It's Almost Christmas!

Well ~ here I am again ~ writing after a whole month has blown by again!  It's funny how you get into your routine and time does not stand still.  Everything is going wonderfully!  Marley is changing constantly and never fails to keep me smiling~even at the worst of times!  She is now a scooter (bum scooter) and she can fly.  She tucks one leg in and gives'er all around our place.  Finally child proofed!  She also experiments with the odd bit of crawling now and then but scooting is her main mode of transportation.  Marley is now completely off of breastfeeding (not my choice) and loves her similac.  She also just grew a couple more teeth so we are up to 6!  Her sign language is bare minimum but enough for us right now with milk and bath:)  It's a lot easier to figure some things out as she is a pretty cut and dry kid.  We hang out during the day ~ do errands, playmates, etc.  Then once daddy comes home I usually pop over to the gym for an hour and get some exercise in.  It has worked out great!  Dreading going back to work ~ I just don't want to leave her:(  Friends say it will be good to get out and do my own thing but I just want my thing to be with Marley:)  We did find a super family licensed daycare place for end of January when I head back so that is a relief.  Only 5 months then summer and Marley and I can hang out 24/7 again!  We will see what September holds with layoffs, etc. ~ Paul and I would like for me to do stay at home mom thing so I am thinking that is the route we are headed.  Luckily I can do 3-4 years of unpaid leave but keep my position in the seniority list for the school district.  So we will just wait and see!  


Today is my 29th birthday and I had a fabulous day with my girl, family and friends.  We went to the gym this morning then went and got a free smoothie from booster juice (go to Simplyfrugal.ca and click on the Canadian Birthday Freebie area!)  I have a bunch of other freebies we plan on using this week!  We then came home and she had a nap.  We got ready for birthday dinner and off we went.  It is so nice to have family and friends join us on my birthday.  Marley was awesome at the restaurant and provided many laughs!  

We are ready for Christmas and can not wait to give our presents.  It was so much fun buying little gifts for Marley!  She will be so excited to open paper and bags ~ I am sure that will provide the entertainment rather than the toys:) Things are good and now I must sign off as Paul and I are going to watch a movie:)  I will share my new passion for couponing next post! Tata for now! 

Holy Smokes! Where did the last month go?

Who knew balloons make such great friends?<3

I just saw the last time I posted and couldn't believe my eyes! October 15?  Wow ~ when you have a baby and the baby routine everything just flies by.  So what has happened lately?  Well I am happy to report that I have joined a fitness club ~ it's not your typical gym ~ it's all class based (which I LOVE).  I really need someone to push me, I need to have signed up for a class to make sure that I will be there.  It is just to easy to come up with excuses especially now.  Marley is doing great in the little childcare they run there.  She plays, discovers and barely notices me when I return to pick her up.  Little social butterfly!  So that's great and I am already feeling better...and sleeping better.  I find my clock is so messed up right now and because I am really exercising hard, I am tired enough to fall asleep at a decent hour:) 

Marley is changing day by day.  She was a cute kitty for Halloween!  Love that baby! I love how much interaction and communication is happening.  She now signs "milk" when she wants a bottle (we are completely weaned now ~ not my choice ~ but I am not the boss).  She is also waving ~ we like to wave to our puppy Flora when we wake up in the morning or get home from errands.  This baby girl is a crazy clapper too!  Everything is so wonderful and I dread returning to work in 3 months:( We'll see though ~ luckily my husband and I have decided to be open to me staying home.  So once February 1 hits ~ we will do what feels right for our family.  I feel really lucky to have that support.

My new latest obsession (other than Marley of course) is COUPONING!  I have a album started and I have everything categorized & organized!  Very excited to save money.  I also have been downsizing my closet to bring in a little extra cash which has been great (and now I can hang clothes up because there is room!).  It is just nuts how much STUFF we accumulate and I more than happy to get rid of things I do not use.  Someone else could use it and with the way the economy is, folks like to buy used in many cases because that is what works for their budget.  


