Tag: Winter

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Winter….Oh Man…

Posted on by Mama

Well, winter is here and frankly I am not thrilled in the slightest. Having to layer myself was always a pain, now try to layer a slightly defiant and fiercely independent fourteen month old.

Not an easy feat I have to admit.

Though, I will say that some days are easier than others and she actually helps to dress herself; grabbing her socks, boots, jacket, etc. But going anywhere, even a walk, and having to throw on layer after layer is exhausting.

Plus, Valeria hates the snow. It’s kind of comical to be truthful because this is the first year she is really getting to experience winter and all it’s bone chilling, yet mildly beautiful, offerings. We bought her a full snow suit so that she can play in the snow; her snow suit, boots, hat and gloves were wrangled onto her and we stepped outside. Mind you this was about a week ago.

We had been getting some winter storms, so we had a lot of snow in the yard. My husband and I thought, she is going to love this! It was packing snow too and for anyone who doesn’t know what that means, it’s perfect snow to build snow men and have snowball fights; it essentially holds together really well and is slightly heavy. We popped her down in the snow and she immediately started crying. To be fair, the snow was about chest high for her. We began to show her to throw around the snow with her mittens, to make a ball in her hands and even made a mini snow man (more like a little snow tower, but eh!) and she stopped crying. We had to dig around her so that she had room enough to turn and walk the little bit that she had. Needless to say, she wasn’t really enjoying it much, but I did capture a very cute photo of her at that moment in time. Pretty sure my husband had more fun in the snow then she did!

The snow has slowly began to melt, but I still find it difficult to do much with her outdoors. The weather is a bit deceiving because it could look sunny and beautiful, but you step outside and you are freezing your ass off!

So, I’m trying to find indoor activities to do with her and we do take her for walks during the day. But you know how it is, that gets very boring after a while.

I thought about getting her one those little coloring boards that you can wipe it away after and they can doodle again, but then I thought she may be a little too young. She loves music, so we’ve been putting a lot of music on for her lately. It’s just, she is such an active little girl, that I want her to get as much energy out as possible and to be able to use her creativity and to learn all at the same time.

I might do a little research and see what other parents suggest, and any suggestions in the comments would be so appreciated!

But that’s all I have for today and I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Travel/Vacations

Travel Delays??

Posted on by Mama

Today is a wonderfully gloomy day outside, which from what the weather network says, there is going to be a snow storm this afternoon. Yuck! Frankly, I’m over the snow, but it is February so I know winter is not quite gone yet.

Also, I fear my husband may be getting sick since he said he was freezing this morning. This man is NEVER cold, and that’s usually one of his signs that he is coming down with something. But if you ask him he says he’s fine. If you could see my face right now, I’m giving him the MHM side-eye look, a typical facial expression of all wives. Don’t lie ladies, you’ve done it once or twice to your man!

I personally think we should play today by ear, I really don’t want to travel with Valeria in a winter storm. We were suppose to go to the Butterfly Conservatory and than to my mother-in-law’s house, but last night we decided to swap things around and go to the Italian bakery/falls today than my mother-in-law’s. Now I’m even questioning that. I don’t know, it’s morning as I’m writing this, so I’ll let ya know what happens. I’m just a worry wart and would rather wait until tomorrow morning to go.

Plus I’ll be honest, I have NOTHING packed. I’m usually more prepared then this, but I’ve been so exhausted and I was doing laundry yesterday and being a lazy bum for the most part. I need my lazy days too! I need to pack for Valeria and myself, need to shower, run to the store for cat food, make sure my husband packs his bag (brings his work laptop just in case we get stuck at my mother-in-law’s passed Monday due to weather), and just UGH.

I seriously have no energy today for it. All I really want to do is lounge with my husband and daughter, read a bit and stay warm inside. That just sounds perfect to me.

Anyway, we’ll see what my husband says, but I’m going to try sticking to my guns on this one. I do not want to travel during a winter storm with our baby girl. Nope, nope, and NOPE!

Wish me luck….and warmth!

Ciao!!

Posted in Travel/Vacations

Pioneer Village Winter Walk

Posted on by Mama

When I had planned this out, the weather was suppose to be sunny and nice. However the weather had changed and we are suppose to get a snow storm. Needless to say, this effected our whole experience unfortunately.

