Falling for you!

Friday Sept 7

Last friday I headed outside to get my big girl off the bus. I had my little man in tow and baby girl in the ergo baby. I fell off the last step. The baby hit her head and I hurt my foot but in all honesty I didn't even feel the pain of my foot because I was so worried about her. After some help from my wonderful neighbour and some observations I decided to take her to Emerg. She had a small swollen bump on her head along with a little road rash from the gravel and seemed a bit out of it. Better safe than sorry. Everyone else was concerned about my foot, I was concerned about my baby.
When we got the emerg they checked us in right away (lesson being if you don't want to wait, fake a childs head injury) and they decided to look at my foot. I had a huge lump so an xray was performed. I hobbled to and from xray carrying the baby in her carseat. within 5 minutes the doctor returned to tell me it was not broken. elevate, Ice, Compress...blah,blah,blah. I have 3 kids under 4! I hobbled out to my car and i hobbled into my house.



Sunday Sept 9

On saturday I was planning to head to a camp reunion from the summer camp i worked at as a teen. this wounded foot would not rain on my parade (mother nature did that for us). I hobbled around, it hurt but I have a pretty good pain threshold so I sucked it up (and let Bacardi numb the pain).

On monday night I spoke with emerg who told me that radiology did see a break after all. they wrote me a prescription for an aircast and told me the ortho doctor would call me asap. Of course the only place in Kemptville to get an aircast is a monday or friday joint so I had to wait another day before getting it. by now my foot is a hot, purple, swollen, mess!


Tuesday Sept 11

So, I have now had the air cast for one week. I have 3 kids under 4 so I am on my feet all the time and whether I have enough air or too much air pumped into it, I don't know. Have I seen a doctor since that first night in emerg when I was told it was NOT broken? NO! Now I have a red lump on the side of my foot and my toes will not bend.

Yesterday I spent an hour speaking with emerg and my family doctors office looking for answers. the hospital and emerg treated me like an annoyance and this whole situation has been handled like I am being sent to a specialist for a superficial issue. No urgancy on anybodys part. I finally got a call from Ortho today telling me I have an appt next week. NEXT WEEK!! After giving her my opinion on the health care I have received she had nothing to say except sorry there is no clinic this week. Come on people, I have a broken bone that may not be healing properly since it was 4 days after i went to emerg that i found out it was broken and you are telling me 3 weeks later I will see a doctor, ANY doctor!!



Monday Sept 17

Gone are my plans to play volleyball since it starts tomorrow. On hold are my plans to go to Colorado snowboarding since we would need to book now. and most of all gone is my faith in my local health care system.




Stay Tuned...

He Loves Me, He Loves Me N..no, he loves me!

Parc Omega Aug 2012

Everyone who has met my 2 yr old boy knows he is a mama's boy! Has been since he came into this world and we locked eyes. I often think if you look that term up in the dictionary you will see his picture. But nothing prepared me for what we are battling now. Separation Anxiety one might say (although that has not been formally diagnosed) that has gotten so bad that I cannot even leave a room without a full blown melt down.

Case in Point would be the devastated child upstairs right now.

Three weeks ago, his big sister started school. She leaves every day on the bus and we go back into the house to start our day. Two weeks ago he started nursery school (or his version of hell on earth). Nursery school has been a rough go, lots of tears and waving arms and flailing feet that often result in hits and kicks. He loves the idea of nursery school, just not the idea of doing it without me. Whether this has set off some fear of being abandoned by his mommy, I don't know but it has definitely caused a glitch in our loving mother-son relationship and will likely cause a glitch in my loving husband-wife relationship since daddy has to deal with him during and after said fits or it will get worse or start over.

You see, It has come down to me not being able to put him to bed. I can't even go in kiss his forehead and tell him I love him, let alone snuggle him with a song without either a)moving in permanently or b)causing a full blown melt down. I am not the primary person who puts him to bed at night as I am often nursing the baby, and this doesn't seem to be an issue for him but if i was to go in after baby is gone to bed to kiss him good night, I might as well bring my pillow or a box of Kleenex with me. Tonight I heard daddy say  that I would kiss them after the baby was gone to bed so i wanted to follow through. thinking he would be good, I did so. big sad mistake.

I love snuggling him so much (not enough to do it all day and all night) yet now I can't carry him or snuggle him without committing to it 24/7 or causing a painful meltdown. Sometimes they get so irrational, such as yesterday when he stood 5 feet from me screaming for me but wouldn't come near me, that it makes me wonder if it is something more.

anyways, that's my rant on this. Anyone want to offer some tips? and keep in mind I have two other kids, one of which is a 5 month old nursing baby.

