I spend a decent amount of my time cleaning.
Well, okay, maybe a lot of time.
With 3 kids under 4, and two of them still "toddlers," there's a lot of messes. I used to be okay with using store-bought cleaning products. One day, however, that changed.
Showing posts with label didsbury. Show all posts
A Day in the Life of 3 Under 4
May 4, 2017
As some of you may have noticed, yes, I did update my blog layout last night! I was looking for something a bit more fresh and tidy, and I'm really liking this design one so far.
The main reason I'm starting this blog back up into full activity is that I've had so many people asking me about how we do things and I've decided to go ahead and share it!
Over the next few weeks, I will be posting a series of pages on different aspects of daily life in our house; from cooking to cleaning to being a student mom to cloth diapering and more. I know that my house, lifestyle, and parenting aren't perfect, but there's no perfect solution for everything. All we really can do is share what we know.
For now, however, I'll give a general idea of what my days look like.
Our days start off really early.
The main reason I'm starting this blog back up into full activity is that I've had so many people asking me about how we do things and I've decided to go ahead and share it!
For now, however, I'll give a general idea of what my days look like.
Our days start off really early.
2015: A Full Year
Dec 31, 2015
What can I say about this past year? What words could I use to contain its breadth? When I think about this past year, I feel a rush of images in my mind, both positive and negative. None of them are forgettable. Our running motto has been "It could always get worse!"
I started off 2015 heavily pregnant. We didn't know the sex of our baby, and were delighted when our Arthur made his appearance in February. As the delight and newness began to sink in, however, something more painful took hold.
Within 2 weeks after Arthur's birth, I was so anxious that I was shoulder-checking in our own house. I was crying constantly because of anxiety, worry, and intrusive thoughts. I had post-partum depression and anxiety. I had been so terrified of this scenario, and I had thought that succeeding in establishing breastfeeding would have prevented it from happening. Not so. A month or so later, my referral went through and I saw a psychiatrist for the first time in 8 years. I was officially diagnosed and began medication and counselling. It was not until Arthur was about 6 months old that I finally started to feel like I was bonding with him and began to feel more like myself for the first time in ages. I have since wrapped up counselling and am still on medication for the moment.
I've had to learn the art of self-care and taking time to focus on myself. It's not selfish. In fact, it's the opposite; by making sure that I take the time to care for myself, I am ensuring that I can have the mental and emotional resources to care for my boys. I learned to accept my past and to face memories that I had buried away. I learned that it's okay to be angry; there are some things that are wrong. I learned that it's okay to say that I'm not okay, and that admitting that I'm not okay is the first step to making things better.
During the time around my first psychiatrist appointment, the source of my joint pain was finally diagnosed as joint hypermobility syndrome. I started physiotherapy and began to see my daily pain level reduce to next to nothing. I had my very first pain-free day in 6 years. I feel amazing, and have been losing weight thanks to the more active lifestyle I'm now able to have.
Another change that helped us to have a more active lifestyle is our move to Didsbury. In July, we bought our very first house. It is a 3-bedroom townhouse with a full unfinished basement. It's not perfect, but it got us into the housing market and out of renting. Didsbury's only "fast food" restaurant is a single Tim Hortons. There's no late-night food options other than cooking at home. Everything is within walking distance of our house. There's a 5km trail loop only an 8-minute walk from our house. The air out here is noticeably more clear, and there's a simple kind of beauty in farmland.
That being said, it hasn't all been rosy in our new house. There's been some annoyances along the way. We had our dryer break down the very first cycle we tried to dry! We had a mouse. Twice. Our minivan stopped working briefly, but it was an easy fix. Cy broke his finger. Our fridge recently stopped working and we're waiting on a replacement part to arrive. Small things, really, in the grand scheme of things.
I picked up quilting. It's been a steep learning curve, but I really enjoy it in my little bit of free time that I do have.
In August, Edgar started daycare here in Didsbury. He's loving it and I get a chance to take care of housework and coursework during the 2 days that he's having an absolute blast at daycare.
Thanksgiving was spent back in Vancouver. The trip was a perfect balance of seeing family and making sure to rest in-between. We drove. Yes, we did a 13-hour road trip with 2 boys under 2 years old. It actually wasn't too bad of a drive, and the boys slept a decent amount of the time because we left extremely early in the morning. I loved seeing friends and family again, and I feel like it helped to ground me in preparation for the next couple of months ahead.