Cloth diapering is still going great!  Rockin Green is sort of working for us but I think I will be switching to The Laundry Tarts or Nellies.  I have heard great things about Laundry Tarts ~ and it's Canadian!  So these are some things that are popular in my household right now:
1.  Buying local (or at least Canadian) as much as possible.  Did you know Oral B floss is made in IRELAND?!?!  What the?
2.  Cut down on plastics ~ we have a wooden highchair (Vancouver BC based company ~ Guzzie & Guss), reusable bags, we go for wooden toys, etc.
3.  Cloth diapers and using baby facecloths as wipes (just use some water folks)
4.  Coupons are great and so is free stuff ~ there are tons of sites where you can get free samples and coupons ~ save some money!
5.  Sell items you don't use, don't need!  Clutter ain't pretty and we consume way too much as a society!  Things are not important!
6.  Physical activity is the spice of life.  Get moving!  I also suggested to my gym to put on fitness classes for mom n tot ~ and they are going to do it!  So excited for that!
7.  Volunteer, trade etc. for goods ~ I am volunteering in the childcare at the gym 1 day a week (for 2 hours) and this will pay for my childcare unlimited while I attend the gym!  Or it could pay for my gym pass if I didn't need childcare.  We also traded some items we don't need for some fresh garden veggies from some friends!  Again save money and be creative!


Marley is taking her first flight on Thursday ~ we are going away for a wedding ~ just to Alberta but still it will be an adventure.  We also used our Royal Bank points to pay for our flights!  I will be sure to report on the travelling with a 9 month old experience as soon as we return!  

Testing...testing...1,2,3 ~ I WHHEEEIIINNN!

Whew!  I just completed my Live Performance Electrical Certificate (LPEC) exam and I passed!  Since having Marley, my brain has not ventured into the academic side of things and I studied for a couple weeks for this exam.  For folks that don't know what this is ~ it's through our Safety Authority ~ it's for people working in the theatre (and film) industry whether it's professional, community or education.  Since I teach drama (and therefore, teach students how to use lighting equipment) I am supposed to have this certification.  To even write the exam you have to put together a package showing your hours (which has to be a minimum of 800 hours working with lighting!) and then you get a login and a pass number to then write the exam online.  You have 75 minutes and 54 multiple choice questions ~ man was this exam hard!  Very specific and detailed ~ a lot of the content does not necessarily apply to what I do day and day and made me have to think back to my university training.  But I studied and got'er done!  So happy I passed and so happy I completed it!  Very handy thing to have on my resume!  Of course, I had to wait until Marley was sleeping to write it.  Which I did and I went through all of the questions and finished with literally a couple seconds to spare!  Then the computer tallies up your mark and tells you how you did ~ when it said Congratulations!  You passed on the screen I actually yelled out "I passed!" soon followed by a cry coming from the nursery ~ I accidentally woke Marley up:)  Sorry baby ~ Mommy was very excited!  She fell back to sleep after daddy went in and ssshhed her and now it's time to relax and watch a movie!  Hoping she will sleep another 13 and a half hours like she did last night!  Feeling super!

A note on HOT BABY DEALS!!

I have created a Facebook page called Hot Baby Deals where I list all the sites and pages that I have come across that provide some great baby deals!  The purpose of this page was to let my mom friends (and any other moms) know about all the great deals to be had.  People that "like" my page can also list their favourites that they come across as well and hopefully my page will keep growing & folks will keep on saving some $$ as we all know babes can be pricey little monkeys!

Here is a summary note that lists all the sites and pages that are on my page as of Oct 14. I hope to update it once a month so moms don't have to keep scrolling down to find what is on the page ~ I know how valuable time is when you got a baby on your hip:)

Hope this helps:)

• BABY HALF OFF ~ http://babyhalfoff.com/
• BABY STEALS ~ http://babysteals.stealnetwork.com/index.php
• BABY HEIST ~ http://www.babyheist.com/category_1/Heist-of-the-Day.htm
• TRUE CUDDLES ~ http://www.truecuddles.ca/
• FUNKY TRICYCLE 
• BUNDLES AND BUZZ ~ http://www.bundlesandbuzz.com/
• BABY BELLHOP ~ http://www.babybellhop.com/  (IN Victoria!)
• GREEN MOMMY
• ECO BABY BUYS ~ http://www.ecobabybuys.com/index.php/
• MAMABARGINS
• BABY CHEAPSKATE
• HIPPEEZ CLOTH DIAPERS
• NEW BABY SUPPLY
• FAIRYTALE DEALS
• CLOTH DIAPER CONTEST
• YEAH BABY BOUTIQUE
• OLIVIA PLACE
• BABY AGE
• HIPPO BARGINS

