that place excites me!)

So, we opted to take a night and wander over to the Niagara region for the night. We spent the most beautiful October afternoon I think we've ever had (it was 20 degrees and sunny) in Niagara-on-the-Lake. It was Grayson's first trip to the Niagara region (except when he was fetus).

 We sauntered through the stores that line the main drag of NOTL, sipping Starbucks and enjoying homemade date squares and macademia nut cookies.

We then made our way along the stunning Niagara parkway, following the meandering waterway, towards Niagara Falls. The leaves were all golden, red and orange. Stunning colours. The sun was radiating through the trees and made them all that more colourful.

Once in Niagara Falls, we took to the sidewalks and took in the cheesy, tacky sights that Niagara Falls has to offer. The stores that sell the el-cheapo tourist t-shirts and snow globes.

We stayed in the Hilton hotel, which is a place we have stayed before and LOVED. It's directly across from the U.S side of the falls and we had a room on the 23rd floor so we had amazing views.

Grayson sat, wide-eyed, in his stroller. He was in awe of the giant statues of crazy creatures and the noises coming from the fun houses and haunted mansions.

After our walk, we headed to the Brasa Brazilian Steakhouse, which was in our hotel. It's an all-you-can-eat meat fest. It's delicious. Scrumptious. Mouth-watering. Whatever word you choose to describe it. We ate until we were stuffed. We had pork, lamb, grilled pineapple with brown sugar and cinnamon, salmon, chicken, chicken wrapped in bacon, ribs, etc etc. Oh it was amazing. 
 Feeling guilty about our gluttonous meal, we headed across the walkway to the stores in the same building as the casino. Of course getting into the casino with a 4 month old would a) be just plain wrong and b) impossible with security, but we enjoyed the shops and candy stores.

We slept wonderfully that night, full and filled up with meats and sweets. We fell asleep to the changing colours of the falls.

Friday morning we woke bright and early to make our way to the Henley rowing club to watch my littlest brother row in the provincial finals. My father, stepmother, Tucker (my parents dog), Geoff, Grayson and I watched in the increasingly cold weather. Our nice warm temperatures slowly slipped away and the true feel of fall arrived. That was our cue. After Drew's race, we packed up and headed home. Layered in our warm fall clothing and ready for our weekend :)


Thursday, October 18, 2012

17 weeks (4 months)

Our little guy is just about 4 months old. For those of you who count in weeks, he's 17 weeks. Just changes I have seen in my little love bug. He is now rolling around, cooing and smiling at everyone and everything. He is in love with his big sister. His face lights up when he sees her.

He remains my chilled little guy who doesn't get too worked up about anything. His favourite hobby is grabbing his toes and trying to shove them in his mouth. He is on the verge of a full tilt belly laugh.

Our children are my sunshine. They are my everything. They bring me so much joy. We love watching every little change in our kids as they grow older. They are figuring out this world around them and I love it. Love every second of it.

I love you Grayson and Mira. You are my life. I love sharing my life with you and including you in the things that I love and I look forward to supporting you as you find the things that you love.


Monday, October 8, 2012

Thanksgiving Thanks

Thanksgiving weekend is here again. I love this weekend every year. It offers the best combination ever. Fantastic food, wonderful fall weather and scenery and my daughter's birthday.

 My precious first born Mira. My sensitive beautiful little soul. She thrives on the beauty in the little things that I tend to take for granted every day. She sees the beauty in everything.

She is a caring girl who offers me hugs when she somehow senses that I need it most. She is intuitive and to me, she seems to have this way about her that tells me she is wise beyond her years. For those who believe in reincarnation, she is an old soul.
Everyday she makes me proud. Every single morning she lights up my day with her smile and crazy morning hair.

Her humour is outstanding. Her perspective on things is entertaining and often times makes me stop and say "hmmm.Never thought of it that way". Pretty awesome from a 6 year old.

This year we celebrated by taking 13 kids and their parents to Lil Monkeys indoor play gym. The kids could run off all the of pent up energy while the adults sipped on free coffee and lounged in big comfy leather chairs and couches. It was fantastic.