What's my Secret?

our mudroom!(mommy and daddy
have bins in the other cupboard beside.
Where will be put Alexa's?

Lately I have been asked a lot how I keep such a tidy house with three children under 4 running around (okay one isn't running yet but she sure does have a lot of stuff). So here it is, the only time I will reveal how I do it, my secret to it all. Are you ready? Get a pen and paper handy.... Here we go... I can't believe i am telling you this...


We pick up!

We pick up towels after bath. We pick up clothes after getting dressed. We pick up toys after play. We pick up dishes and food after eating. and we pick up coats when we walk in the door! BUT, i don't just run around picking up all day. I also enjoy several cups of tea, I nurse the baby several times a day, I play with the kids, I sit and watch the kids, I cook dinners, I do laundry, I watch TV in the evening, and I sleep a good 6-8 hours every night.

I will be the first to admit that I am a little more anal than other people when it comes to my house and I do not like things lying around. I also have been blessed with A LOT of closets and cupboards. I also am obsessed with storage and making homes for everything. While some people shop for clothes, I get excited to check out the Canadian tire flyer for deals on storage units.


Playroom. Small bins for small toys
and CT wire shelving unit for bigger toys

I  always take the extra 2 minutes to run around and put things away before going anywhere because obviously if a burglar comes in while we are gone, I would be mortified if my house was a mess but the real secret is that everything has a home and therefore picking up literally can take 2 minutes.  I also have instilled in my kids that they don't get snack until they pick up their toys, and they don't get to start another major mess (like playdoh) until they pick up whatever they were playing with before.


Playroom

Now don't get me wrong, I am not a tyrant and my kids do make major messes every day that i eventually clean up after they have gone to bed but that is another part of my secret. We start fresh everyday. I feel like if I stay on top of it and it doesn't get too out of control then it takes way less time than if i have to spend hours or days cleaning up a toy explosion.

Craft Supplies in Dining Room.
AKA Craft room when we dont' have
dinner company. the stuff she cannot
access without mommy (such as paint) is
in rolly bins in the front closet.

I am often teased for my silly habits such as cleaning the dishes while I cook and sorting the laundry before hanging it on the line but all these silly habits prevent me from having to spend hours doing cleaning and tidying and laundry sorting and folding. the dishes are done right after we eat since we will only have plates to clean and the laundry goes from the line to drawers since I sorted it before hand.



basement toy area  clearly we don't play
down here much. More wire shelving units.
When on sale there were less than $20.
and can be built to any dimension desired.

So there you have it, my secret is out. I don`t spend my whole life tidying, I just tidy as I go. If I pass a toy or two on the ground, I scoop it up and put it away. that takes two seconds but since i was walking past anyways, it doesn`t actually interrupt my day.

So don`t make fun of me, and don`t come into my house afraid to make a mess, My kids do it all the time and since I know where everything belongs it is usually quicker for me to just put it all away after you leave (or while your still here, but i am working on that :) )

A Hefty Situation!

OK. Here it goes! I weigh...no wait, I am not ready to announce that yet! But the fact is I weigh about 20 lbs more than I did before I had kids.

I did pretty good with my child bearing days. I gained a butt load of weight when i was pregnant with my first and lost all but 4 lbs before having my second. I gained a small amount of weight with my second and lost all of it before 6 weeks post partum. I gained a healthy amount with my third and still have 15 lbs to lose, add to that the 4 lbs I didn't lose after baby number one and I have 20 lbs to lose!

I have always battled weight issues. I can confidently say I have never been over-weight but I have been a bit heftier than I wanted to be. I think I was my heaviest in college when i was dating a guy who loved going out for beer and wings every single night. My sensitivity to my weight peaked when I was in my early twenties and I adopted a very unhealthy lifestyle to be happy. I got my weight down to the lowest it had been since early high school and I felt great. Then I met my now husband and I realized that the efforts I was putting into maintaining the weight I was at was not worth the agony that went with it because I found someone who loved me regardless of whether i had the extra 10 lbs on me or not. So i let go of the pressure I had on myself to be super thin.

A few years later I was starting to feel like I had not only let go, but let myself go and I had to do something about it. Regardless of whether I logically knew i wasn't fat or not i still had the self-esteem issues. However this time I wanted to do it right so I joined weight watchers on April 1 2005 (yes, I still remember). I was rigid! I didn't let myself eat anything with an ounce of fat in it and I lost 20 lbs before summer. I enjoyed this new me for less than a year before i put a good chunk of the weight back on because I went back to eating normally and allowing myself simple indulgences.

