tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71591909145444962302024-03-14T04:02:44.214-04:00Life with a ParasiteI started this blog when my husband and I were expecting our first child to document my pregnancy and warn people of all the things nobody tells you about. Then it followed our family's journey through secondary infertility. It turns out I forgot as much as I learned. One might think that motherhood has softened me...
One would be wrong.The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.comBlogger361125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-18269521021969993412018-07-30T09:54:00.001-04:002018-07-30T09:54:42.833-04:00Product Review: Eufy MiracleBlend by Anker Innovations
Frozen strawberries+yogurt+ milk = YUM!
A couple of years ago, our blender died, and thus I embarked on a journey more complicated than I ever imagined. Did you know the price range for blenders varies from around $40 to above and beyond $1,000 for the highest of the high end?
While we generally never regret investing in high-quality appliances, we decided that buying the most expensive one The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-25127471998991131042017-05-28T20:30:00.002-04:002017-05-30T15:21:29.226-04:00The Things We do for Love
I am not, shall we say, the outdoorsy kind. In fact, my idea of "camping" is a hotel with less than four stars. And yet, when the annual mother-daughter camping trip comes up with the Brownies, I don't have the heart to say no to M. And so we pack up the car and head to the forest where we encroach on nature and piss off a lot of bugs and woodland creatures with our loud children and insect The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-35853198766486904902016-03-14T22:32:00.001-04:002016-03-20T22:35:25.970-04:00Win a Chance to Visit @TorontoCastle to Live the #KnightLife
UPDATE: Thanks to all entrants! The contest is now closed, and the lucky winner has been notified.
The last time The Husband and I went to see Medieval Times, we were a newly dating couple. I won't go into specifics, but it was a really long time ago. After all, the show has enjoyed a successful run in Toronto since 1993. We had been meaning to take the kids but never seemed to get around The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com1Toronto, ON, Canada43.653226 -79.38318429999998243.285985499999995 -80.028631299999986 44.0204665 -78.737737299999978tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-44897820932128014402016-03-10T20:55:00.002-05:002016-03-10T20:55:35.104-05:00What Does "Having it All" Really Mean, Anyway?
Simultaneous phone and laptop use? Check! But my nails are not that nice.
I was having a conversation with another mom on the way home from school pick-up today. I mentioned something that we're doing next week, and that the tickets were offered to me because I'm hosting a giveaway on my hobby blog. Yes, this one. Yes, you should stay tuned for more details in the next week or so.
Anyway, I The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-37228913309449044872015-09-11T17:21:00.000-04:002015-09-11T17:24:59.424-04:00Ahoy! There is Still Time to Get Swept Away by @PirateLifeTOEverybody knows that Toronto is a huge city population-wise, but a lot of us forget just how big it is geographically too. For example, I forget all about the Toronto Islands all the time. That's unfortunate, because, for the sake of a few minutes and a cheap ferry ride, you can find yourself in another world.
There's tons of stuff to do on the Islands, and during our summer staycation we wereThe Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-69503459154721724462015-06-08T16:47:00.000-04:002015-06-08T17:02:11.278-04:00Understanding Learning Differences: Terrific Teddy by @JimForgan #BookReviewLittle kids are awesome! Their views on the world around them are fascinating, and their unbridled honesty is truly a treasure. Except, of course, when it's the source of profound embarrassment for their parents! But let's face it, I think we all know a few adults who could use a little help in the tact department...
M is in school now, which means she meets kids from all walks of life. The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-53607983647477090492015-02-20T16:14:00.001-05:002015-02-20T16:14:52.298-05:00Talking to my daughter about #womenslivesIt's a common scene for us, walking around our neighbourhood. It's a safe place with good schools and a real sense of community. There are often people out on the main strip holding clip boards, talking to passers-by about charitable organizations. This day was nothing out of the ordinary, except that it was the first time that I had to have a conversation about the place of women in the world.