In November, I started the first course in SAIT's Library Information Technology diploma program. The course wraps up in February, and so far I am acing it. Literally. I have only lost a little over 2% total from my final mark and only have my final exam and final assignment to go. It seems that I have finally found my career calling, and I'm loving the outlook for the future it's given me. I started off in the part-time program, and in Fall 2016 I will be switching to the full-time program to which I was recently accepted.
This year also had a couple health scares for the boys. Edgar had his very first allergic reaction to peanuts in June. After allergy testing, it was determined that his next reaction from ingesting peanuts would likely be anaphylactic. He now carries an epipen everywhere he goes. We are now a peanut-free household. Arthur had a 10-minute long febrile seizure in November. The initial fever was caused by a childhood illness called roseola and he recovered just fine after a short stay at Alberta Children's Hospital. While his EEG was normal, we do have to keep a close eye on him any time that he develops a fever from now on. Because he was so young and he seized for so long, the probability of him having another febrile seizure before he turns 5 years old is 40% or higher if he has a fever spike. Thankfully, febrile seizures do not do damage to the developing brain, and even one of the amazing doctors that treated him at ACH had them as a child!
The Fall months were spent with all of us in varying degrees of illness. Whether it was ear infections, strep throat, colds, or random stomach bugs... we got all of it. Kids are such germ factories! We were all sick and miserable at points, but thank goodness that it all was fleeting.
Christmas this year was a quiet affair for us. Kait, Chris, and Anders had gone back to Vancouver for Christmas, so it was just us in town. The boys received presents from family and a few small ones from us. I made them sort of matching quilts. We didn't go anywhere, and had a quiet day at home with just the boys and us.
Our motto this year, whenever things were going wrong, was "It could always get worse!" Yes, yes it can. Things can always get better, and that's okay. Things can also always get worse. We aren't super well-off, and we don't live like kings, but we have a house and our boys and each other. That's more than a lot of people have. We have friends and family who have supported and encouraged us in the difficult times this past year. We now own a house and are slowly paying down debt. We have two beautiful boys. Marriage takes work, but at the end of the day I am married to my best friend. We still laugh about stupid things together.
What does 2016 have in store for us? Well, there are lots of things to look forward to:
- Finishing my first course at the end of January and starting my next couple of courses in March
- Another Vancouver trip at the beginning of February
- Arthur's first birthday
- Our 4th wedding anniversary
- Two weddings
- Friends expecting new little ones
- Starting full-time courses in Fall
- Edgar turning three in November
- Potty training Edgar at some point
- Arthur starting to learn to talk this year
2015 has left me refreshed, renewed, and ready to take on the world.
Bring it on, 2016.
Life With Two Under Two ("It can always get worse!")
Sep 25, 2015
Hi folks! I promise I haven't forgotten about my blog; I've just been so busy that I haven't gotten around to updating about our life lately. Since I last blogged, my boys have grown a bunch, we bought a townhouse and moved, Arthur started solids, Edgar started daycare two days a week, and we've decided to visit family in Vancouver in October!
The Townhouse and the Move
We discovered in late April that there was a possibility that we might be able to barely squeak into the housing market and buy our own house. The months of May and June became occupied with the quest to see what we could possibly afford. After many appointments with an amazing mortgage broker (if you're in the Calgary area and are looking for one, PM me), and three house walkthroughs with a great real-estate agent in Didsbury, we bought our townhouse in a small town about 45 minutes out of Calgary called Didsbury. It was a stressful couple of months, but we made it through and now are homeowners!
Don't move with kids if you don't have to. For the love of all things good in this world, if you value your sanity, don't do it. Thankfully, Cy's mother came up to Calgary to help us with the boys while we took care of preparing for the move. I don't think we could have done it without her. Thanks to her helping watch the boys, we were able to paint our entire main floor and the boys' room over a weekend.
In addition to Cy's mom helping, Cy's best friend flew in to visit and help us with the actual move when the time came. With the three of us, we managed to move everything over the course of a weekend.
I am SO thankful for the help that we had in this whole process, without which we probably wouldn't have our own place.
Complications ("It can always get worse!")
Granted, we have our own house now, but up until a week ago we were still tethered to our rental property lease. This was because we broke our lease early, and according to our contract we were responsible for the rent until a new tenant was found. That meant that we were paying our mortgage and rent. It was a very tough and tight couple of months, but thanks to the help of family and really scrimping, we made it through okay. It didn't help that our landlord was emailing us once or twice a week about getting stuff done at the old place that we just couldn't afford at the time.
