Date Night

Last night, D and I enjoyed our first real date night. Though it wasn't our first night away from the boy -we'd attended the provincial IABC Pinnacle Awards (*ahem* where we both won awards *ahem*) and we also enjoyed a fantastic as in better-than-any-restaurat dinner the Faheys a couple of weekends ago - it was our first real solo date night. And it was awesome.

I won movie tickets from the Paperie for submitting this layout of my little man into their weekly scrapbook challenge:

The tickets were for an pre-release screening of Larry Crowne with Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks, which I'm sure was fantastic. Though we wouldn't be able to say ourselves. Long story short, we went all bad-ass and saw Bridesmaids instead. Hey, it was our first real date night and we both wanted to see Bridesmaids, so we made the most of our night out. So glad we did too - it was HI-LARIOUS. Seriously one of the funniest movies I've seen in a very long time. I haven't seen The Hangover (I know, I'm told it's a crime), but this is apparently possibly even funnier, at least according to my husband. If you've not yet seen it. Go. Now. Run to the theatre. And I assure you it's funnier when you're enjoying it over a supper of popcorn and peanut butter m&ms. As I said, we made the most of it. Many thanks to the Paperie for enabling our excursion and showing once again that scrapbooking is rewarding in many different ways.

Anyways, as new parents you're routinely reminded by various magazine articles, e-newsletters, and other parents to carve out time for yourselves as a couple. In those first few months, with Hudson's ongoing tummy issues and the directly-correlated lack of sleep, that was near about impossible. However, after last night, I really appreciate the importance of it. It was nice to hang out with just my wonderful husband, to hold his hand and chat about non-baby things. It was super-nice to do that outside of the house without listening to white noise in the baby monitor and jumping up mid-sentence to tend to a fussing babe. Not that we mind that mind you, it was just nice to be the two of us for a few moments.

And as much as I looked forward to and enjoyed the night out, once the credits rolled up I equally looked forward to and enjoyed picking our little man up and giving him a snuggle before tucking him in for the night. Whether you're a new parent or experienced parent, I strongly recommend you give date night a try. It reminded me of how nice it was to be just the two of us and how much better it is to now be three.

Boobs Don`t Equal Love

Last week a friend of mine posted a comment on her facebook page about the BabyNes - a new gadget from Nestle that provides single-serve formula to prepare a bottle to the right amount and temperature with the push of a button in under a minute. My friend's comment said "A small number of women are unable to breastfeed and for them formula is a necessary choice. But this machine just seems so very wrong. It disturbs me on many levels and I am still processing what bugs me. Here's one POV from a Newfoundland mom. I just wish that we could have lactation consultants promoted as slickly as these machines."

Of course, being a new mom for whom formula was a necessary choice, I was immediately pulled into the comment and linked through to this blog post on BabyFriendlyNL. I wanted to see what this machine was and, given I have great respect for the friend who's link I followed, I was fully expecting to find something terrible in the information I read. That turned out not to be the case. In fact, I found myself seething a little about the blog post. Initially, I tried to ignore it and move on, but over the last few days I've found myself still thinking about it and I decided I needed to offer up another perspective.

First, let me reiterate that I fully support breastfeeding. I entered into motherhood planning to breastfeed, attempted it for weeks and was devastated that I had to switch. For me and Hudson, formula was indeed a necessary choice. If I were to have another child, I would attempt breastfeeding again in a heartbeat. I would risk going through the hurt and frustration all over again just to try to give my child breastmilk. No question.

I also fully agree with my friend's comment about lactation consultants. For the rising number of women becoming mothers in this province (thank you Danny`s Dollars) there are far too few lactation consultants available in Newfoundland and Labrador. You generally only see one at the hospital after the baby is born if you're having difficulty. There are breastfeeding clinics all over the city of St. John's and, while staffed by wonderful public health nurses, to my knowledge only one clinic has lactation consultants available. And I'm not sure what the numbers are for outside the capital city. I've no doubt that if more lactation consultants were readily available to new moms and promoted in a better manner, the practice of breastfeeding would increase in our province.

Now back to the BabyNes and this blog post.


BabyNes image from Nestle



I agree with her thought that this machine, should it ever become available in Newfoundland and Labrador (right now it`s only available in Switzerland), could negatively impact breastfeeding. Sadly, we are already among the provinces with the lowest rates of breastfeeding in Canada, possibly the lowest, and a gadget that makes formula more convenient does risk that worsening. I think it is up to our health care system, government and society to invest in efforts to counteract those risks and we would certainly benefit from advocating for more funding and efforts to ensure adequate and appropriate promotion of breastfeeding



What I don't agree with is what she writes after that. She states that this machine is just a "milk maker" that "provides no cuddles, no comfort, no love. There’s no way it can come close to replacing breastfeeding." Well, of course not, it doesn`t claim to. What follows is an implication that only those who breastfeed offer their child comfort, safety and love. And that's the biggest pile of you-know-what. I assure you that my bottle-fed son receives ample love and cuddles even though he's not breastfed. Just as she does, when he cries in the middle of the night, I go across the hall and pick him up, hold him close and soothe him. I ensure he has plenty of skin-to-skin contact, snuggling him against my chest and tummy. Whenever that sweet little boy needs his mama, I am there. I am making sure he knows his mama, his family and his home is a safe place to be even though - gasp! - I'm not breastfeeding.



