Sesame Halloween

 

We went to the Museum of Civilization on Saturday morning for some Sesame Street fun.  We had a great time and lucked out by ensuring we were there early and beating a lot of the crowds.  Of course Elmo, Cookie Monster and Abby Cadabby were the highlights for many there was still some great other fun to be had….and we got to meet all three of them! Cookie  and pumpkin decorating stations were set up as well.  With kids in costumes and Halloween celebrations underway it was definitely fun for the whole family.

 

 

 

 

Ikea Ottawa- Offering a Whole New Level of FUN!!

I had the wonderful opportunity of getting a sneak peek of the brand new Ikea in Ottawa. Wow, it is HUGE! There are so many staged rooms that offer a world of creativity that I could explore all day. When walking into our home it is evident that we are very big Ikea fans. We love the clean and sleek lines. Modern design and look. You absolutely cannot beat it’s affordability either. We have Ikea beds, cribs, all of our dressers, futon, desk, chairs, tables, tv stands, book shelves and the list could go on!

The new ikea has over double the parking, over double the product and over double the checkouts!,;

Looking to renovate your kitchen? There were ALOT of kitchen showrooms with lots of creativity and examples of making your kitchen work best for your families needs. Need new cupboards? Selection is definitely not limited 😉

One of my favourite things to buy at Ikea that I can’t seem to pass without grabbing another to bring home? These picture frames look great and all sizes are very well priced!

The kids section is sooo much bigger than the old Ottawa store and there was a great toy selection. I must say that the toys were extremely reasonably priced as well!  I am excited to head back in the next week or two and make some purchases!!\

 

Water Fun at Mont Cascade

I am joining in the Summer of Awesome fun that was started by Lynn at Diary of a Turtlehead.  My friend Sara at My Points of View joined in and I decided to jump on board as well!

Mont Cascade is a very short drive from our home and we decided to take a venture over to Mont Cascade with the babe for some afternoon fun.  We went on Fathers Day and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t over crowded even though it was the weekend and the sun was shining brightly.  At $12.95 for an adult admittance fee, a steal in my mind for a waterpark, how can you not go?!

The baby pool has a nice shallow beach entrance that makes it enticing for the wee ones.  I dislike the grainy pool bottom as I find it is not comfortable to sit on and definitely not made for kneeling while splashing with tots.  There are 3 little slides that come down into the baby pool and 2 slightly larger slides that come down into a small pool of water within the slide that bring you to a stop.  With the 3 slides that come down into the baby pool you have the option of a very wide one where multiple people can slide at the same time, one that enters straight into the pool and a third that is curvy.  The 2 large slides that are still made for small children are slightly faster but babe still thoroughly enjoyed whipping down on my lap and continued to point back to the slide to go again!

After our first afternoon there (we spent 2 hours there and that was more than enough with the babe) we purchased a membership on our way out which meant our days admittance fees were subtracted from the membership fee.  At $32.99 we have already paid off our memberships in the 3 times we have gone since Fathers Day!

As a former lifeguard, and NLS instructor, I know that the lifeguards hired at waterparks do not need to have their NLS and most have their bronze cross.  I will say that from what I have seen the last 3 times I have been there I would not let your child go any further than your arms reach.  I have seen a lot of hair flipping, bathing suit strap fixing to ensure no tan lines, chatting with patrons with their back to the pool and sitting in a guard chair with their head lazily resting against their arm.  It scares me to see this because dangerous things happen when around the water very easily.

Take your lunch and snacks as food is allowed on site and the parking lot is very close to the entrance should you wish to leave stuff in your car to get later!  There is also a snack bar and a place to buy drinks but we haven’t checked that out yet as we have been going before dinner for a few hours to cool off and kick back.

We haven’t ventured to the bigger slides yet as we enjoy our time as a family while we are there. But they do look like much fun!! Maybe one day we will bring somebody else along with us so mommy and daddy can enjoy a big slide or two!

I would love to plan a meet up and know some people have already expressed interest! Let me know if you are interested in coming for some waterpark fun!

Summer of Awesome

So I have decided to jump on the Summer of Awesome bandwagon and join Lynn from Diary of a Turtlehead & Sara McConnell from My Points of View through a great journey of creating fun in the sun and pure awesomeness with my family this summer.  Last summer was a bit of a blur with a newborn (who still doesn’t sleep but we love him sooo much!) who just liked to eat and snooze in our arms.  We did get out and about but did not participate in many kid activities as he was too young and couldn’t go out too late at night because it was our cluster feeding time.

However this summer baby D, well more like toddler D now, is all about moving and grooving and we are loving taking him places to explore.  This year we have become members of all the museums in Ottawa and the Biodome in Montreal.  We just added a membership to Mont Cascade on that list.  With most of these places your membership is paid off within a few visits!

