Quick Pics!

This was Beans hair this afternoon after his bath and then a short cat nap!

It was fantastic!

Beany out with Dad and Mr. Sam at the roller blading event.

I'm trying to teach Bean to feed himself!

So far it is going well but he can't wear any clothes or he gets too messy.

This way I just bath him right after.

This is what he thought of grapes I guess.

My lil Elephant!

Hunter in his CPAP Machine!

Now I don't know if you can see this picture very well.

This is the imprint of beans bare foot on my thigh.

We fell alseep for 2 hours in bed together this morning and he kicks and pushes with his feet

He must have fallen asleep with his foot jammed into my thigh.

It's a perfect little foot impression.

Summer Time And The Living's Easy!

Quick Update!

I finally have the knitting thing figured out! At least I have the basic knitting down, not so much the purling or the increasing or decreasing or color changing. So! Essentially I can make a scarf, as long as it's one color, and doesn't have any fancy design in it, I'm good to go.

Who wants a scarf?!

:P

So I have been trying to do more extracurricular activities, such as knitting, reading, scrap booking, blogging, or making hemp necklaces. So far so good. I'm half way threw a book I started last Wednesday and I brought my hemp and beads to work so that I can have time to make Bean a new necklace. The shell fell off the last one and then it broke shortly after. He definitely needs a new Momma-Made hemp necklace.

I can't wait for the summer! I think I have been feeling crappy lately cause of the crappy snow and cold weather. Well, there are a lot of reasons why I have been feeling crappy lately but I know that summer always makes me feel better. If I can go outside, sit in my grass, crank the reggae and have a beer while my cats play on the fence, it would sure put a dent in the crappy funk I often get stuck in. Best part about this summer is I will get to sit in the grass and listen to Bob Marley with my Lil Bean this summer. :D :D :D I wont let him drink tho... That's just crazy! Waste my beer!

And summer always brings great festivals and concerts! Last summer Mr. Sam and I went to the Canada Day Festival in Prince's Island Park.





Then in July I took the Bean to the Calgary Folk Music Festival.

We got to see Ani Difranco in the pouring rain.

We had fair warning that the rain was coming!

Now, Bean was born April 2nd and Ani played on July 27th. That means that Beany saw his first concert at 3 months 25 days old. We had an absolutely fabulous time dancing in the rain.

The funny thing about Ani Difranco is that twice I have seen her here in Calgary both times it started to rain just as she was coming on stage. The day would be nice, just a little overcast and not too hot and Ani hits the stage and down comes the rain. Itsy Bitsy Spider! But we were ready for it. I brought a big picinic blanket and a couple of baby blankets and put Bean in a really warm fleecy PJ onesie. The I carried him in the Snuggly on my chest and wrapped him in baby blankets and draped the picnic blanket of my shoulder so that he could just look up at my face and get fresh air. It was a good thing I was prepared because it really poured. We tucked all our stuff into the stroller and covered it with the stroller slicker (plastic cover). Then we snuck off, all bundled up, and made our way to the very front right near the stage. I danced and Bean snoozed and people smiled and chuckled and pointed when they saw us loving the music in the rain.

One of the most ingenious ideas we saw that day were the folks in the beer garden drinking UNDER their tables, trying to stay dry. :D

Ani was the last main stage act of the entire 4 day festival and after her set it was very dark. There were paper lantern totems set up in the park and a paper lantern light parade came out and wandered around the people like a colorful snake. It was absolutely beautiful and such a nice way to end the evening. Fortunately by then it had pretty much stopped raining. D picked us up at around 11 and what a wonderful adventure for the Lil Bean!

So needless to say, I am very sick of the snow and looking forward to the summer again. Calgary has a host of great summer events every year. Jazz fest, Expo Latino, Carifest (Caribean Fest) (actual site is currently down), Reggae fest, Shakespear in the park, Lilac fest, Salsa fest!