After the party, we turned around to race home and prepare our turkey dinner. We shared the night with our much loved friends and family. Geoff's Thanksgiving turkey turned out just as great as last year's turkey. We enjoyed ham, squash, veggies....and of course pie :) What a great night. Love love love Thanksgiving.
It was also the last Thanksgiving in our little house.

Good progress is being made in our new place. Windows and doors are installed and shingles are being applied. Love seeing the creation of our new family home.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I know that some of our family and friends are going through some really tough times right now. I am thinking of them and wishing them a happy thanksgiving.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

The Highs and Lows

The month of September was filled with highs and lows for us and our families.

Grayson and his "sophie"
This month found 2 of our parents in the hospital. Both will thankfully be okay, but scary regardless. Geoff's mom underwent surgery and my father fell from a 20 foot ladder and fractured several of his vertebrae. Luckily, everyone is going to be okay and they are both on the mend. Both sound like they are going stir crazy, but hopefully they will be up and about sooner than later.

Geoff fought in his jiu jitsu tournament and lost, but he lost to the guy who won his entire age bracket. So, as much as that's a low that he lost, he did well overall. There is a lot to learn from when competing and it makes you take a new fresh look at your training to figure out where you need to improve. It's all the cycle of learning and training to do better the next time around. 

Despite the awful news about our parents, etc, we have had some real highs to celebrate. My grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary! They invited the whole family out for a nice dinner and we walked down memory lane with pictures from their entire lives both together and in marriage. It was wonderful seeing all of my aunts and uncles, cousins, etc.

As well, we sold our house very quickly. We had our house up on the market for 2 days. We had one showing and that one showing produced a terrific offer. No more having to show the house and keep it perfectly clean for those last minute realtor phone calls. It's fantastic.


Date night with sushi 
Amongst other things this weekend, we enjoyed some date nights and family times. It was a busy busy month of September and October is shaping up to be just as busy! 

We have Thanksgiving weekend where we are hosting Thanksgiving dinner. We have Mira's 6th birthday party, a visit from my friend Vicky and her son Lincoln (from PA), another jiu jitsu tournament for Geoff, and a wedding.

So much to do and so much to look forward to. :) I'll take the lows with the highs. It's a part of life and it keeps us on our toes. We never learn anything from things being easy and perfect all the time do we?

Monday, September 17, 2012

Starting New

Tomorrow our little house goes up on the market. It will officially be for sale.

As much as I'm excited about the prospect of getting our new place and having more space for our growing family, I'm sad. I'm sad to say goodbye to this little place. This place is special for both Geoff and I.

We have both seen this little townhouse as a fresh start. We both had fresh starts independent from one another. This townhouse has been good to us and it holds a lot of great memories.

When I was a newly single mom to Mira (she was just over a year old), I lived on my own in a rented apartment. My father urged me to buy a property to call my own and to start building my equity. As much as I was all for that, I was concerned about the costs of a home. I took a walk one afternoon with Sasha and I walked through the neighbourhood where I now live. I fell in love with it because of the established forests and the quiet streets (perfect for a small girl). I fell in love with the park and the feeling that my child could be safe and happy here.

I found a property that was for sale that backed right onto the park. It was just too good to be true when I found that the place was well within my budget (especially since it was the start of the recession). It was the perfect size for just Mira and I. I made an offer and *presto!* it was mine. It was my pride and joy. It was my first solo trip into home ownership. I had owned a couple of houses with my ex-husband, but there is something to be said about owning a house all on your own.

Eventually Geoff came into the picture and he was looking for a place to be happy and heal from his own past. It became what he calls "his sanctuary". It's where we first learned about one another and grew close together. It's where we dealt with sorrow with the loss of Dudley and Sasha. It's where we have celebrated our first Christmases together. We held our first Boxing Day party (10th annual). It's where Mira and Geoff came to realize that they were family for one another. It's where we welcomed our little Grayson into the world. We have spent countless hours snuggled up watching movies together, on the back deck with our neighbours and its just home. Our sweet home. As small as it is, it is home. I will be sad to leave it. It has meant so much to us and has contributed to our own personal growth stories. Now it is time for someone else to experience the same. I'm sure that the right person or family will come along and want the same that I did.

