Naming Our Son

Names for Mike and I were hit and miss, if we had a girl we had a ton of names we loved, but very few boy names.

We had lists of names but found every reason to take them off the list. If it was a boy that we were to have, we had two names and the middle names were fairly easy. I am not going to share our second boy name, because let's face it, it was hard to come up with it and if we have another boy, it will likely be that child's name. 

NOAH JACOB JAMES

How did we come up with Noah? Noah is a name that had been on our list ever since we started dating.... You know those conversations that you never thought you would recall? Well we wrote all our names down, including pet names! Of course our name ideas had changed a lot since way back then, but Noah was a name even as a child that I loved! 

I can recall whenever friends or family had baby boys I would secretly pray they wouldn't use that name. That became ever harder when we struggled with infertility, it's not like I could just say this is MY child's name... Don't take it! But luckily no one did! It actually isn't that popular around us. I cannot say that I actually know a Noah aside from my own! 

Jacob is named after M's grandfather who married us! He was such an important person in our lives and we both knew that we wanted him to be apart of Noah's name.

James is named after Mike's Dad. We knew we wanted our fathers names to be apart of our sons name and it was honestly hard to pick which one to go with and the only way we chose was to go with what sounded best. My Dad's name is William Peter and James just sounded best. So once again, if we have another boy, if we are soo lucky to have more kids, his name will be apart of it!

We ended up taking over a day to name Noah because he was in the NICU and had tubes on his face, I just couldn't pick a name for him until I could see his whole face! I didn't want to have any second guesses or regrets, so we took our time with this and I am soo glad we did, because his name is perfect just for him!!

Mike and I went back and forth a bit, but both decided he looked like a Noah, so before we have officially decided Mike was texting everyone his name! So there we have it! 

Another Tuesday Weekend Rewind

You would think we just skip Monday's all together over here lately... But really they have just been super busy and I've been super lazy come Sunday night to write a scheduled post! 

Today we started off with a sleep in till 9 AM, which I knew I would regret later, but hoped it would give Noah the extra sleep he would need to skip his morning nap because we had W's 3rd birthday party! It was actually really nice to have a birthday on a Monday! However, by the end of the party Noah was beat, so I ran some errands, picking up some robeez boots for Noah since his snowsuit has no feet in them! 

Then we came home, had lunch, played a bit and attempted (several times) to nap, but they just didn't happen! No nap Noah was in full force! Luckily Noah loves this little people barn I bought used for $15 in like new condition! Great buy! I saw it at Walmart for $50 and I ended up getting extra toys with it! 

Our day began to fall apart quickly when Noah decided to use his house as a walker and fell face first in it giving himself his first shiner! I'm sure this is the first of many! Walking is dangerous! 

On to Sunday - we had a super busy day! We started the morning off with preparing dinner to take out with us to my cousins and then went through the freezers. That is such a big job and it is suprising to me how much food we have that I forgot about! Now I have an inventory! I also went through Noah's clothes and put them into bins! Soo many clothes! Such a big and sad job! 

Then we headed to my sisters when Noah woke up from his nap for Brandon's 3rd birthday! Yes soo many 3 year olds!! 

 He took blowing out his John deer candle quite seriously! 

We left my sisters around 2:30 and headed to Guelph to visit my cousin and meet sweet baby Gabriel! We stopped at Costco first and typically we were in and out, I don't know how we luck out with this every time we go to that one in particular and then we got gas for super cheap!! 

When we arrived at my cousins, M got dinner warming up in the oven while visiting of course and I snuggled the sweet baby boy! Crazy to think Noah was once this small!! They were born the exact same weight and length and exactly 11 months apart! 

We had brought over ham, scalloped potatoes, fresh green beans and baguette for dinner and I made some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for Melissa! 

Noah began to tire quickly, so after dinner we packed up and headed home. 

Saturday morning both M and Noah slept in until 9:30 while I had a nice quiet morning! We had a busy day making lots of baby food for Noah! Pears, apples and carrots! We also had Hannah and Brandon over as my sister had a funeral. Little miss Hannah just wanted to help with everything, so when it came to peeling carrots - something she had never done before, we let her try! 

About 2 carrots in she decided peeling carrots was difficult (her words) and that she didn't want to anymore! Mike convinced her to try one more and then it was back to playing! Gracie likes to get in on the playing, so I wasn't surprised to look up to find her in the tent with Brandon:

If you look hard you can see Brandon in there too!! Silly kids! I did laugh hysterically when Brandon found Gracie sitting on his blanket! You bet they had a tug-of-war! Noah had a nap and the kids had some lunch. Then it was time to peel apples! Hannah loved this job! She also loved eating the peels! 

