last days of 2

I realized this morning that today is Ollie's last day of being a 2 year old, chronologically that is.  That 3 month difference is still noticeable in him.  That whole preemies catch up by the age of 2 is a bunch of bull, it might be true for babies born a couple of weeks early but mostly a huge lie for ones born earlier then that.  His size is still a bit of a struggle for some gross motor skills, stairs are still done on all fours for up and down, he has finally started jumping without holding onto things and is extremely proud of that fact.  Follow up appointments are coming up in March to see how things are progressing.

We had his birthday party over the weekend and he had a blast.  Our parents came over and so did Louis' grandmother.  We ate snacks and opened presents, he took the time to play with each of them individually before moving on to the next.  We had tacos for supper and I had baked a cake for the occasion.  Like usual we were to busy to take pictures ourselves and I forgot to take them before my mom left.....oops..... so I have no pictures to share right now, but I'll be getting them soon, I hope.

I know it's cliché but they really do grow up so fast.

Playing Unplugged

Having an interest in board games when you are an only child is pretty interesting(boring).  I remember going to my grandmother's house when none of my cousins where there and playing monopoly in the basement all by myself.  As I got older we always had a few games in the house but very rarely played them for lack of time or just doing other things instead, it wasn't something we jumped to doing.  When I moved out of my parents house and in with Louis we bought a few games during the holidays when there are more options and they are usually less expensive.  The issue with this is that they are usually games for more then 2 players.  I remember we played a game of Monopoly Pixar edition during a blackout after a huge snow storm.  We never did finish that game.

Stuff Since The Holidays

I have been trying to write a post about our holidays and the stuff that we have been doing since.  Apparently my brain has decided to fight me on that idea though.  I have a few drafts sitting in my dashboard but nothing has gone further then a few sentences.  I would probably have to blame the January Blahs.  I haven't taken many pictures either but if I did I would have a hell of a time sharing them with you, our computer is full and I have been backing everything up to remove some from the computer so I can add some new pictures and share them with you.

Frustrated!

My recipe for dealing with anger and frustration: set the kitchen timer for twenty minutes, cry, rant, and rave, and at the sound of the bell, simmer down and go about business as usual.   -Phyllis Diller 

Read more at Brainy Quotes

I actually took Phyllis Diller’s advise this morning, it worked pretty well.

Our liaison called this morning to let us know that we won’t be starting Ollie’s treatment until the new year.  Their reasoning behind it is that they are closed for a week and a half so they can’t help if we have any issues.  I just wish they would of made up their minds at the start of all of this and not gone back and forth on their decision.  This could of all been avoided if they would of done the proper paperwork to begin with a month ago instead of waiting 3 weeks to send papers to people who don’t need them.  All it took was a quick phone call by me to the insurance company to confirm that they cover the product.  

I hate it when peoples disorganization affects others.  

We are still going this Friday to get trained how to use the device and to fill out some paperwork.  Once they decide when we will actually start, the company that makes the device will send a nurse to the house to re-train us because then we will be able to give Ollie an actual shot instead of just practicing with a skin analog.

poking and prodding

Yesterday we spent the day at CHEO.  We went in nice and early to have Ollie tested for growth hormone deficiency.  It required him to take a pill that had a side effect of making him sleepy.  For 2 hours after the pill dose he got blood work done every 30 minutes.  At the end of that test they injected him with a glucose solution to stimulate his pituitary gland to see if he is making enough growth hormone.  After that injection he gets blood work done every 30 minutes again for 3 hours.  He had to have an empty stomach for this test so he didn't get anything to eat until the test was done.

baby we're going down

Got a call from CHEO last week, more precisely from the Bone Clinic liaison.  She was calling about the results of the blood work we had done the previous Friday.  Things seem to be heading in the right direction, we are cutting his pill dose in half, we are now down to 1 pill a day instead of 2.  Ollie is great at taking his pills, he actually reminds us about them sometimes.
From what I understand it looks like his body has caught up to his previous lack of vitamin D and now we are just controlling the fact that his liver can't break down the vitamin to it's final form to be absorbed.

Still alive, just busy.

Yes everyone, I am still alive.

Where the heck have I been?  Let me tell you.

I've been busy crossing some stuff off of my 53 in 3 list.

I got a new sewing machine for mother's day(the weekend before to be exact) so I was able to finish up some projects that I had the fabric to do.  I am waiting for pictures of them, I was too excited and mailed them off before taking a few pictures, oops.  I have already created a mental list consisting of a whole slew of new projects I want to sew, it would probably be best if I wrote them down somewhere.  

