I survived yet another NaBloPoMo! Every day for the month of November, I diligently posted on the blog. I'll have to admit that I feel like I did a horrible job. Life has been so busy and I really don't feel like I put much thought or effort into my posts.

Regardless, I did it! :)

I once contemplated on doing the NaNoWriMo challenge. Yikes. Perhaps I was being too ambitious. Maybe next year I'll try my hand at the national novel writing month. Maybe.

Oh, and I also did this...
Remember the recipe I wanted to try? Well, it turned out perfectly! Hubby says this recipe is a keeper.
Here's a cross section shot of the cream cheese filled chocolate cupcake. The candy cane sprinkles (or as my two year old nephew calls them, "pinkles") are great with the chocolate cupcake. Mint + Chocolate = A marriage made in Heaven!


Yes, the cupcakes are "Hubby Approved". :)

...being in grade two and really, really wanting a Cabbage Patch Kid. Back in the 80s, Cabbage Patch Kids were the biggest rage! My Mom scoured the stores and all the Cabbage Patch Kids were out of stock.

When I was a kid, my parents never just gave us toys or treats for no reason. We had to earn our prized possessions. They taught us from an early age that hard work reaps its rewards. Whether it be by doing some kind of chore and earning our allowance (which was like fifty cents a week or so when we were little!) or getting straight A's in school, we always had to earn the things we really wanted. For my brother, it was Transformers. For me, it was a Cabbage Patch Kid.

On the day I brought my report card home with straight A's (I think there was a B+ in there, but it was close enough to straight A's), my parents were very proud of me. My prize? You guessed it! A Cabbage Patch Kid! My poor Mom had to practically wrestle another woman in the store for the last one!

Alyssa Lisette was the name written on my Cabbage Patch Kid's birth certificate. Though she wasn't the one I wanted (for some reason, I wanted a Cabbage Patch Kid with long, blond pig tails and blue eyes. Alyssa Lisette had short curly hair. Despite the fact that she wasn't the one I wanted, she was the one I loved. I had worked hard all school year to get her...and my Mom had a hard time getting her for me.

That memory always stuck in my mind. It reminds me of how sweet the rewards are when you work hard and wait for it. When things are just given to us, we don't appreciate them as much as when we have to work and wait to get them.

This Cabbage Patch Kid memory just resurfaced when my cousin (one of Little One's godfathers) gave Little One her very first Cabbage Patch Kid for her first birthday. Too sweet!

In May, my cousin got married to one of the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful people I've ever met. Their wedding had me in tears because just by looking at the couple, you could feel the love they shared. It just radiated from their smiles and the way they looked at each other. I always cry at weddings, but this time it was different. It was a very special wedding, indeed.

At the reception/dinner, they had the most beautiful wedding cupcakes. I didn't get to try them because I left the party early. We stayed for the ceremony, the dinner, a bit of the dance, but the baby needed to nurse and go to sleep for the night.

At the brunch the next morning, there were a few cupcakes left from the night before. I was lucky enough to get to try one.

Oh. My. Goodness.
Can I tell you that these were the best cupcakes I have ever had?!

I have been thinking of making them to include in my Christmas baking this year. I found this recipe online at www.Cooks.com and I hope it is similar to the one we tried at the wedding. The only thing is that the recipe on Cooks.com calls for chocolate cake mix from a box. I don't use ready made mixes, so I think I'll just use one of my chocolate cake/cupcake recipes.

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE FILLING

1 box chocolate cake mix 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese 1 egg Dash of salt 1/3 c. sugar 1 (6 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips Mix cake mix per instructions for cupcakes on box. Fill each paper liner to half full. Next, cream the cheese with the egg, salt and sugar. When smooth, add chocolate chips and stir well. Drop creamed mixture by large teaspoonfuls, 1 per cupcake. Bake per mix instructions (usually 350 degrees for 20 minutes). After cooled, frost.

The recipe looks simple enough. In fact, it looks so easy that even my husband can make it! It's kind of like one of those "half made homemade"/"homemade from a box"/fake out recipes.

I can't remember what kind of frosting was used on the wedding cupcakes. I don't know if it was a cream cheese frosting or a butter cream frosting. Anyway, here's a frosting recipe for you. Sorry, but it's definitely not figure friendly!!!

