Chocolate Highs and No Naps: A Holiday Tale

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Let’s talk Easter with a baby, toddler, and pre-schooler. Listen, I don’t want to re-enforce gender stereotypes – maybe my daughter will be the same way when she’s old enough to participate – but my sons could literally not find an Easter egg that’s in plain view right in front of them if their life depended on it. Don’t get me wrong, the egg hunt was cute. They had their litte baskets, emptied of their play dough, bubbles, and fossil excavation kit, and ready to search. Now maybe it’s because they’re 2 & 4, maybe it’s because it was 4 in the f*%$ing morning and they refused to go to bed at a decent hour the night before, or maybe… it’s cause they’re boys.

“IT’S RIGHT THERE BUDDY, right on the chair!” My son’s looking, but where exactly his eyes are falling I can’t be sure. But obviously not on the chair? How can he miss the Easter egg sitting right there? My bet is our daughter is going to CLEAN UP when she’s able to participate. We watch our eldest run his hands along the chair, inches away from the egg, and he still cannot see it. We just sit with our coffee and laugh, but truly, without help, this egg hunt would still be going on.

Easter baskets for boys aged 2 and 4, including bubbles, play doh, and a fossil excavation kit
boys easter baskets, 2024

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Bad Backs and Double Strollers

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Well, I finally (on Feb 26) caved and saw someone about the pain in my back. Turns out it’s a herniated disc at s1, so an unfortunate injury for sure. And done by just doing my daily mom-ing tasks, so a tricky recovery. For those women who are striving for two under two, I say to you, “DO NOT DO IT.” Haha. Kidding. Kind of. 

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Another Fever & Homemade Valentine’s Day Cards

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You may have known that Valentine’s cards for kids sell out in January. I did not. As they say in the internet world, I was today years old when I learned…

My son’s class newsletter for February came home with him and there was a note about the number of students in the class and how to address the Valentines cards. We thought we would just pick up some corny cards at Walmart but couldn’t find any anywhere. We checked Amazon and they all came with some sort of extra junk – something else for everyone to just take home to throw out. I feel like we’ve really taken everything so far with the gifts and the goody bags for every single thing, but that’s a rant for another time.

We have a bunch of craft supplies here so I decided it would be no big deal to make cards for the 15 kids in his class and the 13 in the other pre-primary class (his class got split midway through the year so many of his friends are in the other class too) and his 5 teachers. No biggie.

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Baby Girl versus RSV

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Well friends, today I bring to you the story of my first 911 call. The story of an ambulance, police car, and fire department all outside of our house within minutes. It is a dramatic story, and at first we thought it completely unnecessary, but soon we found ourselves (that’s little miss and I) checked into the hospital for a two night, three day stay. Baby girl vs RSV. (Can I blog more about being sick? I wish I had other things to write about!)

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2023 Recap: 1000 Hours Outside Challenge

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Alright, late on the recap but I wanted to write down a quick synopsis on how our outside time looked in 2023. We totalled 642 hours outside. There were 56 days where we didn’t go outside at all. I’m trying to view these numbers with as little judgment on myself as possible, and allowing the excuses of: a rough year of weather, constant pregnancy illness, a literal province wide order to not spend time outside etc, to account for the lack of hours I felt we got. Hopefully this means we can EASILY beat those numbers this year. Our worst month was January with just under 16 hours (yikes but also that looks to be about all we’ll get this year too haha) and our best was August with 98 hours. So close to 100! I think a sub goal this year will be to have two months with plus 100 hours. 

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Wheel of the Year: Tarot Cards for 2024

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One thing I do at the start of every year is a Year Ahead Spread with my tarot cards. I’ve done this for the last three years now, using The Gentle Tarot.  Last year it correctly predicted I would give birth in October and not September like had I bet on. Check out last years spread on my Instagram here. I’m not all about tarot as a predictive practice, but I do find sometimes it has that element to it, so it’s fun to see what the year has in store, and even more fun to reflect back afterwards and see if what you pulled rang true for you.

Here are my cards for 2024:

12 tarot cards lay face up, one for each month of the year

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On Surviving Long Car Rides with Toddlers & Babies

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It’s that awkward time between Christmas and New Years, where none of us really know what’s going on, we only know that we’ve been eating well and drinking good and soon some semblance of normalcy will have to return. I’m currently sitting in the middle seat of the middle row of our minivan, trying to keep all three kids somewhat entertained so we don’t have to listen to the screaming that inevitably comes with a long car drive with toddlers. We are returning from our Christmas in Cape Breton and it’s about a 5.5 hour drive if you did it straight, however takes us about 7 hours usually, give or take.

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Late Night Writings: On Transitions

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Baby Girl had her two month immunizations today. Saying it gets easier with each child sounds horrible, but I can remember how much I cried with my first when we did this. It was awful. He cried and I cried. I really feel like it’s almost better for them when I can hold it together. She was upset for a bit but I think I had enough of a reassuring voice and calm demeanour and she was okay after a minute. Or, the more likely scenario in which I receive no credit – she’s one tough cookie. 

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An Afternoon Trip to Point Pleasant Park

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We had a great afternoon this past Saturday with our friends at Point Pleasant Park in Halifax. After a bit of a cold got the boys of the household down for a few days and what I thought was (going to develop into) mastitis knocked me out for 24 hours, we were desperate to get out of the house and refresh ourselves with a social visit and some outside time with a few of our favourite people.

Adults and children entering Point Pleasant Park in Halifax, NS

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