A new look

What do you think of the new look for the blog? Ryan and I had a discussion last night about moving this coming summer. The decision made was..... Not this year. Summer of 2010 is a non-negotiable deadline. Destination is yet unknown. So, now you know our plans.

I figured the altered direction for 2009 warranted a change of layout.

In other news, Ethan has an ear infection. Ouch! Poor kid! It took me a while to clue in to what his problem was. At first, I thought he might be getting Chicken Pox! I'll back up and start from the beginning....

Both kids got a sinus cold from Ryan. It has stuck around for a while, (as sinus colds tend to do) but Ethan's nasal secretions (AKA - Snot!) became quite green on Tuesday. The next day, on waking from his nap, I noticed what appeared to be pimples on his face. They were not there when he went to sleep, so I decided to check his whole body. I found a cluster of 6 or 8 'pimples' on his lower back. "Whoa!" I thought. "These remind me of the beginning of shingles!" (which I have more first hand experience looking at than C Pox) So, I quickly e-mailed K-A some pics and asked her what her kids looked like when they first got Chicken Pox. She kindly sent me some pics of them, and they looked a lot like Ethan did. So, I decided to wait and see what happened next. He played normally and went to bed easily.

This picture shows Evelyn considering the idea that Ethan might have C Pox. Hmmmm...

At 3 am on Thursday, he woke and was miserable. He would not lay down, would not go to sleep, he had a mild fever, and was very irritable. He stayed awake, cuddling on the couch with me, and chewing on his fingers until I bundled him up to take Evelyn to playschool. I thought "maybe he's teething, he is chewing on his fingers a lot...I don't think it's Chicken pox - there aren't any new spots..."

It was a very long morning.

Shortly before I took Evelyn to school, I noticed Ethan's left ear looked red and I gave it a little tug. He SCREETCHED and almost hit the roof. "Ah-Ha!" I thought "An ear infection!" So I gave him some Advil (Ibuprofen) and we took Evelyn to school.

He promptly fell asleep in the car and slept for about an hour. When he woke up, he was normal again! "Now, WHY didn't I give him the Advil sooner?" I thought. Later, he had his normal nap and woke up with watery blood draining from his ear (Ack!?!?!?) I immediatly googled 'fluid draining from ears' and discovered that this is normal in an ear infection after the eardrum has ruptured. "Ruptured!!!" I thought "That can't be good!". I read a bit further and discovered that it's not that big a deal, it makes them feel better, and it will heal in a few days. 'Whew!'

So, his sinus infection continues, his spots are going away (whatever they were...)he is still chewing on his fingers a bit, and he is in good spirits as long as the Advil is working. Predictably, every 6-8 hrs, when the Advil wears off, my little boy returns to his monster form and I know it's time for another dose.

What have I learned from this? It is extremely common for kids to develop ear infections after a sinus cold. Typically, their 'snot' turns green, and a day or two later, they are screaming and crying and nasty. They may or may not have a fever, and they may or may not pull at their ears. Warmth is very helpful in relieving pain. Both warm compresses to the outside of the ear and warm olive oil dropped into the ear offer some relief. That said - no drops in the ear after it ruptures. They likely will not tolerate laying flat either. The best way to learn is through experience, second best is through the experiences of others! I was fortunate to not have ear infections growing up, and Evelyn has never been bothered by them either. So, the adage 'It takes one to know one' did not apply here. So, those of you with young kids, learn from this story!

I think I will take Ethan for a Chiropractor adjustment as soon as I have the chance - just to make sure all his nerves are non-compressed.

We finally were able to make a snowman! The thaw has ended and we've plummeted in the past 36 hrs to -37 with windchill. I'm glad we made the snowman when we did!

Ethan and Evelyn have enjoyed 'helping' Mama by shovelling the snow I just cleared off the sidewalk from the pile - to the sidewalk! Thanks guys!




Evelyn really wanted to make an "Ocean" cake. Here is the result. Graham cracker crumbs and skor bits for the sand, Littlest Pet Shop and Little People for the accessories. I used the same recipe as her birthday cake, but instead of chocolate cake (mix) and pudding, I substituted butter pecan cake (mix) and butterscotch pudding. The result was not nearly as good. The cake still looks pretty cute though and it only took about 20 min to decorate!


Oh! and Ethan recently figured out how to do puzzles. He completed this 15 piece 'Wonder Pets' puzzle all by himself!

Update: at bedtime tonight, I saw that Ethan just cut his last eyetooth! So he was teething! (at least that was a part of what was wrong with him!)

A Mid-Winter Thaw!!!!!

It is above freezing today!!!! There are drops of water falling from our drain spouts! (Can you sense my excitement over these facts?) I opened our new living room window, opened the front door, turned off the furnace and aired the house out! Whoo Hoo! What a treat and what a welcome reprise from all the extremely cold weather we've had the past 6 weeks.







I cut Evelyn's hair this morning. It is about 4-5cm shorter and her bangs are about 0.5 cm shorter than I've cut them in a while. I was looking at some old pics of her with shorter bangs and liked how it looked on her. I think the cut turned out well.