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pound (3 1/2 cups) sifted confectioners sugar
• 3 to 4 tablespoons milk

Preparation:

Cream butter, salt, and vanilla, beating until light and fluffy. Add sugar gradually, beating after each addition. Add 3 tablespoons milk, beating until smooth. Beat in more milk until desired spreading consistency is reached. Makes about 2 1/3 cups of frosting, enough to frost tops and sides of of an 8-inch 2-layer cake or a 10-inch tube or bundt cake, or about 1 dozen cupcakes.

I wonder if I could do the cream cheese filling with chocolate brownies? Think it would turn out?

Against my better judgment, I put up our Christmas tree AND put a few presents under the tree for our nieces and nephew. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I honestly didn't think that Little One would be all over that tree and opening everyone's presents!

You see, she's a preemie. She was born three months early and EVERYONE told me that preemies are usually developmentally delayed. Apparently, many preemies take longer to learn how to sit, crawl, walk, and talk. Well, Little One is crawling...and crawling fast! She's also cruising from one couch to the next by hanging onto the couch or her toys and "walking" herself to where she wants to go. This is all new. This all happened within the past week or so.

She used to just sit in one place and play with her toys. Now, she heads straight for the Christmas tree. She's opened her cousins' presents and I've had to re-wrap them twice already. When I see her heading for the tree, I say "[Insert Little One's real name here], no thank you."
She looks at me and smiles and then bolts for the tree again. "No thank you!", I say (but this time in a more stern voice). Then she starts to laugh.

My newly twelve month old LAUGHS at me when I try to discipline her!

When she thinks I'm not looking, she scoots over to the Christmas tree again. "NO THANK YOU. Dangerous. Not for baby" and I wave my hand, gesturing that I don't want her to pull the Christmas tree down. Her response? She smiles and waves her hands like I do when I gesture that I don't want her to do something.

I thought she'd be exhausted because she's been crying/whimpering/screaming in her sleep the past few nights. I know I have been exhausted! But, alas! She is full of energy. Even after getting up super early to go to the doctor's for her second dose of the H1N1 vaccine AND after having a play date with the son of a friend of ours. Nope. No nap. Not even tired. She's bouncing around (on the leg that she received the shot in!) AND...

She finally cut her first teeth! The two bottom teeth are now out! This whole teething process has been long and agonizing! You can imagine my surprise when I looked in her mouth today and saw those chompers! I didn't know whether to celebrate or cry! Having her first teeth is serious business. She's really not a "baby" baby anymore. Know what I mean? :(

I usually don't like having my photo taken, but the photographers at PhotoCaptiva are amazing! I just love, love, LOVE the photos they take! Here's a sample of just how talented they are! All the photos were taken on our farm.If you're looking for photographers to capture your special occasions, be sure to check out WWW.PHOTOCAPTIVA.COM !!!

"ARE YOU FILIPINA?" were the words I heard when I answered the phone.

Me: Well, yes. Sort of. My Mom's from the Philippines.

Telemarketer: (giggles) Well, that's great. So you are Filipina.

Me: (not wanting to go through my entire family tree, but my Dad's not Filipino. He's Chinese from the Caribbean. That makes me not 100% Filipina. Plus, I was born in Toronto and have lived most of my life in Montreal. I consider myself Canadian. Well, Filipina-Chinese-Canadian, I guess!) Umm...Who am I speaking with?

Telemarketer: Oh, yes. I'm sorry. I'm (I didn't catch her name) and I'm with (insert name of overseas phone company).

The lady continues on in Tagalog (my Mom's first language).

Me: Oh! Sorry, I don't speak Tagalog! I understand it, but I don't speak it.

Telemarketer: (speaking in half Tagalog and half English) Do you make many long distance phone calls, Mam? We'd like to offer you a great deal. You can call the Philippines for only 3 cents a minute! That is a great deal! You're in Canada, right Mam? You can make phone calls anywhere in Canada for only 2 cents a minute.

Me: Thank you so much. However, I'm not interested right now.

The conversation dragged on for another few minutes, despite me saying "I'm not interested" several times. I totally understand that being a telemarketer is her job. Where on earth did she get my phone number? How on earth did she know I had a Filipina background?

