I'm Alive... but on the go!

No... I did not fall off the face of the earth, but I just haven't had the time to blog lately and I have been feeling bad about.

Last Wednesday I drove back to my hometown with E (just he and I for 9+hours in the car) to visit my family. It was a long day getting here, but well worth the trip.

We are still in Thessalon, but leaving tomorrow morning to head for home. When I get home, I will have a funeral at attend on PC's side of the family, and then it will be packing for the cottage, and heading out to Parry Sound for 2 weeks of relaxation.

I have no idea if there is any wireless internet connection that I can hook into from the cottage, so I have a feeling that blog updating will be few and far between for the next little while. So, please don't think I have just bailed on you! While I am 'on vacation' I hope to return with a few stories to share... and no doubt some photos of our family time away. A little vacation for me sometimes does the blog good, as I have come back with fresh ideas for blogging.

Some of you may also be taking holidays are spending long weekends with your family and friends. I hope you enjoy your time whatever it is that you are doing, and hopefully I can resume regular blogging sometime in August.

Have a GREAT summer... (and hopefully it won't be too long before I can get an update in)!

9 Months = BIG CHANGES!

I am pinching myself today because E is officially 9 months old. Next month he will be in double digits and double digits is almost to much bare right now.

It seems like I was just doing his 8 month post a week ago... the time between June and July has flown by for me.

In the last week we have had some MAJOR milestones for E in this household. He decided to sit up on his own (from lying on his belly to a sitting position) and to CRAWL all in the same day. I guess when it clicks, it really clicks for him. He put all of his coordination practice to use on Tuesday, June 30th ... and the last few days I feel like 'life as we know it will never be the same'.

This past month we left E in the hands of family and friends to attend some social functions. It was our first time leaving E over night... let alone on multiple occasions, but he behaved smashingly on each occasion. It is such a relief to return and hear that he did fine without us... it makes me want to plan a few more overnighters for PC and I... maybe even a week's worth - in the hot sun!

This month I have really noticed E and his Daddy have special special bond. E lights up at the site of PC... he is constantly laughing and giggling when they are playing together, and it melts my heart to see E look around frantically when he hears his Dad coming up or down the stairs here - its like he knows he's in the house, but is wondering where PC will appear! E even gets a little upset when PC leaves for work or golf, or golf. or golf. or golf!

E has mastered riding in the shopping cart... everywhere we go, its like a whole new experience in a cart. He feels as though he must touch EVERYTHING that enters the cart. Once he gives it his own stamp of approval, then we can proceed to the next item!

I have just finished up my MomMeFit classes for the summer, and I will miss it, as will E. He has made some friends there... and then there are few babies that probably won't miss him, like the little girl whose hair/hat he pulled and knock her down all at the same time, or the kid that stole his soother and E lost it on him! We do have to work on that 'your are not always going to be the centre of the universe' feeling... maybe something to strive for at 10 months!

Solids are progressing well. E is whopping 18 pounds now - no idea where that is on the holy graph, but I am sure he is fast tracking his way to the middle percentile! We are just starting meats... which E loves, yet I could vomit at the sight/smell of this stuff (yuck!). He really does not turn his nose up at ANYTHING. And this kid is NEVER full. He would eat and eat and eat if you let him! The excitement that arises when we get to the fruits has me thinking I have a baby with a real sweet tooth!

This month we are off to the North for a week to see Grandma & Grandpa B, and the to the cottage for two weeks with Grandma and Grandpa C... so by 10 months E will be well-traveled and have lots of stories to share, I am sure!

It wouldn't be a month-o-versary without a photo shoot... and this one was the trickiest yet! I had fork over my necklace to distract E from wanting to crawl everywhere... but we did manage to get a few decent photos to mark the occasion!

Here's looking at 9 months!







The name sign was something we picked up from a retailer called Loose Letters ... we bought all of the letters individually and unfinished... and then PC made a board for them to hang on. He painted the board, and the letters for E yesterday and we hung it up today. It was a pretty big event and is why E is looking up in most of the pictures as PC was hammering on the wall during much of the photo shoot (hey... we go with what works around here!).

FYI: $1.25 is the new Dollar!

It just me or do other people think its wrong for the DOLLAR store to be charging $1.25 for a lot of their items now?

I went to the buy some crafter's paint today (for a little project I have PC doing) ... and discovered a few other things for scrap-booking while I was there. Everything in the scrap-booking department now had these stickers on it that said $1.25.

As I wandered through the aisles, I noticed the majority of the items were mark with these new green stickers, stating NOW $1.25 - as if its some sort of deal! Here's the deal... your getting suckered into paying an extra quarter for something that you were only charged a dollar for two months ago!

Financially, raising the price a quarter isn't that big of deal to me - but on principle ... a place called Dollarama, use to pride themselves in selling everything in their store for (get this) ONE DOLLAR. Now... if I was at A Buck or Two, I might not be as annoyed, but Dollarama - c'mon, its what you've become famous for!

In the original dollar store days, items were never marked with tags because everything was ONE DOLLAR - and that did not require anything to have a price tag. I think the cost of printing these new $1.25 stickers can't be that much cheaper than a quarter... so in my head I am wondering how beneficial is this new $1.25 at the Dollarama campaign really going to be?

I guess we have the TET's (Tough Economic Times) to blame for this one!

HAPPY CANADA DAY