Tater Totter

Summertime!

2007-06-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

2 weeks 5 days

2007-03-06T09:48:00.000-08:00

Little Man Jack

2007-03-06T09:36:00.000-08:00

I think we have chosen the name Jack!! I feel that this little dude is going to be a really mellow, laid back, skateboarding, hippie lovin' veg head and he needs a name to go along with that!

BUT should he turn out to be a pencil pusher.....

We've decided to give him a whacked out middle name - Jack Spratt - Jack Sparrow - Jack Dingleberry - Jack Danger.

So Jack is my "golden child" he eats, sleeps, poops and stares with a tiny bit of crying (mostly when being changed). I'm getting pretty solid sleep at night. And thankfully Tate is in his own room now - we've made his "bunks beds" into a fort and he, for the most part, spends the whole night in there.

I' m also super stoked to be going back to work in June for 4 days a week - I love my job and miss it like crazy. The girl who is taking over for me right now has an interview at a midwifery school and I'll be working for a couple of days next week. And since I'm only 4.5 pounds off from my pre-pregnancy weight I might actually be able to wear all my old office clothing. Oh the small things in life that bring a smile to my face.

40 weeks 4 days

2007-02-17T17:37:00.000-08:00

The long and short..... went into labour at work! Called Angela to come by at 5pm - baby boy was born at home at 6:49pm. I went to the neighbours around 9pm, and had a nice long walk showing off baby the next morning!

He looks just like Tate - and no I have not named him yet. He sleeps too much (aww poor me :) for me to get a good look at him and figure out what is a fantastic name.

Already fitting into size 5 pants!!! I'm frigging ecstatic about that.

Will update in more detail later.

37 weeks and huge!

2007-01-19T13:41:00.000-08:00

Alright well maybe I'm not HUGE, but boy does it ever feel that way. I'm in a massive amount of pain right now that I just can't imagine having to go through any longer. I am suffering from "Symphisis Pubis Dysfunction" essentially my pubic bone and pelvis are no longer speaking and have decided to separate! It's particulary painful today since running for the bus (all because SOMEONE had to get a coffee)

I've been very busy trying to get everything in order not just at home but also at work. This week we've steam cleaned our carpets and our couch (mom will be happy to sleep on a clean couch) Last week I made a trip to IKEA and picked up items to make my house feel more homey and a place I want to hang out. I picked up a can of paint to paint just one wall - Blood Red - let's see if it actually happens. Bill is taking Tate for the weekend so I will hopefully have time to accomplish that.

For now I am going to beg my chiropractor to fit me in today.

2006-12-24T14:48:00.000-08:00

Tate and Baby wish you a very

Merry Christmas!!

30 weeks

Oh the things we do to entertain our son...

2006-12-24T14:38:00.000-08:00

These are the things the boys get up to while I'm at work

You should see the lovely rings in the bathtub they left for me

Painting homemade x-mas tree ornaments

Watching x-mas movies dressed in paper

Grocery bags and paint keeps em' quiet for hours!

Mad I am MAD

2006-12-24T14:36:00.000-08:00

GRRR... I'm frustrated with this blog - I spent 3 hours typing up the past two months in order that I was hoping that they would appear on the blog and when I went to publish them they just came up in any old order that they pleased! SO for those of you reading you need to start with "October 28" and move upwards. GRRRRR

2006-12-24T13:16:00.000-08:00

Tate and Bill enjoying my birthday gift, such men!

Sunday mornings are breakfast at "Granma Rosie's" and Amber, Karla, Greg, Holly, Rosie and "popa" threw me a surprise breakfast party! I got my mint chocolate chip ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins that I salivate about even now, beautiful hallowe'en inspired flowers and a lovely homemade bookmark.

2006-12-24T12:56:00.000-08:00

Tater - sand or snow?

Our backyard destroyed by the wind - no we don't normally eat at upside down tables and spread out chairs!

Tate throwing snowballs at the patio door

Toys buried in the backyard

Our Crazy November Weather

2006-12-24T12:46:00.000-08:00

Bizarre, bizarre and more bizarre!
First the snow and more snow and the whole city shuts down, people lose power, there's a water boil in effect and then the wind oh the 155km winds that left a few of my friends not just without power but homeless as trees (multiple) crashed through their home.

And then there's my son who asks to go running into the backyard while naked! And for those of you who know me know I of course opened up that back door and let him run!

Hallowe'en 2006

2006-12-24T12:26:00.000-08:00

Hallowe'en was a blast. Bill did another great job at making Tater's costume. This year, along with half of the population, we decided Tate would make a great Pirate. We took him out to the mall in the early evening to load him up with chocolate, well me really.

