it certainly *looks* fun...

The baby showers and house warming parties are done. We're all settled in to the new house. We're organized, and everything has a place.. well... almost everything.

When we did our babies r us registry, we wandered around and scanned a ton of stuff, trying to get a variety of prices. We scanned stuff we NEEDED and stuff that we sorta wanted, and then we scanned frivilous stuff, that we thought that Des would enjoy.. so where some people might get an exersaucer like this one :


we decided to scan a slightly different one. the hubby said "ha! no one will ever get us that thing" *scans barcode while laughing maniacally*.. so yesterday, when his grandparents walked in carrying a huge box, I shot him a look.

so after everyone left, he and I opened it up and started to put it together. the instruction manual is 22 pages.. and there are some intricate workings!

example: place 1 1/2" spring into slot A turning until leg (C) snaps into place. Ensure correct installation by pulling on (O) and releasing. gliding ring should move smoothly into locked position

it took us an hour and a half, and 12 AAA batteries, but now, This thing is in working order, ready to use as soon as Des is big enough for it! It is pretty awesome, and way more extravagant than I would be able to justify buying for him. He has some pretty great relatives :o)

Yay, Hot tub! <-Sarcasm.

with the purchase of our new house, we got a hot tub! great, right?! wrong. so very, very wrong.

1. We moved in, December 20th... cold temperatures.
2. We have a new baby.. and we moved in December 20th.. no time.
3. Somewhere in our lovely hot tub, there is a leak... More maintenance required.

The hot tub has been a huge pain in the ass since we arrived. We need to add water to it every few days, or the bloody thing shuts down and the temperature drops rapidly. Unfortunately, now it seems to have kicked the bucket entirely, and won't heat up. It is the coldest day of the year so far, and the hubby and I are going to be attempting to drain and winterize the thing so we don't have to worry about it until the spring, when we will fill it, fix it, and sell it. Never again. Hot tubs are great in theory, but unless you plan on having another hobby (we have enough on the go already) then you're just asking for trouble.

It would have been nice if we could have used it, but when we sell it in the spring, the hubby has agreed to let me get the soaker tub of my choice for the new bathroom we'll be putting in. mmmm soaker tub...

scrapbooking

Something about having a baby, makes me feel the need to document *everything*. I write down, or take pictures of everything that i think it would have been neat to know about my childhood.

I took prints of his hands and feet, and framed them for his wall. I take a picture of him doing anything new (I caught his first smile on camera.. or at least, his first that we saw) or interesting. I keep track of how big he is.. height and weight. and what better way to document all of this than a scrapbook??! so, I started scrapbooking, and I see now how this particular hobby could take up all of one's time.

I have been scrapbooking for all of two weeks, and already I have two bins and a shelf full of supplies. I planned on doing a page a month for a "baby book" for Des, and now I have started two other books as well.

If I'm not careful, I'll use up my whole craft area with scrapbooking supplies.

Cloth diapering

Des hates being wet.. at all.

He screams as soon as his diaper (disposable) is even slightly wet. We tried cloth on his one evening, and it lasted almost ten minutes.. he screamed.. I changed him.. *ten minutes goes by* He screams, I change him... lather, rinse, repeat.

now, here is my dilemma. I have this awesome baby, who is very calm about 90% of the time. He doesn't fuss when passed around to our family members, he is quiet and calm and happy unless he's hungry and then he's *MISERABLE* until he's well fed. So, do I take my lovely calm baby and try the following options:
- Stick cloth diapers on him until he's used to being a little wet?
- Stick him in cloth, and change him every ten minutes (this would mean doing a load of laundry every two hours or even more frequently, or spending more money for more liners)
- Wait for another month or so, until he isn't peeing quite so frequently?
- Use up the rest of the disposables we have on hand, and just deal with cloth diapering as soon as that happens?

I absolutely love the idea of cloth diapering. Working in a toddler room, I've had the opportunity to try out tons of different kinds of cloth diapering systems. Prefolds, inserts, liners.. all in ones, covers.. some are easier than others, some are just a pain in the ass. My absolute favourite by leaps and bounds are Best Bottom Diapers. There are cute designs, and a snap system that makes it so simple. I bought 6 covers, and about 20 liners in 2 sizes to get me started.

I bought all of them from The cloth diaper shop and while shopping for diapers, I bought some wipe solution, and a few wet bags... The site is awesome, and I'm fighting the urge to buy one of everything in every colour/scent.

I think I may just have to use up the disposables we have and suck it up. He did not enjoy


My usually calm and lovely baby in a cloth diaper for the first time.

The move, then christmas, then christmas take two, and three, and four.. new years.. SHOPPING!!!

We moved in two weeks ago. so far, we've spent about 5 thousand dollars on furniture, decor, bedding... Stuff we need, and stuff we don't, but really really want.

but I'll start at the beginning. The evening before the move, we drove up to drop off the cat at my parent's house.(I didn't want him being terrified by all of his surroundings disappearing and strange large men stomping all over.) We went by the new house to clean a bit before we moved in the next day.