In fact here is a really good link to Events and festivals in Calgary for any of you who might be interested! This site lists pretty much every upcoming event from this weekend till the end of the year. It's my guide to living in Calgary basically. Ohhh Calgary Beerfest is in May! And YAY for The 2009 Calgary International Children's Festival! That's a huge 5 day event that's hosted in a few different locations around Calgary.

ALAS!!! SUMMER!!! COME TO ME SOON! I NEED THE SUN AND SALSA! THE REGGAE AND RUCKUS! THE BEER AND THE BBQ'S! THE HAMBURGERS AND HOT DOGS! THE KIDDIE POOLS AND KAOS!!!

Leah

I can't get the idea of adopting a little girl out of my head.

Now I know what my mother will say about all this and she can chide me if she wants. I know I am gonna hear about it but the idea keeps coming back to me. I can't seem to stop it. It's not the first time in my life that I have entertained the thought either. In another life (read; back when I was with someone else, many moons ago), the idea of adopting was discussed openly. A few very close friends I know and love were adopted as babies, some even were adopted from the Ukraine. So it's not an entirely foreign concept. I know I am no where near a perfect mother, and I am still learning patience and tolerance, understanding, selflessness, compassion, and I don't know if I will ever be able to keep my house clean as some, but there is so much room in my heart and soul to welcome more children into my life. Does this make any sense? For some it's probably completely insane. For others, it's probably as normal as breathing. So in the past month, while the idea has been spinning and weaving it's little self into my brain, I have had some time to look into adoption.

One little girl's picture keeps me coming back everyday. Lil Leah. Born April 17th, 2008. Fifteen days after the Bean joined our family. She is from Eastern Europe and just like the Bean, she has Down Syndrome.


She's so pretty and I keep thinking about her. I wonder what she is doing and where she is sleeping and if she gets nice sweet kisses everyday. If she is learning to crawl or eat solids? Is anyone reading her books or giving her nice warm bubble baths? I wonder how happy she is. This picture makes me hope that she is doing well. She's in a beautiful pink shirt all cozy in her bed. Someone cares enough to put her in the pretty pink shirt. I just wish I was able to hold her and make her safe. At 10 months now she needs a lot of play, and toys, songs, books, laughter and love so that she can develop and grow to her fullest potential. Uhg! I just wanna scoop her up and give her the chance to grow with the Bean. The two of them together. Their laughter and foot steps filling my house. Now I'm crying.

I remember as a child, when I was about 9 or so, just after my brother Andrew was born, I found a missing children flier some where. I remember hiding in my bed room crying, looking at all the babies and little kids that were missing, scared and alone without their parents. My dad heard me and came to see why I was crying and I told him I was sad that these poor babies were alone and that I wanted to help them, they could sleep in my room and share my things.

Now that I am an adult, a woman, a mother, I have the wherewithal to actually do something to help even just ONE child. To give the safety and love and support to just one child who can't help themselves.

So, this is something that has been on my mind a lot lately. Please don't think that I don't love or like my family. That's the furthest thing from the truth. In fact, I love them dearly and know how wonderfully accepting and loving they are! What fabulous love and attention they would shower on a little baby girl. They are amazingly supportive.

Maybe one day. For now I will just hope that Lil Leah is doing well and being treated with love and care.

I wish she knew that there was someone thinking about her. Hoping for nothing but the best for her. Loving her precious little eyes.

What a sap!

More Movies!

Just a few videos to keep Nana happy!

~First one here is of Kaden and Beany playing together~

And here is my Champ!

He has discovered how to pull himself to a stand!

Here he pulled himself up while I was eating lunch the other day and I was tempting him to stay up with lil piece of hot dog! Bribery! What an awful mother I am!

He He He!

Sharon, Lois and Bram are playing in the back ground!

