Monday, January 28, 2013

cody's pr

Back in my days as a bizz-i-ness lady PR meant public relations, today it was redefined to me as personal record, as we witnessed Cody record a couple of his own in the Blizzard Beatdown Cross Fit competition. For two days, Donna and I soaked in the snatches, clean and jerks, hang cleans, double unders, pistols etc. of the 200 or so compeititors. So fun, informative and I'm not going to lie, attractive.

Happy birthday Cody! We love you, are proud of you and cannot think of a better way to have spent your 34th birthday. Now let's celebrate...

 The Rx guys doing hand stand push-ups. No big deal.

Rx box jumping.

A little inspiration for my lady friends out there - one of the top five Maritime female competitors, who placed first in this competition. 

 
Awesome: strong and beautiful.

 
Set...
...
 ...
That's what I call a clean snatch. Guys, no, come on. 

 Look who showed up to cheer on their Papa in his final workout.

 Kate laughed and laughed as me and Elliott yelled faster, faster Papa!

 The kids vogueing with the gym equipment.

Cody's workout mates Lisa, Charlotte and Jean Luc.

Congratulations guys. Super fun, can't wait until next year when hopefully there will be less green in the cheeks and fewer trips to the W.C.
xoxo AJ

Saturday, January 26, 2013

my sixth sense

We started with dark chocolate and have now moved on to old fashioned, 100% sugar marshmallows as potty rewards for Elliott. With the freezing temperatures we have had a little more home-time and I've put it to use doing intense potty training. Two mornings in a row I've given him the choice of a diaper or underwear and both times he's chosen the underwear. He's not exactly telling me when he has to go; I don't really give him the chance as I'm asking him constantly. So far... no pee accidents but unfortunately two poop shows.

Yesterday I was chatting with my Mother-in-law and my sixth sense started tingling. Something had changed in the room, I just knew he was doing some business. Sure enough there he was hiding behind the chair in the living room. Poor pumpkin. It was a mixture of embarrassment and confusion and then  probably a little aversion towards the potty that I put him on half way through. Please, for my sake try to imagine the scene, as I sat him on the pot and tried to ease off his pants. Now try to imagine how dry it has been here and my propensity towards fierce nose bleeds in such conditions. Bingo. Poop covered, blood pouring everywhere and Elliott completely curious about both. Stop, stop too much glamour.

Tonight, similar story we were all hanging out in Kate's room watching the kids singing and dancing and then Elliott kind of took off. Again I sensed a change and sure enough caught him just starting some business. Bonus for me, Cody was here to help with the clean up.

In my estimation he has not yet been traumatized, which is one of my goals in all this. That and lessening our family's contribution to landfills. Can it really be four years of diapers and wipes?

Our baby ballerina.

 Look at the concentration.

A runners, yoga, ballet-ish pose.

Tomorrow, Donna is joining me in watching day one of Cody compete in his first CrossFit Competition. Day two actually lands on his birthday and so the plan is to attend with his two biggest fans. He's only been in CrossFit for three months, so I think it's safe to say he's got a little case of the nerves. I'm so excited and proud of him. Stay tuned for more details. Good luck love!

Aimee

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

sledding vs. sliding

The sun was shining and the temperatures were well above freezing when we headed out to go sledding, or as Cody knows it, sliding. Once actually bundled up, the afternoon was all smiles. Kate was MVP as she not only walked up the hill a dozen plus times, she hauled her own sled (or slide). Elliott had a great time too, but we were close to the park so there was some competition for his attention and time. 

What a smile.

Hold on lady.

 It's a race.

 Finnegan had a great afternoon too.

What a face Kate.

Happy Monday and happy birthday to Cody's Pap. 
xo CAKE


Monday, January 14, 2013

mikhail in the making?

Yesterday marked the start of Kate's Winter ballet session. With her graduation to primary ballet came a move upstairs into a bigger, brighter studio and a few nerves. Elliott and I stood by to ensure that she was in the right studio space and that she was cool. When the time to depart finally came, Elliott lost it. He desperately wanted to stay and I dare say, to participate. So I went downstairs and registered him for  ... wait for it ... yes, his first ballet class. I spoke to the owner of DancEast Shelly and she seemed thrilled to have a real boy attend; even a two and a half year old, not quite potty trained, not quite articulate boy. He starts next Saturday and so far he seems thrilled. We're thrilled too. Man if I can stay out of a cold, dimly lit arena while still raising a well adjusted, confident, athletic, liberal man I will be super thrilled.

Is this too much to wish for?

We love you Elliott, but may love you more in black tights and bright lights.
xoxo Mama and yes Papa too.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

precious moments

I think it's time to record another collection of lovely little things that the kids have said and done as of late. My first story took place this morning, when for the first time in a long time, I woke to the sound of my alarm rather than my little man crawling into bed. I had time to get dressed and ready and still, no sign of Elliott. By now it was time for both kids to wake, so I turned on the hall light and saw a jump in Kate's bed. Be still my heart, it was Elliott. This morning he crawled in and cuddled up to his big sister. She was still out of it and there he lie, brushing her hair back with his hand. Gasp.

This afternoon, it was time for Elliott's nap. He literally falls asleep in minutes each noon hour, but still fights me tooth and nail to get him into bed. Today was no different and as I was closing his blinds and curtains he took off and was actually getting settled back into Kate's bed. He was happy so there, so that's where he stayed and was again gone in minutes.

At dinner tonight Cody was saying something like, "Oh Kate, your Mama takes care us of, she does everything." Her response, "Yeah Papa she does do everything. Why don't you do anything around here?" Oh sweetie. Unfortunately Cody was fairly quick to point out the obvious, "I pay for everything around here." And for that we three are thankful.

