year in review

January:
We travelled to Cape Breton to celebrate our niece Niamey's first birthday.

February: 
We enjoyed a great visit from NB family and friends.
Jacob started using his big boy high chair and eating more solids.

March:
Jacob welcomed buddy Ethan Andrew to the world.
Jacob marked several milestones, including sitting up like a champ, learning to clap and his first haircut.
We celebrated Ayyam-i-ha over March Break in Cape Breton.

April:
Jacob cut his first tooth.
We spent Easter in New Brunswick with family.

May: 
Jacob and I enjoyed our first Mother's Day.

June: 
Jacob started crawling!
We travelled to Cape Breton to celebrate two good friends' wedding.
Jacob and Daddy celebrated Father's Day.
I got a new job at The Chronicle Herald.

July: 
Husband turned 27.
Jacob got to stay home for two whole months with Daddy.

August:
Spent a week lake-side and pool-side with family in New Brunswick.
Jacob took his first steps.

September: 
Spent the long weekend in Cape Breton with family.
We celebrated Jacob's first birthday!

October:
Husband and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary!
We carved pumpkins.

November: 
I turned 27.
We put in an offer on a house, and it was accepted!

December:
We moved into our first house!
We spent the last week of the year with both sides of our big, happy family ... a perfect way to round out a wonderful 2011!

growing by the minute: 15 months

I let the monthly updates slide after Jacob turned one. Now, to my utter disbelief, he is already one quarter through his second year.

Vital stats: At his check up last week, Jacob weighed in at 25 lbs and measured 81.5 cm, which puts him around the 75th percentile on the growth chart for his age. 

Milestones & firsts: So many. Running, full tilt, with confidence; climbing furniture; adding words by the day to his vocabulary; befriending Scarley; started going to Miss Allie's House during the week; learned to identify head, hair, nose, ears, eyes, belly, feet, as well as objects, animals and a few colours; moved into a new house and a new room and has made himself quite at home ... I didn't realize how eventful the past three months have been!

Teeth: Nine and counting. We recently went through a tough week of teething, and now he has four in the front, on top, three in the front, on bottom, and two upper molars.

(Teeth are great for eating cake pop treats!)

Speech: I can't even begin to count how many words this kid says. He never. stops. talking. Which comes to great delight to people who love to point out who he gets that from coughmecough. Some of his most-often said and best understood include: hi, ball, dog, mama, daddy, hot, don't touch, I did it, no, please, water, apple, banana, oh wow, cheese, oh no, bottle, bath, guitar and the gamut of animal sounds, such as moo, woof woof and meow.

Zzzzzzz: Dare I put it in writing? Sleep is good. Very good. Generally, Jacob sleeps 12-13 hours per night without waking, though sore teeth or head colds wake him from time to time. His usual bedtime is around 6:30 p.m. He also takes a noon-time nap at Miss Allie's house each day, which can vary from 45 minutes to 2+ hours.

Om nom nom: Jacob likes most everything, but his tastes vary depending on the day. Recently, he was on a huge pb&j kick, on everything from English muffins to tortillas. He loves all veggies, especially broccoli, and eats tons of quinoa and beans. He's certainly not a vegetarian though; he eats chicken like it's going out of style. Oh, and don't let him see a banana, or he'll pester you until he gets it.

Likes: Hide and seek, stacking towers and knocking them down, sitting in his chair, toting toys from room to room, trying to dress himself and playing outside.

Dislikes: Laying still to have his diaper changed. I seriously can't think of anything else. He's a pretty easy-going dude.

Challenges: Jacob had a bout with a fever and rash that made for a rough weekend recently. It's never fun when he's under the weather or uncomfortable.

Special moments: Here's one perfect example: one night, when J was teething and having a hard time getting to sleep, we brought him into our bed for some cuddles and he just snuggled in between us and went to sleep. He stayed there, snug as a bug, all night. Felt so good.

have i mentioned that i love being a home owner?

I owe you a follow up to this post, wouldn't you agree?

We started with a dark room and we are in the progress of completing several intentions.

#1: Rip out that terrible, old, dark carpet. CHECK.
#2: Remove wallpaper throughout the basement. CHECK.*
#3: Choose paint colours. Paint. HALF CHECK.**
#4: Have new carpet laid.***
#5: Put our feet up in front of the cozy wood stove.