Hmmm. Don't I sound like Oprah?

So I lived the next several years feeling mediocre. I knew I wasn't the slimest of all the people but I was content. I was a bit self conscious about my appearance but nowhere near enough to deprive myself every again. In 2008 I went to DR with a girlfriend and I felt OK. There where a few pictures I wouldn't post on facebook but ultimately I was ok with me.

Then I got pregnant!

Being Pregnant and then having a post-pregnant body made me realize that I was not fat at all. I had a different build than my friends and I would never be 110lbs or even 120lbs ever again. I looked back at that picture of me, the last picture taken of me in a bathing suit before having kids, and i realize that I was not fat at all! Isn't it funny what your mind can make you see.

I successfully lost the weight from my first baby with the help of weight watchers a second time so I am trusting in the system and I have signed up again. my weight goal is my pre-babies weight. So essentially, that picture above. I have realized that anything less than that and I cannot maintain it so why bother if it doesn't bother me.

Now, almost 3 months post-partum from my third and final baby, and I am ready to get back into my jeans so I signed up for weight watchers online. my decision to sign up online was essentially based on me wanting to get started and the Kemptville WW wasn't until Monday night. It has been 3 days and I feel better already. I plan on doing it right and I am exclusively breastfeeding so I get almost double the points so i don't expect the weight to fall off but I am confident in the system and if I don't give into my around the clock cravings then I will succeed.

Because "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels"!

Looking ahead



Chez Crepeau

Today I turn 33! In my adult life I have achieved a college diploma and a University degree, I have had 3 real boyfriends (one became my husband of course), I have had a dog and a cat, I have traveled to Hawaii, Germany, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Australia, and New Zealand (twice), I have been to the winter Olympics, I have worked full time for the past 10 years,  I have owned two cars that I payed for myself, I have owned three homes, I have been bungee jumping, I have seen my father pass away, I have gotten married, and, of course the most important of all, I have had three beautiful children.


The Crepeau's

I am sure there are important things I am missing but the point is I have done a lot! I still sometimes look at my life and wonder "Am I old enough to have all this?" It seems like the past 15 years flashed before my eyes and now I am an adult. It took my third baby for me to finally feel like an adult.

So now, at 33 I am looking to the future. I am in my forever home and I have a complete family. So now what?  Now that I am done giving my body to God for the creation of the next generation I have a head full of plans, a bucket list of sorts.

So in the next 10 years I want to:

An African Lion Safari
An all girls trip somewhere hot and beachy
Take my kids to New Zealand to meet their Kiwi family
Build an all-seasons sun room addition onto our house
landscape and put in an in ground pool
learn to play the guitar
Get in super-duper shape
Go on a snowboarding trip once a year that involves flying somewhere
Get a digital SLR Camera and take amazing pictures of my beautiful children.
Join the Curling Club
Buy a Cottage
Get a dog

OK. I think that's an ambitious enough list. Wish me Luck!

A garden to live off!



It is July 1st and our garden is producing heaps of food already! Thank you Mother Nature!

Gardner Guy Working Away. This is pre-weeding

Every since my husband and I have lived in the country we have had a garden. We started out small and amateur but now we have a massive garden full of vegetables that I never thought to grow in my backyard garden. Now I have to make sure I give full credit of said garden to the gardner himself because aside from one night of weeding and using the food, this project is all him. The Photo doesn't even do the garden justice, it is a piece of art. I love looking at it from the upstairs windows.



Our First time growing broccoli. The coliflower is pretty awesome too

So growing in Garden Crepeau right now is carrots, parsnips, lettuce (lots of different types of lettuce), Spinich (its actually done and gone and a new bed of carrots took its place), leeks, shallots, onions, snap peas, beans, couliflower, broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, squash, zucchini, pumpkins, Tomatoes, Peppers, turnip, Asparagus, Rhubarb, and a new field of Raspberries at the back of the property. We also have Basil, Oregano, and Parsley decorating our front steps in pots. We have the tomatoe plants caged and staked, the cucumbers are climbing the teepee you see and the snap peas climb a net. gardner Guy has to hill the potatoes every so often

I am on a mission not to waste anything. I come up with new recipes, like grilled broccoli,  and learn how to make old favorites, like Colslaw. And when the time comes I preserve. As in previous years, I will can my tomatoes and make salsa, make bread and butter pickles (but not dill as I haven't mastered the art of the crunch and it ends up being a waste of time), I will freeze the zuchinni and Rhubard all shredded and cut up ready for baking and we will eat our own potatoes and squash well into the winter. But for right now, we will eat fresh veggies every day that we know are grown safely and by our own four hands.


