...My first ARTICLE for Mom Nation, that is!!!


That's right! Me! :)

I'm glad to be a member of Mom Nation, a social community and blog network for Canadians. I wrote my first article in a series on high risk pregnancies, bed rest during pregnancy, premature babies, and life in the NICU.

Check out the Mom Nation site. It's an ever growing community of fantastic writers and bloggers.

So many blogs, so little time!






In participating in a few blog tours with Mom Central, I have been fortunate to have met some other great Canadian mom bloggers. They're all so intelligent, they have fabulous giveaways on their blogs, and they're so funny! Not in the funny "weird" way, but the "Ha! Ha!" kind of funny!




I really think you should check them out! Oh, and while you're at it, check out Mom Nation too! That's another place where we hang out.

I honestly did not expect that being a mom would bring me so many surprises. On one hand, motherhood just seemed to fall into my lap naturally. From the minute I held my tiny baby's hand for the first time, all the Mama Bear instincts seemed to come from within. Remember, I was not allowed to hold her until she was a few weeks old, because she was born so prematurely. Hours after her birth though, I was able to hold her little hand (which was the size of my thumb nail!).

I always knew I wanted to be a mom. I babysat a lot as a teenager and since my youngest brother is eleven years younger than I am, I was his second mom. I had no fears of not being able to be a good mom to my little one. I just knew I would be okay.

Now, it's the stumbling through motherhood that I hadn't thought of. I knew I'd be a good mom to Little One, but I didn't say I'd be a perfect mom. There are so many things I never even thought about.
I'm usually a very punctual person. In fact, I like being where I'm supposed to be at least ten or fifteen minutes early. Depending on the nature of the appointment, sometimes even half an hour to an hour early! I know. Pretty crazy. I just like being on time.

Now that I have a baby, I still try leaving early for appointments. For some reason, I always end up ten or fifteen minutes LATE! As organized as I can be, I always seem to forget something or the baby conveniently needs a diaper change as soon as we're about to leave the house.

Friends also warned me that one must "respect the nap"! I scoffed at this years before I became a parent. I never understood why my friends who had children could not just take their kids with them to the restaurant so we could meet up for brunch on a Sunday morning.

Though Little One can sleep just about anywhere, I have to admit that I am now very respectful of the nap! If she's sleeping, I don't want to wake her. My new motto is "Never wake up a sleeping baby...if you can avoid it"! This said, if she's already awake, she goes everywhere with me.

Friends and family warned me about the goose eggs and the poop, but I never expected having to actually experience some of mom's finer moments like these. The emotions one goes through in a single day are enough to write a screenplay or can even be considered...blog fodder! Who would have ever imagined!?

Little One was running around the house last week and ran right smack into the bathroom door. Depth perception at this age is a funny thing, it seems! She practically knocked herself out and ended up splayed on the floor with an instant goose egg. Of course, this all has to happen on my watch.

I can only imagine the look on my face. These little toddler accidents seem to happen in slow motion if you're a parent and seeing this happen. It happens so quickly that you can't really get there in time to avoid it from happening, yet all the actions seem to unfold in slow mo'!

Then we were supposed to go visit our friends SuperAmazingMommy and Maria from Notes from a Brown House. I had just given Little One a bath so she could be all fresh for her play date. What happened next took me by total surprise. I had heard about these things happening to friends, but I never expected to actually experience it myself.

As I was about to take Little One out of the tub, what should I see? Three little logs floating in the bath water! Ackkkkk! I'm the worst for dealing with stuff like that. It just grosses me out completely! Of course, Little One thought it was funny and was giggling away. Never in my life would I have imagined that many of my discussions would involve poop! Gah!

That little incident put us back a few minutes and threw my schedule off. The west end of the island is over an hour away from us. Remember, I like being on time!

All cleaned, changed, and ready to be put in her car seat, Little One was a happy camper. She was holding my keys while I strapped her into her car seat and as I closed the van door, I heard a click!

My heart tensed up. Panic struck me. OH MY GOSH! MY 18 MONTH OLD IS LOCKED IN THE VAN!!!

Of course, after tapping on the window and gesturing to Little One to "Push the UNLOCK button" on the key fob, I realized what I was doing was futile. She's only 18 months old (15 months corrected), for goodness sake! There she was, laughing and thinking that Mommy was playing a funny game with her. *sigh*

Hubby was doing a saw mill job in a town half an hour away. Ahhhh! I remembered that Hubby usually leaves his key for the van at home. Normally, I'd be upset that he leaves his key all the time. This time, I was thankful!

