Does This Baby

I delivered our second daughter Rosalie 3 weeks ago, on November 7th. She was 3 days overdue. Not a huge deal in hindsight, but at the time it was 3 days too long. I had an acupuncture induction session the day before she was born to get things moving. I guess it worked. She came fast, and furious. My first contraction was at 8:45am. I pushed her out at 12:45pm. There wasn't much time for drugs, great for baby, but not for mama. The labour was painful, but the whole time I kept thinking thank god I won't be pregnant  anymore.  This is the list of things I will not miss about being pregnant. Waking up to pee three times a night. Strangers looking at me and saying, "You're ready to pop, eh?". Strangers telling me I was going to have a boy because of how high I was carrying baby. Irregular bowel movements (like I need anything extra taking up space in my belly.) Finding a new stretch mark on my stomach. Having Braxton Hicks, and realizing that the car is p...

It's been a crazy few months. I have pregnancy brain, and haven't been able to focus much these days. Also, my almost 4 year old is incredibly demanding and really doesn't care if I get time to blog. That's the partial truth... I've actually turned into a Pinterest whore. Any free time I get on the computer I'm looking up the latest food, and home design Pins. It's sick, but I justify it by all the recipes I've made since joining Pinterest . I often forget why I started blogging. I keep thinking that it doesn't really matter I'm not posting since no one is reading this. Then I realize I started blogging for me. To record milestones, to remember funny stories, and to practice my writing skills. One day I will figure out how to link my blog to my instagram account. But until then, here are some pictures from the last few months. 23 Weeks Pregnant Vacation on the Sunshine Coast, BC Me and my mom in the refugee camp in Thailand. ...

Last Friday we found out that our next baby is a girl. There was a moment of, "OK fine, it’s not a boy. We're not going have that perfect little nuclear family", but it was quickly replaced by, "Sweet all our baby stuff is girlie anyways". Wow sisters. Is there anything more beautiful in life than the relationship between two sisters? I have a sister. My mom is one of  6 sisters, and now my daughter will have a sister. I love my sister. She will never  understand how much I love her. She rolls her eyes at me most of the time, because she thinks I’m mean to her, but really it’s tough love. I’m the older one, so I have an innate duty to take care of her, no matter what. I’m tough on her because she deserves to have her shit together, and I’m the only one that can force that on her. At the end of the day, she still has to love me. My mom, and Auntie Chanthon have a similar relationship, though I'd say my mom, the younger sister is the mean one. Or maybe...

Hubby and I decided a while back, that 2012 was the year we were going to concentrate on adding to our family. My birthday was in January and I didn't want to limit my wine intake, so we decided to start in February. We got pregnant in February. It's a shock, and such a blessing that it happened for us right away. We wanted to wait to tell everyone until the 3 month mark, but by 6 weeks I was already showing. Remember my 30 for 30 challenge that I quit? I was getting so big I couldn't do up my pants or skirts. So I'm having baby due November 4th. The pregnancy has been hard, colds, flu, nausea, a bladder infection and just plain tiredness. My second pregnancy is way harder then my first. Of course, recently I realized that the first time I didn't have a 3 year old to chase after. Now I'm finally starting to feel good. My only problem now is how can anybody be cuter than this?

Not really. I just want to see how many people google that. If you got here because you searched that, please remind yourself that children keep a family together, especially when one can't find a babysitter. I remember the days when I could hang out in my closet for hours trying on different outfits. I remember making last minute plans to see a pal at a new restaurant, coffee shop. I remember walking aimlessly in boutiques, staring for hours at all the pretty new clothes. I remember when I could pee without someone barging in the room asking what I was doing. Those days are long gone. They've been replaced with a little girl that wants to try on my dresses, even though they're huge on her. Last minute plans have been replaced by strategic (at least we try), play dates at kid friendly cafes. I rarely get the chance to walk aimlessly in a pretty boutique. I now follow Elle around aimlessly in Build a Bear. It's a new life, and it's pretty sweet.

On our way home from Grandma's birthday dinner, me, hubby, grandma, and Elle were in the car, I drove. While at an intersection I started to take my foot off the brake as I saw the light turn green. Of course the car in front of me hadn't started moving yet so hubby yells at me to stop the car. Elle, from the backseat yells, "Mom keep your eyes on the road!" She turns 3 in about a month. Precious, isn't she?

I woke my baby up this morning, and told her I loved her. She says all sleepy eyed, "I love you too mama. You're so beautiful". God I love my kid!

I started writing this blog on a regular basis during my mat leave, two and a half years ago... whoa! The purpose was to share my learning's about motherhood , and document some of Eloise's milestones. Of course I dreamed my blog would take off, like so many mommy bloggers before me, and I'd make thousands of dollars writing articles for parenting magazines, and websites, but no such luck. It turns out I don't really care about parenting trends, educational trends, or coupons, or saving money (though I should, I REALLY should). I just want to talk about me and my daughter. So here are some pictures of Elle. I'm a little disappointed in myself for taking so long to get them up. First Hair Cut Whistler BC Being Beautiful Playing with the neighbors ferret Being a cheese ball

When you start dating a great guy, everyone asks, "When are you gonna get serious?". When you get engaged, they ask, "When's the wedding?". After you get married, they ask, "When are you gonna have a baby?". After the first baby is born, they ask, "When are you gonna give her a sibling?". I'm not gonna lie. During the first year we had Eloise, I couldn't imagine ever wanting another child. It was hard work. As much joy, and happiness she brought hubby and I, we were also slept deprived, bickering, and exhausted. Well, we sleep better now. We're more connected, and more in sync with each other than we've been in years, and while I can see another baby in the future, I just don't want one any time soon. Elle isn't ready to be a big sister anyway.  She snarled, "No" to me, the other day  when I asked her if mommy should have another baby. Career wise, I finally feel like I know what I want to do when I gro...