The Snap-Peas Climbing their net

Oh wait, make that eight hands. Yes, the kids love to garden too. Anna will happily bring me veggies and both of them have had a hand in planting and weeding. What an amazing thing for our children to learn. In a Society of technological advancements, I love that our kids are learning first hand, with their own two eyes where vegetables come from and how to grow them.

However, this project may get away from us seeing as we planted enough food for a summer camp, so neighbours come on over, the salad is on us!



where there is food, there is deer! Enter the Scarcrow!

Broccoli Galore

We have a HUGE garden! I cannot take any credit. it is all my wonderful husbands doing. We are growing things I never imagined growing in a home garden and I am so excited to dig in to all the home grown fresh veggies.

our garden is on steroids. Everyone who sees it cannot believe it. I will post again soon with pictures. We have been eating spinach for a while now and are now on to the lettuce. We also now have cabbage ready to go and broccoli.

The point of this post is to share a recipe i found today and loved. With 9 heads of broccoli ready to be eaten now, I needed to find a way to consume it fast. I like broccoli but cooked broccoli not so much. I wondered can you BBQ broccoli and now I know YES.

Grilled Broccoli

6 cups of fresh broccoli spears

Combine 2 TBSP of Olive Oil
                2.5 TBSP of Lemon Juice
                Salt
                Pepper

Drizzle the mixture over the broccoli and toss to coat. let sit for minimum of 30 minutes.
Put 1 cup (or less, whatever you desire) of Parmesan cheese in a zip lock and toss a few spears in at a time to cover.
Grill the broccoli over indirect heat (top rack, grilling basket) for about 10 minutes or to taste, flipping once.

We ate an entire head of broccoli at supper. Anna asked for more!!

It is from Allrecipes.com.

I'm Pregnant!

Just Kidding! but that got your attention didn't it.  In reality those are two words that haunt me!

So the big question is how do we prevent that from happening! Seems cut and dry doesn't it. Don't want more kids, get a permanent fix...him of course. But is it that simple!

I am 99.9% sure I do not want more kids. With each child the quality of my parenting has decreased significantly and the last thing I want to do is be Octomom. but right now, in this moment of baby bliss, I cannot believe I will not have another newborn! I say this of course because as we all know my kids pop out like a jack in the box and because my new baby girl is what every new mom could want; my sleepless nights lasted only a few weeks, she nurses like a pro (14 lbs to prove it), she is easy going and cute as a button.

Logically I know that is not a reason to have another baby but sometimes emotions beat out logic. What if when all my kids are in school I want another one? Do I want to permanently close that door? I always thought yes for sure but permanent is so...well...permanent! So what are the options?

An IUD. hmmm decision is no. What I didn't know before consulting my OB is that an IUD does not prevent pregnancy. The egg gets fertilized but the IUD makes your uterus inhospitably so it cannot implant, essentially aborting it. Now I am pro-choice for the right reasons and for many people this is OK but it seems weird to me to think I could be getting pregnant over and over again and killing it off.

So option B. The Pill or any other hormone method. hmmm... bad news there for me. I am already an emotional wreck add on hormone changes and steer clear.

So that leaves the each time option and this doesn't help the problem where emotions beat out logic. One emotional evening and we say Hello to Guy JR. (and I already have one mini-Guy, I cannot handle two)

So what to do. Did anyone else have this kind of a battle deciding on making a permanent fix? if so, offer me some advice because I think about it daily. I want to move forward, I want to clear out the baby stuff, I want to be able to go to Disney world and not rush home for naps, I want to stop changing diapers but I also want to rock another newborn.

Unfortunately with Alexa being baby number 3 and having a toddler boy who just turned 2 and gets into EVERYTHING, I don't get too many baby snuggles. She gets into bed with me in the morning and I am in heaven being snuggled next to her and then they break through the door and ruin our moment.  She is so easygoing that I almost take advantage of it. I think i need to schedule some Alexa time into our day and sneak away to another room with her for snuggles.

Maybe if i squeeze in more snuggles I won't be mourning the baby stage and I will look back at this post some day and wonder what was I thinking!

My New Reality

Being on mat leave with my first baby was essentially a vacation... but I didn't know it! we snuggled in front of the tv for hours on end, slept as much as we wanted, We went shopping with friends, I kept a clean house, made dinner every day, baked regularily and my playdates actually reflected the old tostitoes commercial.

