Soooooo....

Pregnancy has been kicking my ass. Besides that, I'm getting sick of taking the same pictures over and over. Spring can't come soon enough! Point is, I've been slacking majorly with this project. I'm going to try to catch up and will update when I can.

That is all.

49/365

February 18th -- Just some good-ol'-fashioned father-son horseing around caught on memory card. The two loves of my life.

(Whew! All caught up!)

48/365

February 17th -- It must be Bad Mother Week, because this shot is purely to make fun of Liam's scrawny legs. I'm so mean.

47/365

February 16th -- Liam tried Nutella today for the first time. This picture amuses me for several reasons: a) the chocolate-hazelnutty-goodness moustache he's sporting; b) the funny expression on his face; c) does ANYBODY look good in yellow?; and d) that bib is hilarious -- it has a hot air balloon with what appears to be a dog and a squirrel riding in the basket, and the banner across it reads "That's our baby". Gold!

46/365

February 15th -- We visited Parliament Hill today while Krista was here. Coincidentally, it was Flag Day, so that's why there were so many flags up. We felt very patriotic! Formal tours don't run on Sundays, but we got to roam around on our own in designated areas, and only managed to get yelled at by security once. (Oops! We didn't know we weren't allowed up that staircase...)

45/365

February 14th -- Krista came to visit for the weekend, making her the only one from NS besides my parents to have seen both of our Ontario houses. Liam quickly warmed to her, burying her in his many books and then crawling up to have her read to him. Who can resist him?

(P.S. -- We didn't tell her about our resident spider. Shhhh!)

44/365

February 13th -- That blur in the magnetic photo sleeve is a spider that has made his home here for the winter. I first noticed him in Liam's room, then the living room, and most recently he has set up shop in the kitchen. Chris was amused to see him making a web inside the sleeve, hence this photo.

43/365

February 12th -- This lovely handmade quilt came in the mail today from Liam's Nanny. She claims to just be learning, but it sure looked great to me. Liam was excited to see Elmo on it, as well as a few other of his favorite Sesame Street muppets, dogs and teddy bears. Great fabric choices, Nanny!

42/365

February 11th -- Okay, I lied. Liam pays attention to tv when he's in his high chair sometimes too. This comes in handy for brushing his teeth after his bedtime snack.

41/365

February 10th -- Liam loved Elmo from his books, so Chris introduced him to Sesame Street. It's the only tv show he pays any attention to, and that's only for brief moments, usually when the little red guy is on. I don't mind. Better Sesame Street than most other kids' shows!

40/365

February 9th -- I don't think I've ever seen icicles that curved before. It looked like the snow and ice version of a Venus fly trap engulfing our house! (Minutes later, the whole thing melted off the roof, so I was glad to have captured this shot.)

39/365

February 8th -- I had what I thought was a brilliant idea: it was warm and sunny, so let's go outside to play! It was great for the first ten minutes or so, until Liam couldn't get the shovel to do what he wanted and freaked out , and then we had to go inside. The snow wasn't the only thing melting down in my backyard today... Sheesh.

38/365

February 7th -- Liam introduced Abbie to the joys of running around dining room tables. Note the hand-holding. Too cute!

37/365

February 6th -- As these things often go, Liam likes it best when WE draw on his Doodle-Pro. This is a quick family caricature I doodled. Okay, yes, I do it to amuse myself, too...

36/365

February 5th -- More evidence of having a toddler: various, multi-colored plastic dishes. Such a pain in the butt to clean.

35/365

February 4th -- It's hard to see, but I was pushing a stuffed raccoon through the various openings of Liam's castle to make him squeal in delight. The game was for him to try to grab it before I pulled it back. Whatever works, right?

34/365

February 3rd -- Wading through piles of laundry today. I don't mind sorting it, washing it or drying it. Folding it can be a pain. But what I REALLY hate is putting it away. Ugh.

33/365

February 2nd -- We took this picture to share the news with Chris's dad and stepmother. Hideous shirt, cute kid.

32/365

February 1st -- So much snow! I don't think the groundhogs will be able to dig out to even attempt seeing their shadows tomorrow. Will we be completely buried after two more months of this?? (P.S. -- I love the scalloped effect on the fence from the jumping squirrels.)

31/365

January 31st -- After more than a week, I finally got out of the house! (Exciting for me, even if it was just to the grocery store.) $194.00 later, and I already realized three things we forgot to pick up. *sigh*

30/365

January 30th -- Furniture arrangment by Liam.

29/365

January 29th -- He may not put things where they belong, but at least Liam tries to clean up. :)

28/365

January 28th -- It's official! We're having another baby!!!

I MAY have known about this for a few days... ;) (Have I mentioned I can obsess over things just like my son?) Seven days' worth of positive tests:

27/365

January 27th -- Liam's favorite books these days don't have stories, just lots of pictures and words. His vocabulary is expanding at an impressive rate, if I do say so myself. He can tell the difference between ducklings and goslings!