I realize people have jobs to do, but please, please, PLEASE don't call me. If I want your services, I'll call you. Oh, and stop calling to tell me that I have "won a dream vacation". I don't have any issues with my credit cards. I don't have any outstanding loans to worry about. I don't know where you are getting my phone number and information, but please stop calling me.

I'm not the type of person to rudely hang up on others. Unfortunately for me, I'll sit there and listen to you on the phone while politely telling you that I'm not interested and please stop calling. Please don't make me resort to hanging up. I would hate to do that, so please stop being so persistent...and sometimes pushy!

Just to let you know, if you call my house and I don't answer, I'm A) Out, B) Unavailable at the moment, or C) Screening my phone calls!!!

I've been pretty fortunate to have a baby who is generally happy, good tempered, and easy going. I have been lucky that I'm able to take her everywhere I go. It is also my belief (probably my very naive belief!) that if I teach Little One that we go out to movies, plays, concerts and church, she'll learn that this is what we do and she'll learn how to act in those kinds of social settings. Maybe I'm a fool to believe that it's sort of like a self-fulfilling prophecy. If I think or stress out about her freaking out in public, then she will. If I calmly show her that this is what we do and this is natural and normal for us, she will sit there calmly on my lap and enjoy the sights and sounds. Of course, she's a baby and I know she will not always sit quietly or have the patience and fortitude to sit through an entire church service without "talking" (or singing). I know she may not always want to sit in one place when we're at the movies or a play.

When my friend Gadget Girl and I took my two older nieces and Little One to see Harry Potter last summer, Little One slept through the entire movie. I was thinking that she would do the same with New Moon. HA! The joke was on me!

I do realize that Little One was still a "baby" baby when we saw Harry Potter. She's now twelve months old and is ALWAYS awake! She was awake for the entire movie. Good thing she's a good girlie, because it could have been ugly.

One of the movie attendants/ushers came up to me during the previews and knelt beside me. I was sitting at the end row in an aisle seat so that if Little One did happen to fuss, I could make a quick exit. Anyway, this is what happened:

Movie Attendant: (very politely) Mam, if your daughter fusses, would it be possible for you to just take her out of the theater until she stops fussing?

Me: Sure! Of course!

Movie Attendant: It's just that in the past we have had complaints about babies crying and making noise in the movie theater.

Me: Oh, yes. I understand completely. Not a problem.

We both exchanged smiles and the feature presentation began.

First things first. I'm not an idiot. I wouldn't ever bring my baby to a place where she would disrupt the enjoyment of a film, play, or concert. If in event she did get cranky, obviously I would quietly step out with her. I'm not inconsiderate. If I were a patron paying for a show, I'd expect the same courtesy from others.

Anyway, Little One was fine. I did miss one part of the movie when I had to step out to change her diaper. To answer some questions, no she wasn't quiet the entire movie. She did giggle and talk to the big screen. She was also bouncing on my knee for the entire two hours. I should point out that practically every woman, teenage girl or tween in the theater gasped, giggled, laughed, sighed or made some kind of comment (ummm...when Jacob had his shirt off!) throughout the movie. There was one guy sitting next to Gadget Girl who kind of seemed annoyed that there was a baby sitting four seats away from him. This said, he also didn't seem to want to be there in the first place. I'm thinking he just went because his girlfriend dragged him.

Oh, one weird thing happened when I was changing Little One's diaper in the washroom. There were no change tables. Big clue that this movie theater wasn't very baby-friendly. Anyway, I had to change Little One on the counter where the sinks were. She was happily looking around and smiling. There was a woman who came out of one of the stalls and said, "Oh! Can I take a photo of your baby?!"

Ummm. WEIRD! Ummm. No, you can't take a photo of my baby being changed! I didn't tell her that, but I was thinking it. Then she pointed at Little One's shirt that read: TEAM EDWARD.Lady in the Bathroom: She's probably the youngest New Moon fan in the entire theater! I need to take a photo of her! She's so cute!

No, she didn't get a photo of Little One. I very quickly changed Little One's diaper and politely excused myself. I said something about not wanting to miss any more of the movie.