I have also been busy filling out paperwork, we now all have our passports, it took a while because of a little hiccup with Ollie's application and supporting paperwork.  I have read a couple of books and have cleaned out the junk from our computer.  I have researched information on blood donation, found out that I have one of the rarer blood types in Canada, I can only receive the same as mine or O-, a huge reason for me to donate.  We are also signed up to be on the waiting list to find a family doctor, it is a weird system in Quebec, well mostly in Gatineau, too many people with no enough doctors working on this side of the river, they get more money on the other side.

Owning a house keeps you pretty darn busy also, we found a used central vacuum on Kijiji and managed to install it in a weekend without making gaping holes in the walls.  We have also been researching prices for our windows, after 25 years they aren't the most effective things anymore.  We have decided to purchase thermal glass panes and change them ourselves, we will change the seals and while the windows are out we will paint up the frames and change out the pieces of wood that are no longer good.  On top of that we have some landscaping on our to-do list, we have lawn issues.  The previous owners had an above ground pool with a sand base and had managed to kill off most of the rest of the lawn.  We have been trying to grow some new lawn since last spring with less than stellar results.  We have raspberry bushes to plant in our claw foot tub and need to purchase some plants for the front of the house and a few for the back containers.

This past week the city has been replacing our curb and fixing the slope of the road, sending the water in the proper direction instead of pooling in front of our driveway.  I'm ecstatic that it wasn't a project that we had to do and that the city got to it pretty quickly.  All that is left is for them to do is fill in the whole in our lawn and add some sod.

I will be happy when the bigger projects are done and we can relax in the backyard with a cold drink with a good book.

What are your summer projects?

crossing things off

I finally crossed off a few things from my 53 in 3 list.  I got a haircut last week, it had been a little over 6 months since my last one.  Drove out to my hairdressers house, she had her baby 5 months ago and isn't planning on returning to the salon she was at before.  Her daughter Molly was born with Prader-Willi syndrome so it is just simpler if she opens her own business at home.  The only downside is that she live about 1.5hrs from us.  Ollie had a great time playing with new toys and interacting with Molly.

The other thing I crossed off is keeping my e-mail accounts clean and tidy.  It has been a month and everything that I am keeping is in folders and everything else is trashed.  I decided to cross this one off and if I stray from it I will uncross it.

It feels nice to scratch things off.

What's on your to-do list?

53 in 3

I've been inspired to write a list, put down on "paper" what I want to accomplish.  I have given myself 3 years to do it because there are some pretty big goals on it, some that would require us to save money for.
so here are 53 things I want to do in 3 years, 31 December 2014.

Visit a Province that I haven’t been to yet.(NS, PEI, MB, SK, AB, NWT, YK)
Actually get our passports done
get a tattoo (Ollie’s footprint at birth)
get up to date pictures printed and put into albums
Take more pictures of Ollie and us
have an ETSY christmas
donate blood
do a home photo tour on the blog
take photos of everything in the house for insurance
Invite people over for dinner
buy a pair of toms shoes
take a class
Walk some of the many Ottawa trails
Go back to Marineland
read more books. 
Finish reading catching fire
drink more water in a day
take a cooking class
Visit Japan
set foot on all of the 7 continents as a family. 

(North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctic)
do a fundraising walk
Hang up more pictures of us 
clean out my e-mail inboxes
figure out how to knit so I can make Ollie a scarf
attempt to crochet a amigurumi
eat supper at home at least 6 times a week
make more muffins for snacks and lunches
Cook something from the Julia Child cookbooks
Make a habit of folding the laundry after it’s washed
Finish our MCC (movie cabinet challenge)
make a timecapsule and hide/bury it somewhere
Pick a wedding date
plan our wedding
write a letter to Ollie for him to open when he leaves the house
write a letter to Louis, have him open it when he turns 50
Find at least 4 geocaches per month
wear makeup more often
clean out the junk on the computer

dump out files from the time capsule
do up our wills 
get recipes from my grandmother and mother
write a 5 year plan
Make more cakes, cupcakes & cookies for occasions
Take a CPR-First Aid class
learn new cake icing techniques
Get into the routine of doing the dishes after we eat
get my haircut
Finish the sewing projects that I bought the supplies to do
Go to the Highland Games (in Ontario)
weekly meal plan

plan our family's escape route in case of fire

Make an emergency preparedness kit

have family portraits taken