Time to move on with my family.....move onto the next chapter.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Lessons Learned

I am so proud of my little girl. Yesterday she learned a very important life lesson. Yesterday she made some very grown up decisions. As a result, she got to school and back home again safely.

At 9:30am, I was trying to put Grayson down for a nap. I didn't hear my phone ringing. When I finally got him sleeping, I checked my voicemail and it was a message from Mira's vice-principal asking me to call her. I immediately panicked. I knew that Mira was not the type of kid to get into trouble and she was well behaved. So why else would the principal call? It must be something wrong....

I called the vice-principal and she advised me that Mira had been dropped off by the bus at the wrong school. I immediately felt a lump in my throat. The vice-principal told me that Mira was fine and was not upset.

The story goes as such:

Mira takes the bus to school every morning. Her bus drops a bunch of kids off at the Catholic school before proceeding to Mira's public school and dropping the rest of the kids. On the first day of school, the Catholic board had a PD day, so her bus didn't make the Catholic school stop.

On day 2 of school, the Catholic board was back in school, therefore, her bus stopped at the Catholic school before continuing on to Mira's school. However, Mira got off at the Catholic school, not realizing it wasn't her school.

So, Mira gets off the bus at the Catholic school and her bus leaves, continuing onto her school. Mira wanders the school yard before she realizes that something isn't right. She approaches a teacher in the yard (who actually ended up being the sister of her Dad's best friend) and asks if it's her school. The teacher replied "no" and immediately brought her inside to sit and wait for her bus to come back and get her to take her to her school.

Mira didn't panic and she was smart enough to ask for help when she wasn't sure what was going on. It meant that my little baby girl has learned some street smarts and has confidence in her decisions. Mira needed to make some decisions that really impacted her safety and well-being. It makes my heart soar to know that she was able to handle this challenge brilliantly. I'm so proud of her. It was scary for her but she said "getting lost is part of the fun". Oh, the optimism. :) 

Mira

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Preparing

We have a big task ahead of us. We have to get our house ready to sell. The little townhouse that I've called home for the past 4 years will soon be up for sale. Since our new place closes January 22nd, we should get our place up on the market in time for those interested in closing by Christmas (the likely scenerio I think).

I have been working hard at cleaning and de-cluttering. I've been slowly packing up stuff that we likely won't need until next spring/summer and purging the house of the items that we no longer need. Whew! What a job! Trying to do it with a 10 week old is definitely a challenge. Luckily for me, Grayson also has lots of naps so I have an opportunity to get quite a bit done.

The new house is slowly being built and I'm so excited to see the finished product. Lots of things to do before that moment comes. Back to work....

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Last Night of Summer

Tonight is the last official night of summer. On Tuesday, Mira will go off into Grade one at a brand new school with a brand new teacher. She will learn a brand new language (french) and make some brand new friends. My little girl will now be a full time "schooler". I will no longer have my days off with her during the week. She will learn the meaning of a full week.

With Mira going back to school, it also means that I have a brand new schedule and routine to contend with. It'll be just Grayson and I during the day as Mira and Geoff will be off at work/school. Grayson and I will now fill our days with naps (I've waiting 10 weeks for the opportunity for naps-impossible with a 5 year old at home on summer vacation), workouts and other such things. 


Tonight, Geoff and I decided to really take in the last official summer night with a long walk through the old part of Georgetown with Grayson and the dog (Mira was with her Dad for the week).

We loved our evening stroll. We took in all of the historic homes, the warm air and the smell of bbq and bonfire. We dreamed about the day when we could own such a big beautiful home in our favourite part of town. Each home we saw we would talk about what we loved about it and what we'd change.

We loved the quiet of the street. We loved the history (many homes are from the 1800's). We loved watching Grayson eye up the sights. He loved watching the trees contrasting with the dimming sky. What a fantastic evening. It was so simple, yet, so amazing. The perfect way to say thank you and good bye to a fantastic summer that went by way too fast, but was filled with so much that is new. New experiences for Mira and the beginning of a new lifetime for Grayson.  Perfect. Just perfect.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Mossa :)

A big congratulations to Ryan and Kelly who tied the knot this past weekend. They had a beautiful ceremony up in Caledon and us lucky guests (and Geoff being a groomsman) got to spend a night at the beautiful Hockley resort. It's a beautiful resort and the weather was stunning. It was 30 degrees and the sun shone brightly.