We are ready for a Summer of Awesome and I have compiled a list below of places we will include in this journey!

1.  Granby Zoo– Hubby has fond memories of going to Granby Zoo as a kid but has yet to be back since it was revamped, expanded and the water park added. We are eager to make this an annual tradition for babe on the way to the grandparents house.

2. Parc Omega– We have driven by it many times and it sparked our interest the first time we stayed at the beautiful Chateau Montebello years ago.  We will definitely be including this on our list of great and fun places to visit this summer!  Stay tuned as I am sure I will be tweeting about some gross animal slober all over our car 😉

3.  Mont Cascade– Okay, so I did say we have already been, but it was just last week so still part of summer, right? We actually went two afternoons in a row because it’s so close to the house.  I am looking forward to many more afternoons spent with babe pointing to the slides to go back down. We spend all of our time in the kiddy part but the slides there are still fun 🙂

4. Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo – I love the baby marmosets here and can’t wait to watch babes face in amazement at all the little creepy crawlers and big gators!

5.  Biodome- We already have plans to head to the biodome in two weeks and hope to take another day trip to in August.  Our family membership has already paid for itself since we purchased it in January.

6. Montreal Science Centre- We have spent many afternoons and evenings down at the Port in Montreal but I have yet to visit the science centre. I think our museum membership here may actually cover our admission fee for their too as I know it is applicable at other museums out of the City.  Oh and speaking of the Port in MTL have you seen what they have planned for there?  In an article I saw looks like great new things are on there way! Plus I want to see this- http://www.quaysoftheoldport.com/festival-montreal-completement-cirque-en.html and this http://www.quaysoftheoldport.com/festival-montreal-completement-cirque-en.html

7. Gatineau Beaches– since we are new to the area we are still exploring and getting our bearings. Babe loves playing in the sand and continues to come home from daycare covered in it!!  Can’t wait to take him back to a beach where there is unlimited sand to muck around in!

8. Storyland– I remember going here as a child as it was a short drive to get too.  I remember vividly walking through the big trees and being amazed by all the fun little characters.  They have added a splash pad and mini-putt since I was a child 🙂

9. Family Walks- We are so blessed and were given a beautiful double chariot from a wonderful family this summer and I can’t wait to use it more.  I really enjoy going for nice family walks, pushing babe in the stroller and heading to the parks.  I would love to explore more local parks throughout Gatineau and do some of my favourite ones in Ottawa. My top Ottawa faves are Windsor, Brewer, Stanley, Strathacona & Lindenlea!

So that’s my list for now and I may add to it as we go along and discover something that we want to explore as a family.  What are your summer plans this year?  I hope to blog about each adventure as we go along but with a babe on the move and a business that is growing as fast as the kid sometimes life just happens 😉

 

 

*Additions**

So there are a few places I forgot to add and thought I would add them here….

*Chateau Montebello – a friend had mentioned that it is possible to pay a day fee to use the facilities such as outdoor pool, trails, etc.  We stayed here a few winters ago and loved it!

 

Craftalicious

There is a craft show happening in Ottawa this Saturday November 13th and I will not be missing it!  Craftalicious will be held at St. Mathews Hall in the Glebe at 217 First Ave.  Held from 10a.m. to 5p.m. there is sure to be something for everyone on your Christmas list.  Support local talent and check out their yummy treats and amazing crafts.  We have swim lessons with the babe at 10:30 and will be heading over after that. I can’t wait to check  it out and pick up something super cute for baby boy for his first Christmas!  See ya there.

The Big Move

We are finally settled into our new family home (with a few boxes left to unpack and lots of dream renovations to putter away at) and I am loving every single moment of it. It is exactly what we hoped for. Lots of “projects” to do but we are eager to do them and make the house our home. We saw the potential with this house and can’t wait to follow everything trough that we want to see happen.

We took possession of our new house on a Tuesday and didn’t have to be out of our other house until the Friday at noon.  This was a great set up for us with a newborn ensuring we did not have to rush to be out of one house and into the next on the same day.

On the Tuesday my father, brother and his friend were incredibly helpful in moving large boxes and very big washer and dryers. Baby boy was wonderful as we drove all over the city and did lots of moving. Wednesday my mom was here and stayed until very late Thursday night. Not only did she give babe lots of grandma snuggles she unpacked boxes like they were going out of style. 

Thursday night we travelled back to the Ottawa house at 10p.m. and scrambled to throw any last minute items into our cars to bring back to Gatineau home.  We were tired, it was late and babe screamed the whole way from one house to another.  I almost hit my breaking point but took a few deep breaths and carried on.  We had a great first night sleeping in our new home as a family and where off to sign and finalize papers Friday morning at the lawyers for our Ottawa home.

