Biting

Ugh. Oliver has started to bite. What the hell? It's starting to really annoy me. Twice now he has bitten Jack hard enough to leave little teeth marks. Jack is pretty good about it. He just tells Oliver "NO BITING" until I make my way over to remove him. I'm not really too sure what I should be doing. I just firmly take him away, sit him on his bum and tell him we don't bite. I would like to think that is enough and is getting the message across because he gets upset and cries when I do this, but he will do it again (not right away but later on). Every time he comes near me and puts his mouth anywhere near a body part, I cringe and anticipate a bite. I haven't had to deal with a bitter yet. I hope this is a phase that goes as quickly as it came.
Suggestions anyone? Please don't tell me to bite him back. I would never, ever do that. That is just horrible.

It's Been A While

It's been ages since I've thought to sit down and write. I just don't ever seem to find the time. I've been working like crazy. This Sunday/Monday is the first time I've had two consecutive days off in weeks. It's the one real downfall to working part time and relying on picking up shifts. That and not getting paid vacation time. Sure, I get paid for vacation but we get paid out 4x a year vs getting paid for any vacation time used.
I can't believe that in just over 3 months time, my baby boy is going to be turning 2!! Yikes. That's just crazy. I can hardly believe that it has almost been 2 years. It certainly does not feel like it's been that long. Dare I say I am almost starting to get the itch to have another. It certainly doesn't help that my best friend is now expecting her 3rd baby. We've had both of our kids close to each other with 5 months between our oldest children and only 1 month between our youngest. This is definitely the one thing I struggle with each and every single day - deciding if I want to have any more kids. A family of 4 is a nice, round number. It works well. The thought of never having another pregnancy and baby though, completely saddens me. Like how do you decide? How do you know if you want to have more kids or not? I know I can't decide. I also know that right now the thought of having another baby scares the shit out of me. Babies are a lot of work. I'm just getting out of that stage, do I really want to go through it all all over again? Of course if we had another kid that would mean having to move again. That I know is not something I have any interest in doing. I'm pretty sure too that we've met the quota for how many time Shawn's friends are willing to help us move our shit. Shawn of course is all on board for having another baby. Of course he is. He's not the one giving birth to it mind you, I don't find giving birth that big of a deal. It's a few hours of some intense pain but meh, it's not biggie. Not really a deterrent. I do tell him though that this time around, he would be the one staying home with the kids and I would go back to work. After the first 16 weeks, Daddy is entitled to take a parental leave from work and that is exactly how we would do it. I don't know how SAHM's do it. I love my boys and I enjoy every minute I have with them but I also like going to work and being out in the real world working. I'm just not SAHM material.
Tomorrow, one of my good friends (Chantal) is celebrating a big birthday (30). I've known Chantal since we were just little. She is who I used to call to come and bowl with me when we had the annual Buddy Tournament. I think I used to call her to go to Friday Night Fever with me at the YMCA too. We don't see or talk to each other for weeks and even months at a time (despite the fact she now lives less than 30 minutes away), but when we do talk and get together, it's like not time has passed at all. Happy Birthday Chantal! I'm totally dreading this birthday. I'm happy I still have another 4 months to go. I knew there had to be some good out of having a late birthday.

In Memory of Grandma

It's been a year since you received your wings. I think of you each and every single day. I miss you so much.

