Transitions

The last few weeks my boys have been going through the transition I've been longing for and yet dreading at the same time... going to one nap! If you're a FB friend you might have noticed my questions and thoughts on the subject. As mentioned many times before, it's been hard to get out with twins, especially twins who love/need their sleep. I've been looking forward to getting out in the mornings and joining the outside world again. But like all transitions, it's been tough and I'm tired. I've muddled my way through trying to figure out how best to approach it. The were both sleeping beautifully in the morning but Micah especially wasn't in the afternoon. It was almost as if 2 naps was too much but 1 nap not enough. Something needed to change so we started the process. I'm pretty sure Caleb could still do 2 naps consistently but let's be honest, I like my boys on the same schedule. I need my breaks!

Finally in the past week or so we've had some success. I've managed to keep them up until around noon and have gotten a few days of 3 hour naps. We've also had several dinner time meltdowns and early bedtimes as their bodies are adjusting. They are difficult in the moment but having them in bed at 6:30pm isn't the worst thing in the world! In some ways I'm not sure why I wanted this so much. Keeping twin toddlers (or any child!) busy from 7am until noon is a LONG time. The key is getting out of the house. I will confess I've never been very brave when it comes to that. The other day we were at a play program the community centre. The play area was very large. With Micah walking he could go anywhere quickly, so I try to plant myself somewhere in the middle and keep an eye on them. I felt like a lifeguard again. At one point I could hear Micah crying but couldn't see him anywhere. Eventually I found him in a tunnel, not too happy.

I'm realizing that I need to take more risks, in parenthood and life in general, so have been forcing myself to get out with them. What's the worst that could happen? Two boys completely melting down in public? Not the end of the world. I've gone to the community centre, a playgroup the senior's home and an Early Year's centre. I'm proud of myself. Two of the three I can walk to and I find that less stressful. One of my fears came true at the Early Year's Centre when I had no idea how to get them both in the door. There were no strollers allowed inside and it's pretty hard to carry both of them. I was holding my crawler while my walker, not quite getting the concept of staying with me or holding my hand, ran down the side walk. I don't even remember how we got in, but we did and with the help of a volunteer, managed to get them back out.

Today we had no plans and my boys seem tired. They were both lying on the floor asking to go "night night" so I've declared it as a 2 nap day. They've been down for almost an hour and I'm pretty sure Caleb is fast asleep while Micah is babbling away. Was it the right call? I have no idea and I might pay for it later but I'm doing my best. Soon this will all be a distant memory and I'll long for the days that they napped at all. Being a parent I've learned there are a million phases and I don't want to wish them away. It goes too fast. How do you deal with transitions? Do you like change? And if you're a mom to young kids, want to come over for a play date? ;)

Living Simply Part 2 - Food

I love grocery shopping. I could spend hours walking up and down the aisles of our local store. If I could get paid to do anything, besides being a mom and power-washing dirty transport trucks (yes, it's kind of my dream!), I would grocery shop for people. I also love deals. Flyer day gets me excited. I used to go through each one and carefully plan out where I would buy each item. I would often hit 3 or 4 different chains in a week to get the best price on certain things. Who knows if the gas used to get there was worth it but it I felt satisfied. Deal hunting is in my blood. My mom is the queen and when she found a good one when it came to food, she bought plenty. We had a room in our basement we nicknamed the "bomb shelter". It had shelves stocked with food and I'm sure you could last a year eating off the food in it. It was also great for playing store as a little girl. I remember Bran Flakes going on sale, which my brother loved, but there was a limit of 6, so my mom would send each of us into the store with money separately to take advantage.

While I don't mind being a deal-hunter and respect this trait passed onto me, I realize I have a problem. I buy TOO much food. Flyers are different these days now that my husband works for the biggest (and in my opinion, the best!) grocery chain around. I am pretty faithful to their stores and luckily love their products. But that hasn't seemed to curb my consumption. I have a large kitchen cupboard, basement pantry and deep freezer full of food. Besides the basics I can't avoid, I rarely buy things that aren't on sale. But do I really need 5 cake mixes even if they are only 99 cents? No. I'm all for saving money, but when saving money turns into things I never get to and items expired I can't even donate to a food bank, it's not good. I think it's okay to have a supply of food, especially of things we go through on a regular basis. We all love Triscuits so when they're less than $2, I stock up. The cereal Joel eats everyday is expensive so you can bet when it went on sale for half price, I bought a bunch. I know we'll go through them. But I need to cut down. I've had a dream for well over a year, of eating through our freezer. We're going to do it. The new PC Insider's report has come out with some great new products and I've decided I won't buy any of them until we've cleared out at least half of our food.