It was bittersweet. This was our first home that my husband and I purchased together. It was the home we came home to after our wedding, after the birth of our first child and all the events in between.  I can vividly remember walking in the front door with Dom when we came home from the hospital on a late Saturday night. But, it was time to move on, move forward and start a new adventure together this time as a family of 3!

As I unpacked boxes in our new home it was reconfirmed to me that we made the right  best choice for our growing family.  We have a lovely home that we are making our own and have lots of room to grow.  Dominic has a safe place to play outside with a fair-sized fenced in yard and tons of space to learn to crawl, walk and run!

Here’s to another chapter of our lives!

Thanks to everyone for your advice on moving with a baby and making it a smooth transition. Also huge thanks to all those who came to help pack, unpack, snuggle with babe and share in our new journey.

a day in the life….

I have noticed lately that I spend a lot of time “”playing” around online when I am meaning to actually get work done. I decided to live blog today, inspired by Andrea of A Peek Inside the Fishbowl & Erin Blaskie . There are also days when I wonder what exactly did I accomplish today? Most days are lost in the daze of nursing and changing diapers and putting babe to sleep. Don’t get me wrong those are glorious moments we get to spend together and I cherish every moment but thought I would have more time to accomplish other things.

7:15 am.Dom starts to stir and then fusses. I think its feeding time, but he just ate 2 hours ago……I just unswaddled him and put him in bed beside me to feed.  He usually goes back to sleep. I am still tired!  I open my eyes enough to pick up the baby, unswaddle him and check my email on the ipod touch 😉

7:30am. Babe thinks its funny that I think he may go back to sleep.  His sweet smile is telling me no more sleeping for a while. Must get up and shower and change his diaper but have decided to stay in bed a little longer and stare at this cute baby of mine! His smile is delicious 🙂

7:45am  hmmm. somehow his diaper just leaked. I must have really been asleep when I changed it a few hours ago Now the bed is wet. Oh well it will dry! No way am I washing the bedding again today.

8am finally made it to the shower. Dom still playing and kicking on the bed.  In wet diaper and pyjamas….. Oh come on, like you’ve never left your kid in a wet diaper and clothes for a few minutes!  Had to check my email and twitter account again, lol.

8:08am time to throw a load of laundry in and get baby dressed.

8:10am hey kid….when did you do that in your diaper! Close the diaper, bring babe with me to get wet cloth wipes out of warmer in my bathroom. Take him back to his room and change the yellow seedy mess. I then dress him in his cute jeans and shirt that says “what happens at Grandma’s stays at Grandma’s” Grandma is coming to visit in a few hours for the day!

8:15am I make my way upstairs to the kitchen, carrying a baby, computer, water bottle, video camera, ipod touch and socks.  I check my email AGAIN, put babe on his playmat for tummy time (he is not a fan!) and make a coffee. I reach for the caffeinated because it’s that kind of morning.  

8:20am I decide to pump some milk as mornings I can get a little bit of extra to store. I am certainly no milk making machine. Can feed my child and get a little extra for later to store.   I am multi tasking as I pump, play and sing with baby, tweet, drink coffee and eat a crumpet with jam!

8:40am turning that pump off!! boobies have had enough for right now! babe is eating some more and going to sleep on the new nursing pillow I am reviewing.  I start to do some work and get distracted by twitter. damn you twitter!

9:45am babe is sleeping now on the nursing pillow and I am trying to frantically get a hold of my lovely husband. Blogher 2011 has been announced….we are going to San Diego! The internal debate is on…do I go and leave babe and hubby? No way I can think of leaving babe, but would totally trust him to stay with his daddy 🙂 Do we all go as a family? Would be awesome, but is that what we want to do with our family vacay money? Have also talked NYC and/or Amsterdam, etc. agh…decisions!

10a.m babe is starting to stir, sucking/nursing non-actively away again and my mom just arrived.

10:15am time for Grandma snuggles for babe and I am going to attempt to actually pack a few boxes and do some laundry now that the washing machine is finally fixed. No more laundromats! woot!

10:45am check my email and twitter again. Get caught up in a few conversations on there….come on how can you not!? Finish uploading all the video from the camera we have taken of babe over the past few weeks. There is so much!

11:00am we show Grandma some of the video that we have taken over the past few weeks and I load them to you tube and then up to the blog for posting.

11:30am reply to a few emails regarding our fall yoga programs and product reviews. Unfortunately some of the reviews were not of our “style” or products we would use, or that I thought clients/readers would find useful. Always feel like I need to give the PR companies a lengthy explanation. Should not feel bad about this! lol

12:00pm Pack up our diaper bag to head out with my mom and babe. A few extra cloth diapers, hooter hider, sling, wrap (you never know what I may feel like wearing at the time! lol), wallet (just in case I want to shop!) and a change of clothes for babe…..just in case.