The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-16367781517586329142015-02-07T19:31:00.000-05:002015-02-07T19:31:22.066-05:00Dear Moms at the Toddler Playgroup, I'm Sorry!You may remember us from the Parent and Toddler Playgroup. Mine is the gregarious, affectionate little guy who gave several of you big, unprompted hugs. Yes, I know, he IS adorable, and super-duper sweet. He's a little on the small side for his age which makes all the running and talking that little bit more endearing. He also hugged a bunch of your kids and kissed the communal toys. I'm *really*The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-46168240912748123742015-01-30T16:22:00.002-05:002015-01-30T16:22:55.642-05:00Mile Markers on Road to Good HealthI don't know about you, but huge, looming goals on a distant horizon scare the bejeezus out of me. I'm working on an E-book for a client and I can't think about the total word count goal because I break out in hives. Instead, I have a goal for a set number of chapters every week. Sure, I still have to turn in all of the work to get it done on time, but these smaller, more manageable chunks don't The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-78059849701178427192015-01-24T20:42:00.003-05:002015-01-24T20:43:09.243-05:00When Doing Nothing Does Something
A Reasonable Facsimile
It was a Professional Development Day at M's school yesterday. Usually this fills me with a sense of "OMFG, what are we going to do all day?" but yesterday, I tried something a little different. Wait, I should back up a bit. Our daily routine is predictably a pretty busy one, and it goes something like this:
Get up, pack M's lunch for school, help get her dressed, feed The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-58605906611824994722015-01-18T13:50:00.001-05:002015-01-18T13:50:50.781-05:00Textbook Follies
For some inexplicable reason, when I decided to go back to University, I also decided to take what I thought would be the most challenging course in my program first. It's only going to be challenging because in high school I took the absolute bare minimum of math courses before I ran screaming for the hills. This leaves me with some gaps in knowledge, like algebra. No big deal, right? Who needsThe Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-53515798010907561482015-01-14T22:22:00.000-05:002015-01-15T08:36:05.911-05:00Did YOU Know the Vinegar Trick for Preserving Berries?I like to think of myself as one who is pretty handy in the kitchen, but every once in a while I learn something new that makes me smack myself in the forehead for not learning it sooner. These little life hacks are awesome. Like the one about soaking berries in a vinegar and water solution to help them last longer. This video describes the process in detail. I was sceptical (as born cynics are The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-52005522788559671752015-01-09T10:07:00.000-05:002015-01-11T15:45:49.945-05:00Foodie on a DietI love food. If you really think about it, the significant occasions in our lives are usually centred around a meal. As I pack M's lunch every day, I have realized that food is my love language. But here's the thing... I'm on a quest to find optimal health, and losing weight is one piece of the puzzle. Where I have failed in the past, and indeed where a lot of us probably fail, is in trying to The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-50063310065886997772015-01-05T11:26:00.001-05:002015-01-05T11:41:46.689-05:00Back to SchoolIt should come as no surprise to my regular readers that I'm at my best when I'm busy. REALLY busy. Just in case life as a full-time mom to two small children and a small business owner wasn't challenging enough, I decided to add something else to the mix. Because I'm CRAZY like that.
Back story... My University days were tumultuous. I didn't have a lot of structure growing up so I was a The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-26120672818675436582014-12-27T09:00:00.000-05:002014-12-27T15:25:10.837-05:00Tying RegretThe struggles we went through to conceive Z are well-documented. The intrusive daily ultrasounds, the daily needle in the ass, finding out we were having twins and then losing one of them early on. It was heartbreaking. Then there were the pregnancy complications. The Subchorionic Haemorrhage that never did resolve during the course of the pregnancy. That was followed by an unexpected spike in The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-81084090017624372132014-12-22T09:00:00.000-05:002014-12-22T09:00:04.399-05:00Cold Feet
Image: satit_srihin at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
We've all heard of cold feet, the anxiety-driven "fight or flight" thing that happens before a big life event. But I'm not talking about that kind of cold feet, I'm talking about literal cold feet. I'm mere weeks away from a significant milestone birthday, and some of the more unwelcome changes that come with age are starting to creep up on me.