Before we moved, we found out, in a frightening allergic reaction that resulted in a trip to Calgary Children's Hospital, that Edgar is allergic to peanuts. He now has an epi-pen and we are a peanut-free house.
Our dryer broke on its very first cycle. After taking a look inside and trying to see if we could fix it, we found a replacement from Trail Appliances that was last year's model. We picked it up ourselves and carefully brought it down into the basement on our own.
Edgar has been sick a few times since starting daycare. We expected that. One illness lasted almost 2 weeks and needed antibiotics. He even now has a cold. Both boys are teething.
Cy broke his left middle finger while breaking down a boxspring mattress at the rental property. It should be healed in about 4-5 weeks and then he'll have to do physio for it.
Our van wouldn't start one weekend at the beginning of September. Thankfully, Cy figured out what the problem was and it was a cheap fix. It's working now, but at the time it really wasn't helping our stress level.
I ordered cheques at the the bank so I could pay for Edgar's daycare. The bank made cheques for the incorrect bank account. I didn't find out until the daycare tried to deposit a cheque. I've resolved the issue with the daycare director, who was super understanding, but I still need to go in and correct the cheques issue itself.
We found mouse droppings in our kitchen four days ago. We're working on sealing everything up and we even managed to trap one of the mice (possibly the only one, though) last night. So much bleach is being used right now. So much. I'm really hoping we get this resolved as soon as possible.
All these things led to our new motto: "It can always get worse!"
I think going through all of this has really mellowed us out. Yes, there were arguments. Yes, there were days and weeks we were so stressed out that we were doubting our decision to buy our townhouse. Yes, there were times when we weren't sure if we were going to be okay. We made it, though, with the help of family and friends. This whole ordeal has taught us not to be afraid to ask for help, and that sometimes all you can do is laugh as things get worse. It's impossible to survive if we let everything get to us. What we have is what we have, and it can always, always, get worse. We are thankful that it isn't worse.
Life with Two Under Two
It's busy. It's hectic. It's boring at times because of routine. It's sanity-sapping and joy-inducing. I wouldn't change it for anything. Arthur is now crawling and pulling himself up. He's always observing and curious. He's a bit of a quiet guy and doesn't babble much, but that's okay. Edgar talks enough for the both of them. Since starting daycare two days a week, Edgar has developmentally exploded. He talks in short sentences and loves to do things himself. He loves doing puzzles and painting, and is even starting to learn his ABCs! They play together when they're both home and now share their bedroom.
Arthur is still breastfeeding for most of his nutrition. His first taste of solids was actually a Goldfish cracker on the floor that Edgar had dropped moments prior. So much for that! Haha. Edgar is starting to become a bit of a picky eater, something that has been pretty frustrating. We're working through it, though, and there is a seminar on picking eating coming up at the local healthcare centre that I plan to attend.
Cyrus and I are doing as well as can be expected throughout the past few months. We've now been together for 7 years and are looking forward to many more. The small town with no fast food and great walkability, as well as the financial scrimping we had to do the last few months, meant that we were eating a lot healthier and were much more active than before. Thanks to that, we both lost weight. I lost 8 lbs, and Cy lost 9 lbs (but he gained back 6 of those). My joint pain is almost completely gone, and we are enjoying being a lot more active now than we were in Calgary. Small-town life suits us.
My sister welcomed her firstborn son into the world at the end of August. He's a total cutie and I'm SO looking forward to all of the boys playing together once he gets a little older. It's going to be a blast! I'm so insanely proud of her and her fiance, and the great job they're doing.
Well, that's our life right now. That's what we've been going through the past few months. Next up will be our trip to Vancouver for Thanksgiving! Here's hoping everything gets better from here!
The Townhouse and the Move
We discovered in late April that there was a possibility that we might be able to barely squeak into the housing market and buy our own house. The months of May and June became occupied with the quest to see what we could possibly afford. After many appointments with an amazing mortgage broker (if you're in the Calgary area and are looking for one, PM me), and three house walkthroughs with a great real-estate agent in Didsbury, we bought our townhouse in a small town about 45 minutes out of Calgary called Didsbury. It was a stressful couple of months, but we made it through and now are homeowners!
 |
| It doesn't look like much outside, but inside is nice! |
 |
| I love the colours we chose! |
In addition to Cy's mom helping, Cy's best friend flew in to visit and help us with the actual move when the time came. With the three of us, we managed to move everything over the course of a weekend.