For any of you moms from the States who have not heard of Sharon, Lois and Bram, I highly suggest googling them and getting your hands on some of their music. That was one of their softer songs but typically they are so much fun for kids. As Canadian kids we grew up with their music and I don't think there is a Canuck kid that hasn't heard of them. Lots of silly songs and lyrics and fabulous music for memory and rhyming.

One Word!

1. Where is your cell phone? Counter

2.Your significant other? Sleeping

3. Your Mom? Patient

4. Your hair? Horrible

5. Your father? Jimmy

6. Your favorite thing? Beach

7. Your dream last night? Lost

8. Your favorite drink? Caesar

9. Your dream/goal? Family

10. What room you are in? Basement

11. Your hobby? Blogging

12. Your fear? Loneliness

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Fulfilled

14. Where were you last night? Home

16. Muffins? ew

17. Wish list item? weightloss

18. Where you grew up? BC

19. Last thing you did? Read

20. What are you wearing? Housecoat

21. Your TV? Big

22. Your pets? Cats

23. Friends? Few

24. Your life? Mine

25. Your mood? Unsatisfied

26. Missing someone? Sex

27. Car? no

28. Something you're not wearing? Clothes

29. Your favorite store? Ikea

30. Your favorite color? Green

31. Children? Inspiring

32. Irritations? Ignorance

33. When is the last time you laughed? Tonight

34. Last time you cried? Saturday

35. Who will resend this? unknown

36. One place that I go to over and over? Work

37. One person who emails me regularly? Doreen

38. Favorite place to eat? Julios

39. Why you participated in this survey? Bored

40. What are you doing tonight? Knitting

Sigur Ros Video

Bean's Birthday Plans Have Me Stumped!

As for keeping busy IRL (in real life), I need to plan a birthday party for the Bean in April!

I don't really know where to start with this. I suppose I should find out when my parents and grandparents will be here. I have Thursday, April 2nd off which is Beans actual birthday but it's a Thursday. Not many people have Thursdays off and I don't know if having an evening birthday party is what you do for a 1 year old. I would love to have a nice family dinner on the Thursday evening and then an actual afternoon birthday party on the Saturday but I have to work Saturday, so unless I can trade my shift with someone then that wont happen. My other option would be to take another VA day or two so that I could have the weekend off with my family.

After scheduling, the next issue I have is planning the party itself! I don't know where to start. Usually I am very good at these things. Planning parties, potlucks, and get-togethers is usually fairly easy for me, but I want things to be absolutely perfect! It's Beany's FIRST Birthday! The Birthday of all birthdays! Do I have a theme? Do I invite friends or just family? Do I have it at our house? Do I really want to clean up after a big birthday!? lol
I envision Bean surrounded by kids his age, smiling from ear to ear, buried in presents that tower above him. But we don't really have any friends with young kids to invite over. Hmmmm. That might be a lie.

Mental note ~ Alicia + Jesse, Christine + Lorelai, Liz + Kayden, Erin + Alex

Ponder Ponder Ponder!


The one thing that gets me is that at 1 year of age Bean doesn't really have any likes or dislikes. He's not into Batman or Star Wars, Trucks or Dinosaurs. He's just too little for all that and I don't want to have a big goofy theme for his party that is impersonal. It would be different if he was a Tomas the Tank Engine nut or in love with Franklin but he's not. He likes bananas though, and he can eat ice cream like nobodies business, and music sure makes him move. Hmmmm

Mental note ~ Bean needs a tiny cake to himself! One that is easy to eat with your hands and no teeth.
~ Lots of fun music


Any suggestions on a first birthday party would be greatly appreciated. I don't know why this has me so thoroughly stumped. I have friends who already have their parties planned and invites are in the mail. /pokes Christine! I have lots of people who I'm sure would love to come. Sass, Chelly, Aunty Kerry, Uncles, Long lost distant twice removed cousins on my mothers brothers side of the family! Bah! I'll work on it and keep you updated.

UGH!

I'm terribly blah today and have had no motivation to write anything. I have spent most of the morning reading blogs and searching for widgets that I like but... Epic Fail.