* The wallpaper removal process seemed like a breeze, until we realized that the play room was still, in fact, papered. Under paint. What a mess. I couldn't bare the thought of leaving it that way. It's our home, I resolved, and it must be done completely, and done right. Well, after layers of paint thinner, wallpaper remover and loads of elbow grease on Husband's part, we've decided to crack fill and smooth it as best we can, and then paint over that sucker. I think it'll look pretty great once it's finished. And only I will know there's paper hiding under there. Well, and you'll know, too, but you won't tell, right?

** Paint has been selected and purchased! Yay! Now we just need to finish the job in asterisk No. 1 and we can move on to this satisfying stage.

*** Oh Home Depot. We are developing a love-hate relationship. It used to be all the former, but now I'm starting to drift toward the latter. We went in on Dec. 3 (yes, six days before we closed, because we're caraazay like that) and picked our carpet, paid the deposit and were told we'd hear back at the first of the week about a measurement appointment. Nada. Eight days later, the installer called on our quiet Sunday morning to announce that he would be there in 10 minutes. Super-awesome-advanced-notice-much? I was in my bathrobe and stayed dressed that way until he had come and gone. So, we promptly went into the store on Monday to pay our balance and book our installation. Three days later, still waiting. I'll keep you posted, but aim your eggs at HD until further notice.

ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

Day 5 in the new house, and things are starting to look a little different ...

Behold, the BEFORE:

Horrible. Hideous border. Dark carpet. Even worse forest green on every bit of trim.

Then, the most wonderful thing happened ... Husband scraped off that border and took down the blinds ... and it was like a Christmas miracle:

Then up came one layer of carpet:

And then another:

Isn't this the most glorious pile of trash you've ever seen?

I wonder if the neighbours are starting to talk ...?

And this is only the beginning.

closing day!

It's Friday! But more importantly, it's CLOSING DAY! The last 28 days have been a whirlwind (yes, that's all that spanned between the day we offered and the day we closed).

What you can't see here are the lovely mature trees in front, closer to the street. I love that yard. 16,000-square-feet of pure bliss, and it's all ours.

So, I think it goes without saying that we've got our weekend cut out for us. What are you up to?

financial bucket list

Do you have a financial bucket list? Things you would do when and if you could save the money? I recently started reading Give Me Back My Five Bucks, a Canadian blog about finding financial independence, and it's given me inspiration to be even more aggressive about paying down debt.

Here are a few of the things on my personal financial bucket list:

1) Pay off debt as quickly and efficiently as possible. This includes student loans, two car payments and our new mortgage.

2) Create an emergency fund. Ideally, this would be enough funds to live for six months if something unimaginable happened.

3) Increase our retirement contributions. Who doesn't want to be set up to retire comfortably?

4) Increase our investment into education savings. Hopefully our children will pursue higher education and we want to be prepared to help them as much as we can with that.

These all seem quite logical, right? What are your financial priorities?

*Another huge bonus? Give me back my five bucks is hosting a great giveaway, so pop on over to learn more.

countdown to christmas

I blogged for The Chronicle Herald on Wednesday about wanting to start a Christmas countdown tradition in our home. The idea that I liked best, of out all of the great ones I found on Pinterest, was a holiday activity for each day of December.

Here's what we're planning:

December 1: Sing Christmas songs.

December 2: Send letter to Santa here.

December 3: Bake Christmas cookies.

December 4: Watch Elf on CBC.

December 5: Colour Christmas pictures.

December 6: Make paper ornaments.

December 7: Take festive family photos.

December 8: Shop for stocking stuffers.

December 9: Send Christmas cards officially from our new address.

December 10: Deck the halls in our new home!

December 11: Watch Home Alone on CBC.

December 12: Make DIY Christmas gifts for friends.

December 13: Read Christmas stories.

December 14: Take an evening drive to look at Christmas lights.

December 15: Make paper snowflakes.

December 16: Go on a winter walk.

December 17: Do a good deed.

December 18: Build a snowman (weather permitting) or make an indoor version.

December 19: Make snow angels, inside or out.

December 20: Play outside.

December 21: Sip hot chocolate with candy cane stir sticks.

December 22: Read Christmas more stories.

December 23: Drive home for the holidays! Listen to lots of Christmas music along the way!