Snuggling with my boy, holding him close, showing him love...
even though my boobs are tucked away

Love, safety and comfort are not exclusive to breastfeeding. While a possible risk to the numbers of moms who choose to breastfeed, the BabyNes machine is not evil. It does not act as a baby-feeding robot. You don't leave the baby under the drip unattended. You simply fill a bottle with it. From there, you still have to hold your child close, feed him, burp him, cuddle him and soothe him.


Ironically, this woman also states in her post that "sometimes I think the milk doesn’t even matter." Well, if the milk doesn't matter, why so bothered by the machine. If it's really about the comfort, the hugs, the cuddles and the love, parents can offer that regardless of how they feed. Let`s not forget that love doesn`t come from the boob. It comes from the heart.

The Big 3-0!

No, it's not my birthday. And even it it were, it wouldn't be the Big 3-0. I surpassed that almost three years ago (without the 'OMG I'm turning 30 drama I might add). Today is the 30th birthday of one of my besties in the whole wide world, Brooke.

Brooke & Me on the Skerwink Trail during her visit last summer

Brooke and I met in university more than 10 years ago. We became fast friends and have stayed that way to this day despite the distance between us -she still lives in NS while I'm here on 'da Rock. We generally take turns making the (short) trek to visit one another about once a year. Tis my turn, so me and the fam are hopping on a jet plane later this summer to visit Auntie Brooke. And God help us when we get on the phone. We're those friends that can get on the phone and literally talk for over an hour about nothing at all several times a week. Though these days, with the addition of the boy, we're lucky if it's once a week for a few minutes. Thankfully, we're also those friends that can go fo-evah without talking and pick up right where we left off.

Brooke is one of the coolest cats in town. She's an awesome photographer (check out the photo-a-day blog she did last year for proof if you need it). She's technically savvy and can figure out pretty much anything on the computer - from designing a web page to using photoshop to fixing odd quirks. Fortunately, she's also pretty patient and willing to explain all the techno-mumbo-jumbo to me and my hubby when need be. She's creative and has an eye for design, and her fun little apartment speaks to that. She's also disciplined - to wit is her success at being smoke-free for more than a year after years and years of smoking and her recent foray into running.  Best of all, she's one of the bestest friends a girl can have.

@ Lighthouse Picnics in Ferryland, enjoying awesome food in not-so-awesome weather

She's celebrating her big day in NYC  (I did say she's one of the coolest cats around didn't I?). And as I couldn't get her b-day gift to her before she left thanks to Canada Post's ongoing strike/lock out, I wanted to be sure she knows the Ryans are thinking of her today and wishing her the best day ever.

Rock out Auntie Brooke - happy birthday!

Summer Vacation + Scrapbooking

Today marks the official start of summer. At least on the calendar, if not in the weather. Boo on more rain and grey skies. Anywhoo, I've always found that I scrapbook less in the summer as I'd prefer to be outside soaking up the vitamin D, vacationing and enjoying the short-lived warmth that we get in this corner of the world. Add a new babe on top of that and my time to indulge in this hobby is really limited right now. That got me thinking about a class I took last year at the Paperie - Finish Line Scrapbooking by Stacy Julian.

The essence of the Finish Line Scrapbooking process is that you sit down with "limited time, limited space and limited product" and a "commitment to under-planning and under-thinking." Anyone who scrapbooks knows that you can literally spend hours pushing stuff around a page, selecting the perfect products and take days to finish just one layout. But with the finish line process, you select just 25-50 photos, a few sheets of coordinated cardstock and patterned paper and no more than 50 embellishments, along with a few other bits and bobs and go to town. Theory is in just a few short hours you'll have a completed album.

"Not possible" you scrapbookers say? I didn't think so either, but happily discovered it is. When the Paperie hosted a class around this process last year and I decided to scrapbook our summer vacation pictures, knowing that otherwise I'd never get around to doing it. That our 2008 honeymoon pictures are yet unscrapped is testament to this! While I started out doubtful, a completed album came together in just two evenings, a total of about 5 hours. Is it perfect? No. Is it what I would have created if I'd used my usual style? Nope. Is it done? Yep and I love it.

With the limited time at my disposal these days, I got to thinking that I should use this process again over the next few months to get a few scrapbook projects off my to-do list. In the meantime, in honour of the official start of summer, I thought I'd share my imperfect yet perfect album about our 2010 summer vacation with you:

Our 'Mini-American Road Trip' mini-album.