26/365

January 26th -- Awwww! The squirrels are leaving us presents too! (Seriously. I just found this in our window. We haven't even given them toast, so who knows where it's from!))

25/365

January 25th -- Liam was very into his drawing this afternoon. Until he started gnawing on the tips of his crayons and I had to take it all away, that is.

24/365

January 24th -- We don't have a composting service here (in our nation's capital -- for shame!), so we've been leaving scraps out for this friendly neighborhood squirrel. With a toddler, you have a lot of food waste, and I just hate to throw it all in the trash.

We've discovered squirrels like dry things, like cereal, crackers, rice cakes, and nuts. However, they do NOT like fresh things, like pieces of carrot or red pepper. Soft things, like bits of pizza Liam throws on the floor, are eaten eventually but aren't first choice items. Huh. Go figure.

23/365

January 23rd -- This stuffed soccer ball? Honestly the best $1 I ever spent at the dollar store. It gets daily use, and my kid gets daily exercise. Win, win.

22/365

January 22nd -- One of Liam's favorite things to do is empty all of the bins out of his toy storage shelves and hide inside the frame. Why do I bother ever putting them away in the first place?

21/365

January 21st -- My favorite show ever premieres tonight! Oh, yeah!!

20/365

January 20th -- History in the making -- just after noon today, Barack Obama became the first African-American President of the United States. I'm very excited to see how the world will change. Finally a Democrat back in the Oval Office!

Honorable Mention Photo: It was just a normal day for Liam... :p

19/365

January 19th -- In case of emergency: Three Minute Microwave Chocolate Cake. Caution: May cause unpleasant weight gain. Use sparingly.

4 tbsp. flour
4 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa
1 egg
3 tbsp. milk
3 tbsp. oil
3 tbsp. chocolate chips (or other grated chocolate)
small splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to a microwaveable mug or bowl (I use one of those giant soup mug things), and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil, and mix well. Add the chocolate and vanilla, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook on high for three minutes. (The cake may rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed.) Allow to cool a little, and tip onto a plate if desired. Enjoy!

(It annoys me that I left the flour on the French side. I was so careful with everything else, but I overlooked that till it was too late. Grrr. Oh, and this was from yesterday, but I finished eating it today, so that counts, right? Today was SUPER boring!)

18/365

January 18th -- Mr. BubbleHead had another nice bath tonight... Until he slipped under the water, that is. Scary for mother AND son. Before that happened, though, I was able to give his bangs a much-needed (and slightly crooked) trim.

17/365

January 17th -- Liam and I spent the day with our friends, swimming at the Y and then back to Dayna's house for pizza and movies. It would have been perfect if Chris hadn't been working and could have joined us. Liam and Abbie have so much fun together!

(Should I zoom in on this for the scrapbook, do ya think?)

16/365

January 16th -- There's nothing like a warm chocolate chip cookie on a cold winter's day.

(This shot is so orangey. I think it's because I normally use a flash and the red curtains made the natural light look like this. Anyway, not sure if I like this or not, but it captures the day better than anything else I took yesterday.)

15/365

January 15th -- Fresh, clean cloth diapers all neatly put away. This is such a common part of everyday life right now, but in a few years it won't be so I thought it was worth a photo!

And, also for posterity's sake, a photo of my work so far on the physical manifestation of this project...

Someday my scrap area will be completed (Chris hasn't put up my rails yet and I need one of those plastic drawer thingies) and then I'll take a proper photo. But that's a peek. Goodnight. *Yawn*

14/365

January 14th -- Seriously? A windchill of -38 degrees Celsius?!? Brrrrrrr. After the distance from our family and friends, the #1 thing I hate the most about living in Ottawa is the extreme weather variations. My body has a narrow comfort range, I guess. A Maritimer through and through.

13/365

January 13th -- Bathtime = family time. For some reason, the cats like to join us in the bathroom when Liam is in the tub, proving they're as weird as we are.

12/365

January 12th -- I envy those parents who have kids that get all tuckered out early after a busy day. This is what you have to do when your kid is NOT like that: give him a Swiffer duster at 10pm so you can watch 24 for a while uninterrupted. It worked for a good half hour too! *yawn*

11/365

January 11th -- Liam can stack several blocks now. He proudly showed off his towers to us this afternoon. He also says "block"... I think. It sounds a lot like "broccoli", which he recently added to his vocabulary, so one never can tell for sure.

10/365

January 10th -- Another lazy day at home. I'm going to be so lost when Chris goes back to work and I have to actually, you know, look after the house and the boy by myself again. Anyway, we played Guitar Hero and not much else. (And because I'm so lazy, this photo was actually taken yesterday. I didn't bother re-taking it today. Sue me. It would have been exactly the same except for Chris's shirt, I promise.)