I wanted to put a nice gadget or widget on my blog that listed books I am reading but I can't seem to find one. Can anyone help?

I also wanted a nice little guest book for all you Non-Commentors and Lurkers. I couldn't find a decent yet simple guest book so I got a Shoutbox. It's on the left for those of you who just wanna say Hi! I call it The Delurker!

Today is just a seriously blah day. I'm not interested in eating because I'm feeling way too disgustingly obese. I am at work and I really have no one to talk to and I swear my mouth is dry from not actually talking to anyone in over 2 hours. D calls once in a while but he is off to get Mr. Sam today and I can't keep him on the phone all day. It's days like these where things are very slow that it feels like my brain is melting. With absolutely nothing to do and no motivation. The knitting isn't going all that well and I tend to just fray and ruin the practice yarn so I'm not confident enough to actually start on a project. But even if I had something that I needed to do it probably wouldn't get done today. Just that lazy and unmotivated.

I'm really happy to back at work. I'm contributing financially, getting some time to myself and feeling as though I have an outside life that is not kid related. But I really don't like anyone I work with for the exception of Becky. She and I seem to get along pretty well. We have a similar personality and sense of humor. She is very funny and seems to deal with bullshit fairly well. However, there are a few people who have been working in this department, on the same shift for so long and I feel like I am a speed bump in their regular work routine. I never thought that men were the catty, talk-about-you-behind-your-back type, but I am apparently wrong. Some people don't do well with change. Some people have personality clashes. This is obviously something I am going to have to re-accustom myself to. I forgot what it's like to work in an office environment. I was briefly working in construction and totally loved the upfront conflict resolution that tradespeople possess. I have a problem and I'm gonna tell you (probably very loudly and boisterously with a flourish of swear words) what it is and you are gonna tell me how you feel in the same, if not more boisterous, tone. Then when we have all the yelling off our chests we will find a solution and solve the problem. No grudge. No backstabbing. No bullshit. Just conflict resolution. This seems to be a man thing.
The office way of dealing with things it to; firstly, email your two or three closest colleagues and bitch about it; secondly, in your email you must completely exaggerate the issue; thirdly, don't actually confront the issue or the person who has caused said issue. You must not talk openly or honestly to resolve the issue. This would eliminate the problem and hence, give you nothing further to talk about. You must also align yourself with as many people who share similarities with you. The more friends you have the more people you will have on your side in the event of a conflict. Also, you will have more people to bitch at and respond to your emails. If you are extra special you will include your boss in your catty, bitchy emails. It's like Survivor! They should do an Inter-Office Survivor. Now that would be dramatic reality TV at its finest. And lastly, do not help any newbs out! This will make them more efficient and better at their jobs and the last thing you need is competition. Try to make sure that the newbs look as completely stunned as possible, this way you will ensure your place on the boss's Pet List. This may mean sending a few "tattle-tale" emails but it's worth it in the end when you are still the boss's favorite.

Bah! I do my best to remove myself from the Office Drama. Usually I stick my face in a blog or a book and just ignore the nonsense. LOL Or work! I will also do my work to keep busy! I do actually work now and then.

21 Things about Mr. Sam

Sam with the Bean in my beat up Tommy Bahama Hat
Camping, May Long Weekend, Wasa Lake

Sam's 11tyith Birthday!
He looks so handsome in this picture!

My boys in the Hammock
August 2008, Camping, Fort Mcleod, Daisy May Campground

Sam's multiple personalities shining through!
Both pics camping, Aug 2008, Daisy May Camp Ground

The above pics says "Don't Even Look At Me!"
But I know that face and one word from dad could make him burst into laughter.
Take note of the Camo!

SAMRAM!

1) Samuel is 11, SNAKE EYES! He turns 12 in May!

2) Sam lives with us in Calgary and every other weekend he spends with his Momma in Rocky Mountain House.