After lunch, I roped up two of our sleds so they could be pulled in tandem, bundled the kids up, and took them for a walk and a play in the park. We were outside for over 90 min - we even had our mittens off - and we never felt cold! They played on the slides, and swings and enjoyed afternoon recess with the students. When we got home, we tried to make a snowman, but the snow is still too dry to make into a ball. So, we hung out outside and the kids climbed the mountains of snow that have been shovelled over the past 6 weeks.

Finally, at about 3:30 pm, I made them come in and have nap/quiet time. This is much later than usual, but being outside was too much of a treat to cut it short just to have a nap!


I am reluctant to look up the weather forecast for our area. I don't want to know when this weather will end. I just want to enjoy it fully while it is here, and not have that shadow of melancholy that would come with knowing when it will end.

What a great day.

Evelyn's 4th Birthday and a visit from Nana and Auntie Dawne.

Evelyn celebrated her 4th birthday on Monday, Jan 12th. She was blessed with the surprise visit of Ryan's Mom Brenda and Sister Dawne. Ryan and I knew of their arrival, but Evelyn was not expecting them to visit. It was so nice to see them and have them celebrate with us.

Ashton, one of Evelyn's friends from school, was able to come to the party and he brought his big brother Alex. Melissa, Megan and Emily, some of Ryan's co-workers also came over to enjoy the party.

I was very pleased with how Evelyn's cake turned out. The chocolate cake was almost like a brownie and the 'Dora' cake decoration looked better than I imagined it would. It was pretty easy too!

Nana and Auntie Dawne stayed for 2 nights. We played Wii, cuddled, read books, did puzzles and went for a walk to visit the school. Evelyn came down with a fever and sinus congestion last night, so she went to bed early. Her playschool was cancelled because her teacher was not able to get there. We've had a good dump of snow in the past few days. Ryan took a personal day from work that day also. So, we were able to spend all of Tuesday together.

Evelyn dressed up as a fairy princess, and Ethan was determined to try her outfit on too - right down to the gold, high-heeled tap shoes! It was pretty funny - but we did not force him to wear this - it was all his doing!

So, this morning, Evelyn is miserable and feverish again. Ethan and she are at each others throats, and we all need a really good nap.

Hopefully, when I check on this blog later today, I'll have LOTS of comment to read! (You know, it is very discouraging to a blogger to not get comments. If you read it, leave a comment! Even a 'thanks for sharing' works nicely!)

No Pics, just an update.

The windows were installed yesterday. It took them about 4 hrs to do our big living room window and both kids rooms. I'll take pics when we go out later. I was surprised that they were able to install, as the temps have stayed colder than expected. I like that the living room window can open now and the kids rooms could potentially be used as an escape route in the event of a fire.

All of Evelyn's party guests have been unable to come. She took the news better than I did, though she was pretty sad that she would not be able to play any of the games we had talked about. I had to fight tears! I felt I'd failed her somehow. So, we will invite some of her adult friends over after school on Monday (her birthday) and celebrate with them. I'll ask if I can bring cupcakes to school for Tuesday, if not, I'll bring them for playgroup on Wednesday.

The new job is going well. The hours are a bit sporadic, but that's fine. Low stress, not busy, and, I get to wear pretty clothes - no uniforms!

Some new facets to Ethan.

He is studying the back of a 'Dora' book and looking at all the other books available. The look on his face makes it seem like he's cramming for an exam! He has started to really like watching and reading 'Dora' books. I think it is in part Evelyn's influence, but also the simplicity of the stories and repetition.


He climbed into a corner behind the Christmas tree and was playing for an extended time with an ornament of a horse and carriage. He made horse sounds and drove it around the window sill. It was nice to see his imagination at work.


Ryan gave him a baseball card that looks 3-D. Ethan became quite possessive of it. He carried it around for a while and proudly showed it off for a picture.

He has started to use possessive pro-nouns in his sentences. Instead of saying "put coat on now" He will say "I put MY coat on now" or instead of saying "drink juice" he'll say "I drink my juice". He is expressing more complex ideas in his speech and is saying longer sentences and stringing 2-3 short sentences together (paragraphs!) It's fun to listen to him talk with Evelyn. They have real conversations now and will disagree and talk it out.

I am very excited that we have an appointment for our new windows to be installed. They called today, and plan to install on Wednesday! They had to wait for the temps to go above -10. So, PTL, we are above -20 today! I cleaned all the junk out of the car - finally - because it was warm enough to be able to spend the 10 min outside to clear it out! This has been a VERY LONG cold spell.

I start my new casual position tomorrow morning. I think it will go well. I think it will be pretty easy and low stress too!

Evelyn turns 4 in a week. I had hoped to have her party on Saturday, but I'm not sure if any of her friends can actually come. Hmmm, I'm not sure what we'll do - I guess a family party. I feel a bit disappointed. I wanted this to be a special birthday for her. Ideas anyone?