Lots of the above sites have Facebook pages as well!  Here are some other ones on Facebook:

• Mom N Tot Deals
• AppleCheeks Reusable Diapers
• MOD Mommy Jewelry
• Cloth Diaper Contests & Giveaways
• Mother of a Deal
• Armstrong BC Kid Swap
• Baby and Kid Stuff for Sale
• Kelowna Parent's Buy and Sell

Also if you have an iphone ~ there is an app called DEAL DROP which actually lists a bunch of the above sites!

Dates, Food and Spa

It's Thanksgiving weekend and I am loving all of the turkey and ham dinners we are having!  Food just seems to taste better when someone else makes it:)  Paul and I had our first date night since Marley was born (8 MONTHS AGO!!!)  We got a babysitter (who rocked!) that we trust and feel very comfortable with so we never worried once while we were out.  We went to this wonderful comedy show ~ it was crazy how many folks I saw there that I had not seen in ages ~ pretty much since our daughter was born.  I guess that is what happens when you "hermit":)  As we were walking out of the show arm in arm Paul and I decided to pop over to the place we actually had our very first date.  It was funny because we sat in the exact same place we did 5 or so years ago.  It was fun reminiscing!  Of course Marley just slept for our babysitter so she had a pretty easy night (but I do think she wanted Mars to wake up so they could hang out!:)  Friday was low key.  We did a friend dinner on Saturday night which was super but it had to end early as Marley wasn't really in the party mood ~ party pooper!  It is always such a toss up whether we are going to be able to stay a short, medium or long amount of time now that we have a babe.  Sometimes we are just lucky to make it out of the house:)  Marley's "witching hour" is usually 5:00pm ~ it has been a while since the last nap but not exactly bedtime.  All I can do is try to make her happy so we try to go for a walk and then eat, bath, eat, bed:)  This night she was ready for bed before we even left the house!  But we made it and it was a great visit:)  Oh and did I mention the turkey and stuffing were to die for!  


Then yesterday I got to do something I never have done before!  I did a spa day (from 11am-3pm!) with a girlfriend!  I got a massage, a facial, a pedicure then a manicure!  It was very relaxing to say the least and it was nice to spend time with a friend that is moving away.  This was all thanks to my brother ~ I could not have spent that kind of money on myself now that we have Marley (just would have felt to guilty).  Of course when I got home I smudged up my manicure ~ nail polish is completely impractical when you have a baby!:)  So off it went and back to mommy hood I go ~ au natural nails and all:) We got to go to my mom-in-law's place for ham dinner ~ sooooo yummy!  That was a great day ended off with blueberry pie and Marley was so good even though we got her home late:)


Now today is a cleaning, getting groceries day (which I love!)  I pulled out the bassinet that Marley was in for a couple months when she first arrived.  It was tucked under the crib but we are going to drop the crib mattress platform down as Marley will probably be trying to escape any week now:)  I sat the bassinet in the living room and sat her in it.  It sort of looks like she is sitting in a boat ~ she just sat and played while mommy and daddy did chores ~ looking up every once and a while with a 4 chomper grin ~ then back down playing with her toys.  Very sweet!  And tonight we get ANOTHER yummy turkey dinner at my folk's place and then it's back to the same ole' routine:)


I am finding everything is much more fun when you have Marley around (and sure more work but that's fine with us).  I love watching her out and about, visiting, sharing stories with short grunts and big squeals, grabbing her toys and clapping them together, crying if someone gets right up in her face to quickly (she has the cutest cry face which makes me laugh), cuddling up to my shoulder when she's unsure<3  Can't wait for number two whenever that happens!