I don't think it's wrong to have a cupboard full of food, meals ready to go in the freezer and regular items on hand but I do want to simplify. Why? a) I don't want to buy things just because they are on sale...a clear weakness of mine. b) I want to look at the flyers and plan actual meals, hopefully a week in advance. c) I want to have less stuff in my house. d) I don't want to become a hoarder (perhaps I am close, judging by the pictures below). e) I want to cook more from scratch and use simple ingredients... in a realistic, "I have twin toddlers" kind of way. Let's be honest, the occasional frozen lasagna helps keep me sane. f) I want to spend less money on groceries and more on other people. And finally, g)It's just a good discipline for me in my quest to live a simpler life. I look forward to having a little more wiggle room in my cupboards and freezer and working on being a little more disciplined when I see a great deal. We'll see how it goes! Now with the slight fear of being judged and a bit of embarrassment, take a look at what I'm working with....

Our freezer, filled to the brim

My basement pantry, overflowing!

My kitchen cupboard, with no room for more

A Weekend in Muskoka

I love Muskoka. Except for maybe a few gems I've discovered in southern Africa, it might possibly be my favourite place to go. I didn't grow up with a cottage but camp was my cottage and I spent my summers there for well over a decade. There is something about being on a lake that is so relaxing and Muskoka is full of them. Joel and I were itching to get away and I happened to see a deal on Travelzoo for a resort in the heart of Muskoka. Our wonderful friends, Alice and Wayne, graciously offered to take the boys for the weekend so we could escape. We lucked out with the most gorgeous weekend of weather and had a fabulous time. A beautiful drive, naps, swimming, hot tub, sitting on the dock by the water, a nice meal, late night desserts, getting up whenever we wanted, a breakfast buffet. It was perfect. Here are a few glimpses....

The view from our balcony

"Dressed up" for dinner...meaning a nicer shirt with my jeans!

Happiest by water

Lunch at Weber's and possibly the first time I've eaten outside in November!

My quest to become a morning person...

I feel like I'm at a bit of a cross-roads in my life. It's not as dramatic as it sounds, but it is true. My boys are starting the transition to taking one nap instead of two each day. After some hard work they became wonderful nappers and I loved my breaks. I didn't love how isolated I felt. getting out was difficult. Now that they've started to have many one-nap days I'm realizing how much it changes our routine. I basically have to keep them occupied from 7am until noon or 1pm. That's a long stretch with two little toddlers. Getting out is definitely key and I'm looking forward to reconnecting with the outside world. BUT, I didn't really think of how it would siginficantly reduce the amount of time I had to myself. My routine was generally to stay in my PJs until their first nap around 9:30am, put them down, often workout, shower, and fold some laundry. Then in the afternoon I would have some me-time, catch up on emails, do a few chores and think about dinner. It was wonderful. Now I only have a short amount of time to do everything that can't be done with two little ones in tow.

I value staying fit. I don't always love working out but I think it's important so I generally try to make time for it. Once I realized the realities of one nap I had to make a decision. Waiting to workout and shower at 1pm is not ideal. There are plenty of other things to check off the list during that time. So, my options have now become a) workout in the evenings, b) wait 'til the boys are in school and not workout for another 3 years with the occassional weekend one, c) get up earlier and get it done before the boys are up. A) wasn't really an option in my head. Evenings often have social things or just chill time with Joel. When the boys go down that's the last thing I want to do. B), I have to admit I did consider. How fat could I really get in 3 years? Although decent, I don't have the same metabolism as my teens and twenties and some level of maitenance is necessary. So sadly the most logical conclusion became C).