Each year, around Christmas time I bake lots and lots of cookies to give to friends and family as part of their Christmas present. Last week, I blogged about trying out a new cookie recipe. I think this one will be included in this year's Christmas cookie batch! Usually, I make about six different types of cookies. I was surprised that an overwhelming number of people e-mailed me for the recipe. Here it is! Enjoy!Chocolate Peanut Butter-Filled Cookies

Chocolate cookie batter
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c softened butter
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla

Peanut Butter Filling
3/4 c confectioners' sugar
1/2 c peanut butter

**You will also need some granulated sugar to dip a glass into and then press the cookie balls to flatten them**

Preheat oven to 350

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl beat together butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar and 1/4 cup peanut butter until well combined. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Beat well. Gently mix in the flour mixture about 1/3 at a time until incorporated. Form the chocolate dough into 32 balls.

For the filling

Combine confectioners' sugar and 1/2 cup peanut butter in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Form into 32 balls.

On parchment paper, gently flatten each chocolate ball. Top with peanut butter ball. Carefully fold chocolate dough over the peanut butter ball and seal the edges. Roll dough into a ball.

Place balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. Lightly flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in granulated sugar. I decorated the cookies with three chocolate chips placed in the center of each cookie. I used some white chocolate chips, some dark chocolate, and some milk chocolate. This was how the cookies were presented at my friend's house, so I tried to reproduce the cookies the exact same way. I think it was a successful attempt! :)

Bake cookies for about 8 minutes,until the surface begins to slightly crack. Let cool on cookie sheet. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Wow. I knew it was too good to be true. I really have to stop boasting about how my baby sleeps from 9PM to 9AM. Really.

A few nights ago, she was up ALL NIGHT. I kid you not. ALL NIGHT!

She was sleeping in her crib in her room and Hubby and I were in our room up in the loft and down the hall from her. I could hear her making noise and crying, so I waited. I figured she'd stop crying and put herself back to sleep. Still crying. I waited a bit more and then went downstairs and down the hall to check in on her.

She was flailing around, thrashing her body, kicking, screaming, and crying. The tears are what got me though. Real, full-on tears! Poor girl! Funny how one temporarily forgets about exhaustion and lack of sleep when baby is in need of comforting. I picked her up and gave her a cuddle. I decided to just sleep in her room with her because it didn't look like she was going to just succumb to sleep. Hubby has to get up super early for work, so I didn't want to disturb his sleep.

Mehhhh...I don't need that much sleep anyway, right? *groan*

Nope. She didn't succumb. In fact, she cried SCREAMED for almost the entire night. I ended up putting her in bed with me. I put a bed in her room across from her crib just in case something like this happened. I didn't think I'd actually have to resort to using it! Anyway, even with Mom's cuddles and caresses, she was still inconsolable.

I have no idea if she was having a bad dream, if she was gassy, or if she was teething. All I know is that she was soooo crabby! Here I was, thinking how lucky I was that my baby slept through the night. Then she had to decide that it was a good idea to stay up all night and finally go to bed at 8:51 AM. Gahhhh!



I don't know why I've got Zombie by The Cranberries stuck in my head all of a sudden. I remember going to one of their concerts when I was in university. This was one of my favourite songs.

My sister-in-law, my two year old nephew and my nine month old twin nieces spent a week on the farm with us. After having a house full of little ones for a week, I'm suffering from withdrawal now that they're gone!

We had a busy and fun week.Of course, the cattle were out again! I tried to push them back since we didn't have a gate up by the house. It didn't work and they were just not cooperating. I made a makeshift fence out of some boards that were laying around and said, "ARGH! Forget it! Hubby will have to worry about this when he gets back to the farm!" Grrrrr! Those girls are soooo bad!

These two deer were in front of the house every morning. They were eating the apples that were still on the apple tree. My little nephew kept saying, "Ohhhh! Big horsies!!" :)
My two year old nephew and I baked cookies...
and went apple picking on our farm...

and made apple sauce for the babies with the apples we picked!

"Ohhh! What's that?!?"
Mmmm! Apple sauce!


I really miss my sister-in-law, nephew and twin nieces! :( Now the house is quiet and Little One has no playmates to hang out with every day. She has learned a few new tricks from her cousins though!

Why? Because I could have slept in yesterday, but since Hubby was up and out for work at almost 6 in the morning, I decided to get out of bed too. Ridiculous, since the baby doesn't get up until 9AM!