There you have it. All the drama that could unfold all before 9AM!

I don't know why, but I've been wanting CORN! I have no idea where I got the idea of making these little corn bake thingies. I've never made them before.

I thought they'd pair well with a crisp, refreshing salad.

They were delicious!!! Little One had TWO corn bake thingymabobs. Unfortunately, I don't think they made a substantial meal for Hubby. I keep forgetting that just because I don't eat as much as Hubby does, he NEEDS the extra calories since he works it off on the farm every day.

I bet he's wondering how long he'll be able to survive these Meatless Mondays! I bet he can't wait for the next meat-filled meal. Ahhhh...to be married to a beef farmer!

C's Corn Bake Thingies
Ingredients:

2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 c milk
1 c cooked corn kernels, drained
1 can creamed corn
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 eggs, well beaten

Instructions:
In a pot on low heat, melt butter.
Add flour to melted butter. Mix well.
Gradually mix in milk. Keep stirring until the mixture boils.
Add corn kernels and creamed corn. Add salt and pepper. Cook until mixture is heated through.
Beat eggs and then add to mixture.
Pour into a greased baking dish (I used a muffin tray).
Bake 1t 350 degrees for 25 minutes (or until firm).

I served this with a salad. I think Hubby would enjoy this more as a side dish...with his meat and potatoes!!! :)

Yesterday was a day like all others. In the morning, articles had to be edited for an overseas client. Mid-morning and much of the afternoon were spent running errands all over the island. I got to spend some time with my friend, Gadget Girl. Little One was with me for all the running around. She really is a good girlie. While we made a stop at the Espresso bar in town, she sat at one of the bistro tables, looking like a big girl and not a little 18 month old! She just loves going on excursions with Mommy.

As much as I LOVE coffee, I can't drink it during the day because it makes me fall asleep. The Espresso bar has the most amazing cherry smoothies I have ever tasted! If you're in town, make sure to pop by and try a smoothie...or a coffee!

I also got to hold a tiny baby yesterday. My lovely friend, Maddy's Mom gave birth to little Zozo the other week. Little One and I popped in briefly to bring Maddy's Mom a smoothie and give Maddy her "big sister present". I made her and Little One matching tutus! So cute! I just wanted to make something for the best buddies to have for play dates.

After holding a baby who is a week old, I almost forgot what it was like to be around a baby so little. Zozo is much bigger than Little One was when Little One was 3 months old (because of Little One's prematurity). Newborn babies smell so sweet! There is something about that newborn baby smell that I just want to bottle and keep! Toddlers don't smell that great. Well, maybe after bath time they do. Holding Zozo made me feel like maybe it's time to give Little One a sibling. Maybe.

After yet more errands, Little One and I rushed home to make supper (Waldorf salad) and lunch for the next day (curried chicken salad sandwiches on cracked wheat bread). Little One was fed and then off I ran to rehearsal.

When I returned from rehearsal around 10PM, Little One was sleeping. Daddy and Grandma did a good job!

I love Kashi cereal.

Kashi cereals are made with seven whole grains and have no artificial preservatives, colours, flavours or sweeteners. Not only are Kashi cereals good for you, but they are DELICIOUS!

Guess what?! You can get some for FREE! Yes, you heard correctly. FREE! Go to their site and grab your free sample of Kashi cereal! Choose from Kashi* Honey Almond Flax Flavour cereal or Kashi* Toasted Berry Crisp cereal.

While you're at the Kashi site, check out their Kashi Snacks! A friend of mine got me hooked on Kashi* Chewy Granola Bars. I LOVE the Cherry Dark Chocolate ones!

They're made with all-natural ingredients. I love that Kashi uses a delicious blend of seven whole grains (red wheat, oats, rye, triticale, barley) and sesame. The tart cherries and semi-sweet chocolate make a surprisingly scrumptious pair.

The granola bars come in four flavours: Seven Whole Grains & Almonds, Peanut Peanut Butter, Cherry Dark Chocolate, and new Trail Mix. Try them out!

Don't forget to go to the Kashi site and get your free cereal!

The lovely Kat from Kat's Confessions gave me this...

I was so touched and surprised to discover that Kat had thought of me! :)

Kat has a great blog. Go and check her out! I really like her Sugar and Spice Saturdays. Her last SSS post makes me want to make Garlic Salmon Linguine tomorrow!