Big news, and I'm fairly confident in announcing this, it seems as though Elliott is well on his way to being potty trained at home. He's doing so awesome. He loves the big boy underpants, loves standing to pee (in the bathtub) and it probably doesn't hurt that we pretty much put on a parade in honour of his every pee (and a couple poops). Oh and there is the beautiful dark chocolate rewards. Other great news, Kate has reverted back to requiring rewards for each of her pees and poops. Again, awesome.

Kate completed her third full day at Montessori. We decided to try her in all day classes because our house is a little quiet and a little dull in the afternoons as we wait for Elliott to sleep. After much anxiety on my part, Kate seems to love it. The highlight? Her lunch bag and having lunch and outside time with her other full day friends. Yesterday she toured Elliott and I around the playground and each day on the way home she and E have had a picnic of her leftover lunch items. It is so sweet how much they love each other.

Elliott's new favourite thing is gum. On the way home from Florida we gave him some to occupy some of the dozen plus hours we had in airplanes and airports. Now completely out of the blue he'll just demand, "I WANT GUM." We are working on the manners aspect but it's official he and Kate love gum.

Finally, Elliott is loving talking lately and has a few favourite stories, rather lines, that he will retell to anyone and everyone. In retelling these lines, he provides absolutely no context to the listener and for the most part, Kate and I are the only ones who can decipher what he's actually saying. For posterity sake, a few favourites are:
1. "Monkey hit Woody. Woody put Monkey in drawer."  Reference to Toy Story 3.
2. "Crocodiles eat chickens not eggs." Reference to ... I have no idea.
3. "It not a ghost, it Thomas!" Reference to a specific Thomas the train episode.
4. "I no like car wash. Too loud. Kate no like car wash. Papa like car wash. Mama, you like car wash?" Love that one. I get to hear it six or seven times a day. Some days it's the first thing I hear.
5."In jail you eat bread ... water." Thanks Aunty Candace, that's a great addition.
6. "I have a Thomas birthday." Yes Elliott, I'm sure Kate's teachers are fascinated to learn that in August 2013, if you're still interested in Thomas we are going to plan a Thomas-themed birthday.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings, now here's a couple pics:

 What a sport. Elliott getting a Christmas makeover from Kate.

Pucker up my love.

Have I mentioned lately that I love you two? xo Mama

Monday, January 7, 2013

the fairest of them all

I'm not sure if Kate knows who Snow White is, but that's the Princess dress we chose to purchase for her this Christmas. It was so pretty and colourful and much more rare, than say, Cinderella. Anyway Snow White became a bit of a theme for us and I thought I would share some of my favourite Snow White shots.

Snow White Disney style.

 Snow White Jorgensen style.

Her smile helps achieve the look of fairest of all. And with my chin and bad attitude, the following isn't that great of a stretch for me...

Happy Sunday.
AJ

Sunday, January 6, 2013

dolphin love

Maybe I'm a  born pessimist but I was really not looking forward to our Christmas Eve visit to Sea World. The idea of any captive wild animal makes me sad, but man, I loved those dolphins and the show they put on. My even more cynical father did point out the volume of fish that the trainers had to bribe all the mammals with. I guess it wasn't just for the pleasure of entertaining us. Short story... we loved it. We even went back in the evening so the kids could enjoy a beautiful light show and fire works display. It was a lovely, and dare I say, magical, Christmas Eve. The highlight of our trip.

Here's a couple pics from our morning visit.

 Ready for the show.

The Shamu show (the third of the day) didn't exactly hold the kids' attention like a water fight out front.

Elliott literally saw Bert and Ernie, jumped out of the stroller and ran right into their arms. He was very quickly escorted away as a line skipper. Oh the shame. It was awesome.

Elliott's favorite Sesame character was a little more intimidating in person.

It's snowing like crazy here today so I don't imagine we'll be getting up to much.
Hope you're having a happy day wherever you are. xoxo AJ

Thursday, January 3, 2013

magic

The dust is finally settling following our trip South, a big Atlantic snow storm and our Christmas with Cody's Mom and Sister's family. Oh, first things first, Happy New Year. Our house is a disaster and our tree is quickly becoming a tremendous fire hazard but I wanted to finally stop and prepare one of what will probably be several retrospectives from our trip.

Overall we had a great time. I think we all were a little disappointed that the kids were not that into Disney World. Things picked up when we visited Sea World and Epcot, still I think it would be safe to say, the pool at our condo was the trip favourite. Lesson learned.

A few of the sights from our first visit to the Magic Kingdom...

A very rare shot of the whole CAKE.

Got a spare $10 anyone? Poor Cody and Kate, Cody thought they were giving these away, he soon learned otherwise and we soon had the first tears of the trip.

The claw.

 Our first character encounter.

Hanging out with, and in Elliott's case, licking, Zurg scum. This is moments after we had a few laughs and a few tears on the Buzz Lightyear ride.

 A green Christmas.

I think Grandpa looks Mad enough to lead this tea party.

Care for tears in your teacup because we had them. We did have big smiles too.

Grandpa and Elliott sharing a quiet moment.

The quiet moment quickly turned into a sound sleep.

Boating.

Our princess encounter for the day. We were too impatient to line up so have to settle for a picture of someone else's children.

Kate's gesture, while watching the holiday parade, pretty much sums up our group's sentiments for the day: it's hard work having fun.

The kids' parade favourites.

The adults' parade favourites.

And Santa marked the end of the parade and our first day at the "happiest place on Earth." 

Talk again soon.
CAKE + Grandma + Grandpa