3) Mr. Sam Loves to read! I have never met an 11 year old boy who reads as much as he does and we are extremely proud of him.

4) Samuel is my step son but I consider him my real son.

5) Sam's fave food is spaghetti, I think, at least his most common favorite food is Spaghetti.

6) Sam's fave books are the Warriors series. They are about warrior cat clans.



7) His newest addiction, otherwise known as a video game, is Spore. I don't want to say too much about Spore because most likely I will be way off, but it's a game where you create creatures and then they evolve. There is really no end to the crazy creature combinations.

8) Sam is always very caring and helpful, especially when someone is feeling crummy.

9) He always makes me tea when I am sad.

10) He has 2 lil brothers, Hunter is his brother from another mother, and Casey who is a half brother on his mothers side. LOL If that makes sense.

11) Sam helps us every day with the unloading the dishwasher and every week with the garbages.

12) He hates brown beans!

13) He loves camo.

14) He is amazingly independent.
When we are in the mall or grocery store and he can not find us he never panics, he just looks for us. Last year, during the Canada festivities I suggested we go get ice cream and Sam misunderstood me and thought I told him to go get the ice cream. There were probably 10 - 15 thousand people in the park and Sam had never been there before. Off he ran with the money, through the crowds, right back to the Market place where he bought us two ice cream cones. Meanwhile, I'm chasing behind him with a stroller, trying to push past all the people, completely unsuccessful. Slowly he disappeared from my sight and I was completely freaking out thinking, OMG he has no idea where he is going or how to find me!!! I called Dave. I lost your child! AHH what do I do? He said, "Wait there, or go back to where you guys were sitting, if he doesn't show up then get security to help you." I turn around and there is Sam with the biggest grin on his face and two mitts full of ice cream, prouder than a Peacock. I'm practically in tears and of course my first thought is WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING!?!?! I was so scared while he was gone. I still feel bad because I made him cry, he didn't mean to run off on me, he was just so happy to be getting ice cream for us. We manged to get over it and enjoy the rest of the festival without any further trauma. But how independent of him to head off through the crowds, fearlessly set on an ice cream cone and showing me he could do it all on his own! <3

15) Which reminds me, Sam is very very smart and capable but he is 11! Soooo, basically if he doesn't HAVE to do it, he most likely WONT do it... Ie cutting his nails! LOL

16) Sam really loves cats and has quite the relationship with Punkin.

17) He makes a mean banana bread!

18) His favorite TV show is Daily Planet.

19) He is a really good swimmer.

20) He has the weirdest memory. He can't remember things that he did TODAY, but often he can remember the most odd ball things from like 2 years ago.

21) He helps me make up crazy songs to sing to the Bean all the time. Or he knows all the words to songs, like Bob the builder, that I don't know and he helps me remember them.


Hi Mr. SamRam! I love you!

Underwear Sockman! Underwear Sockman!


Lastly, Sam takes some really cool pictures so I think I will start a Sam Stuff Saturday. Remind me to post a few of his pic when I get home.

I Found A New Blog!

As I surf the Blog world, bouncing from link to link, catching up with all the Momma Bloggers, I discovered Adrienne!

Adrienne has a beautiful blog, wonderfully adorned with Bethany's artwork as seems to be the fashion. She is expecting her third child! Her First boy, Bennett. Bennett has been prenatally diagnosed with Trisomy 21 and I look forward to following their family's journey and of course seeing pics of baby Bennett.

Yay for Friends!

This Friday, Hunter Bean and I went to the Down Syndrome Drop in clinic at the ACH. While we were there visiting with a million other babies :D, we ran into some friends that we met at the Wonder Years conference in November. Baby Kaden and mom J and Dad L! I was very happy to see them as they live 4 hours from Calgary and we don't get to hang out. J and I tend to email back and forth and we have each other on Facebook so we do get to keep in touch, but it's not the same. So I invited them for dinner and they brought baby Kaden over for a play date!