Tate before the sugar

Tate after the Sugar

2006-12-24T12:19:00.000-08:00

Tater "cheating" at the bean bag game to win a pumpkin

Scene from atop the corn maze - the Sphinx had some alien like creepy stuff that again freaked our son out

Pirate Ship from the Train

Galey Farms

2006-12-24T12:05:00.000-08:00

The three (or four - that's the baby in my tummy not fat ya know!) of us headed out to

Galey Farms for some Hallowe'en fun.

We took a ride on their haunted train, walked through the spooky corn maze, pet some goats at the petting zoo and spooked the living daylights out of our son at the haunted house.

2006-12-24T11:48:00.000-08:00

After our trip through the alley we headed home for a few moments before Bill and I had to rush around trying to get ready for our dinner reservations at Vista18

The view was great I'm sure - if we could see anything in Victoria at dark!

And the food well.... I have to say meh! We ordered a few appetizers to split and man the portion sizes were reminiscent of 1998 nouveau cuisine... TINY. We split the

pork duo:
grilled pork & fig sausage with a blackberry & pear chutney andbraised pork cheek with a pomegranate BBQ glaze, braised savoy cabbage & wild potato fricassee
$26.00

It sounded good and it was really awful, I think we both missed the "braised cabbage" part, which was taking up most of the plate. We each took a bite or two and sent it back, in which they gave us a free desert but didn't take the meal off the bill. Two restaurant people not happy!

2006-12-24T11:36:00.000-08:00

Of course Tater man fell asleep just as we were heading into the Square to see the dogs. So Bill and I had a nice quiet lunch at Green Cuisine my fav (vegan) restaurant. They make the best "Not Nanaimo Bar" After Tate woke up we ran through the streets like madmen! We took some back alley routes and I got some great pics of the little dude.

2006-12-24T11:30:00.000-08:00

Wag-o-Ween 2006

Do dogs feel humiliation??

Retriever Clown

My personal Fav

Bulldog Bee - too cute

The Winner
Lobster in a pot!

October 28

2006-12-24T11:01:00.000-08:00

Well that was a couple of months ago but it was my birthday and worth noting as it was a fantastic day.

We started out going to the final day of the Moss St Market - we got there 10 minutes before its closing and most vendors had packed up for the season - ALL I wanted was cinnamon sugar donuts! Turns out they didn't even go for the final day so not all was lost. Across the street from the Market was a church bazaar and we scored some ridiculously cheap stuff. We got Tate a red ferrari remote controlled car (we peeled the Barbie sticker off, he'll never know!!) Bill found a bike store he wanted to check out so Tate and I hung around out front. We found BIG piles of leaves and he had a blast jumping around in them. And then just as we were leaving Tate wanted to check out some of the bikes...... and proceeded to topple oh about 15 of them, that was fun!

Next we went to Market Square for "Wag-o-Ween" a dog in costume sort of deal.

YAY! We're halfway there

2006-10-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

Me at 20 weeks preggo with another little boy. Any ideas for names? I'd love to hear them.... so far Bill is stuck on George, and to be honest I'm not entirely sure he's joking. He has Tate calling my tummy "Baby George".

I'm feeling the effects of this pregnancy so much sooner than the last time. My back, hips and legs are killing, I'm not enjoying it at all! As my midwife said to me about a second pregnancy "Everything is Loosey Goosey, when you're 3 months you feel like 6, when you're 6 you feel like 9 and when you're 9 you'll feel like an elephant"

I've finally re-gained all the weight I lost in the first 4 months. The baby has a very strong heartbeat, and everything looked good on our 18 week ultrasound.

Well I'm off to check on our Thanksgiving Ham. My pumpkin pie smells awesome, I think I might start there!

2006-08-31T14:44:00.000-07:00

My not so little guy!

2006-08-27T19:11:00.000-07:00

Tate and Mykaila August 19

When will the Belly Pop??

2006-08-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

Again, if I could crop my head I would! So this is me 15 weeks - that equals almost 4 months, what up with that?? I'm slightly pushing it out a bit here too, but you get the gist!

2006-08-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

I think by now most of you know that I am pregnant with numero 2. But just in case..... SURPRISE! Baby #2 will be joining us February 12, 2007. I'm so incredibly lucky to have the best midwives taking care of me in all of Victoria (if not everywhere!) And it's even better that I get to work with them everyday. We are again planning a homebirth, but this time I would like it to be an even bigger celebration. I want my living room filled with people baking cakes and cookies, enjoying champagne and just having a festive time. Of course this baby could come at 3am on a workday, so perhaps it might be a mini celebration. We would like Tate to be here, but I've got a doula to not only assist me in the birth but to also help Tate out (or take him out!)