Valeria is having a hard time this week, but we find if we keep her busy she seems to nap better, we assume from the stimulation of learning and people watching. Well, today was to be our winter walk at the local Pioneer Village. The drive out there is about 30 minutes, and sadly our baby girl fell asleep in the car….sigh! We should have known that was going to happen since she is notorious for car naps.

We debated driving around with her, but thought she would sleep in the stroller once we transitioned her. To be fair it usually works, but this time it did not. She was not a happy camper. It was cold and a bit windy and really we probably should have turned around and went home, but we proceeded. She was bundled up in her winter attire and we always have a heavier blanket for the stroller rides right now.

We walked into the visitor centre just to make sure that the winter walks were available. Basically we can walk the grounds of the village, but no buildings were open to go inside and no staff/reenactors were on the grounds.

On the way in, we made a small donation in the village donation box, and the village was completely empty except for us. Eerie and peaceful all at once, I know that sounds contradictory, but you had to be there. Not even the photos captured that feeling. Valeria fussed and cried the whole time and at one point my husband had to carry her wrapped in the blanket. Not an ideal situation for sure, but it allowed us time to walk around and get some photos. We will go back in the summer when the village is properly open and the weather nice.

We didn’t stay very long, it was cold and started snowing. I’ll have to do a post when we go back and write about the history and the buildings that are there. It’s a pretty cool place, my husband liked it, but he wished we could have stopped to read each sign that was in front of the buildings. We headed back to the car, popping baby girl in first to get nice and warm. She was happy as a clam being in her car seat.

We headed home and the rest of the day was spent quiet, watching the snow lightly fall as we entertained Valeria. I made breakfast for dinner: eggs, bacon and hash-browns. Quick and easy, exactly what I needed.

Valeria woke up from her evening nap pretty smiley, so we opted to do bath time while she was still happy and calm. I think she is starting to like the water, she finds the water fascinating to watch, it’s kind of funny. And when I wash the soap off and it ends up around her, her little eyebrows perk up curiously. It’s hilarious. Bathed, lotioned and diapered and we had a cheery baby on our hands.

She just went down around 9 PM, so we are pretty sure she is down for the night….hopefully. So I am going to call it here and go relax. Tomorrow Valeria turns four months, so got to do some photos. Still have no idea what to do…eek! Wish me luck!

Ciao!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Baby It’s Cold Outside…

Posted on by Mama

This morning we woke up to a wonderful snowfall, actually a little bit of a winter storm. As we gazed out the window, baby girl was mesmerized the the snow; little fluffy pillows of snow fell from the grey sky, blanketing our barren trees and shrubs. Depressing and beautiful all at the same time.

I sat there thinking “Another day inside, how boring…” and it’s true. It’s exactly how I felt, I’m tired of being inside in this frigid cold recently. I miss our daily walks with the baby, now we sit around like couch potatoes. Not ideal when you are a mama trying to lose weight! Our dog on the other hand is loving the snow, the little fluff ball is 14 and acts like a puppy when it comes to this weather. Silly girl!

What a better way to pass the time than to go out in the front yard and take some photos. The photos above this paragraph is the start of the snowfall. It continued throughout the day, stopping only briefly once or twice. The photos below are later in the day.

Valeria had a tough time napping again, taking 20-30 minute naps at a time. Not really sure why, but I’m finding weekends are her toughest days. I wonder if it’s because my parents are home and she hears more noise throughout the house. We are fortunate that she was in a good mood all day, even with the little sleep she had.

Baby girl spent some time with grandma and grandpa as well. My parents love spending time with her. My dad’s face just lights up whenever he sees her, and he adores playing with her and making her smile. Mom doesn’t want to put her down whenever she is spending time with her, it’s so cute to watch them with her.

My husband cleaning his car – FYI this is not his usual winter attire, however not surprising to see in Canada!

This afternoon, I suggested that my husband to clean off his car so it doesn’t pile up too much and potentially freeze. That’s what you are witnessing above.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet and fairly boring. We had hoped to do some errands, but with the weather that changed our plans. I uploaded my photos to my Instagram, I think I got some good shots.

Weight loss journey update – I’ve been on a streak for logging my food and drinking at least 10 glasses of water a day. Sadly, my steps have dwindled since we can’t do our hour walks lately. I should really figure out a workout plan I can do inside for days like these. Maybe I can find some suggestions online. If you have any suggestions let me know! My husband says it seems like I’ve slimmed down, but the scale says otherwise. Who knows!