Four Chompers

I was rocking Marley last night in our big cozy chair while we fed and watched the Dream Screen in her room.  It was quiet, she was so relaxed ~ her eyelids getting heavy.  As I gazed down at her I had a thought ~ this sweet little girl was in my belly only 8 and a half months ago!  I then started to think about how she always kicked and jabbed my sides when there was music playing or when I was laying down.  How amazing is that!  I feel like for the last 8+months that she has been here has flown by in some ways and I never really think back to how it all started.  With the first few months of nausea, weird tomato cravings, really sore hips and being super thirsty all the time:)  So many changes, so many sensations.  And then she was here...in my arms.  She wasn't a little tadpole of a creature....she sure doesn't look like a little alien like she did in the second ultrasound.  I remember tearing up the first time I heard that little heartbeat and now here she is...in my arms ~ just chillin':)  Holy smokes life is nuts ~ I made this, we made this!  Now she has grown ~ 18 +lbs from the little 7 lbs 15oz ~ still has the cute head of hair ~ the biggest, brightest blue eyes you have ever seen, the sweetest smiley face and 4 big chompers!  2 down, 2 up ~ so funny! And boy let me tell you ~ she'll bite you:)

Never have I loved anything, anyone so much as I do Marley<3

I love you Marley!

I knew she was a cutie!

Winning cutie!

Just found out Marley won a photo contest (one of the 10 finalists in the Weleda Green Baby contest) so we get a $100 gift basket from Weleda!  Yaaaaaay!  I knew she was a cutie from the first day I laid eyes on her ~ and it's nice to know that I am not the only one:)  I love putting her in little contests ~ she has the best expressions and I catch so many great moments with my camera.  It's crazy to think in 20 some years I will look back at the photos with a young adult sitting beside me!  And I have lots of great photos I can embarrass her with LOL:)  Love that baby!

To sleep or not to sleep? That is the question.

Well it's Sunday night or Monday morning depending on how you look at it ~ I unfortunately can not sleep (I find my biological clock is completely out of whack since having Marley) so I decided to work on my blog a bit.  This past weekend was a bit of a "baby break" for me as I was playing in a ball tourney.  It was nice to be able to do my own thing ~ not have to constantly be attending to Marley but I sure did miss her when it came down to it!  Luckily she got to spend the weekend with Paul aka Daddy<3  I think it is so good to have that quality bonding time where a bossy, "A" type, and sometimes pushy mama bear isn't around critiquing every little thing.  I'm not talking about myself of course ~ I obviously am not like that;) I know Paul really appreciates all the time he gets to spend with her.  And I found that being away (even if it was only a couple hours at a time) really recharges my batteries and makes me a better mama.  That being said I want to be around her every chance I get.  I cringe at the thought of having to return to work. I know some moms want to have the career and I know some moms want to stay at home.  I feel like I have focused on my career for so long(since grade 8 technically) that my mind and heart want to (and is ready to) focus on family now.  When I first found out we were expecting, my mind made a complete shift from career to family.  And I can 100% say that I feel this is what I should be doing, this is where I should be.  To stay at home with my children(YES WE ARE GOING TO HAVE MORE EVENTUALLY:) would be a dream.  I look forward to the day I can.  Don't get me wrong I still have a passion for teaching and theatre but what I am feeling right now goes deeper than that passion ever has been for me.  I truly feel I am doing exactly what I should be doing right now...well not right at the moment ~ I know I should be sleeping:)  But you know what I mean.  A new chapter has begun...I can work for the rest of my life but my baby girl Marley is only going to be a baby for a little while longer (of course she will always be my baby even when she is 80 years old)!  She is an amazing little creature<3 

Sweet dreams ~ I am off to bed<3

LOVE

Too many options!

I have spent today and yesterday working on the layout of this blog ~ there are way too many options for templates, fonts, colours, everything!  Don't get me wrong, I love all the options :)  but boy talk about taking a heck of a load of time to get it the way I want it.  I guess the great thing is that I can change the look, feel anytime I want.  This experience setting up my blog is a mirror image of my life lately ~ lots of options, just gotta go with what feels right RIGHT now knowing I can always change it.

This is my baby 8 short months ago ~ born beautiful<3

This is a "MOG" and I am a "MOGGER"

I haven't googled this yet but I was just sitting here playing with my new blog ~ Marley is sleeping like a baby ~ a good sleeping baby, not those ones that wake up every 2 hours for a feed:)  Any who, this term just popped into my head and I think it's clever.  Could be that it's late and I am coming down with a sinus cold or maybe I really am a genius ~ either way I like it!  Get it?  I am a mama and this is my mama blog = MOG(pronounced ma-og) HENCE I am MOGGER!  I think it will catch on ~ what do you say mamas?

Still in pajamas

Have you ever had one of those days where you look at the clock and it's 9:00pm and you realize you didn't change out of your pajamas that you were wearing when you woke up this morning? Yeah...me neither;)

Except for today~baby Marley and I just hung out in our home all day. Maybe other mamas can relate ~ those wonderful days when you just spend time together and not worry about laundry or dishes until baby is napping. When she wakes up from a nap, you feed her, change her and then just play. Just be. I took the time to go thru activity to activity like reading stories (her fav right now is Three Little Mermaids and Peekawho?), showing her the plants outside, laying on our foam play mat just looking at one another. And then it's off to a nap and I get some chores done and then she awakes and we do it again. I fed her in her bumbo during lunch without a diaper (you know bare bum time) then I hear "splat, splat, splat" ~ you know when you just smack or tap some water on a hard surface. Yeah Marley had peed and was tapping the pee puddle with her left foot while munching on cheerios. It was so funny ~ so I cleaned it up and pulled her out of the bumbo and sat her on a receiving blanket on the kitchen tile. We spent some time looking at tupperware containers and a rubber piggy then she made a grunt sound. Ok I know that's the poo face ~ you know the one ~ where they turn red and I jumped up ~ quick thinking let her poo on the blanket or take her to the potty. So I grabbed her and carried her over to the bathroom and sat her on the edge of the potty. She is 8 months old and was just smiling away then the grunt face came back and she pooed in the toilet ~ I don't mean to brag but I was pretty proud! LOL! Overall it was such a great day of just being together ~ I think every mama and papa needs to spend a day just hanging out together<3

What I learned over the last 8 months

January 26, 2011 was a day that changed my life forever.  That is the miraculous day that our beautiful daughter Marley Marie made an entrance.  Since then I have learned TONS!  The purpose of this blog is to share with you what I have learned and I will share what I learn along the way.  So here goes:  If you can breastfeed, do it ~ it can save you a lot of money!  Marley just turned 8 months old and I started adding formula just to fill her up along with solids and breast milk.  But boy formula is expensive!  Do cloth diapers even if you are nervous about it ~ we switched to cloth about 4 months ago and have never looked back!  It was the best move for us ~ saved us money, really good for her tushy and I like the idea that I am helping the earth.  Oh and the patterns and colours of the diaper covers are very cute!  I live in British Columbia Canada and I have found a few great companies that I have really liked dealing with.  Baby Bellhop in Victoria has a great on-line store and they have the best customer service.  We decided to go with bumGenius Flips as a start and will expand our cloth diaper inventory as we go ~ dependant on what comes on sale, etc.  But so far I am super happy with them!  Also love Rock n Green detergent and it's even better if you can get it on sale.
There are a few sites&pages that I wish I found while I was pregnant ~ I am so happy I have them right now for sure!  Baby Half Off is a great one ~ gives you one deal a day ~ shipping is out of the USA so the deal has to be smoking deal!  The next one is called Baby Steals and they provide 2 deals daily ~ one at 9 am EST and one at 9 pm EST ~ I have found quite a few awesome things to add to my baby collection like cheap baby legs, baby wrap, etc.  Also shipping out of the USA so better to find a great deal to make it worth your while.  The next one is called Baby Heist and it's Canadian so great shipping prices.  They have a deal a day.  Another thing to look for are the archives to the baby deal sites ~ so even if you missed the deal originally you might still have a chance to find some goodies!
On Facebook ~ try to find any local baby swap pages/parent buy and sell pages, etc.  This is a great way to sell any of the items you don't need anymore as well as find some good deals on things you might be in search of.  Also great for the environment because you are reusing items!
Gotta sign off but if you know of any other great baby deal sites please leave them in the comments as I would love to hear about them!
Thanks!