tiffany's spot

Tennyson needs to learn English so he can say "you should see the other guy." Seriously, he looks like a baby brawler. We took him to get his 1 year pictures done yesterday and he's got scrapes on his forehead, a big bruise on his cheek, the underside of his nose has cracked open in bright red glory because of all the snot-wiping, and his bottom lip (inside and out) has teeth marks in it from taking headers into the furniture, floor, wall, door frames and bottom of the entrance stairs. On the inside, my boy is a big cuddly softy. On the outside it looks like he goes to baby fight club meetings. We postponed Jordan's one-year picture because she fell out of a lawn chair and scraped the end of her nose pretty badly. As much as I'd love to postpone Tennyson's picture so he was more blemish-free, there is no point. He always looks like this. Pictures to follow.

Baby's face. Bottom left is the forehead, and then to the right of that is its eyes and nose. Baby's arm on the left. The other arm is shown on the right, but it's not as obvious!

Today is the last day of daycare. Starting next week my kids will be cared for by our moms and other family members. To be honest, I'm pretty happy about it. Its not that I don't think daycare is a good idea. On the contrary - the kids get to spend time in an environment with lots of other kids, with different toys and activities and with different authority figures. Often family members are happy to say yes to anything kids want, to give them everything they point at or whine for and to let them get away with everything. It's good for kids to learn that it's not just Mommy and Daddy who have rules and structure. Also, Jordan loves daycare. Her face absolutely lights up when she finds out she's going. She is so excited. She's so eager to pack her lunch and scramble into her coat and boots. She wants to bring her own toys to show "Lucy" (Jordan's made-up name for the daycare worker. Nobody knows why, and we can't tell her any different. It...

Seriously, no ideas. I'm going to steal this post idea from another blogger and ask for suggestions! We absolutely CANNOT agree on a baby name for either a boy or girl, so send forth your suggestions. Oh, and as much as I love all of you I won't be naming my 3rd born after any of my friends. Sorry! ps - as a reward for giving me all the names you would one day use for your child, I'll scan my ultrasound picture on here!

Maybe, just maybe, Lyla was right. Things often do have a way of working out. If you recall the previous post , I was quite annoyed by present childcare circumstances. Turns out I had more substitute teaching offers than I could accept, and no babysitter. This would limit me to only about 8 - 10 work days a month when what I want is to work Monday to Friday until the end of June. When I told my mom about my situation she generously offered to babysit on any days that Steven is working and she is not. Isn't she lovely? Yes, yes she is! Especially considering that she works more than 40 hours a week - some of which are 12 hour all-night shifts. Now on selected days off she'll make the 35 or 40 minute drive to my house to be here before 8:30am. Oh how I love her! From here I wondered if Steven's mom would be willing to work a few Mondays or Tuesdays in the upcoming weeks. She also said yes! My dear friend Angela has graciously offered to pick up some of the leftover days and v...

As suggested by the title of this blog, I am frustrated. Not only that, I'm pregnant and frustrated. Not only that, I'm pregnant and broke and frustrated. Because you asked, I'll tell you why. I have two and a half months of school year left. This is two and a half months to hurry up and work as much as I can so that I can get a couple of excitement-inducing cheques before my summer off and the baby's arrival. This would also help to not only ensure that I get maternity leave benefits, but to beef up said benefits. I'm about to jump around a little, but bear with me. Back story is so refreshing, especially when it's disjointed and deliberate. I have only averaged about 7 days a month in the School Division. This is partly to do with not having a babysitter. The good news - I got a babysitter around the middle of March. With high hopes, I recently joined the neighboring school division so I could fill up my calendar and increase my mat leave cheques next year. Th...

If only the baby ticker would just open its little legs and show us its gender. Because I bet that really is my baby! Seriously, I would love to find out the gender. We didn't with Jordan, and we did with Tennyson, and I loved knowing. Steven however, is a poopoo head and doesn't want to. I know I could talk him into it if I pushed just a little, but I don't want to do that unless he actually wants to. Now I'm suffering. Seriously, I have no patience for this! We keep arguing about what colour of baby blanket his mom should make for the baby. We're not serious of course, it's not like the baby is going to be born and one of us will be all disappointed. How could we be! Have you seen our kids? They're pretty darn cute (unbiased opinion). We're just each trying to tip the gender balance in our house in our own favor. Oh how I love them.

Setting: In the car. Time: After lunch. Tiffany and Jordan had just finished having lunch with Tiffany's mom (Baba) at MacDonald's. tiffany: do you like having chicken nuggets with Baba? jordan: (mumble) my best friend. tiffany: Baba is your best friend? jordan: No. tiffany: I'm your best friend? jordan: No!! Chicken Nuggets!!