What does one get accomplished at such an early hour? One does laundry, cleans the kitchen, pays bills, cleans the living room and dining room, and bakes three dozen cookies...of course!
We had supper at a friend's house the other night and after supper, she served a tray of cookies, squares, and butter tarts. *groan* I think we all gained 30 lbs in just one evening! Anyway, there were these AMAZING chocolate peanut butter-filled cookies sitting on the tray in front of me. They were THE MOST DELICIOUS cookies EVER!

I savoured each and every morsel of the cookie and tried to mentally dissect it so I could reproduce it when I got home. I'm a freak like that. I'll go somewhere and if I really love something I've tried, I try to reproduce it in my own kitchen. It's a challenge sometimes, but it's something I enjoy doing. It's fun trying to see if I get the recipe right!

I'm not sure if you can see in the photo above, but there's one cookie that I cut in half so you can see the peanut butter filling.

I baked chocolate peanut butter-filled cookies and chocolate chip cookies. I made some for a pregnant friend of mine and I'll be bringing some to a friend's dinner party tonight, along with a salad to accompany the leg of lamb she's making. I've never had lamb before. I've been told it's good, but I can't get my mind to separate Mary Had a Little Lamb from the actual dish. *sigh* I'm such a weirdo sometimes. For this very same reason, I can't eat rabbit (I think of Thumper from Bambi)and I can't eat deer (Hello!? Bambi!!). I even have to mentally prepare myself when I eat chicken, fish, pork, beef...or any "meat". It's a struggle I face every time I eat. I know it sounds crazy. I guess this is why I was vegetarian for over seven years! The thought of meat grosses me out. I know. I've got some serious issues! I gag just thinking about flesh, blood, tendons, fat, gristle...GAH! I'd better stop now! Funny how I ended up marrying a beef farmer! Gah!

Sometimes I think I take things for granted. When I should be thinking about how fortunate and blessed we are, I think about how we need so much work done on our old farm house or how I would really love to buy myself a dishwasher because I'm sick of always having so many dishes to do by hand. I think of how I need a new vehicle. My vehicle has served me well and I love it, but having a baby and having so much baby gear means a van would be more practical. My vehicle is great for a couple or a single person.

I think about how it's taking forever to get our deck done. We started it before summer and it's almost winter and it's still not finished. I think about how I'm forever dusting and cleaning...and there are always flies and spider webs! It just never ends. I suppose that's just life on the farm. There will always be flies and spiders.

Then my husband told me this morning, "We are so lucky. We have such a good, full life. We have a beautiful, healthy, smart daughter. I've got you, babe". All of a sudden, I was reminded of how sweet life really is.

Photo by PhotoCaptiva. More photos from our family photo shoot to come when we receive the pics!

I remember watching the original mini series on TV when I was a kid.
I anxiously awaited the new series just to see how it compared to the original.

You know the plot. Aliens, referred to as "The Visitors" arrive on Earth and extend their friendship. They say that they come in peace and need the help of humans so that they can help their ailing world. In exchange for the humans' help, the Visitors say that they will share their highly advanced technology with humankind.

Are the aliens as benevolent as they claim to be? Or do they have a sinister plan?

In the original 1983 mini series, the V turned out to be carnivorous reptiles. I remember being a little afraid of the V, but looked forward to watching each episode. Glutton for punishment, I guess. We were still very young when the series came out and my parents let us watch the show with them. I was 8 years old and my brother was 6.

I remember after one of the episodes, my Dad went to the kitchen and poured ketchup all over his face and did this scary thing with his eyes. He pretended to rip away at his face and said he was a V. My brother, being really young got scared. For some reason, though I don't recall details of the original show, my Dad pouring ketchup on his face and pretending he was a Visitor is what remains etched in my mind.

Hubby and I caught one episode of the show and so far it looks interesting. Let's see how the rest of the series turns out.

When I look at my newly twelve month old daughter, I am reminded of how fearless young children can be.

Little One has been taking baths in the "big" bath tub for the past few weeks. I've retired her baby bath tub because she's getting too big for it. She just LOVES swimming in the big bath tub! I was shocked to see her just embrace the whole experience. The smiles, laughs and grins she gave when swimming in the tub were just adorable. She tries to catch her bath toys as they float away from her. She scoots from one end of the tub to the other. My baby is growing up.

