tiffany's spot

You know how everyone says that three is WAY harder than two? Kids that is - coolers or cupcakes, not so much. I have to say that so far, going from two to three is easier than going from one to two. I know, I know, those of you with a house full of sticky-fingered children probably hate me for saying that, but it's true. I think it's because my first was a somewhat . . . high energy . . . child. Now, she's calmed a little and doesn't do quite as many things to intentionally drive me crazy. She also plays on her own. And number 2? He follows number 1 around a lot. Number 3? Well I've already started manipulating his sleeping patterns and he only gets up once or twice a night. Seriously - all you softies out there, it's okay for you to let them cry on their own, in the crib, for a few minutes after they eat. It doesn't last long, they fall asleep within the next few minutes. Last night he whimpered off and on a few times in the hour following putting him bac

Steven's convinced that I borrowed this book from the library because the guy on the cover looks just like him. I told him that yes, that was why.

I read a lot. Well, at times I read a lot. As a pre -teen/teenager I devoured books, I'd read books a week. Now as a mother of three young kids I read when I can. The library loves me, my late fees alone keeps the library afloat I'm sure. I got on kicks when I read. I'll find a book I really enjoy and then my next six library books will all be by that same author. But really, I'm all over the map. Lately I've read a couple of spy books, lots by Tim Dorsey, a few very comical women-authored books, and my last one was "Scarlett," the sequel to "Gone With the Wind." did you know there was a sequel? Me neither. Did you know that people write sequels to the books of others? Ditto. Talk about being original. All in all, not bad. On page 998 of 1000 she gets Rhett back, all while the Fenians are trying to burn their 4-year-old changeling daughter to death, but I digress. The book I'm reading now is a romance called "Marrying Jezebel." It

Isn't it funny being a parent? For instance, the last post I read was about all the good stuff about being a parent. Today's post is about how they're driving me crazy!! I think my kids are out to get me today. For real. The biggest complaint? They wait until I'm settled on the couch to nurse before getting into stuff. Anyone who has ever nursed a baby knows that the minute you get settled the phone will ring or someone will knock on the door. Or the kids will do bad stuff. Like trying to shove toys into outlets. Why is it that you can put a safety thing on every outlet in the house and the one you forget to replace after using stands out like a beacon saying "shove stuff in here?" Why oh why? THEN he had a ten minute tantrum when I took the toy away from him, after trying to say "no" from the couch ten times only to have him ignore me. From there he decided to get himself some stuff from my pantry cupboard. At this point he had time out in the play

I marvel at my children. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting with my mom and going through impossibly small undershirts as I awaited the arrival of my first baby. I knew she was a girl. We never had this confirmed by ultrasound or fancy test, I just always knew I'd have a girl first. I had her entire name (minus the last name of course) picked out when I was 16 years old and in love with the movie G.I.Jane. The anticipation of that first baby was overwhelming. Here I was, going from being responsible for only me, to becoming a mother. I knew I'd be up all night feeding it, I knew that it would probably cry a little (or a lot!), and yet I couldn't wait to hold the little bundle in my arms and share the moment with my husband. I couldn't wait to bring baby home, come what may. People told me horror stories of labour and delivery and babies who cried 24/7. I didn't care, nothing could have diluted the happiness I felt knowing that I was about to become a mother.

We headed out of the house today to do some grocery shopping. We got talking about the possibility of me getting a teaching job next year, and that we'd really like for me to get a job even if it meant leaving Portage. From here we talked about moving again (we really hate moving actually) and Steven remembered that he saw a sign on the highway that was advertising an acreage for sale just outside of Portage. On a whim (and because the kids were both sleeping in the van and it was so nice and quiet) we decided to drive by just to check it out. No readers, we are not actually house-hunting. We just have very little social life and these kinds of excursions help fill in the time. We drove past the house, but couldn't really see it because of all the trees. S: We should drive up the driveway. T: Whatever you want to do. S: Do you want to? T: I don't care. In full "snoop mode" S & T make their way up the driveway. T: Uh oh. S: What? T: There's someone there. S

Our New Baby Boy : Mitchell Rowan Verwey Born : August 17th at 8:53pm Weight : 6lbs 10 oz Cute? : Absolutely! Everyone's doing well, and we're back at home now. Steven has the camera and he's out with the kids, so the pictures will follow shortly, as will a few details of the day! Told you I wouldn't make the due date!

First of all, I don't truly believe in "nesting" the way that some people do . I was taught in my last degree that there is no evidence to suggest that human beings have any instincts at all. That being said - "nesting" is getting ready for the baby. It's not that people "have to" do this, some of us just like to prepare for things - you should see me clean when I'm having company in a couple of hours. Trust me, this isn't an instinct, if it were there are many people who missed the boat on this one. I got a lot done tonight actually. I'm very proud of myself, especially since I've waiting until the last couple of weeks of pregnancy to really prepare. Good thing I don't generally have my babies early - oh wait, yes I do. I packed my bag. I even packed my toiletries into the toiletry bag in the bathroom. I'll just be using the stuff out of there every morning and returning it to the bag for quick retrieval once we need to go

