Freedom

It has been eight long months but I am happy to report that my "pumpkin pie" is now free. Free from her leg braces that is.When she was just 6 weeks old she was diagnosed with hip dysplasia and was put into a Pavlick Harness.( it kind of looked like a parachute jumper's harness).She wore that for about two months and then she was put into an abduction brace, which held her legs in the same position just with out all the straps.For at least 5 of those months she was required to wear it 24/7 except for baths and diaper changes.In the last 3 months she was only required to wear it at bed time.But now we are done.(for now any way).The Dr. would like to see us in a year.Her hip isn't perfect yet but there is nothing more the brace can do.Now its all up to my"pumpkin".The Dr. is optimistic that the rest of the socket will form as she is learning to walk and get more mobile.If it is determined in a years time that it is not quite right they will probably have to do surgery sometime between the age of 3 and 4 years of age.This will help to prevent her from getting things like arthritis or having to have her hip replaced when she is 35-40 years of age.Lets just hope the surgery will not be required!

Ikea convert?

Ok.So normally you wouldn't catch me shopping for furniture in Ikea.I'm not exactly a huge fan of their stuff.I love thier little kitchen gadgets and some little knick-knacks ,but thier larger pieces like couches,beds ect.not so much.Its all just too modern and cold feeling to me.However DH and I just made a recent purchase of some new furniture.I have been looking for just the right pieces.I've looked everywhere for something I absolutely love.I hate settling for something just because.I've done that too myself way too much and I always feel disappointed in the end.To make a long story short the pieces we bought came from Ikea and I love them and I am so happy with them.They are my style,they are very comfortable and they have slip covers.Yeah!They suit my little house and even match the paint in dining room and living room so no extra painting(.At least not until we put in the sliding french pocket doors in a couple of months).Its nice when you can make a purchase you don't regret!

At Last

At last! The weather is taking a turn for the better.Got to love Chinook country!The temperatures are supposed to be well above zero (Celsius), for the next few days anyways.I know that it is still winter but it does give a body reason to hope.I will be glad to see some of the snow go.On the other hand my car is not so fond of the dry powdery slush.I have already got stuck in it when I was at my sister-in-laws house.My poor car just sank right in.It took three of us to push it out.

I must insert a little rant.I really really resent the people who say that we are lazy and too cheap to get winter tires and they don't feel sorry for those who get stuck and don't have them.(Just hope they remember all the people they insulted when someone has to get them unstuck!)I have no doubt that there is some truth to that statement but then there are those of us who have to choose between feeding our children and putting a roof over their heads or putting some rubber on our cars.I do have good all season tires and when the weather dictates I slow down and use caution.I do not wish to put my girls or myself in any unnecessary danger. Besides that snow tires are NOT going to save you when you hit a patch of ice going 130km/h down the Deerfoot because you think your invincible.There, I have said my piece, take it as you will .

Teething pain

What ever doctors claimed that teething does not cause pain for babies has either never had a child or is in complete denial My little pumpkin is trying to push out a mouthful of teeth all at once.I'm not sure if its causing more misery for her or me.With my little monkey it wasn't so bad it was more drool than any thing else.She got her first tooth at 6 months and didn't get anymore until she turned one.My little pumpkin got her fist tooth at 6 months but she is only 10 months now and has 4 or 5 new ones that are bulging.Its the constant crying that gets me.I wish someone would invent ear plugs that tuned out whining and crying but let all other sound through.LOL!I prefer the sound of giggles and laughter to the ear piercing shrieks.*Sigh* Oh well at least it is a short lived phase and soon there will be other things to worry about such as objects being shoved into small places that you never thought anything could fit,swallowing things that would disgust even the strongest stomach, the multiple bruises from learning to walk that look like you beat your children on a regular basis.Aaahhh! childhood.I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.(Except may be a nap once in a while)

Pantry Praise

I did it! My first project for maximizing my space has been successful.And I'm super excited about it.I now have a pantry in my kitchen.(I will have to add pictures later)We built it into a some what usless cupboard that was already there.It was originally where the electric panel was but when we bought the house DH and FIL redid all the electrical stuff and the panel is in our little dirt basement.So we have only been using this cupboard for hiding junk.It is very narrow,only one foot deep,just a little over three feet wide and close to six feet tall.It was a really simple job.I measured,planned and purchased and DH installed it for me.I bought 3 Rubbermaid shelves and the brakets and rails.Then I bought two large containers so that I could put my bags of flour and sugar.Now they aren't sitting in the middle of my kitchen hurray! It is already working well for me.Bring on the next project...