O.m.g was there a lot to clean. There was a pile of parmesan cheese int he back of the fridge that had turned mostly greenish black. There was beef blood (at least I hope it was beef's blood) splashed in the back of the fridge, and soooo much old spilled juice.. it was disgusting. that took us the whole evening to deal with

since we moved in we've discovered a few more minor flaws...:
-the washer was caked with mold on the inside. cleaned it about 99%.. still smells musty, but it seems there's not much we can do about that.
-mud room door didn't close properly, so the lock didn't work. new lock -$150
-Front door lock with installed incorrectly (upside down), which could cause the lock to jam.. making it impossible to unlock even from inside... not safe. New lock and installation - $200
-Kitchen faucet leaks like crazy..water damage to counter, and more mold... new faucet $140.. (install free.. yay Daddy!)
-Room that we're using as the office was painted BRIGHT green. -new paint colour $52
-tiles around bathroom mirror done stupidly. Caulking - $19
-grout in washroom floor tiles chipping and there are gaps. Grout - $30

that about covers what we've already repaired. Then there are the things we still have to deal with:
-new roof $?
-bathtub doesn't drain properly and seems to be leaking from behind the tiles - Plumber $?
-electrical outlets not working, or just seem unsafe - Electrician $?


oh, and somewhere in there, Christmas happened! Des got an obscene amount of presents. He got more clothes than I own.. and they should last him for the next two years at least.

Then there was brunch at my parent's place. The traditional christmas breakfast..Then there was another christmas dinner at my aunt's place.. Des got even more gifts!

Then, on boxing day, we got to have our family dinner :o)

for New years, the hubby and I bought a bottle of sparkling wine, and watched rescue me on netflix. at midnight, we kissed and had our icky wine (I hate wine).. it was nice, and quiet.. just the way I like. It was our first new years, in our new home, with our new baby.

Oh! and I seem to have taken up scrapbooking. more on that after I give my sister her gift :D

so we also bought (in the past two weeks):
-a tv stand/storage unit - $199
-sectional couch - $999
-end tables (2) - $150
-Mattress, box spring, bed frame - $1183
-Four sets of good quality MATCHING sheets - $200

and tons of little stuff. we've just about reached our limit that we set on the amount of money we can spend on the house (other than the electrical/plumbing/roof).

Moving!

I spent my entire life (well, the first 27 years of it) living in the same house. In that time, I moved from sharing a room with my sister, to sleeping in my brother's old room, to moving to the attic (before it was actually a room), to sleeping in my mother's office while the attic became a room, to moving into the beautifully new roomified attic, to being shunned to the basement so my brother could move into what was now a whole apartment in the top of our house, to moving into the apartment upstairs on my own. In case you weren't counting, I moved 7 times, and didn't even move out.

My hubby moved in with me, and then my parents sold the house out from under us (I'm not bitter.. really) and we had to move to somewhere much smaller, and much more expensive. So small in fact, that most of our stuff is in storage at either my parent's new house, or the storage area in our building that costs us yet another monthly fee. we're moving in four days, and I'm so looking forward to being able to unpack our stuff! we have about twenty bankers boxes that haven't been touched in well over a year, and likely are full of things that I can get rid of but I can't wait to see what we've been hiding!

This is going to be an incredibly busy four days.

Drama at work. and I'm not even there!

so, a while ago.. a few months now at least, I had some issues with a woman at work.

when I was leaving for maternity leave, I sent out a memo to everyone with the date that I would be leaving. which was supposedly to be november 4th. Unfortunately, after I was told by my doctor that I shouldn't stay that long, I had to leave a bit earlier. I sent out another memo apologizing for the short notice, and letting everyone know that I would be leaving october 21st instead.

This is the email that I received from the stupid woman:

Hello [Pyra],
I guess [company]'s policy is to provide as little notice as possible for every situation. Is there a contract that you have to sign to give two months notice for anything? i don't see any reson for you to only give a day notice that youre leaving yet if I have an emergency and have to pull my son i have to give you two months notice. it's unfair and i think that when it comes time to take [child] out of [company] i will quote this email where you give less than 24 hours notice to leave. For the time that you have been in charge I have had to call [government agency] twice because you don't both (I assume she meas "bother") to have enough staff in the morning and hopefully your replacement will actually do their job. Sorry if i seem unsympathetic but we pay too much money to [company]to have things like this happening.

[evil wench]

nice huh? especially since in my memo i let everyone know that it was due to medical reasons. Annnnyway, my response to her was:

Hello [Evil Wench],
First of all, I would like to say how happy I am for you that you have never had a medical emergency yourself, or that your family has never had to suffer through any hardships that required you to be away from work, I sincerely hope that it continues to be the case.

Second, my pregnancy has had added compications and I have suffered through the increased stress levels from having people call [government agency] when their claims are completely unfounded. Fortunately, [government agency] has followed up thoroughly each time, and has found that these claims were from the same person and will likely disregard any future calls as they have been a waste of valuable time thus far.

Thirdly, I thank you for you input, and will definitely be letting my replacement know what you feel her job entails. Whether she acts on your interpretation of her job, or her actual duties set out by the government and our corporate office will unfortunately be up to her.

Fourth, and Final. As dismayed as I am to see how upset you are that I am leaving, I am doing what is best for myself and my family. Unfortunately whether you agree or not has absolutely no bearing on my decision, as for the past year you have made every attempt to belittle and insult me. I will not miss the treatment I have received from you, and only hope that someone in your enlightens you to how it feels to be treated the way you have treated me.

Thank you, and best of luck with everything that comes your way,
[Pyra]

I had kind of hoped that I would never have to hear from/about her again, but now supposedly there is a staff at work that has told this person, that her son will be mistreated by one of my coworkers because she is a good friend of mine, and I "hate" her son. I'm waiting to hear if this issue has been cleared up, and I really hope that whoever said it gets written up at least.. because they're using my name to make a friend's life hard.. which I am really unhappy about :o(