The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-62556098878655877932014-12-17T20:59:00.000-05:002014-12-17T20:59:03.970-05:00Operation: Get in the FrameShe's alive! 18 months after welcoming our Little Cat Z to the world, the fog has lifted. A lot has changed, most notably my decision not to go back to full-time work after my maternity leave ended in June. I'm a bona fide work at home mom, squeezing in all the freelance writing and PR consulting I can during naps and after bedtime. M's after school programs are a breeze now that I'm able to makeThe Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-90845649037215165222014-06-21T15:08:00.001-04:002014-06-21T16:52:42.472-04:00Dear Vegans,First of all, I want to thank you. Because of your inventiveness and advocacy, I was able to find all of the ingredients for some truly delicious cupcakes easily, thus allowing my egg- and dairy-allergic son to celebrate his first birthday just like any other kid.
It made my insides feel all warm and fuzzy, and I am truly grateful.
But vegans, I gotta level with you... That stuff The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-9906091601356027372014-04-16T21:27:00.003-04:002014-04-16T21:27:47.452-04:00Life with TWO parasitesSo this life with two small children... It's busy. Like really busy. But busy in SUCH a good way... most of the time. The Husband and I sometimes wonder if we're dreaming, like this is too good to be true. Apparently that's common for people who have been through infertility and pregnancy loss. Every so often I let myself think that Z started off as a pair of twins and I get a little sad, but The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-20598837191487872382014-03-17T13:26:00.002-04:002014-03-17T21:41:33.686-04:00Vicks Starry Night Humidifier #ProductReviewHey, my calendar says SPRING starts this week! So... Why does my backyard still look like a frozen wasteland? Seriously, LOOK AT IT! When I was asked to review the Vicks Starry Night Cool Moisture Humidifier, I thought the cold & flu season might have run its course in my house. Luckily (?) I was wrong! Before I tell you about my experience, here are some fun facts:
New Health Survey of The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-55419679571956573832014-02-09T21:04:00.000-05:002014-02-09T21:48:41.852-05:00We experienced a #MapleSugarRush with @ExploreWR and you should too! #DiscoverOntario
Photo by @zamlosUsed with permission from The Curious Creature
Pancakes are a pretty
big deal around here on weekends, mostly because they are the perfect vessel for copious
amounts of maple syrup. When we were asked to take part in a family bloggers
trip to explore the Waterloo Region, we jumped at the chance. What a great day
for all of us!
The Maple Sugar Bush
It started with a The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-31274570423600008322013-12-17T09:30:00.000-05:002013-12-17T09:30:00.821-05:00Have your second kid first: Nap time!I was completely neurotic about M's nap schedule. Seriously, a total lunatic. I was actually afraid that her brain development would be in peril if she napped poorly for a few days. She's brilliant now and capable of outsmarting me most of the time, so in hindsight perhaps I should have let her skip a nap or two. You know that person who tells you their baby was sleeping through the night at The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-21645471367508763162013-11-05T10:09:00.001-05:002013-11-05T10:09:35.849-05:00Product Review: Little PassportsWhen I was first contacted by a rep for Little Passports with an opportunity to review the product, I was excited! M has recently caught the travel bug and we're spending a lot of our time talking about all the places in the world we're going to go someday. That list is getting pretty long, and I thought Little Passports would be a great way to talk about different areas of the world.
Here is The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-21089210924748938652013-09-20T23:33:00.000-04:002013-09-20T23:34:36.430-04:00Have your second kid first: Decorating the nurseryMonths before we brought M home, I had meticulously planned the nursery décor. It was a fun and funky jungle theme. Not too girly, because I'm nothing if not practical. I wanted to be able to reuse that stuff if we had a second child. The wall mirrors matched the lamp, which matched the window treatment, which matched the comforter, which matched the dust ruffle (yes really, a fucking dust ruffleThe Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7159190914544496230.post-17188226607104378602013-08-15T14:00:00.002-04:002013-08-15T14:00:58.123-04:00First of many firstsM is starting school in three weeks. That's right, my firstborn, the one who introduced me to motherhood, is entering the world of formal education.
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
To celebrate this momentous occasion we had a Mommy-Daughter shopping day last weekend. I let her pick her outfit for the first day of school. We went to several stores and she made it very clear what was and wasn't her The Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17914843163228125315noreply@blogger.com0