I took her swimming in a pool for the first time yesterday, and she seemed so "at home" in the water. She didn't flinch, cry, wince or anything. All she wanted to do was swim and play in the water.

It made me think of a friend of mine who is afraid of the water. I remember when we were kids, we tried to get him to swim with us, but he screamed, cried, and threw a fit. He had a life jacket AND arm floaters on and still freaked out.

Little One is also fearless when it comes to the animals on our farm. She plays with the dog and the cats and watches the cattle with curiosity. Some of my friends who are adults are afraid of the cats, the dog and the cattle. It amazes me to see that babies can be so daring and brave. I guess it's because they don't know what fear is yet.

When Little One pulls herself up on her toys and on the couch and lets go, I get so nervous and worried that she'll lose balance and hit her head on the floor when she falls. She doesn't seem to mind and lets go anyway. I don't want to be one of those moms who "hover". I know Little One needs to learn things on her own. It's just hard sometimes. I don't know which is harder...letting her learn that she sometimes needs to fall and get a few scrapes and scratches or letting her go and be an independent person. This Mommy business isn't an easy thing!

My lovely friend, J and her 15 month old daughter decided it would be fun if Little One and I accompanied them to swimming today. The rec center that we went to is off-island, but it makes for a great day trip. Swimming with the babies, lunch and shopping!

I was hoping Little One would love the pool. She's a water baby and loves swimming in the bath tub. She also loves the beach! Let me rephrase that. She loves the water at the beach, but not the sand. She looks at me with a disgusted expression on her face. Kind of like, "Ewww! Mommy! What is this gross stuff between my fingers and toes!?!"

I love, love, love swimming and really hoped Little One would love swimming too. To my surprise, she took to it so naturally. She was so cute when she put her head under water and kicked her little feet! She had so much fun! I loved that the babies got to swim in a heated salt water pool. The salt water was much better than the harsh chlorine I grew up swimming in at our local pool when I was a kid.

I have a feeling that Monday is going to be my favourite day of the week now! Some of the other moms and their babies from our play group were there too. Fun times!


On a totally different topic, this song played on the drive home. I don't know why, but whenever I hear Sass Jordan's "I Want To Believe" I get this bittersweet feeling in my heart.

While I was on hospital bed rest for the last bit of my very brief pregnancy last year, my friends were thoughtful enough to not only recommend, but send me the Twilight books. I devoured each and every book in the series in less than a week!

Little One was in the NICU for the first 2 months of her life. I spent most of my days and nights at the hospital with my baby girl. I didn't even think of "taking a night off". I wanted to be with my daughter all the time. I cried every time I had to leave the hospital so I could go to my aunt's house to sleep. I needed to be with my little preemie.

When Twilight (the movie for the first book) came out, one of my gal pals told me I needed to get out for the evening. She humoured me and agreed to see it with me. It was my first time doing something for me and breaking my routine of wake up-pump-commute-hospital-baby-pump-lunch-baby-pump-baby-commute-supper-sleep-do everything all over again.

In but a few short days, New Moon will be coming out and we already have our tickets!!! I can't wait!

My sister-in-law and her kids just left the Island after a week of visiting. We had a lot of fun and the babies were so good (even though we all ended up sick). My two year old nephew was such a rock star! He is in the midst of potty training and did a super job while up here.

I've learned that one has to be exceptionally careful of what one says in front of a two year old. I was helping him in the bathroom when he was doing #2 and I gasped, "Whoa! That is one giant man poo!!!"

Of course, my nephew had to run around the house yelling, "I just made a giant man poo!"
I also accidentally said the "s" word while I was cutting veggies with the knife and Kenny kept saying, "OH SHIRT!" Thank goodness he thought I said "shirt"! I am such a terrible adult!

Kenny and I baked cookies twice this week. We also went apple picking on our farm and then made apple sauce for the babies. Kenny saw the cattle. Yes, those bad cows that escape and jump fences all the time! Kenny also saw deer every day on our property. Kenny calls them "big horses" though. Today he saw a woodpecker. He also went fishing this morning with Grampy.