December 24-29: Celebrate Christmas with family.

December 30: Make a list of family plans and resolutions for 2012.

December 31: Stay up late, enjoy treats, and ring in the new year as a family.

five things

Five things.

List five things we don’t know about you.

1) I can't iron. I hate to iron. I don't do it. Ever.

2) I can't watch violent movies.

3) I talk in my sleep. Often in full sentences.

4) I gave birth to Jacob naturally, without an epidural.

5) I've been pulled over twice for speeding. Received zero tickets.

Five things you’re knowledgeable about.

1) Cooking and baking. I am, by no means, an expert, but I love to try new things, so I'm always learning more.

2) Crafting and DIYing. I consider myself pretty creative and will try and project that comes my way.

3) The written word. I am an editor, after all. And yes, I know, the grammar on this blog isn't always to the letter of the English law, but this is my outlet. I'm allowed a few liberties.

4) Swimming, synchronized and otherwise.

5) Motherhood. I'm not going to pretend that I'm not learning as I go, but parenting takes up a surprising amount of brain real estate as of late.

Five things you know nothing about.

1) Football. I've been taught before, but I can't seem to retain all the rules.

2) Math beyond add, subtract and multiply. Don't ask me how to do long division.

3) Harry Potter, Star Wars or Lord of the Rings.

4) Current music, besides what's repeated over and over on my morning commute.

5) Gardening. I'm an absolute brown thumb. Don't tell the homeowner police, but I am likely going to destroy my yard.

And five things you believe.

1) I truly believe everything happens for a reason.

2) I believe in my instincts.

3) I believe in the good in people.

4) I believe in love. It is the glue of the strongest bonds in my life.

5) I believe in karma and the Golden Rule.

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

house & home

As I leaked in my 30 by 30 post - we are now home owners! As of our December 9 closing, at least. 10 sleeps, if you're counting. I already shared a bit of the story here.

We started the search a few months ago, initially browsing MLS and ViewPoint, and then we contacted our Realtor. Our intention was to start looking to get a sense of what we liked, and then but the plan into motion after the holidays. 18 boring houses later, and we unexpectedly found ourselves standing in the living room of the house that just felt like home. The layout is exactly what we wanted, spacious and open. Three bedrooms for our little family with the potential to add a fourth in the already-finished basement. It has curb appeal and a big yard, with lots of room to play and entertain. And it's not perfect either. There's some wallpaper to strip, and floors to swap and little updates here and there, but those things might be what we're most excited for-- to make our little home our own.

With moving day less than two weeks away, we've already packed a significant amount of our current home into boxes and bins. I spend all of my free time pinning, searching and jotting notes in a lengthy Google Doc, keeping track of our to-dos and must-buys.

On the list of priorities after Dec. 10:

• Install new (just purchased!) dining room chandelier and fire place sconces.
• Strip wallpaper downstairs. Repaint.
• Work on updates to J's big boy room.
• Put a happy wreath on our new front door.

Looking forward to giving you the full tour once we're in and settled!

30 by 30

Today, I turn 27. I don't dwell on age or the number. My year as a 26-year-old was pretty wonderful, and I'm looking forward to what life as a 27-year-old has to offer. In three years, I'm not going to have an ohmygodi'm30 freakout. It is what it is. Like a fine wine ... and all that.

I think we all have things in our minds that we intend to do in our 20s though. Some of my goals are time consuming, some are lofty. If I start now, I have a full 1,095 days to complete them. Doable.

30 by 30:

1) Eliminate half of my student loan debt. I have a chunk of student loan debt that needs to be paid.

2) Go down south for a week. This is something Husband and I have never done, and we'd love to do something like this together. Maybe for a 30th birthday celebration?

3) Volunteer for something that makes a difference. I'm not sure what this is going to be yet, but I'd like to use some of my spare time to contribute to something bigger than myself.

4) Grow my little family. I'm not going to comment on when this will happen or how many more children we would like to have, lets just say we're hoping/planning to give J at least one sibling.

5) Invest more. We have some of these adult things set up already, but I'd like to increase our contributions to better plan for our future.

6) Join a book club. I know this is kind of cheating because I did this already, but it really was one of my goals. I love our little club!

7) Try a new activity. Last year, I went to zumba for the first time and it was a lot of fun. I've always been curious about pilates. I will enrol in a new activity.