When that was done we baked some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to take to my cousin. The kids loved helping me bake: 

After the cookies were done and Noah was finished his lunch we headed down the park to play! Our neighbours were there too with their little girl and dog, so the dogs had fun playing and the kids did too! 

After the kids left, M and I finally got Noah down for a second nap and then we headed into town to grab some groceries!! 

Friday night was pretty low key! 

That's our weekend wrapped up!! Holy long post!! 

Oh Hey Friday!!

It's Friday and after a two day staycation, we are all happy to be home!! Don't get me wrong - we had a great time, but there is just something nice about being home, letting Noah be as loud as he wants without fear of bothering someone else, not to mention we missed our sweet furbabes too!!

Basically to recap our little staycay - M had his yearly drainage conference, so we stay at the same hotel every year, which never disappoints! Tuesday afternoon we started it off with a family swim! Noah was a bit nervous of the water, but I think it was more the size of the pool and it was quite loud with waterfalls and echoes! He adjusted great and made the best of it!

Can you believe how much he has grown? This pic was from when we were in Calgary:

Tuesday night my Mom came to the hotel and watched Noah while we went to The Keg for dinner! She was actually able to get him to bed, which was pretty nice to come back to, as it allowed us to run to the gym quickly for a work out while my Mom was there before we took her home! Noah slept all night and then Wednesday M went to his seminars while Noah and I hit up the ladies program! This year they had a health specialist come in, which was very informative after lunch I took Noah back to our room for a nap. When he woke up we went for another swim and he did much better!! He loved slashing Grandma!! He also loved walking the hallways:

Wednesday night did not quite go as planned though. I went and picked up my mom again to come babysit at the hotel and we had a formal banquet to go to at the hotel. So we got all dolled up, but Noah was being super clingy to me. Don't get me wrong, I love the extra snuggles, but it was hard to leave him. My mom ended up having to take him for a walk to distract him! I popped back the room after dinner to get M some Tylenol and sure enough he was still soo upset! So I texted M to come back and help as nothing I was doing was helping.

When M got back, nothing worked for him either, we tried walking him in the stroller, gave him medicine for his teeth. At 9:30 I suggested taking Mom home and Noah tagging along to see if the car ride would work. Luckily he fell asleep on the way back from Moms. So M sat with him a bit and then his Mom came and sat with him and then we switched again. 

Sometimes nights out just don't go as planned, and yes it wasn't what we had planned, but that is just the way life is and we still couldn't be any happier - we made the best of it! 

Yesterday in the way home, we hit up Costco, where I stocked up on produce and Noah's milk (it's cheaper there) and Target, where I got a few good deals and a new swimsuit top! We had lunch at Five Guys with My MIL- which is not part of the 21 day fix! I think we will add on an extra day or two at the end, although we only missed one work out! 

While we were gone, Miss Lily had a birthday!! 7 years!! Her age is really starting to show now and her bones are definetely aging! Everyday is such a blessing with her!! So today we are celebrating her birthday with extra treats and a nice walk hopefully this afternoon! 

Weekend Rewind

Oh Tuesday... This means we survived a busy Monday!! 

(Smooches for Gracie)

Yesterday we had play group in the morning, then a few hours at home before we went to the farm so Grandma could babysit, as M and I had a funeral visitition for a friend who's mother passed away suddenly from lung cancer!! So sad! We popped home to do our workout before picking up Noah! Apparently Noah didn't feel the need to nap while at Grandma's, so this is what happened when we came home... 

This never happens, so we took turns snuggling before waking him for dinner!! 

Excuse my crazy post workout hair!! 

Now onto the weekend... 

Friday we found out my cousin had her baby!! A boy!!! Gabriel - who was the same weight and length as Noah and they are exactly 11 months apart!! Soo happy for them!! 

Noah also took his very first steps!! I'm still in shock over this!! He just let go of my hands while walking to M and walked right past him! We were all soo surprised! Yes, I cried!! 

Friday night I watched the movie If I Stay - wasn't a huge fan actually. I just couldn't seem to get into it! 

Saturday and Sunday were both low key, spent at home while M was trying to get the basement floor done!! Which we accomplished!! Bye bye carpet: 

And the finished product: 

I love how it turned out!!! It actually makes the space look bigger!! 

Now we are done with big indoor stuff this year - we will see about outdoor stuff!

