it works!

Who knew? I'm married to Mr. Fix-it.

Last week, the unthinkable happened. Our dryer ceased to dry. Well, it decided not to turn on at all. Not good for an already laundry-challenged household such as ours.

Basically, the spring-loaded start switch on our Frigidaire Gallery dryer wasn't starting the cycle. It wasn't doing anything. I called around to a few local appliance repair places, to find that to have a serviceman come to the house would cost $50 to start. Then, once you get into the parts and additional visit for the fix, it can get pricey. For an appliance that can be replaced entirely for $400, we wanted to keep repair costs as low as possible.

Enter Mr. Fix-it. He opened up the dryer, looked it all over, and started Googling. He read forums for similar problems, and, using our model number, was able to pin-point the exact part he thought we'd need to fix the issue. I picked up the part for $25, and with the help of an online video, he swapped out the old for the new.

The moment he turned the knob was very Frankenstein ... it's ALIVE! And thankfully, we all have clean undies once again.

growing by the minute: 18 months

This is a couple days late, but I wanted to wait until J's appointment late yesterday so I knew how he was fairing in the growth department. He took his 18-month needle like a champ, but gave the doctor the stink eye.

Vital stats: He's a growing boy at 32.5 inches tall (50th percentile), 26.5 lbs. (75th percentile) and a 20-inch head circumference (95th+ percentile).

Milestones and firsts: Using the potty! I didn't want to mention this too early, because I didn't want to jinx our progress, but J is on his way to self-potty-training. Don't even ask me why or how. At about 17 months, he started to tell us "I pee" or "I poop" and then he started heading to the bathroom and attempting to climb up on the toilet. So, before and after his baths, and when we'd change his clothes, we'd give him the opportunity to sit on his own potty. He doesn't like to use it with an audience, so we tell him to call for us when he's done, and when we return, he shows us that he used to potty. We've now started extending this experiment to include big-boy underwear. In the mornings and evenings during the week and on weekends at home, we let him wear his own underwear, and we remind him now and then to tell us if he has to go. So far, he's had just one accident. We aren't pushing him, since he's still young, but we are encouraging his self-directed process, and we have all of our fingers crossed!

Teeth: 11 ... possibly 12. It's hard to keep track which ones have cut through, but I'd say he'll have a few more within a month or two.

Speech: He's a motor mouth, that's for sure. And a parrot. He's willing and able to repeat just about everything we say, which means we've had to try especially hard to curb our curse words. After hearing our toddler say "oh shit" once, we learned to watch our language pretty quickly.

Zzzzzzz: Jacob is still a strong sleeper, taking a nap each day around lunchtime for about two hours and sleeping from about 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. each night.

Om nom nom: He likes to tell you what he wants to eat, and nine times out of 10 that means "pizza" but that doesn't mean that's what he's going to get. Good try, buddy. Other frequent requests are cheese, cookie and cracker. He also loves to eat whole apples on his own and doesn't even want to give it up when it's down to the very last bit of core.


Likes: Balls are his absolute obsession, and have been for a long time, to the point that we're thinking that his big-boy room should have a ball theme. He's also really enjoying Legos and blocks, building towers and knocking them down over and over. It's fun to watch him concentrate on his project and dissolve in a fit of laughter when the whole thing comes crashing down.

Dislikes: He really doesn't like it when you take something that he wants, like balls that he needs to leave at daycare at the end of the day. Since the weather has been nice, he also likes to cause a scene in the yard when it's time to go inside, yelling "outside! outside! outside!" until we carry him through the front door.

Looking forward to: A summer of fun in our big back yard and starting swimming lessons in two weeks.

a knob of a different colour

Because I can't leave well enough alone in our new house, the door knobs were on my list of to replace. There was nothing technically wrong with them, other than these two-toned oldies other than, well, they're two-toned oldies.

See?

I knew I wanted something a brushed nickel style, so we tried out these simple, round knobs:

But they really weren't doing it for me. They were boring. Then, good ol' Rona came through with these beauties ... on sale for $8.99 each!

I wasn't sure if this style would look to modern in our almost 35-year-old house, but we gave it a go, and I fell in love. They're different, heavy duty and are the fresh look I was hoping for.

One task down, a whole bunch to go!

you know you're a parent when ...

... your idea of an awesome spring break includes being in bed before 10 p.m. and getting to sleep in until 7:30 a.m.

*

Living the high life, yes we are!

The good news is that we've done a bunch of little projects that I'm preparing to share with you over the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

and the final rose goes to ...

On The Bachelor, a rose is given to the women he could really see himself spending the rest of his life with. What six things in your life would you like to give a rose to and why? 

Given that I could give roses to all of my favourite people, I've decided to approach this question from an entirely materialistic angle ... the six products, gadgets, conveniences, and worldly possessions I consider must-haves.

1) Our humble little abode. This is a big-ticket item, but it's something I couldn't give up. It's a warm happy place to raise my family, not to mention all of the projects we've been doing to make it our own. I'm very attached.

2) My cellphone. When it goes dead, I feel lost. I don't like the feeling of missing a call or not being able to get in touch with someone, if needed. It feels crazy to say, considering I didn't have a cellphone just 10 years ago.

3) My MacBook. A place to write; upload, store and edit photos; access the world. It's my go-to for phone numbers, addresses, recipes, definitions, and news. Plus, how else would I write these stimulating blogs? Ha.

4) Mr. Singer. I put that bad boy to good use this week, making curtains for my nephew-to-be's nursery, and I've got a list of other projects in the works.

5) Kitchen must-haves. This isn't limited to one. I have so many tools that I use nearly daily, including my Pampered Chef manual food processor, my Hamilton Beech programmable slow cooker, and my drawer of favourite tools, like PC bamboo spoons, rubber scrapers and spatulas.

6) Coffee. This is beyond trivial, but I love having a delicious, hot cup of coffee. I love the taste, the comfort, the social aspect of enjoying coffee and conversation with others.

What are your daily must-haves?

P.S. I strongly supported team Kacie B. until she came back for closure and pulled the don't-pick-Courtney stunt. Guess what KB, it's not your choice any more. Move on. Now that the choice are limited, Lindzi for the win. 


Thanks, as always, to Mama Kat for the writer's prompt.

come by and say hi

**UPDATE: Do you want the chance to win 2 FREE tickets to this weekend's Real Home Show at the Halifax Forum? Comment below and say "I read Herald Homes!" I will randomly draw for tickets today at 4 p.m. Good luck! 

This is where I'll be spending my weekend:

And I'll be in this persona:

Come by and say hi!
Happy Friday!

making the cut

When sis-in-law C and I are visiting over the March Break, we are going to have a meeting of the minds ... and the Google Readers. We're going to compare and contrast our collections (I subscribe to 66, she subscribes to 46). We're going to add some new ones, delete some oldies and refresh our blog outlook. If you're anything like us, this sounds like a great idea. If you're not, it just sounds nerdy. And we're OK with that.

So our question is, which blogs are your favourites and why?