We took 10 days, crossed 4 states and had 1 helluva trip.

We started in Washington, DC. It was super hot while we were there, but that
didn't stop us from taking in all the sites around the capital of the US of A.



Next stop on the road was Cleveland, Ohio. Home of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
where we lucked into a special Springsteen exhibit - Des is a huge Springsteen fan!

Cleveland is also home to Momocho, a Mexican restaurant with the best Mexican food I've ever eaten.
It was featured on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and we could see why. So delish!

On our way out of Ohio, we hit Cedar Point. What's an American Road Trip without a roller coaster ride on the second-tallest and (when we rode it) second-fastest roller coaster in the world followed by Johnny Rocket milkshakes?? 

We also stopped in Pennsylvania, but I didn't scrapbook that - even though it was the reason for our trip! Des wanted to check out the Cars at Carlisle show, so we spent a couple of days in Hershey, PA. I checked out the amazing spa at Hotel Hershey followed by lovely outlet shopping, while Des checked out mopar cars on a grassy field. Heaven for both of us.

After PA, we moved onto Chicago, Illinois. Loved it. We took in the main tourist attractions...

 

and some amazing food at Brazzaz, a Brazilian Steakhouse, and Chicago-style hotdogs at Portillos



and an awesome architectural boat tour. The buildings in this city are amazing!

And, at each stop on the tour, we enjoyed many glasses of vino and one another's company. Love.

At the back of the album, I decided to include a couple of pockets for our paraphernalia.

So there you have it folks, a quick and dirty look at last year's summer vacation in the quick and easy album.

This year, we're sticking around our own country with a short excursion to Halifax, NS and perhaps a few jaunts around this lovely province of our own. What about you?

Old, New, Borrowed & Blue

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. No, I'm not planning another wedding. I am putting away laundry. While it seems I do that daily now, what makes it different today is that it's laundry with tags that read 3-6 months.

Over the last week or two, our little (almost-13lb) guy suddenly seemed to be reaching the tips of the toes in his sleepers and stretching those 0-3 month onesies taut at the seams. To prevent my mother from cutting the feet out of his PJs as she's threatened to do, I pulled out all the clothes in the next size up to go through and get it ready for wearing. That involved washing several loads of old, new, borrowed and blue clothes over the last few days. And think about it, this is baby clothes. Do you know how many itty bitty socks and teeny tiny t-shirts it takes to make up a large load in washer? A lot. An entire basket full in fact.

My first thought as I stacked the final load on top of the ones before it was "What??!!! When did my skinny little chicken turn into a chunky little monkey??" I remember hanging up all the new little outfits bestowed upon the little man from family and friends, thinking it'd be ages and ages before he'd fit into it. I remember sorting through barely-worn hand-me-downs, picking out the 0-3 months stuff and tossing the rest back into the bags for "months from now". Somehow, when I wasn't looking, those months have gone by. All those parents who warned me that the clock speeds up once babes arrive were right. If I could only find Father Time, I'd ask him to fix that up, y'all.

My second thought looking at that basket brimming with clothes was that all those parents were also right when they urged me to live in the moment because before you know it those moments are gone. When we first brought Hudson home, I'd lay him on my chest and his little toes would curl up into my belly button, he was so tiny. Now, albeit still tiny, his little toes rest on my hips and I know it won't be long until they're resting on my knees. I hate anyone touching my belly button (one of my many quirks), yet somehow I miss his toes resting there just so. And, while I'm grateful for getting more sleep now that we've moved him into his nursery, I already miss having Hudson lie next to me in the bed as he napped and I tried to do the same. Looking at the boxed up newborn clothes next to the large basket of 3-6 month stuff just reminded me to enjoy the moments we have now, even when they're challenging (like not sleeping and being so exhausted you cry because he's napping next to you in the bed), as much too soon they've passed.

my little guy wearing his big boy clothes 

My last thought as I looked at the basket of laundry was how grateful I am for our family and friends. Every stitch of clothes in that basket was either new (given as a gift), old (hand-me-downs from cousin Logan), borrowed (from the Fahey boys) and much of it of course was blue. So far, aside from a couple of things we chose to pick-up, we've not had to buy anything clothing-wise for our little guy, which is awesome. I find myself repeatedly thankful for all the support and love our family and friends have shown us as we've become a family of three. We are truly blessed.

So, during last night's 4am feeding, instead of heading back to my own bed as soon as I could, I decided to live in that moment, awake and tired, knowing there will be sleep-filled nights in my future once again while these warm snuggles in the wee hours will be only a memory. Instead of curling back up under my covers, I stared at him just a little longer than usual. I kissed his sweet cheeks. I smelled his head full of hair. I touched his dimply elbows. And I held him close long after he'd gone back to sleep.

All because of a mundane basket of old, new, borrowed and blue laundry.