Can we believe I am in the midst of planning Noah's first birthday party?? What??!! I know!! How fast has this gone by! I swear I just had him!! 

21 Day Fix

M and I set a goal this year, just the same as we do every year! Actually the goal was the same - to be the best we can be. Both of us were still struggling with post-pregnancy weight gain, yes you read that right, both of us! M was one of those men who gained weight while I was growing baby, except he was without baby.

So if you want to make a change, you need to give up the excuses. Which we had a long list of, time being the biggest one, but we both decided this had to change, we owed it to ourselves!! Yes we live busy lives, and yes somewhat active lifestyles, but during the winter we are not nearly as active! So we needed to find a system to follow, workouts that don't take up much time, but are effective. 

Alison was posting Beachbody's monthly special and that's when it dawned on me, we could do this! I immediately looked up the 21 Day Fix, did some research and decided that this is exactly what we needed!! We didn't want some crazy diet or cleanse (like we did before) but we needed to see results. So of course I got into contact with Alison and ordered us the 21 day fix! 

I knew this wasn't going to be a walk in the park, especially for M, who doesn't work out at all anymore. I do Zumba once a week, which is mainly cardio, and now that I am a couple days in I can say it is nothing at all like the workout I'm getting from the 21 day fix! Since starting the fix, here are my thoughts so far! 

The workouts are HARD, especially hard when you haven't worked those muscles in soo long and I will be honest we both started out a bit discouraged! We also started with the wrong work out right off the hop. Pilates is no beginner work out either. We were supposed to start with yoga! But we survived! We loved seeing the clock on the screen counting the workout down for us. Knowing the work outs were only 30 minutes helped us get through it! We are sore, but it is a good sore to be! I actually said to M, crazy to think I used to be the person that loved this ab pain way back when I had a 6 pack... in high school and I need to find a way back there!! 

Taking our before pics - depressing, yet motivating! Since stopping breastfeeding I knew my belly was coming back, I could feel it! I had 9 pounds to lose at the beginning of December to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight and that changed to 13 in a hurry! It was time to stop this before it got out of control! 

Currently we are on Day 5 and going strong!! I have dropped one pound already and M has dropped 2!! It is an adjustment from our regular routine, but it really just takes more thought into what we are putting into our body's and what we are getting out of them as far as a work out goes!! 

My advice from just a few days in... 

- choose your 3 cheat foods a week carefully. Make sure you REALLY want them! I used one on a hot chocolate and was soo disappointed!! 

- plan your full day meals at least a day ahead so it is less scrambling the day of! Oh and that way you can make sure your portions are distributed evenly! I used to think I wanted my "bigger meal" at dinner, I couldn't eat everything on my plate I had allotted myself! 

- drinking this much water means several bathroom breaks... This should slow down a bit once my body gets used to it! 

- have a snack after a work out! 

So there we have it! I will be sure to keep updating how we are doing. We will be done our first cycle on Jan 31!! 

A Lovely Little Wednesday

Ahhhh we made it to the middle of the week!! Tomorrow I plan to do a little update on the 21 day fix M and I are doing, so today I will share some of my current loves!! Now with that being said I have no internet currently.. So we will see!

I am loving my outfit that I wore on Monday! These boots are officially my fave!! Soo comfy even after wearing them a full day!! My sister bought me them for Christmas!! She actually bought me the scarf too!! I wish I had taken the pic in the morning because I had great hair too, but instead I took this before M and I worked out and my curls we're going flat! 

On Monday I also picked up these adorable hats for Noah, of course he tried them both on: 

Oh how l love me some owl hats and clearly Noah does too haha

I had a great day Monday crossing things off my list of things I needed to get, like a humidifier for Noah's room so we could get ours back!! Then I hit up the dreaded Costco... Which was fine, just busy!! Noah was with Grandma, so I also grabbed groceries on my way home!! 

Zumba was cancelled last night, and if I am being honest, I am not complaining!! It also gave me the excuse to stay in my jammies all day!! I will say that I get dressed usually every day, even though I am a stay at home mom!! This pin is not at all realistic for me: 

But yesterday was -20+ degrees Celcius out and my flannel pj pants were just too darn warm! 

Tonight I'm trying out the new spa in town that just opened and will be getting a much needed spa pedicure, which includes a hot stone massage!! My feet are really looking forward to it!! 

Hope everyone's having a great Wednesday!! 

Weekend Rewind

This weekend was jam-packed with family time, which in all honesty I absolutely love!!! These are the days that we will remember, so instead of doing the work the piles up around us, we focused on us instead!!