Aside from time going by at warp speed, not much has been going on.
Father's Day weekend we went up north to Shawanaga to spend the weekend with Shawn's parents as we do most years. This year however we decided to send Oliver to my Mom's for the weekend. Having Oliver at Shawn's parents would have just been a disaster. Of course with the bugs being at their peak, Jack was again eaten alive. The poor kid. He reacts so badly to mosquito bites. One morning he woke up and couldn't even open one of his eyes because it had swollen so much from a bite near his eye. It was then that I thought it would be a good idea for him to go to Nana's too.
I had invited my Dad to come up to Shawanaga for the weekend too so I sent Jack to Midland when he went back home. Aside from the bugs, it was a nice visit.
This Tuesday night, we headed up to Laura's to play some poker. Upon getting Jack ready for bed, I noticed he had quite the rash all over his body. It kind of freaked me out a little but I chalked it up to he's been playing outside and has some new mosquito bites. I never know what to expect when he gets bit by a mosquito.
When he woke up in the morning, the rash was looking a lot better and a few hours after that it was almost completely gone. I was wondering if maybe it was 5th Disease.
Because Jack didn't get a whole lot of sleep, we decided Jack should have a rest/nap yesterday. When he got up from his rest/nap, the rash at exploded all over his body again including creeping onto his face. It made me nervous that it was now on his face so I decided to take him to the walk in clinic.
Turns out, he had hives. The hives could have been caused by one of 4 things. Tuesday (the day the rash first appeared) when I gave Jack his bath, I used to body wash for bubbles and washed his hair with my shampoo. Both a first. The mosquito bites though I don't think it was from that because he's never broken out in hives - just big welts and bumps. Lastly, the Dr said his body could just be having a reaction to a virus. Because Jack also has a bit of a runny nose, the Dr stated it was probably the later. Poor little guy. He of course refused to make any kind of medication so I've had to sneak the Benadryl into a cup of juice. I've learned not to try to sneak things into milk. One day when trying to give him some Advil in his milk he said to me "Mommy, my milk tastes like dirt" LOL I wish they made children's medicine into chewable pill form. It really would make things a lot easier for me.
This weekend we will be going to Laura and Johnathon's 4th of July party. Should be good times. It's nice too that the kids are able to come and enjoy themselves and there is room for them to sleep. I wonder how I will be feeling Sunday morning. I'm not a big drinker so I'm sure it will be me up with the kids while Shawn enjoys a nice little sleep in. Of course if I do decide to have a few bevvies, it will be just the complete opposite. We shall wait and see.

Mid Week Post

Not much going on here really. This past week, I've been feeling extra tired. I just don't feel like I have any energy. I'm beginning to think this is because I don't often get two days off in a row. This never really leaves me with a lot of time to do much resting/relaxing. I'm looking forward to my shift being over tomorrow because then I am off for 5 full days!! During those five days off we will be heading up to Shawanaga to see Shawn's parents. I've been quite looking forward to going up there. It sucks though that it's supposed to rain this weekend. That puts a damper on many activities we plan to do while we are there such as going to the beach, playing horseshoes and going to Shawn's parents trailer.
I have invited my Dad to join us for a night. I was happy when he told me he would come. I don't get spend a lot of time with my Dad so it will be nice. I'm especially happy because it's Father's Day and I didn't want him spending a bulk of the day by himself.
Ugh, I'm looking at the time and it's totally screaming at me that it's time to get ready for work. I suppose I should listen. I hate having to rush.

Guilt

My Pepere passed away yesterday at the tender age of 101.
When my parents separated just over 11 years ago, my visits to my Memere and Pepere dwindled significantly. At first my Mom would still go over to visit them and then she stopped. When she did, I pretty much did too. She always encouraged me to go and visit them but I never did. It was strange going over to their house without my parents. I don't know why. It's not like I didn't bike over to their house by myself as a kid. Why would it feel strange as an adult? I think I was always afraid that because of their ages, they wouldn't remember me.
My Mom always told me that one day when they've passed away I would feel guilty for not visiting them more often. She was right. After finding out yesterday, it's exactly what I've been feeling after sadness.
It's been a really, really long time since I've seen either of them. It breaks my heart that the next time I see my Pepere will be at his funeral. How am I ever going to forgive myself for this? Even though I'm not expecting my Memere to remember me (she is 97 or 98), I can't wait to give her a hug and tell her I love her. I wish I could do the same with my Pepere. Lesson learned.

May you rest in peace Pepere. Je t'aime.

Happy Mother's Day

M is for the moan, and the miserable groan
from the pain that She felt when I was born

O is for the oven with it’s burnin’ heat
where She stood makin’ sure I had something to eat

T is for the time that She stayed up at night
and took my temperature when I wasn’t feelin’ right

H is for the hard earned money She spent
to keep clothes on my back and try to pay da’ rent

E is every wrinkle I put on Her face
and every worry that I caused when I stayed out late

The last letter R is that She taught me Respect
and for the room up in Heaven that I know She’ll get


Mr. T’s Be Somebody…or Be Somebody’s Fool!