Being on Mat leave with my second baby and a toddler was much more work. My house was messy, any tv I watched was from treehouse, I went to the mall just to check out the pet shop and toy store, dinner was often not made and my playdates catered to the toddler not the baby. I basically looked back at my first mat leave and realized what a cake walk it was.

I have now completed week one of mat leave with my third baby and a toddler and a preschooler and now looking back I realize that my second mat leave was also a pretty easy year.

So let me tell you about my new reality...

Baby 3 was born on April 15th. the toddler and preschooler were in daycare until April 30th. I used these first 15 days to catch up on sleep, get breastfeeding under control and bond with my new babe. I dreaded May 1. Not because I didn't want to spent time with my other 2 kids but because I was scared of how I was going to do it.

Day one was a challenge. After we got up, the older 2 wanted to eat breakfast and of course the sound of the word breakfast woke up the baby who also decided it was time to eat. While I fed the baby, I watched the other 2 fight and beg for food. When we finally made it downstairs well after 9am and got fed, I had to get use to having a house that was constantly being messed by a toddler and a preschooler playing rather than a house that was only occupied for 4ish hours a day. We needed some groceries but I was too scared (and still am) to take all three to the store. The weather was not play-outside-for-hours nice so we all stayed cooped up inside getting use to the new routine. Needless to say by the end of the day I had demonstrated several mean mommy moments and was both angry with the kids and myself for all of our lack of patience.

Getting use to this new reality has not been easy.

my toddler boy is headstrong and determined. trying to teach him what he can and cannot do has proven to be my biggest challange. I am learning that he cries a lot because he wants what he wants and he wanted it 5 minutes ago. I guess this is what is called the terrible two's? I am getting use to the crying and he is starting to do it much less because I have decided that I will take the crying if it teaches him what I will put up with and what I won't. For example. He wants to come down stairs and then when I go up to get him he changes his mind and on this goes for several trips up the stairs. Well, too bad, you wanted to come down so I am bringing you down and you can cry it out. He also has aspirations of being a stunt man. He likes to stand on the counter stools, walk down stairs properly and unassisteed and start physical fights with his big sister. I will be surprised if we make it through the next year without stitches. Last week, I was so frustrated with him. He was my "problem child"! but after one night lying in bed thinking about it I realized he is just a toddler and a boy! I am not use to what he has to offer me and if I work with him instead of against him then I think we will both be okay. And he is stinkin' cute which outweighs all the grey hairs he will give me.

My preschooler misses her friends and her daycare environment. She is so use to the routine and the constant stimulation that I am learning I need to have something planned for her everyday. She also no longer naps therefore requiring extra stimulation when I would rather be having me time. I am, however, enjoying my time with her because in September its off to Kindergarten (tear tear)

And then there is the baby. My sweet baby girl who is totally a thrid child. She has had phones and rubber boots dropped on her head. She has been cut off from a feed so I could lift the toddler into the swing and she is basically a fixture in the room while I cater to the needs of the other two. But she is my baby,my last baby and she is growing way too fast. I cherish our evening snuggles and midnight feeds because it is so rare for us to have any special time. I think it is safe to say she will always be my baby.

So there it is. I would never tell someone that there situation is something it is not but if you are home with baby number one and plan on having baby number two and possibly baby number three, enjoy it because you will never have a mat leave like this one again.

Stay tuned for what this next year has to offer. I am sure I will share stories of success, injury, stress, and drama. And I cannot wait!

Things don't always go as planned...

3rd pregnancy! 3rd labour and delivery! 3rd baby! 3rd times a charm. right?

When I had Anna I had no idea what to expect from the experience. I youtubed some deliveries and went flush watching the crowning. In the moment I lasted a whole 30 minutes of pain before opting for an epidural and had a very controlled and pain free delivery. What did I want to do different next time? I wanted to see my baby being born! Mirror, camera, video, I didn't care but I wanted to see it!

When I was pregnant with Max I planned to ask for a mirror or have Guy video it. But things don't always go as planned and with no warning I started having contractions a minute apart and we flew to the hospital to deliver not long after. No time to think about a mirror or camera. I got an epidural which ended up being ineffective given how fast I delivered.

So fast forward to April 14th, 2012. I planned this time. I invited my mom to witness the blessed event. Her Job was to take pictures of the whole thing (yes, that too) and to coach me through 3 hours of no epidural (I did it before and I survived)! I planned and I was prepared to correct my regrets from delivery 1 and 2. 3rd time was going to be a charm!

But things don't always go as planned...