Friday night we had a nice family dinner with M's parents and then M and I headed out for a date night with two other couples while M's parents babysat! It was nice to enjoy some adult conversations, sip on some wine and snack on some appetizers! I will say that M is soo funny when it comes to leaving Noah, he worries for the first 10 minutes before and after we leave and then it comes back whenever we are on our way home! If I am being honest I not so secretly love that about him!! 

Saturday morning M went and picked up our flooring for the basement and then he was going to clean up all the cardboard on the deck from our IKEA trip, Christmas, etc. But instead I said, it will wait, let's just have family time instead! That is the one thing I have learned since being a parent that the work will wait. M decided we all needed out of the house, so after lunch and Noah's nap, we packed up and went out on a mission to find both of us new winter boots! I was dreading this process, although I knew it needed to be done. But we actually had a lot of fun!! 

Ardene happened to be having a sale, so we stopped there, where I got a few pair of pants for around the house, then we had to stop at Canadian Tire so we could get spray paint for a DIY project, then Payless, Marks Work Warehouse and last stop was Aden where we finally found ourselves boots and we got a great sale on them!! 

We both bought Bogs!! They are incredibly comfy and functional for us!! Noah was an absolute trooper while we were out, which was great, but I think he was going stir crazy being cooped up in the house this week as it has been brutally cold and snowy out around here! 

We came home, hung out some more and then put Noah down. We watched the movie Sex Tape, which I heard was really funny, with Cameron Diaz, but honestly I didn't find it all that great!! 

When I put on The Fault In Our Stars next M was ready to watch something else, so we quickly came up with a game plan for starting our 21 Day Fix Challenge on Sunday and relaxed the rest of the night. 

Holy tear jerker, but The Fault In Our Stars was a good movie! I actually have the book to read too!! 

Sunday we started the 21 Day Fix!! More to come on that this week!! We also worked away around the house crossing things off the to-do list! Noah was a helper with the laundry:

We enjoyed a nice family walk, a little dance party and then bedtime!! 

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Hey Friday!!!

Wow, it is Friday!! This week just zoomed on by!! Here are some of the things that went down this week and will be going down this weekend!! 

-we were dumped on with snow and crazy cold temps! Yuck! How many more days till St. Martiin?

52!! And if it stays like this, its gunna be a long 7 weeks!

- got our 21 Day Fix Kit in the mail! We are going to start this weekend I think!! I really thought the meal plan was going to be bad, but after looking into it more, it really isn't all that bad! But I haven't played a work out video yet haha. 

- our renovation is just about complete, the ceiling is up, the drywall is fixed in the bathroom, and both rooms are painted and I am very happy it was done sooner than we thought!! Crown moulding goes up at the end of next week and then main floor is done for now... Or at least it better be!! 

- I am loving our new dining room chairs that match our table now and the new bathroom cupboard!! IKEA did not disappoint! Although I wish I had bought another bathmat!! The spaces are really coming together!! 

- Noah is teething up a storm and therefore naps are really hit or miss this week! 

- we have an adult night planned tonight with two other couples for drinks and appetizers! M and I are both looking forward it even if it just a few hours!! 

- apparently Purolator has lost my order... Worst part is I am not even sure what it is!! I think it is my storage totes I ordered from Walmart - they sent me one tote instead of the 8 I ordered!! When I called I had a horrible customer service rep, but after speaking to her supervisor they agreed to send me the rest without hassle. So I might get Noah's clothes organized one day... when they find my order, if that is what it even is! 

- I bought flooring for the basement last week, which we have to go pick up this weekend! 

January To-Do

Since January is off to a busy start with yet another Reno, I figure I will make myself accountable for a few things this month!

1) set up Noah's play area in the basement

2) clean office and set up computer area 

3) file papers in said office! I will go through them, shred what can be shred and Mike will file those needed to be kept! I will also update my bill binder!! This thing has been soo useful, glad I made one! 

4) make photo calendar 

5) work on some of Noah's photo books - I purchased 3 from photobook Canada that expire in July!

6) start clean eating and 21 day fix!! M and I both up for the 21 day challenge!! We figure we have done way worse with that 30 day cleanse! You bet there will be more to come on this!! 

7) enjoy a little stay-cation with Mike and Noah during M's drainage conference! 

8) get basement into order as a family room

9) work on meal planning - we do soo much better when we do this and I am actually able to prepare dinner a lot easier when we have the meal planned and even half prepped if possible!!