I know I should be super sympathetic, especially considering all the complaining he's doing. Steven has little red raised bumps all over the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet. It doesn't hurt, it's just irritating. In typical man fashion, he's been complaining - a lot. I'm not allowed to complain about being 8.5 months pregnant in the heat of August while chasing two crazy kids, but a couple of bumps on his hands and it's time to call in the quarantine team. Today there seemed to be more bumps again. They're breeding in there. ew. I called Health Links. It's a wonderful thing to call really, we've called a few times since we had Jordan. The nurse on the phone asked him a series of questions and had him look into his mouth. Turns out he's got a bunch of spots in there too. It's a virus grossly named the hand, foot & mouth disease . There will be no more touching, hugging, kissing or smiling at me. Okay, well I suppose he can smi

Who the heck voted for "gently avoid the subject" of Steven's aging? I think there are a few goody-two-shoes reading this blog, and I won't stand for it! Rough up a little people! As if you'd just kindly make a birthday cake and forget that it was his 30th birthday! There is definitely a need for a little razzing. Besides, any of you who know Steven will know that he's an extremely good sport about this stuff, and has a good sense of humor. I implore you, click on "change vote" and change your vote! I'd hate to have to admit that I've actually voted twice myself to keep the results in my favor.

I rotate my towels. Steven thinks this is hilarious, but it makes sense - they're never musty in my pile o' towels. I like the smell of gasoline. Not "love" it the way some people love it, but when I catch a whiff of it I kind of enjoy the moment. I have always hated coffee in all forms - in coffee itself, in cappuccinos, in desserts, etc. You'd think that would be a good thing since pregnant women are supposed to avoid caffeine, and I do seem to be pregnant a lot in recent years. However, since getting pregnant this time around I really LOVE French vanilla cappuccino. I indulge at many opportunities. I'm even thinking of buying a can of the mix from Tim's to save on the expense of buying individual cups of the good stuff from the drive-thru window. I hope the baby isn't too squirrelly. Rugs disgust me. Kitchen rugs, bathmats, etc. I'm kind of cool with the door-mat, but the rest are gross. 'Nuff said. I sometimes pinch Steven's nose while

So I'm back. I finally have my computer up and running - although some stuff is different and I don't like it. The only thing is that now that I have my computer back I am drawn to it only to realize that there's not much going on in the internet world. People are supposedly "busy" and not blogging, facebook only holds so much excitement, not much email. Shameful shameful. We're taking the kids to Splash Island today! Originally it was supposed to be my mom, Steven and me and the kids, Grandma and Ange and her kids, but it's starting to look like it'll just be Steven and me and our family. That's cool too, my kids are fun! I'm debating on whether to bring my camera. Last summer we went there and "lost" a pair of Jordan's flip flops. I kept sneakily looking at other kids to see if someone was wearing my daughter's pilfered shoes, but whoever had them put them cleverly out of view. I mean seriously, stealing from a 2 year old? F

AUGUST 7 My computer is dead. Or at least it is at the time I'm writing this. Oh computer, how I miss you. I really miss blogging too, and email, and to a lesser extent - facebook. So to appease my need to blog I have decided to blog on paper, to be transferred to the computer later. I hope it happens soon, my writing is atrocious and my hand is tired already. The computer is currently "in the shop" and I have desperate hopes to get it back today. Recent Stuff: We took our monkeys to see the kids at the zoo with Lorelie and Andrew. I stole that from Jewel. I always thought it was cute, and after I had kids I realized how true it was. The kids liked the zoo - surprisingly, Tennyson more than Jordan. He was enthralled with the animals. Jordan was enthralled with Oliver, and the rocks, and the water fountains. All-in-all a great day. Thanks for the invite Lorelie! Steven's building a deck. Or he's in the process of building a deck. The other day we got up at 8ish i

After looking all over for the missing camera: Me: Jordan, do you know where Mommy's camera is? Jordan: No, but I can help you find it! Thus the golden curled little girl bounds happily over to the couch and quickly retrieves the camera from behind it. Oddly enough, it was full of closeups of her feet, eyes, tongue, etc. These things are so mysterious! Oh yeah, and this is like my 290th post today, so be sure to scroll down.

Setting: Basement (you just know this is gonna be scary), computer room. Steven impatiently waiting for his turn on the computer, Tiffany knowing there's not much he can do about it. S: [over by the closet, looking at something] Wow. T: What? S: Nothing. You don't want to see. T: [somewhat annoyed tone] Oh no, now you better tell me. I know it's a spider. S: Actually, two. One's in the web, the other one is standing here and staring at it. I think it's in an attack stance. T: KILL THEM! S: No, they'll eat the mosquitoes that are down here. Aside: Any man who uses this kind of logic after telling me that there are two jumbo attack spiders taking up residence in my computer room is gonna hit the floor hard. More aside: He had better be more afraid of me than the mosquitoes at this point. T: If you ever want to sleep in my bed again EVER you will kill those spiders. [i think i may have borderline yelled this. not like a girl, but like an angry, threatening woman

This last week was Delta week. This refers to the week each summer when Steven's family rents a cabin at Delta beach. We didn't spend the entire week out there though - one day we went to the zoo with Lorelie & Andrew, one day I went to my mom's with the kids, and there was a day in there that I sent Steven and the kids out to Delta so that Mom and I could paint the two kids bedrooms. Let's just say that as a result of this crazy week my house is a disaster! Not a disaster like my grandma's idea of her house being a disaster (you know, one flier on the table, ooooh). My house is seriously a disaster. The bedrooms that we painted are still completely unorganized. The one is empty except for the bed and the crib, the other room has all the dressers, closet doors, laundry baskets, baby stuff, etc. all unceremoniously thrown in a heap. This makes it a lot of fun to get Jordan her 3rd change of pants over the course of the day, or to find a diaper for Tennyson. If on