We figure these boys will be great friends in life. They had an amazing time with each other.

I wanted to post a few pics of their play date! BEWARE!! These are the two most handsome boys you will ever see so you may have a hard time looking at theses pics. It's not my fault if you get eye strain.

Iz Cheezbergr Wedsday

Knit one, Purl two!

Say What!?

I feel like an old lady today. I have been working since the beginning of January and pretty much every night since I started I have gone home with a headache, sore neck and sore eyes. Chelly suggested that I ask the maintenance crew to take the florescent lights down from over my desk area because the flickering can cause eye strain, but when I got to work I realized I don't actually have any lights above my desk so that can't be the problem. So I figure it's probably an eye site issue. I have to use a lot of programs with small numbers and I have been finding glitches with my eyes lately that I can't really explain. Nothing seems blurry but there are moments where I think I see things that aren't really there. So I decided to try to lessen the strain tonight by using the Microsoft Desktop Magnifier. I put it on one of my monitors and it magnifies the area around my mouse. I am basically using the mouse on the left monitor but actually LOOKING at the monitor on the right. Kinda funky. Seems to be a bit better so far. I usually would have a bad headache by 9 pm.

AND! Chelly turned me on to knitting last time she came to my house to visit. We went to Michael's where she picked out some new wool and I bought a pair of needles. When we went back to my house I brought out my granny's old wool and she showed me the very basics. I have been practicing for the last month or so and I really like the progress but boy do I suck at it. I have always been fairly crafty with hemp, beads, jewelry and the like but I have never picked up knitting or crochet. So far, I like it but it can give you one hell of a hand cramp.

Well here I am, sitting at work, KNITTING, PURLING, with this HUGE old lady magnifier on my monitor because I can't see anything and all I can thinks is "OMG I'M OOOOOLLLLDDDDDD!"

Needless to say, I have made an appointment for the optometrist for next Friday.

I feel like I spend half my life either booking or attending appointments.

*Beany Eye doctor this Monday
*My eye appointment next Friday
*Shaunee (Respiratory Therapist) comes some time this month but damned if I can remember when and I forgot to put it on the calendar
*RSV shot on the 16 (which is actually family day)
*D and Mr. Sam went to the Pedi today!
*Shirley the OT comes I think on the 21st,
*March 5 is the Sleep study
*Every second Friday is the DS Drop in clinic
*At some point I have to call Deb at Medigas and pay for the CPAP machine!

And I actually have to work 5 days a week!

I had no clue that being a mom meant 4 million appointments! I knew as kids get older they like to do sports and activities and the like but I wasn't expecting all these doctors and therapists... Mind you I wasn't expecting Beany to have Down Syndrome but I can adjust. I wouldn't have it any other way! How does that saying go? Idle hands are the devils play things? I'm too busy on my days off to be idle! I'm so blessed to have this job!! LOL

Yay for Blogging and Knitting!

Just some videos for fun!

Here are a couple videos I want to share!

This first one is fabulous! Daddy was busted singing silly songs to Bean in the livingroom.

And this is a wicked vid of Bean in the Bath

Old Man BEAN!

I would like to draw your attention to the Lilypie Ticker at the top of my page today!

It's BEANS 10 MONTH BIRTHDAY!!! He's Finally in the Double Digits! OH EM GEE!

Sleepy Bean! Cranky Bean!

SOOOoooo... We were having some issues in January with the Bean not sleeping well. He was waking up about every 2 - 3 hours which was enough to make his poor momma crazy. Fortunately this was happening while Nana was here visiting so I had the divine pleasure of being able to sneak in a few naps in the early afternoon to make up for the late night crying fits. This seemed to have been a teething issue and quickly resolved itself after The First Tooth appeared. Bean was once again sleeping about for about 6 hours at a time.