I am SO thankful for the help that we had in this whole process, without which we probably wouldn't have our own place.
Complications ("It can always get worse!")
Granted, we have our own house now, but up until a week ago we were still tethered to our rental property lease. This was because we broke our lease early, and according to our contract we were responsible for the rent until a new tenant was found. That meant that we were paying our mortgage and rent. It was a very tough and tight couple of months, but thanks to the help of family and really scrimping, we made it through okay. It didn't help that our landlord was emailing us once or twice a week about getting stuff done at the old place that we just couldn't afford at the time.
Before we moved, we found out, in a frightening allergic reaction that resulted in a trip to Calgary Children's Hospital, that Edgar is allergic to peanuts. He now has an epi-pen and we are a peanut-free house.
Our dryer broke on its very first cycle. After taking a look inside and trying to see if we could fix it, we found a replacement from Trail Appliances that was last year's model. We picked it up ourselves and carefully brought it down into the basement on our own.
Edgar has been sick a few times since starting daycare. We expected that. One illness lasted almost 2 weeks and needed antibiotics. He even now has a cold. Both boys are teething.
Cy broke his left middle finger while breaking down a boxspring mattress at the rental property. It should be healed in about 4-5 weeks and then he'll have to do physio for it.
Our van wouldn't start one weekend at the beginning of September. Thankfully, Cy figured out what the problem was and it was a cheap fix. It's working now, but at the time it really wasn't helping our stress level.
I ordered cheques at the the bank so I could pay for Edgar's daycare. The bank made cheques for the incorrect bank account. I didn't find out until the daycare tried to deposit a cheque. I've resolved the issue with the daycare director, who was super understanding, but I still need to go in and correct the cheques issue itself.
We found mouse droppings in our kitchen four days ago. We're working on sealing everything up and we even managed to trap one of the mice (possibly the only one, though) last night. So much bleach is being used right now. So much. I'm really hoping we get this resolved as soon as possible.
All these things led to our new motto: "It can always get worse!"
I think going through all of this has really mellowed us out. Yes, there were arguments. Yes, there were days and weeks we were so stressed out that we were doubting our decision to buy our townhouse. Yes, there were times when we weren't sure if we were going to be okay. We made it, though, with the help of family and friends. This whole ordeal has taught us not to be afraid to ask for help, and that sometimes all you can do is laugh as things get worse. It's impossible to survive if we let everything get to us. What we have is what we have, and it can always, always, get worse. We are thankful that it isn't worse.
Life with Two Under Two
It's busy. It's hectic. It's boring at times because of routine. It's sanity-sapping and joy-inducing. I wouldn't change it for anything. Arthur is now crawling and pulling himself up. He's always observing and curious. He's a bit of a quiet guy and doesn't babble much, but that's okay. Edgar talks enough for the both of them. Since starting daycare two days a week, Edgar has developmentally exploded. He talks in short sentences and loves to do things himself. He loves doing puzzles and painting, and is even starting to learn his ABCs! They play together when they're both home and now share their bedroom.
Arthur is still breastfeeding for most of his nutrition. His first taste of solids was actually a Goldfish cracker on the floor that Edgar had dropped moments prior. So much for that! Haha. Edgar is starting to become a bit of a picky eater, something that has been pretty frustrating. We're working through it, though, and there is a seminar on picking eating coming up at the local healthcare centre that I plan to attend.
Cyrus and I are doing as well as can be expected throughout the past few months. We've now been together for 7 years and are looking forward to many more. The small town with no fast food and great walkability, as well as the financial scrimping we had to do the last few months, meant that we were eating a lot healthier and were much more active than before. Thanks to that, we both lost weight. I lost 8 lbs, and Cy lost 9 lbs (but he gained back 6 of those). My joint pain is almost completely gone, and we are enjoying being a lot more active now than we were in Calgary. Small-town life suits us.
My sister welcomed her firstborn son into the world at the end of August. He's a total cutie and I'm SO looking forward to all of the boys playing together once he gets a little older. It's going to be a blast! I'm so insanely proud of her and her fiance, and the great job they're doing.
Well, that's our life right now. That's what we've been going through the past few months. Next up will be our trip to Vancouver for Thanksgiving! Here's hoping everything gets better from here!
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