12:30pm park in the Glebe and put babe in his stroller.  Grandma gets to push while I put up posters for our fall yoga programs being held in the Glebe & Old Ottawa South.

2:30pm Stop in at Felena’s for a bite of food. Babe is a little hungry so I feed him while we sit on the patio.

3:30pm Walk back to our car with a quick stop in at GNAG to visit the staff and show off the babe. Even get to see a little rehearsal of the dance campers.

4:00pm Head over to the St. Laurent Shopping Centre for a little retail therapy! All the kids summer clothes are $2.99 at Children’s Place so Grandma stocks up on a bag full of summer clothes for babe next summer! We scored on lots of 12 month & 18 month clothes!

4:45p.m. Babe starts to get fussy. He is getting tired and had enough of this outing. I also just realized that I have not changed his diaper since we left the house and he was only wearing a kissaluv contour with a booroi cover. Mommy fail as he has been feeling that serious wetness for a while!

5p.m.We pull into our parking spot and daddy comes out to help unload the car. I take babe in to change and feed immediately. I also give him some bare bum time because I feel bad for leaving him wet for so long!

5:10p.m. Check my email while nursing babe, update this blog post and prep a few other ones.  Update my website with event dates for Fall and return a few more emails about yoga programs. Check out swimming lessons to possibly register babe in for September.

5:30p.m. Time to eat some dinner. Hubby has made some wonderful homemade club sandwiches. I look around as I eat seeing nothing but boxes and mess everywhere! I hate the disaster moving can sometimes bring but it will so be worth it to move in and fix up the new house!

5:45p.m. I start to get a little stressed thinking about how hard it will be for me to move into the house and not jump at fixing, renovating and re-doing things. That is just my personality! This house is going to be a project for a few years.  Hubby & I know what we want done and because we want it done right, well right to our taste and standards, it will take time, effort, sweat and MONEY!  We know we will chip at it here and there until we fully complete it.

6p.m. Take babe downstairs to prep his bath so Grandma can bath him. He kicks and splashes in there for about 20 minutes while I pack up all the clothes I won’t be wearing in the next few weeks as they are all pre pregnancy clothes and pre nursing clothes! I look at some I forgot about and am hopefully they will come back into my selection of everyday clothes in the next few months!

6:20p.m Babe gets his nightly massage, night-time diaper on and pyjamas. I nurse him and then Grandma gets ready to leave. She has a slight upset about the way we swaddle him. WE LOVE THE MIRACLE BLANKET, THANK YOU LARA! Mom things it’s a straight jacket style and oohs about how we put our “poor child” in this blanket when really he should be able to move around. Trust me mom, it saves all of our sanity and he will actually sleep on his own now! HUGE accomplishment.

7p.m. I put babe down to bed and I lay in bed beside his cradle and tweet away! I am thinking about falling asleep myself but feel like I should actually do the work I was hoping to get done today. I contemplate what to do. Decide to have a nap until hubby comes down at 8 to see what I am doing. I come back upstairs for another 30 minutes and then decide to go to bed!

Good Night 🙂

Boy life has changed since baby boy arrived, but I am loving every moment of it!!!

Movies for Mommies

The little man and I headed back out to Movies and Mommies last Thursday to see Date Night. We went to their last Ottawa event where they showed Sex and the City 2. I was very excited to finally be able to see it and was able to bring babe without worrying about him having a fussy period and not being able to calm him down.

What a great experience we had! The theatre opened up 30 minutes before screening time so you could come and get set up. Strollers and any other baby equipment you may need was welcomed into the theatre that remained dimly lit throughout so you could find that new diaper or blanket in your bag. The sound was lowered enough that you could still hear the movie perfectly bug it was not too loud for all the babes in attendance.

Strollers are allowed wherever you want to have them which was nice to have beside your seat if you wanted so babe could sleep or if you are like ne the stroller is a place to store stuff while you wear babe in a sling or wrap 😉

There is a designated change area in the back of the theatre with free diapers and wipes and a bottle warmer available at the food stand.

Upon arrival you are entered in a draw for a baby book, are given a jar of organic baby food, a Canadian Family magazine and some other pamphlets.

I was thoroughly impressed with the organization of movies for mommies at my local Rainbow theatre and will definitely be returning again and again!

Many people have asked if I am bored at home or if I have many friends with little ones.  I am very active in the community and have already been to several mom and baby events, playdates, etc.  What events, playgroups and activities did you attend with your baby? I am always looking for new things to do!