9/365

I had a really hard time deciding on a picture again today, but this is the one I chose:

January 9th -- Despite the windchill of -22 degrees C, we decided it was time to try out Liam's new sled. He's under the cozy yellow weather shield, which quickly got covered inside with condensation from his breath, blocking his view of the outside and our view of him. He didn't make a peep during the entire walk, but I hope he had fun... Check out that HUGE snowbank! We are definitely in for a hard winter.

8/365

Damn it all! I didn't post yesterday!!

I was trying to decide between three photos for most of the day, and also waiting in case something ELSE better came up. Then I was going to post after Liam went to sleep, but seeing as that didn't happen till 11pm (ugh), I went to bed shortly after and neglected to update. So, here is my post for yesterday:



January 8th -- This is Chris cleaning off the car and shoveling our parking space after the all-day snowstorm yesterday. You can see on the side of the tree there on the left how high the snow is already, and January has only just begun. Now I understand why we couldn't see the houses from the road on our househunting trip last March! It just keeps accumulating and accumulating all winter long. I may become one of those people who hates winter after all...


(For the record, the other photos were cute pictures of Liam, easily repeated another day. I decided in the end that this one was more telling of what was going on for the day. This is gonna be hard sometimes! Also for the record, I guess it's likely I WILL skip posting here and there. But I'm going to try to still take daily photos.)

Lowdown and Catch-up

Okay, so here's the deal:

On January 1st, while perusing hot topics on a scrapbooking forum, I heard about this really cool idea called "Project 365". The concept -- to take a photo everyday for one year and journal a little about it -- is not a new one, but it was new to me. The reason it was a hot topic of discussion is because a popular designer had created a special kit to make the project easily into a pretty scrapbook and the company selling this kit really, really underestimated the demand for this product. It completely sold out within the first hour or two of being available for purchase, leaving many upset people stuck on phone lines and their website for hours trying to get one and unsure if they managed to be one of the lucky few. It was pretty much a big disaster, the mess of which is still trying to be cleaned up and figured out. Needless to say, having read about this AFTER the fact, I do not have one of these kits. (Which is a shame, because it is very cool looking, and a good deal for all that's included. But, oh well. Them's the breaks.)

But I have been inspired. I want to do this project! I like the idea of capturing everyday life, not just the big moments. I like that this might be a cool way for my kids or grandkids to learn more about me and what life was like in 2009. I like the push to do a little journaling everyday, and to kickstart my scrapping hobby and, hopefully, improve my photography skills. I really need something like this right now -- something that is attainable, but still challenging. That can be as hard or as easy as I feel like making it. That is creative and productive, but just for fun.

So, I have started taking my pictures and thinking about how I can piece together something similar to the scrapbook kit myself. I've been collecting supplies and am now waiting for a few things to arrive in the mail for the physical version of this project. But I need to start keeping a record of my thoughts for the photos before too much time passes and that leads me to creating this blog. I figured if I'm going to bother typing out my journaling anyway, why not have a virtual version of the project so I can share it with others? That way, I'm even more motivated to follow through with this idea 'cause I have an audience to keep me going.

Unfortunately, the first week of 2009 has already past. What can I say? I'm a little slow starting things. So, here's a week's worth of photos and journaling in one post to get caught up...

January 1st, 2009 -- We spent New Year's Day relaxing quietly at home. Liam had his first bubble bath this evening. He really enjoyed playing with the bubbles, and quickly added the word to his ever-growing vocabulary.

January 2nd, 2009 -- Mmmmmmm... sweet potato chili, one of our favorite recipes. All three of us love it, Liam included.

January 3rd, 2009 -- Liam has been showing signs of anxiety lately. Upon encountering things he's unsure about, he frowns like this and says "nooo, nooo" in a quiet, angst-filled way. He's particularly bothered by Mickey Mouse for some reason, possibly triggered by his "ears" from Aunt Erin's DisneyWorld trip. It's hilarious but also troubling. I hope the stage passes soon.

January 4th, 2009 -- Okay, maybe my kid has issues. He's also obsessed, quite literally, with the vacuum. We have to keep it hidden in the basement between uses because otherwise he FREAKS out if we don't let him use it. Seriously.

January 5th -- Just a shot of my daily supplements. Oh, the bother I go through trying to conceive! Speaking of obsessions, I have researched things to death when it comes to this process, which is kinda ironic. Like mother, like son?

January 6th -- Ah, IKEA!! How I love that store! Today's trip was just a quick one to exchange a single long rail for two short ones (to be used to organize supplies in my newly created scrapbooking area in our spare room). This is probably one of the smallest bills the cashier has ever seen!

January 7th -- Another day spent indoors. Chris is off work until the 14th (hence the beard) and it was very stormy, so we just hung out and stayed warm and cozy. This shot was taken by Chris while I made dinner. He takes some weird pictures.