Geoff had gone up the night before to spend some time with the guys and his brother Graham, who was visiting from Nova Scotia. I stayed at home with the kids (well, one kid, as Mira was having her first sleepover with her little friend Gabrielle) on the friday night and then packed up the van with Shanna and the kids and we headed up to meet with everyone else.

The kids were really well behaved and dressed to the nines. Grayson was dressed in a little tuxedo onesie (thanks Jen and Dean!) and Mira in her flowery dress. Mira was obsessed with the wedding and couldn't wait for the "kissing" part.

The night was spent eating, laughing, drinking (except for us breastfeeders) and catching up with all of our friends. It was a beautiful night spent with some beautiful people.

With the whirlwind of a weekend and me being on my own with the 2 kids, it's a wonder that the only thing forgotten was the camera! Thus, I have only the one picture in my phone of Geoff and his little man Grayson, ready to strut their stuff on the gorgeous wedding day of Ryan and Kelly. Congrats Mr and Mrs Mossa :)

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Cottage Weekend

Geoff enjoying a Muskoka beer on the dock

Edd and Mira on the jet ski
 This past weekend we spent in Gravenhurst at our friends' Heather and Edd's cottage. It was a "couple with babies" weekend.

Geoff, Mira, Grayson and I headed north with Jay and Brenna and their son Kingsley. We met up with Heather, Edd and their daughter Zoe.

The wonderful thing about this weekend was that there were 3 babies under 4 months of age. Grayson is almost 2 months old (on August 22nd), Kingsley is almost 3 months old (on August 21st) and Zoe just turned 4 months old (on August 17th). Mira topped off the kid count and was able to play with the 5 kids staying in the cottage next door.

Mira spent the entire weekend in the boat and on the jet skiis. Her new favourite past time is doing anything with Edd. Edd took her fishing (she caught 2 bass and a sunfish), jet skiing and boating. She went tubing (another first) and did a lot of "sandcastling".

What a great weekend we had. It was nice to have no stress as everyone was in the same boat with an infant. Getting out with other new parents is so refreshing.

ATV ride with Mira's new best friend

Grayson taking a nap
All of the babies got along well and we even found a few moments where all the babies were awake and not crying (didn't happen all that often that weekend) to get a photo op. Mira jumped in there and now we have a portrait of all our little monkeys who will grow up enjoying eachothers company. Us adults projected ahead to the future when our three littlest monkeys will spend summers running around together, swimming and playing in the sand. Next summer the babies will be crawling and most likely walking (or close to it).

We have realized how fortunate we all are to have eachother to go through the world of parenting our Mira, Grayson, Kingsley and Zoe together. Our babies will be lifelong friends and will create memories of their own. 
Mira and the babies (L to R: Grayson, Zoe, Kingsley)


Grayson, Zoe, Kingsley



Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Closing

We have been frustrated by our new build. Our new build townhome should have been completed 8 months ago and now we're being told that our closing date of September 13th is being delayed again to January 22nd. However, they have started building our house so we are much more confident in this date versus the other ones they have given us in the past.

This will be the 4th time that they have delayed us and so we are certainly frustrated. We actually considered walking away from our new build to purchase another house in Georgetown. It was a house that I fell in love with and one that we could certainly grow with. Ultimately, we decided that it's best to move into our new place and then decide what step to take next.

We will enjoy our new build I think. The buyers of all the units in our new complex have started getting to know each other via Facebook (typical Georgetown-being all "friendly" with strangers) and it seems that everyone moving into our complex will be about the same age and somewhat at the same stage in life.