8) Take a cooking class. I love to cook and bake, but I've never had any professional lessons. I'd love to take a class to learn some new tips and tricks.

9) Buy a house. SURPRISE! This one is already finished, too! More on that soon!

10) Write more. Obviously I write plenty, between my weekly column gig, this ol' blog and various smaller projects like J's baby journal (which I don't update nearly as much as I'd like). I want to write more ideas down as they come to me, and in whatever form they take. I want to write more snail mail to friends and family to brighten their days. I want to be more creative/inspired/funny/interested.

11) Learn to use my SLR camera. It's a shame that I haven't cracked the manual on the camera we've owned for more than three years. I will make the most of that. Soon.

12) Buy adult furniture. Our couch and love seat are the kind you buy when you're just starting out. They served their purpose. Now it's time for an upgrade.

13) Read all of my hard-cover classics. I own 14 of them and have only read a few so far.

14) See more of the world. Visit one new province and one new state. It's all about keeping the goals realistic.

15) Take a course that will make me better at my job. I could refresh and learn more about Photoshop, or try some new software like InDesign or Illustrator.

16) Take a road trip with girlfriends. Shopping, anyone? Boston? Montreal?

17) Make yoga part of my regular routine. I love yoga, but often don't make enough time to practice. By 30, I'd love to be attending regular weekly classes.

18) Build something. With wood and nails and everything.

19) Donate blood. I've tried to do this years ago, but as a new vegetarian my iron was too low and I was denied the opportunity. I have a much better handle on my diet as an adult and I'm sure I would be eligible now.

20) Edit our wedding videos. These are now on three un-edited discs. I want to combine them and add some subtitles so we have a lasting time capsule of that wonderful day.

21) Dye my hair. I've done this many times in the past, but haven't done it for years. Then, just yesterday, a co-worker pointed out, "hey, you really do have grey hair!" ... yeah. So by 30, I fully expect to be a hair dye regular.

22) Attend my 10-year high school reunion. Next year. Where does the time go?

23) Do a 10k run. I've run a 5k since running the half marathon in 2010, so I don't see why I couldn't practice a bit more and run double.

24) Plant flowers and landscape my yard with success. I didn't say I could do it without help.

25) Dust off my trumpet. I remember the basics, but that doesn't mean it's going to sound good.

26) Try surfing. I'm sure I'll be as uncoordinated at surfing as I am at dancing, but it's worth a try.

27) Institute an actual moisturizing routine. Just because I don't mind ageing doesn't mean I'm just going to let myself go. This also includes never forgetting sunscreen again.

28) Sew more. Maybe even try some patterns. (Sorry, HH!)

29) Get CPR and first aid certification. Good skills for anyone, especially a mama.

30) Be thankful for my family and friends every day.

life as i know it

This post by Melissa at Dear Baby made me think about the old days. The time of my life when I only had to worry about myself, when I didn't have a family to care for, a child who is my life's greatest responsibility. Made me wonder if I made the most of that time. Did I go out often? Spend time with friends? Travel? Act spontaneously? Craft, cook, creative write? Did I do lots of things for me when my time was all my own? I'm not sure. It's hard to look back, from the perspective I now have, and decide. What I do know for certain is that my life, as it is now, is beyond fulfilling.

Racing home from work to soak up every minute of awake time my boy has left before bath time, bottle and bed. Spending the time after that cleaning up splatters of supper off the floor from below his high chair and picking up toys and books scattered across the living room floor. Working on freelance to make a little extra for our family, and planning, scheduling, organizing so everything runs smoothly of all three of us. And it's hard work. A careful balancing act.

That doesn't count the things I try to do regularly for me -- like writing on this ol' blog, reading book club books, cooking and baking, and crafting. This weekend, I enjoyed lots of me time -- got a good start on the latest Litwits book, went out on a festive date to the parade of lights with a couple great gals, and spent some time crafting with a few other lovely friends. Weekends like this put life into real perspective -- I've got it good.

Some days it's tough. Sometimes it brings out my less-than appealing side when stress and fatigue take over. But I do try my best to keep it all in check, letting the little things roll off and meeting the big things head on.

As noted in Melissa's post, we are doing important work -- raising kids, nurturing relationships, keeping life going well from day to day. It's not always easy or glamourous or fun. But it's important. And always worth it.