Baby girl is wailing and I hear mad shushing from my husband, so it’s time for mom energy.

Ciao!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Cold!

Posted on by Mama

Not much to really report today, it was an intensely frigid day outside. I really hated the fact we had to bring our daughter out into that cold and wind. Let me tell you, -8 Celsius here feels like you are chilled all the way down to your bones and you can’t shake the cold. I may just be a wimp, but I’ve also lived in central Canada in -40 to -50 some days and it was a dry cold, not this bone chilling crap we experience. There was a wind and cold advisor last night, it even got down to -25 Celsius here, disgusting.

We would have never brought our daughter outside, but we were heading home. We made a quick pit-stop at the big European grocery store (a regular occurrence whenever we visit my mother-in-law. A gust of wind blew into my daughter’s face and oh my God…..I never want to see that horrified little face again. She began to wail so hard that when she called down she made that hiccup sound. I hate that sound, it seriously makes me sad to hear her that upset. My husband blasted the heat to get her nice and warm, she was snug in her bunting bag (a cozy sack that is attached to her car seat, it looks like this:

To be honest, that bunting bag is a blessing! Highly recommend for any parent. She had some milk and passed out as we got on the highway. I sit in the back with her always, it just makes me feel more comfortable and in case she needs me. We always have a bottle at the ready for her, wipes, burp cloth and teething toys.

The drive was good, a bit of traffic on the way home, but once we got away from the city the traffic reduced and it was clear sailing! We got home in about an hour and 40 minutes. More snow had fallen since we left on Monday, but it wasn’t as cold.

We got our daughter inside and then my husband grabbed all the bags and brought them in the house. I unpacked everything while my husband was caring for the peanut. After I unpacked and we got her situated, I needed a shower and make dinner. We had Mac n’ cheese with tuna, something fast and easy.

After dinner, our daughter was exhausted, so I snuggled up with her and put her to bed. She was asleep by nine. We are just relaxing and enjoying some quiet time, my husband is gaming and I’m writing and watching Bob’s Burgers. I’ll have a more exciting post tomorrow, but for now I’m falling asleep here.

Ciao!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Christmas Llama?

Posted on by Mama

Coming to you live from my living room! Just teasing, but seriously I thought what a good time to get an early blog post in since my baby is napping.

Now let’s talk about the weather, shall we? Yesterday the weather app on my phone called for a huge winter storm, with a wonderful weather warning attached. It was cold and rainy and the rain did turn into some ice. It began to snow early this morning, lightly might I add, and gave a dusting to our little frozen neighbourhood. It wasn’t enough to stop us from going for a much needed walk with our daughter though. 15-20 cm (or 6-8 inches, for those who use Imperial measurement system) of snow fall is what they are calling for, currently not the case. However, the snow is apparently suppose to pick up as the day goes on, but it’s already late afternoon and the snowfall still feels fairly light to me. We will see if the meteorologists are correct.

As stated, we still went for our walk today. We bundled up our baby girl in her little snow pants and jacket, her little fuzzy hat and tucked her all snug in her stroller under her favourite fluffy blanket. Her little eyes didn’t stay open for long, but can you blame her? I’d be passed out too if I was that cozy on a winter walk!

The side walks weren’t too bad for ice, it seemed to cling more on the trees, bushes and signs. The chilled winter air felt fresh and the light snow fall was magical. I decided to take my camera with me, hoping I could get some nice shots. And I did!

Now here is the topic at hand…

What the hell is with the Christmas Llamas?! I saw two on our walk around the neighbourhood, and I don’t get it. Yes, I agree llamas are super adorable animals, but why Christmas. I pondered that thought as I was taking photos and to be honest, my husband and I couldn’t figure it out. So, being the spaz that I am, when I got home I had to look it up. Now I don’t know if this is accurate, if it’s not, let me know please. But here it goes; the significance of the Christmas Llama is NOTHING! Some people believe that they became part of Christmas because there is national Llama Day in December and others just capitalized on the fact that the word llama had a lot of opportunities for puns and they are cute. There you have it folks, the origins of the Christmas Llama. Now when you come across one of these…let’s say unique…Christmas decorations or merchandise, you can laugh to yourself and just enjoy it for what it is.

I’m off to read a little bit, work on getting my measurements and progress pictures done and maybe tidy up a little bit. We will see how much energy I have. Oh and baby girl just woke up beside me wailing. Time to dash and put those to do’s on hold!

Ciao!!