Sleepless in Okotoks

We've all had them.You know,those nights where your mind is so full of things to think about that you just can't sleep.I have a weakness when it comes to home decorating.I love it.But I should just never read decorating magazines before I go to bed.I know better but I can't help it.The shiny , colourful pictures just draw me in.I know my house will never look like the ones in the magazines.I mean hey, I have kids.But I still like to try.My house is small.Especially by the standards most people have today.But I don't mind.It is only 932 sq ft,Has two bedrooms and 1 bathroom which most peoples walk in closets are bigger than!The kitchen is a small galley style and my laundry room is in the kitchen because it doesn't have a basement.(just dirt).A lot of my freinds think we were crazy for buying the house and still shake thier heads.But it was a case of love at first sight.A diamond in the rough so to speak. My dh is very talented in renovating.It helps that he is a drywaller and his dad is a general contractor.So we have spent many an hour renovating and addind our persoal touches to the house.We were planning on lifting the house and putting a proper foundation under it, ffilling out the back corner so that we could add an extra room.We have a floor plan all worked out.Did I mention that DH is handy? He has taken drafting so he can draw up his own plans.But it doesn't look like it will be happening any time soon.The economy is slow and money is tight.So I have been trying to figure out how I can use the existing space more efficiently.Boy did my brain work over time.I wish you could get paid for working in your sleep.I would be a millionaire by now.But I have some plans now I just have to get off my butt and do them.Hmmmmm......where to begin.

Winter chill

I must admit, we are only 7 days into January and I can hardly wait until it is over.I can honestly say I have never been fond of the first two months of the year.January is such a let down after weeks of preparation for Christmas and February even though it is the shortest month, seems to be the longest.I'm also not much of a fan of winter...period.I hate being cold , I hate the short hours of daylight and scraping ice from the windshield.I especially hate winter driving! It does have its redeeming qualities though.Like when it snows and you can't hear noise from passing cars or other people.It is just so serene or when there is frost on the trees making them completely white and the sun is shining.Hot chocolate(preferably "After Eight" mmmm) is a definite plus.But over all I can hardly wait for spring to arrive.I love to see my plants poking there heads out and the smell of new leaves.I just love the newness of everything It just fills me full of anticipation and hope.I guess for now I will have to resign myself to dreaming about what I will plant in my vegetable garden this year and what new plants I will bring home from the nursery to continue building my "cottage style" garden.Flowers make me smile.Raspberries and blackberries(hopefully they survived the winter) yummy.*SIGH* Hurry spring. I am waiting.....

Top 10

I was having a look through one of my favorite websites (twopeasinabucket) and came across a top five pictures challenge for 2008.Mostly the professional photographers posted their favorite pictures for the year.I couldn't narrow it down so I thought would try a top ten of my favorite pictures that I took this year.What a hard task.So many to pick from

Well, the time has come at last to take down the Christmas tree and decorations and put them into storage yet again.I always feel a little bit sad when this time comes yet at the same time I am happy to have the space back.After all the new toys have to go somewhere!It also gives me an excuse to give everything a thorough cleaning while I'm at it.I always enjoy taking the ornaments out of the box.Its kind of like a treasure hunt.Spending time to reminisce of when and where they came from.I have a small collection of ornaments that used to hang on my Grandma's tree.They are little toy soldiers and every time I see them I am reminded of the hours I spent playing make belief with them and moving them ever so carefully around the tree.I also like to collect them.I am kind of an ornament nerd and can't pass the "Christmas store" in Banff with out coming home with a few small treasures.I also have two trees.One for my special(aka breakable) ornaments.This tree is pink,gold and white.Then there is the family tree which consists of mostly plastic or acrylic ornaments but it is still classy.This one is various shades of purple and white.This year my favorite ornaments where the ones that my little girl and I made.They were salt dough ornaments that we cut into shapes of stars and then she painted them and put sparkles on them.It has come full circle.I remember making ornaments for our tree when I was little and my mom proudly displayed them on our tree.(ugly or not).Even to this day most of them are still around and have a story to go with them.Now the girls will be able to add their creations to the tree so we have special memories too.So goodbye for now Christmas, I will eagerly await your return....

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2009! Did you make your New Year's resolution? Not me. I never make them.First of all because I have absolutely no will power what so ever and second (most important) I don't like change.I like things to stay exactly as they are.Familiar,comfortable.In fact I dread even the smallest change to my routine.If you want me to be spontaneous you better give me a weeks notice so I can think about it first.LOL! Over the past few years with the loss of my Grandpa,my Grandma and most recently my mom.The holidays have been quite an upheaval for me.I am finding it hard to "fill in the gaps" in my holiday traditions.I liked things the way they were the same every year.Some would find that pretty boring.But I found comfort in the"sameness".I feel almost lost.Drifting with out an anchor.I can't even adopt some of DH traditions because his parents decided a few years ago that they weren't "doing" Christmas any more.A bit awkward to say the least.Oh well enough with being depressing.Things will work themselves out eventually.I just have to start slow.I don't really have any expectations from this new year other than I would like to continue to challenge myself to try new things.It is a very huge deal for me and very hard.But I can do it! I am going to try making those leg warmer things on Mrs.Twomittens blog.That will be a good start.And hey if they don't work out my girls are still at the age where they can't complain heeheehee (evil mom laugh...)