10) get all new IKEA furniture built! We did a monster IKEA trip bought all new dining room chairs, a cubby unit for the toy room and then we also bought a storage centre for the bathroom!!

11) start sorting out Noah's clothes that are too small into totes by size

Weekend Rewind

I honestly say this weekend did not go down as I expected!! I will rewind to New Years Day quickly and mention that on New Years Day we de-Christmas'd the house and got that call that our dining room reno would be starting next week (which is this week).

So we intended to have the dining room and front bathroom emptied out by the end of the weekend!!

Fast forward to Saturday - we ended up emptying the dining room Saturday and Mike helped M put up the new ceiling boards, which ended up being an all day affair. But it is a big job done and put M ahead of schedule by 2 days!

I was really hoping to wait awhile before tackling another reno, but at the same time I am looking forward to it being done! M is also fixing Mike's drywall blemishes in the bathroom, since Mike just quickly slapped it up to get it done, there were quite a few spots that needed fixing! Gotta love job trades!! Mike did a big job for M this summer and now M is helping us with this project!

Then we are done right? I know I say this, but then I went and bought new flooring for the basement, which will also need to be painted, but we will wait to paint it until next year, but the flooring will be done this year at some point! I look forward to tackling some outdoor jobs this year if we do anything!

Sunday I managed to get Noah's toy area done in the basement and ready to fill with his toys! I will hopefully be tackling that job this week! We stayed tucked inside for the whole day, as temps dropped drastically and we got an ice storm!

I know I keep on promising pictures, so here is my plan: I plan to retake pictures of the whole main floor again once this reno is done!

Christmas Recap

Happy New Year!!! 

We survived the holidays here and in good health despite all the bugs going all around us!! 

Christmas was fantastic!! And oh so much fun with our little guy!! 

Christmas Eve Day was spent literally baking all day!! I made pumpkin pie, Christmas Crack, 3 different batches of muffins, hash brown casserole and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies! 

We started a few traditions as well, aside from baking, which I would like to do every year, maybe not soo much, but baking none the less! We had pizza for dinner, which this year we bought since it was just M and I to enjoy it, but in the future when Noah can partake, we plan to have homemade pizza on Christmas Eve! I'm sure there will be some years we order in! We love going to the Christmas Eve service at our church in town, although the time was a bit tricky this year, Noah was a champ!! When we got home, we quickly snapped our annual Christmas Eve photo, set out Santa's snacks, read The Night Before Christmas in front of the tree together and put Noah to bed!! 

Can't forget carrots for the reindeer!! 

After Noah was down, M surprised me with flowers and chocolate recognizing that it was my first Christmas as a Mom!! He is seriously so sweet!! 

Christmas morning M was up early, eager for both Noah and I to get up, which we finally did at 8:15! M is a huge fan of Christmas and I love seeing how excited he was yet again for Christmas, just like he used to when we were first married! Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas too but it really is M's favorite and we are sure it will be Noah's too!! 

Noah was all set to get started: 

Noah infront of all the presents once Grandma and Grandpa arrived! 

Lily picked her stocking right up and was about to tear into it, but we decided we better help her! 

Santa brought Noah his own little Lazy Boy:

And then we were well on our way to opening presents before Noah needed a nap! 

Heck even Santa brought matching Superman costumes for Grandpa and Noah!!

And I finally finished Noah's blanket and needless to say he LOVES it!! 

Grandpa was sure to get Noah ear protection for all the heavy equipment! Just his size:

Noah got Daddy Lego!! 

And we can't forget the digger!! 

Picture with Grandma and Grandpa:

And of course our Christmas Morning Family Photo 

Owe enjoyed a nice lunch before heading to my Aunts house for the afternoon and dinner. My Mom came home with us when we left, as we had Christmas with my parents and sister on Boxing Day. 

Miss Hannah: 

Brandon helping Grandpa open his present:

My Dad made Noah his own little toy box:

Noah is soo lucky to have such a crafty Grandpa!! And loved his new toy box!!

And his new racer set!!

Cousins playing together: 

Then after dinner we had the kids help out with the dishes, which they both loved!! 

This pretty much summed up our Christmas celebrations! We had one the weekend before Christmas with my Dad's side of the family while my cousin was home too!! As well as one with Mikes side of the family as well!! It was a busy,net super fun holiday season and I am more than sure that Noah's first Christmas was amazing, even if he can't remember it!! 

Hope everyone had a great Christmas too!! 

I am ever hopeful to get back to regular posting soon!!