But there was still an issue with his sleep. Now D and I understand that the Bean has sleep apnea so we realise that he has more restless sleeps, but he still doesn't sleep as long as he should. Quite often he will wake up a 4:30 am for no real reason other than he is cold and uncomfortable. David will then bring him to bed with us and spoon with him till he falls back to sleep again, which usually doesn't take long. We tried to resolve this issue with a sleep sack but it wasn't much help. Either D would forget to put it on or we wouldn't be able to find it, or it was in the wash... we are lazy parents!

But through trial and error we came to realise that THIS KID CAN ACTUALLY SLEEP LIKE THE DEAD! But only when he is in mommy and daddy's bed. If I put him down for a nap in his crib, I'm lucky if he will sleep for 45 mins. If I put him down for a nap in our bed under the duvet with a lil pillow, he'll sleep for 3 hours! The other day we woke up at 7:30am and he was still zonked out between us and we had to wake him up to put him in the car seat.

Soooo... we got to thinking.. "Maybe his bed is cold and uncomfortable." We usually pile him up with lots of cozy blankets but he kicks them off and is always uncovered when D goes to get him at 4 - 5 am.

So the solution!!!

IKEA CRIB DUVET AND PILLOW SET!



We got a crib duvet and pillow set from Ikea on Saturday after work. He also got a brand new fancy sheet set for it too! We also bought a second duvet for UNDER his fitted sheet. This has made the mattress Uber comfy and a lot softer, and most likely makes his bed much warmer.

And low and behold last night the Sleepy Bean slept till 8:30 AM in his new, cozy, snuggly warm bed. It looks so gosh darned comfy that I want to climb in there with him. LOVE NEW SHEETS!

While we were at Ikea I picked out a new book shelf for the Beans room because I have been collecting books for him long before he was born and I haven't had anywhere to put them.

Hey Tricia, I'm going to organize his books by color! I'm stealing this idea from Tricia of Unringing the Bell Fame. This post is one of my faves! I think the ABSOLUTE best part of this post is the last picture of Georgia in her baby legs with her pig tail just spilling off the top of her head. I know I have said it before in an earlier post, but I am just addicted to Tricia's blog. She is an amazing writer and is just so creative, colorful and always a joy to read. If you have time or even if you don't, you should stop in and have a read.

We have been worried about the Beany a bit today. He just hasn't been himself. He slept till 11 am in our bed after waking up in his crib at 8:30. He had his breakfast and I gave him a bath. I put him in his swing with his morning bottle of formula and at 12:41 I turned around to check on him and he was out cold. He slept in his swing till about 3:30. D fed him at around 4 or so and let him play on the floor for a bit but he said that Bean was being a crank. I guess Motrin didn't help and when D tried to put his fingers in Beans mouth to see if he was teething he burst into a tiny fit of pain. So he gave him some Nummy Gummy (which is an Erinism that I love) aka Orajel. Apparently that tamed the beast for a lil bit but I suspect he is either coming down with a cold or he is breaking in a new tooth. I guess we will know for sure tomorrow. D is taking Mr. Sam to the Pediatrician for a referral and they said they will take a look at Beany too. If he doesn't have a fever or any other flu or cold symptoms by tomorrow it will most likely be a tooth.

Another tooth will be exciting. Today he yawned in the bath tub and I could see his tiny lil white tooth, glaring at me.. saying "Ima Bite you when You LEAST expect it momma!"

Let's hope he's feeling better soon. He was just so blah and lethargic and unBeanlike. Made me worried!

Thank You!

I wanted to say an Important Thank You to Bethany for the beautiful Beany Header!



I found Bethany through blogging. I am so thrilled to have met so many new people through the blogging community.

Bethany simply amazes me. She has a Family Blog, Life With Bubba, Chicky and Nika!,
An Adoption Blog that tells the story about Addison AKA Nika, who the Balsis family adopted from Russia, and, if you can believe it, here is a link to Bethany and her Other Identity!