I think this week was really good for the kids. Little One got to play with her cousins and spend time with her auntie. Kenny just had a blast and was busy all the time. We even went for walks to my mother-in-law's farm. I was impressed that Kenny walked the whole way there.Now that the gang just left, the house seems so quiet and empty. I think we're suffering from withdrawal. I miss my sister-in-law, the twins and my two year old nephew already.

We never realize how life is for others until we've walked a mile in their shoes.

I'll admit it. There are days when I feel like I am going bonkers and it's not just because I have a little one to take care of all day. If all I had to do was to take care of my baby, I'd be a fine. It's just all the other things that need to get done that pushes me to my limits of what I can handle. There's the constant cleaning, the never ending pile of dishes (what on earth?! I just did dishes! How is it possible that they just multiplied!?!), laundry, laundry, laundry, farm related work, work that I need to get done on the side so I can earn a bit of money in between taking care of the baby and going back to teaching ESL...

It just gets so overwhelming and so exhausting to the point where sometimes I don't know how mothers do it.

Then I think of my sister-in-law. She's got a two year old and nine month old twins!

I didn't so much as walk a mile in her shoes, but I walked with her this week.

Lele and the kids came up to the Island for the week. Just for a change of scenery and to spend time with the grandparents too. Lele and I had the whole bath and feeding thing down to an exact science. It was really impressive, if I do say so myself.
We totally rocked the taking care of twin nine month olds, a newly twelve month old (nine month old corrected), and a two year old. Feedings ran without a hitch. Talk about organized! Bath time was also smooth sailing since I bathed the babies and Lele dried, diapered and dressed them.

This week was great for me because I'm usually alone with Little One. Little One had a great time playing with her cousins this week too. Having my sister-in-law around was fantastic company and I needed that.
For her, it was a little break and company too. She's with her three kids all day too and with very young twins and a toddler, it's not that easy for her to get out of the house with the kids much. I didn't realize how challenging things were for her until this week. She is such a good mom that she makes it look easy, but seeing things in person for a week really showed me how drained she really is.

I kind of feel guilty feeling exhausted with one baby and all the other craziness of the farm and everything else. By the way, the silly cows were out again this week. They were out almost every day! I give up! Anyway, we all got sick after Little One's birthday party. Sick babies = no sleep for mommies!Twin A (Olala) wasn't feeling well and vomited twice this week. It was the weirdest thing. We were all at the breakfast table and all three babies were just about done eating, when Olala just spewed all over the place. It was unreal! Almost right out of a movie! The amount of baby vomit and the RANGE almost looked like it had to be fake! The funny thing was that her twin, Brookie was facing her when she had her moment of projectile vomit. She's also been exceptionally clingy. I feel sorry for babies when they're sick. They're just so sad looking. It's heart breaking! Because Olala hasn't been feeling well, she's been more of a challenge for her mom. Kenny (the two year old) has been very busy and non-stop "I want juice!", "I hungry! I hungry! I hungry!" and "Play with ME!" lately. Luckily, Brookie (Twin B) has been fine. She's such a happy baby too. I can see how my SIL is getting worn out and just plain drained.

If anything, mommies need to help each other in any way we can. Being a mom is not an easy thing and if you are fortunate to have people around who can help you, then accept the help. Even if it means visiting your loved ones for a few days or a week! Though I'm alone with Little One all the time and Hubby does not spend much time at home because of work, I am lucky to be able to take Little One out a lot. She's a great traveler and an easy baby. She goes everywhere with me. We go to the farmers' markets in the summer, the beach, grocery store, play dates, etc. I need that kind of socialization. I need to get out of the house every once in a while. If all I did was stay at home and take care of the baby, the house, and help Hubby on the farm and that's it, I'd seriously go insane. I love being able to be here for all of my daughter's firsts, but I'm also glad that I'll be taking on ESL students again soon.

Sometimes a mom just needs a little break.

Lele and I were praying wishing hoping for at least a little break this week. We were kind of looking forward to maybe going out for lunch for once or even going to the Chocolate Works! Of course, that didn't happen. A little break would have been nice. Maybe next time.

Hopefully, the past week at the farm helped (despite us all getting sick). I had lots of fun with Lele, the twins and Kenny. I can't believe they're going back to Kingston tomorrow! If this week didn't make my SIL feel a bit better, I hope that the mojitos I made us did! ;)