Now I am NOT a morning person. I live for Saturday sleep-ins. I naturally like to stay up late and usual no matter how tired I am something in me wakes up at 10pm and says it's time to play. I usually have lights out by 11pm so I can get my 8 hours in but if I had nothing to wake up for it would probably be much later. But I do want to work out (kind of), I do want to have time to myself to think, journal and pray and I'm pretty sure that means I need to get up an hour earlier. Arggh! So for the past few days the alarm has gone off at 6am. I know that's not extreme, that many get up that early, if not earlier, but for me it's a stretch. While it was still dark out this morning, I was having a little date with Jillian Michaels. I already feel tired and it's not even noon. I know my body will adjust and it will just mean getting to bed earlier. That will be the hardest part for me. In my heart I know I want to be a morning person and that it will feel good once I'm up. I just hope I can stick with it. Are you a morning person? What time do you usually get up?

Halloween

I used to love Halloween. What kid doesn't like free candy right? Then as I grew older it became less and less exciting. I'm not the biggest fan of dressing up and we've never had huge turnouts of kids at our house. But once I had my boys it became a little more exciting again. Last year I wasn't planning on doing too much as my the boys were just over 4 months, but a last minute deal on costumes at Children's Place and a more eager than I expected husband (perhaps because of his new photography hobby?), I was in. We took our two little monkeys to a few neighbours to show them off and didn't get any candy. It was a little too obvious that they wouldn't be the ones eating it.

This year I knew it would be a little more fun with two active toddlers. We bought some Tigger and Poo costumes at a used clothing sale last year. If my boys ever ask me to help them make a costume I will do my best, but for now my less than creative self is thankful for the pre-made, zip them up type. It works for me. As soon as it hit an acceptable time we hit the street. Only about one in four houses in our neighbourhood participate in Halloween but that was plenty for our boys. As they get older we might just have to search out somewhere better to trick-or-treat. The boys loved it. My little Tigger was running up and down the streets and Poo, who is still not quite walking, was happily plunked at each door step waiting for a friendly face to appear. Who doesn't love two adorable little toddlers. I'd take that over pathetically dressed teenagers trying to eek out one more year of free candy, anyday. Call us mean, but we haven't given our boys any of the candy. We figure they aren't old enough to care or miss it so why bother. I've always been pretty conscious about how much sugar they have and they'll be exposed to that stuff soon enough. We did give each of them a bag of chips to play with and shake. I admit that sounds a bit lame but we really couldn't think of a good reason to let them indulge this time around. Next year I know they'll understand better, and yes, we will let them eat candy! I can't wait to see what dynamic little duo we can come up with for next year!

Life and Death

Last Saturday was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for me where two parts of my life intersected. On the previous day, my second niece was born weighing a tiny 3 pounds, 4 ounces at 33 weeks. The pregnancy hadn't been easy and it was determined that she'd do better continuing to grow on the outside, so out she came. Although small she is completely healthy, breathing on her own and doing well. She'll remain in the NICU for several weeks and hopefully soon be transferred closer to home. I was eager to go meet her. But turning the corner towards the hospital I was hit with a flood of emotions. Seven years ago almost to the day, in that same hospital, is where Joel's mom passed away due to injuries from a car accident. I knew her for less than two years but I saw the impact her devestating loss had on my husband and his family. From the little I knew her I can honestly say she was one of the kindest most positive people I have ever met. It hits me at different points... when others talk about their mother-in-law (often complaining and I know I'd have nothing to complain about) and especially for my boys who are missing out on a wonderful Grandma. I will make sure they grow up knowing what a special person she was.

I walked through the same doors to see my niece that we walked out of seven years ago, not quite believing what had just happened. I held it together until I saw my brother and then the tears fell. He has seen me through many tear-filled moments but probably wasn't expecting it as I was coming to meet my daugther. Life is full of highs and lows and a whole lot of in betweens. As I tried to wade between the extremes I fell back on thankfulness... thankful for the life of an amazing woman that was cut too short, for her legacy that lives on in her family and for what she taught me in the few short years I knew her... and also thankful for a beautiful little niece, born too early but hanging in there and for the family she gets to grow up in. Isn't she sweet?