She has 3 beautiful kids, 2 lil Girls with DS, Addison and Payton, and Mason, the coolest big brother those 2 lil girls could ask for, and 3 BLOGS! Talk about ambitious. Her Other Identity blog is awesome. She has a wonderful hobby/addiction to photography that she seems to have a knack for.
With that she uses her creative energy to help fellow bloggers with Headers and various other projects and goodies! I only wish I had HALF the time she did!

So simply! Thank you to you Bethany for giving me a lil bit of your precious and well disbursed time!

Ssej <3

Sleepy Sundy provides me with the time for Another 21 Things post!

21 Things I can't live without! (In no particular order)

1) Hunter AKA The Bean
2) Evad! Aka Dave Aka D
3) Earl Grey Tea
4) Nachos with salsa and sour cream
5) Red Wine
6) Tweak (My 3 Legged Lil Girl)
7) World Of Warcraft!
8) Ani Difranco
9) My Momma AKA Nana!
10) Sweet Sassy Molassy
11) Hot Wings
12) BEER!
13) Camping
14 Swimming
15) Campfires
16) The internet
17) My cellphone
18) Books
19 ) Zombie Movies
20) My computer
21) Popcorn



21 Things about me!

1) I have 5 tattoos
2) I have a freckle on the bottom of my foot and one in the iris of ONE of my eyes!
3) I have 2 cats and 1 fish
4) I am addicted to Warcraft
5) I get nauseous at the THOUGHT of artificial cherry, LET ALONE the smell of it.
6) I used to be Skinny... Once, I think
7) I HATE cleaning
8) I love swimming, water, baths, water, lakes, oceans, water, rivers, water...
9) I am a total concert junky and love all sorts of festivals, shows and concerts...
10) I want a puppy!
11) I want more babies!
12) I think I'm a bad parent most of the time because I have no idea what I am doing
13) I secretly have always wanted to be the Madam of a posh Brothel
14) I want to take my family on an amazing vacation to Mexico
15) I wish that Canada wasn't so COLD, but I love it here!
16) I am a die hard patriotic Canadian and love anything and everything Canadian
17) I want more tattoos but they aren't exactly a financial necessity
18) I want to lose weight but something is holding me back, I think it's the snow
19) I want my drivers license but I think, secretly, I'm scared
20) I think I'm a terrible GF and I'm really hard on my self
21) I wish I could be Super Mom. Smart, Skinny, Sexy, Stylish and every but the perfect mother with a drivers license, money to spend on my kids and the energy to do everthing. EPIC FAIL!

New Toy!

I bought a new computer last night and I'm Thrilled!

Its absolutely fab. My last one, which has since been handed down to Mr. Sam, was agonizingly slow and impossible to deal with. I have an exceptionally fast computer at work which I use to do about 45 things at once. I have COPIOUS programs running, two monitors, email, and all sorts of work related documents open and any given time, so returning home and waiting 2 minutes to load one web page was making me INSANE! I refused to do any blogging at home because I just couldn't handle the load times. NOW~ Tada! I have a super fast machine and a 22inch wide screen HDMI capable monitor, which I can turn 90 degrees and have a 22 in TALL monitor if need be. This is making my life that much easier. I will be able to upload a lot more Pics and Videos to the blog. Patience is a virture but I'm not all the virtuous! Now! Who needs patience! lol.

Down Syndrome Creed

My face may be different
But my feelings the same
I laugh and I cry
And I take pride in my gains
I was sent here among you
To teach you to love
As God in the heavens
Looks down from above
To Him I'm no different
His love knows no bounds
It's those here among you
In cities and towns
That judge me by standards
That man has imparted
But this family I've chosen
Will help me get started
For I'm one of the children
So special and few
That came here to learn
The same lessons as you
That love is acceptance
It must come from the heart
We all have the same purpose
Though not the same start
The Lord gave me life
To live and embrace
And I'll do it as you do
But at my own pace