I'm really struggling with the idea of finding out the sex of this baby. I never wanted to with Tate I wanted to have that special moment afterwards finding out. BUT this time, man I just can't stop thinking that I'd like to find out. IF it's a girl I can start shopping on the sales rack at the GAP for the cutest dresses (and start weeding out all the really boyish clothing I've been hanging onto) and if it's a boy then I need to start thinking up names NOW!

My friendRosie has been taking weekly pictures of our bellies (her daughter/ my friend Holly is also pregnant - and about 5 weeks ahead of me) this I think was 11-12 weeks, if I could figure out how to crop my head I would!

2006-08-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

2006-08-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

That's only 8 ft apart!

It was quite a fantastic show. It started late as there were tons of boats in the harbour that were way too close to the shore, but for some reason were not moving back, at one point they had 20,000 people yelling "MOVE THAT BOAT" But he had fun and that's all that mattered, well that and Starbucks had a "By Donation" stand :)

2006-08-17T16:44:00.000-07:00

What a crazy summer! Non-stop things happening!
And it has taken me the past 3 weeks to remember what my blogger log in name was, that was a pain.
Last weekend we took Taterman to Willows Beach to see the Snowbirds perform, he is just fascinated with planes. We live quite close to the sea planes harbour and everytime he hears one overhead he grabs his binoculars yelling "PLANE, PLANE" (Hawaii 5-0 style).

I got a wicked, strange looking burn on my back it was a small triangular patch with pieces missing (my hair).

Butterfly Gardens

2006-06-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

Giant Atlas Moth

Golden Helicon

Brown Clipper

Common Mormon (Male)

We had a lovely day hanging out at the Butterfly Gardens. Tate had a blast running around looking at all the butterflies that were fluttering around, the ducks that were lounging on the benches, the flamingos, parrots and cockatoo.

It's a bit of a trek for us, we wanted to take the bus in hopes that it would be a double decker, but no, it was just a regular ol' bus! Which my little monkey insisted on pulling the dinger every other stop.

The Gardens had a really lovely cafe,delicious food and very reasonably priced. And the gift shoppe was a huge hit with Tate, I think he'd have been ok if we just hung out there all day. And, surprisingly, unlike most gift shoppes it was also reasonably priced. We walked away with some butterfly and bug stuff and crazy balls! Taterman fell fast asleep on the way home.

Tomorrow he's off to his first day of daycare! We've decided to put him in for one full day a week to help him socially interact with more kids his age (especially boys!) It's a bi-lingual, Waldorf inspired, Organic Vegetarian daycare. No plastic coloured toys, all wooden. She has a lovely big backyard with a garden (in which they help to up keep) and a sandbox. They take Yoga classes, every Tuesday (his day) they bake together. I think it'll be a lot of fun for him. Me it's going to be a running act dropping him off and making it back downtown to work in time. And then Bill and I will have time together to have lunch, see a movie, hang out (or more realistically sleep!) or take care of some home reno stuff. I really need to start my garden up again (yes late again I know DAD!)

So, for now as I've skipped my Tupperware meeting, I ought to focus a little bit of time and effort on my business! Or maybe I'll just be off to bed 5 am comes VERY early.

Our Day at the Butterfly Gardens

2006-06-05T20:26:00.000-07:00

Giant Atlas Moth

Flamingo

Tater and a
Postman Butterfly

Monarch

Giant Owl Butterfly

Beacon Hill Park - May 2006

2006-06-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

May 21 2006 - 26 months

2006-06-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

Tate at the Highland Games

This is what happens when I ask Tate to smile!

Oak Bay Tea Party

2006-06-04T20:41:00.000-07:00

Tate on the Beach - June 2006
Oak Bay Tea Party

Family Photo - Willows Beach

Tate and Mykaila Gettin' Sandy and Wet!

2006-05-23T21:14:00.000-07:00

X-mas 05 - Tate and Mykaila under the Mistletoe
In Ottawa - August 2004 - one of my fav pics of my little man
Family Photo August 2004 - Tate 5 months on the beach by our house
Vancouver for Jan's Wedding 2004 August

2006-05-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

Tate in the Pumpkin Patch Halloween 2005
Tate loving the beach
Tate Phoning the Sens and giving them a piece of his mind!