We will be going for our structural and colour appointment next week and we're excited to finally pick our options! Our builder does provide a lot of wonderful standard options. There isn't a whole lot for us to upgrade

Our next challenge is to list our current townhouse and sell it. I have this funny feeling that we may be homeless over Christmas. It's all part of being business I guess. Not many people want a closing of January and most people want to be into their new house by Christmas. We shall see what happens. :)

So the process of getting our house sold is now underway.....wish us luck :)

Friday, August 10, 2012

6 1/2 Weeks

 6 1/2 weeks into my being the mother of 2 has been awesome. It has been exhausting and a little patience-trying at times, but just awesome.

Mira has remained the affectionate, helpful big sister. Grayson remains our easy going boy who just goes with the flow. Every day we manage to do something fun with the three of us (four of us when Geoff isn't working), more to keep Mira occupied and make her summer fun and full.

So far, this summer, we have:
-gone to the splash pad (in Georgetown and Acton)
-Toronto Zoo
-golfing
-Lil' Monkeys Indoor Playground
-Kidnetix Indoor Playground
-Cooking school (twice)

 -African Lion Safari
-Woodbine Fantasy Fair
-Haliburton cottage
-Farmers Market
-numerous pool parties
-baby showers
-wedding showers

We still have much to look forward to. We have Ryan and Kelly's wedding on the 24th weekend and Edd and Heather's cottage next weekend. So much left of summer. We'll have to continue to make the most of it.

Despite my tiredness some days, I'm trying to make sure that I get out and do something every single day. It's good for all of us. :) 




Friday, August 3, 2012

Olympics

I love Olympic time. I know that most Canadians would agree with me. It's a time when the country comes together to cheer on our Canadian athletes wherever they may be in the world, working hard to make us and their families proud.

Such admiration I have for the athletes in the Olympics. Such time and dedication it takes to be of that caliber. So much heart break and so much joy they must feel along the way in their journey to athletic greatness.

Being of the track/cross country world, I can put myself in their shoes and imagine the overwhelming excitement they must feel. They get to compete in the greatest competition of all in the sports that they love. I remember feeling that way competing in the CI's and OUA's in University.....let alone if I were to have ever made it to the Olympics!

Speaking of athletics....I have finally started working out again. About 2 weeks ago I took my first step into the gym to start getting myself back into shape. I'm very excited to work on getting my body back to where it was prior to pregnancy. There seems to be so many limitations when pregnant and I have so much that I want to do now that I'm not preggo. I have this next year to perhaps try something a little new. I was able to maintain basic fitness while pregnant with my daily bouts on the bike or elliptical, but it's just maintenance. So I wouldn't have to start completely from scratch once I was okay to start working out again post baby.

Geoff has his BJJ twice a week and then come fall he'll have his hockey (work and beer league) so I want to have something to have for myself. For the time being, I have my time at the gym and once I have some fitness back then I'll take on a new sport. Thinking of options......

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Haliburton Weekend

 This past weekend we decided to pack up and leave the GTA. We headed north to my Dad's house up in Haliburton. He lives there during the week for work and so he rents out this cute little cottage right next to Sir Sam's ski hill. It makes for a great getaway for us!

Saturday morning we went for a great little hike around the Sir Sam's ski hill area. They were hosting a road/trail race for the locals and we got to watch parts of it during our hike. We bought a Snugli for Grayson as we left ours at home. We had a friend give us theirs and go figure, we left it at home. So we had to purchase another one on the way up to Haliburton.
 We were able to enjoy some spectacular weather and sunshine. We took in wake boarding on Head Lake and some dinner at McKeck's.

We visited Geoff's friend from high school who owns the Bonnie View Inn just off the main drag (if you can even call it that) in Haliburton. If you are looking for a cute getaway....may I suggest the Bonnie View Inn. It's adorable. The rooms are great (you can also rent cottages) and the food is some of the best you'll find in the area (Andrea's husband is a fabulous chef).

Mira coincidentally stayed next door to the Bonnie View Inn with her Dad's side of the family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) for 4 days so I was able to pick her up Sunday morning and take her to Bonnie View Inn and let her play on the giant water slide and trampoline.

Geoff and I got our little romantic getaway (with a 3 1/2 week old attached to our hips) and then we were able to spend some time with Mira on the Sunday. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend :)