Working Mom

Mid September I went back to work after a little over 2 yrs off to have my babies.  I'm working half time right now which is PERFECT.  I'm incredibly blessed to not NEED to work full time to make ends meet.
Nevertheless, the adjustment has been considerable!
This evening was just such a perfect example of what life is now like for this working mom.
After putting kids to bed I pulled out all my schoolwork only to realize I had forgotten to make my son's coconut milk for the next day so I decided to treat myself to an episode of my new favourite show while cooking.  30 mins later I was done the milk & had 10 mins of my show left so I actually sat down to enjoy a cup of tea.  Aaaah.
Finally got to work and did a significant amount for the next hour.  Cue the baby waking up screaming, for the next hour.  Sigh.
Got him settled finally, cue his sister waking up with a horrible non-stop cough.  Perfect time to realize I ran out of cough syrup yesterday and forgot to pick some up after school.
So, leave the kids with Grandma & run to the drugstore at 9pm.  Get home, administer cough syrup to BOTH kids who are now BOTH hacking away.  Get them resettled.
It's now 9:30 and I'm exhausted so....do I keep working & risk my IPPs being incoherent rambling or hope and pray I actually have 2 or 3 hours of peace at SOME point tomorrow to get my work done?
The phrase "work and home life balance" now makes me laugh.

Too Smart

We are getting ready to take a family trip to BC & since we aren't masochists, we've opted for the 1.5 hr flight over the 11 hr drive with two babies.
Elli was only 8 mos old when she was last on a plane so she doesn't remember it.  She's also scared of anything loud (motorcycles, big machinery, loud cars/trucks, etc.).  Our neighbour has a STUPIDLY loud motorcycle & when it drives by she will come running from the other room to cling to my leg.
As a result, I'm very nervous about how she's going to handle flying.  She's fascinated by planes & likes to watch them in the sky, but the noise of takeoff & landing has me worried.
So begins my attempt to prepare her for the flight.  Today we coloured pictures of airplanes & talked about them.  I told her that soon we are going on a plane up in the sky to go see Oma.
Her response, "No.  No plane.  Too loud."
I did not expect her to understand that the plane would be loud!  I reassured her that Mommy & Daddy & her brother would be with her.
"Mommy coming.  Mommy stay Elli."
I promised I would stay with her.  Then I told her maybe we would see some clouds & birds when we're up in the airplane.
"Just one bird.  Big bird."
Deal.

Preschoolers in the 21st Century

Happily, I found myself back in Early Ed, subbing for the day. :)
At one point we were looking at things that start with the letter E.  It was a pre made kit the teacher left for me to go through & the kids really enjoyed it.  I pulled out a picture of an envelope & held it up asking, "This starts with "e".  Does anyone know what this is?"
A little girl's hand shot up, "Email!"

*blink*blink*

She was 100% right.  It was the icon you see on every computer for email, and it even started with "e".
I still felt old.

Fun With Toddlers 2

Elli was having a day of being especially 2 years old.  All day long, ALL day long, she was adamant that everything in the entire world belonged to her.
At Costo: "My cookie.  My cracker.  My nama (banana).  My house (a tool shed on display).  My book.  My Fwozen (Frozen DVD)."
In the car: "My twuck (truck).  My red car.  My dasses (sunglasses)."
While baking brownies with me: "My egg.  My chockit (chocolate).  My poon (spoon).  My cake."
The worst of course was every time her brother touched ANYTHING in the house.  Didn't matter if it was his clothes, his toys, her toys, her clothes.  Didn't matter if it was the kitchen chair or her most treasured possession.
It was so ridiculous it was funny by the end of the day.  Especially when the following happened:
Elli was finally happily playing her blocks & ignoring her brother who was crawling all over me.
I started kissing his cheeks cuz it makes him giggle like crazy & I said, "Kisses for Mommy!"
Elli immediately dropped her blocks, came running over yelling, "My kisses!  My kisses!"
Well, that's one way to get her give me kisses. ;)

Fun With Toddler

With Elli turning 2 in a few weeks I've finally had to come to grips with the fact that's she's a toddler, not a baby.  Here's a few of the hilarious signs I can no longer ignore:

She was wearing a dress with colourful polka dots on it.  Since she is obsessed with pointing out what colour everything she sees is, I pointed at a blue dot & said, "Blue polka dot"
She quickly started trying to cover up every blue dot on her dress while declaring, "My blue! My blue!"

She was once again watching Toy Story 2 which is her new favourite.  At the part where a little girl at the yard sale picks up Woody Elli gasped loudly, yelled, "My Woody!  My Woody!" and ran over to where her Woody was lying on the floor.  She then hugged him possessively for several minutes.

I was sitting on the couch working on the computer as she played.  I recently got a pedicure & she often likes to admire whatever colour is on my toenails.  I was absentmindedly wiggling my bare toes when I felt something odd.  I looked over to see her gently biting my big toe.

Toddlers are crazy.

Sew Fun!

Well here are a few pictures of a few of things I've been sewing. :)

Here's a summer dress I whipped up.  After putting it together I decided to shorten it several inches & to add some tie-up halter straps.

This is my FAVOURITE new item.  It's a twist on a skirt extender I saw on Pinterest.  I used Heat n'Bond to add lace ruffles to a slip I had, it worked so well I'm going to make a white one too!  Here's a picture of the slip itself & what it looks like under a skirt I bought (it was $5, how could I not even though it was too short).

Next is a "pillowcase" dress I also found on Pinterest.  It's actually made from a super soft, flowy knit fabric.  A length of ribbon serves as "straps" & here I paired it with a polka dot belt.  It's going to be so cool & comfy for the summer.

Little Things

Everyone has those mundane, everyday little things that melt their hearts. Maybe it's an inside joke with your spouse, or the book you read every night to your little one.  For me it's something really simple, it's when Elli takes me by the hand & walks alongside me. It turns me into mush. She reaches out to mr with her tiny little fingers & says, "Hand?"
She wants the safety & security she finds in my touch. She wants me beside her, guiding her. I feel like I'm floating when she takes me hand.