I hate it when people complain about their jobs. My feeling is, if you hate it that much, quit. However, I do get that people can feel blue from time to time. Maybe you're not advancing fast enough, maybe you're not given enough projects, or maybe your raise wasn't as high as you expected. You don't want to quit over that stuff, but you've all of a sudden forgotten why you actually like your job in the first place. This is what I would do, if I were in a funk. 1)List all the things about your job that you love For me, I love that I have my own office. I love that our company culture supports working parents. Most of the exec team have missed one day or another to watch their kid in a hockey game, or play. I love the employee stock option program. I put in $100 of my pay cheque towards company stock, and the company matches it 100%. I love my health, and dental plan. I love that I have established meaningful friendships that will last me my whole life. 2)Googl...

We celebrated a lot of birthdays recently. Elle's, and hubby's in December. Mine, and Auntie Nika's in January. Elle's bbf in December, and Grandma just had hers in the beginning of February. So inevitably Elle's favorite song right now is Happy Birthday. Except she sings her own name, instead of the birthday persons'. She assumes only the person mentioned in the song gets to blow out a candle, and have a piece of cake.

Elle has been in full-time Daycare for a month now. Every morning for two weeks she cried when I dropped her off. As soon as Nana opened the door, Elle would burst into tears. When I got home from work, I'd ask her what she did at daycare, and she'd say, "I cry". It was awful. I felt like the worse mother ever. After a few days I realized she was a little liar. Nana sent me pictures throughout the week of her laughing, and playing. Wait take a picture of us crying, not smiling! I'm trying to guilt my mom.

So long 2010, it’s been swell. I had a pretty great year. Developing minor arthritis sucked, but I found a really great homeopath, and have managed to live pretty normally with it, and without taking any drugs. Arthritis aside, these are my top accomplishments.  I went back to work! It’s a big deal. It meant leaving my 1 year old for over 8 hours a day and trusting my sister/nanny to raise her to be a smart healthy toddler, which she is. Thanks Nika! I Bought A House After ten years of renting in Vancouver, we bought a house , out in freakin’ Coquitlam, but I love it. Love the space, love the yard, love the trees in the back, love that I rarely see my neighbors. And especially love that it’s mine. Went to 5 Weddings Yes I count this as a huge accomplishment. Weddings are exhausting. And when you’ve got a 1 and half year old that doesn’t sit still, it’s even tougher. We made it though, ate great food, and watched our friends make beautiful commitments to each other.  Tau...

We were driving around today, me, hubby and Elle, looking for something to eat. Hubby said to Elle that he needed some "daddy snacks". She shouted back with enthusiasm, "Daddy snacks!". Only it didn't sound like "snacks", it sounded more like "sucks". Imagine how many times I got her to say, "Daddy sucks".

I've spoken about this before. There are many things I vowed I wouldn't do as a mom, but now find myself eating those words. I promised myself I'd never, ever, ever brag about my daughter. How lame is it when you're at a dinner party and some asshole corners you, and starts talking about their kid. Who the f*ck cares. Ya, kids are cute. I'm sure yours is great, but seriously shut up and pass me a sausage roll. Well, let me tell you what Elle did the other day. Remember she turns two in December. She's not even two years old yet! Amongst me, hubby, three aunts and an uncle she started counting the polka dots on a new step stool, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!" Ten! My baby counted to ten. How cool is that? Isn't she awesome? I see a mathlete in my future.

The days are getting shorter, it's cold out, it rains a lot because I live in Vancouver, and I commute to work via a highway. Things couldn't be more gloomy. But as I look through pictures of the last couple of weeks, I'm reminded of how awesome this time of year can be too. I love fall. I love the fall collections at Holt Renfrew. I love the orange and red tones the leaves turn. I love driving into work with hubby, and talking about how amazing our daughter is. I love my daughter, and doing all the fun fall things you get to do. Last week, I raked the leaves into a pile in the background yard. At only 23 months, she instinctively knew she had to run, and jump into it.  And one of my favorite things to do during the fall, visiting the pumpkin patch. What's cuter than watching your pumpkin sit on a pumpkin?

Eloise is still hooked on the mama milk. I don't mind it too much. It's a perfect way for us to catch up when I get home from work. She snuggles in my arms, looks up at me with her big brown eyes, and I ask her about her day. However, I am always looking for creative ways to get her off my boob, and onto another satisfying drink. The latest success has been almond milk, except I call it "ice cream milk". The little monster downs it like it actually has sugar. Ha, ha, sucker.

I just got some pictures of Elle from a friend. He took them at the last wedding we were at.

People tell me all the time, "They grow up so fast." Yeah, yeah, I know. But every once in a while I look at my baby, and she's matured, 1000% times more since the day before. With her new maturity, comes an interesting new rationale. She refused lunch from her Auntie yesterday. Simply pushed the food aside, and sweetly smiled, "No. Ice-cream?"

I joked that if I had a daughter, I would call her Lil' Kim (my name is Kim btw, I don't know if I've mentioned that). Well, my dream came true, and I have created a little diva in my own image. Her name is Eloise. She likes everything her way, she insists on doing it herself (whatever it is, she can do it, thank you very much!), she loves hugs, her daddy, and wearing high heeled shoes.