Tate's 2nd Birthday Cake (it's a sheep! In case that's not clear!)

2006-05-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

Tater Feeding the Ducks at Beacon Hill Park
Easter 2006 Tate's first Easter Egg Hunt

2006-05-23T20:46:00.000-07:00

Tater Man 2 years

2006-05-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

Tate and Mom Halloween Party - Roman Soldier costume made by Dad from Scratch!

2006-05-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

An honest effort to keep this up?? Not so much - for now I'll just post pictures if I can even remember how to do that on this site!

Update

2005-01-15T19:29:00.000-08:00

I can not believe how long I let this blog go for. So many things have happened since, but I shall not bore you with details, for now I will start afresh. As soon as I figure out how to upload picture software.

2004-06-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

2 months

2004-06-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

Monkeys and Bananas

2004-06-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

Hangin' with the Didge

2004-06-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

10 Weeks

2004-06-12T21:33:00.000-07:00

4 weeks

2004-06-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

Blue and Green should never be seen....

2004-06-12T21:28:00.001-07:00

Close up

2004-06-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

First time with shoes

2004-06-12T21:26:00.000-07:00

8 Weeks

2004-06-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

Taking a stroll

2004-06-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

Feets

June 10

2004-06-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

WELL it's about time - we have contact we are finally hooked up. Today has been an exhausting day mr tate has not stopped screaming all day long - we suspect he might be teething even though this is VERY early for that. I ate a Big Mac yesterday - it had been 14 years since I ate beef - AND IT WAS GOOD. Tate and I took a sign language course this week. It helps babies become less frustrated as they have a way to communicate before they're verbally able. They also say babies who learn sign language have a higher IQ by 10-12 points and learn language easier and sooner. Next week we start our sing and play class - since I can't remember ANY nursery rhymes I usually make up the words BUT they usually involve some farm animal running around with no head. Tate had his two month check up and he now weighs 12lb 12oz and is quickly growing out of his clothing. Now if only I could shrink back into my clothing!!

June - something or other

2004-06-06T16:11:00.000-07:00

Hello All
Well it has come down to me sitting in an internet cafe checking my emails. But babe is not with me I left him in the very capable hands of daddy. Our move went well - of course it is taking forever to unpack, cause SOMEBODY doesn't seem to want to nap EVER. Our internet is still not hooked up OBVIOUSLY I've been told Thursday but I believe no one. I also very successfully finished my schooling and I ended up with a B+ and a B-. I will have new photos once I am up and running again. Take care all

May 31

2004-05-31T03:46:00.000-07:00

SO this is my last day with internet connection for 5 WHOLE DAYS. Good lord would it be a bit obsessive to bring Tate with me to an internet cafe?? It is 3:45 in the morning and I have just finished my exams for psychology and I think I did surprisingly well considering I have not studied the material in 8 weeks. Now we must get back to packing. Anyone want to lend us money for a house so I NEVER have to move again? Come on I know I only have wealthy friends.
SO I shall have plenty of new photos up since I will have nothing to do but take pictures OH and I guess unpack.
Ciao all

2004-05-29T17:51:00.000-07:00

Tummy Time

2004-05-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

YeeHaw Giddy UP Didge

2004-05-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

Monkeyface

2004-05-29T17:45:00.000-07:00

In deep thought

2004-05-29T17:44:00.000-07:00

In da hood

2004-05-29T17:40:00.000-07:00

Tuckered out

2004-05-29T17:39:00.000-07:00

A day at the beach

2004-05-29T17:36:00.000-07:00

Big Granma and LIttle Tate

May 29

2004-05-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

I think I have the right month now. Emma you're right, life is too hectic to keep track of the months. 1 more packing day, and the stress builds.

March 28

2004-05-28T13:37:00.000-07:00

Well this has been a hectic week. I had two friends from Ottawa staying with us for a couple of days, Bills mom and aunt are in town, we're attempting to pack up for our move on Monday, and I have 2 exams to study for. Tate is doing well. We are now on a nighttime routine, and we seem to be getting 6 straight hours of sleep each night. More after our move...

2004-05-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

Go Sens Go

2004-05-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Boys night in

2004-05-25T11:52:00.000-07:00

Handsome boy

2004-05-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

My little man

2004-05-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

One month Old

2004-05-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

Tate and his New Suit

2004-05-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

Frog Man

2004-05-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

Smiley Boy

2004-05-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

Bath Time

2004-05-25T11:14:00.000-07:00

BURP

2004-05-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

Puppies and Bones

2004-05-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

Beach Bum