What a lovely way to pass on some sunshine to some other fantastic bloggers out there! The rules for the Sunshine Award are simple. All you have to do is to pass this on to five other wonderful bloggers.

Now, the part I absolutely hate is having to choose bloggers to pass the award to. There are sooooo many amazing blogs I read!

Here are my five for today:
Deb @ Babalou always makes me smile. She's a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. She really is. She's refreshingly natural, honest, and just plain fun. We joke that we're long lost sisters.

Jen @ A Busy Mommy is just that. BUSY! She's one of the busiest gals out there! Oh, she's also more than just busy though! She's awesome! She's got a fabulous blog. Check her out!

Merinz @ New Zealand Links always makes me long for a trip to NZ. Her posts are so thoughtful and beautiful. I've wanted to go to New Zealand and Australia forever. One of these days...

Sharon @ Mom Generations inspires me. She is such a positive person and so full of wonderful stories on life, love, family, and so much more. If I could go out for coffee with a few girlfriends right now, I'd definitely want her to be there. Her posts make me laugh, cry, and want to come back for more.

J @ Thinking About is one of the most spectacular women I've ever "met". Just being friends with J is sunshine enough.

1. My awesome blog buddy, CanineCologne and her family are coming to visit us in FIVE weeks!!! Canine was one of my very first blog buddies. I started blogging back in 2006 and the only people who read my blog back then were my family members, friends, and students. Back then, only two of my IRL (in real life) friends were blogging (Curiosity Killer and Fancy Pantsy Momma). Canine, Ms.Mamma, and Jane were the very first blog friends I had. They (and many other blog buddies) have become part of our lives and have been there through the whole roller coaster of events in the past few years. They've read as we got engaged, newly married, went through the pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, bed rest during pregnancy, being transferred by air ambulance to Mount Sinai, and the premature birth of Little One. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

It is going to be so exciting to hang out with Canine and her family, show them around this beautiful island I now call home, and...they're going to watch our performance at the Burns Wharf Theatre!!!

2. My blog friend, Cherry and her husband just welcomed their baby girl to the world. Congratulations to you and your family! We are so, so, so excited for you!

3. My wonderful friend from college and university (back in my Montreal days) and his wife are coming to the Island to visit us too! They (along with Fancy Pantsy, Dina, Dani, my family, other friends (IRL and in the blog world) helped me a lot through those rough first 70 days of Little One's life. AvoidEverything and his wife, LizzieLizard visited with me and sat in my hospital room with me while I was on bed rest and visited even after Little One was born.

I cannot wait to see them. Oh, and they are expecting their first child too!!! They will also be watching our performance at Burns Wharf. Both AvoidEverything and LizzieLizard were in the theatre program in university, so performing in front of them has me feeling a little bit under pressure! :)

4. My wonderful girlfriends, Dina and Dani are coming to visit us this summer too! I am sooooo excited! Dina, Dani and I were roommates when I lived in Toronto. They're bringing their adorable kiddies and coming for a visit sans husbands.

I feel so very lucky right now. I couldn't be happier!

I didn't hyperlink anyone's blogs in this post, because I'm too lazy tonight. If you reeeeeally want to check them out, click on my blogroll link and you will find them there!

Thank you to everyone who entered the Iams ProActive Health contest (in partnership with Mom Central). I am pleased to announce the winner of this fabulous giveaway!

V. O'Leary, you will be receiving your voucher for your free bag of Iams ProActive Health shortly. Mom Central will be sending it to you in the mail. Congratulations!

I hope your canine baby loves it as much as ours does! Chance is a very happy puppy! Okay, he's almost 8 years old, but he still acts like a pup!

Rise and shine!

Must greet the barn cats "Good Morning"!!! Yes, this is what I do every morning. I don't have any idea why the cats are afraid of my "excited" squeal. I'm just so happy to see them every morning!
Breakfast time!
Look, Ma! No hands!

Just playing some music on my piano.
Baking cookies to take to our friend's house. I left a little surprise for everyone! Mom says I'm such a funny kid! :) She didn't even realize I put a toy cookie in the box of cookies we put together for our friend.
PIZZA! I love Hawaiian pizza. Can't you tell by to mess on my face? :)
Time to work off all that pizza!


Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!! Nap time.

Ha! Ha! Mommy, it's only just after lunch! We've still got the rest of the day to play and undo all your cleaning!