Lindsay's Gym Tales

Isla Wyllie's Birth Story

2012-01-30T17:11:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, January 19th Isla Kalelle Wyllie made her grand entrance at 10:44pm weighing 7lbs 4oz. This came as a surprise to everyone as she was 2 weeks early and so I just kept thinking the contractions would stop - which led us to a home birth!

It began the previous night when I didn’t sleep well and had some contractions. They continued off and on throughout Thursday – but nothing strong or regular. The same thing happened for 2 weeks with Ewan, so I was not expecting anything to actually come of them. I even saw the midwife that morning and she agreed that they probably did not mean much. Then by 3pm I called my mom because my back was killing me and Ewan was being a handful and Alan was going to be working late that evening building a treadmill with a friend in our basement– so she came by and amused Ewan, made dinner and gave him his bath.

By dinner time the contractions were still there but again not painful at all. By 7pm they were becoming more painful – I could still talk but had to stop walking. So I called our doula and the midwife just to let them know that I might be in early labour – the midwife said she would come by to assess me and if it was early give me gravol to try and get a good night sleep. Apparently a snow storm also started around this time which delayed the midwives and doula's arrival. By 8:30pm Alan and I began to think that the baby may in fact be coming - I was in the bath tub and in full on labour. The midwives and doula arrived around 9pm and did my assessment and to everyone's surprise I was at 9cm!!! The options were then to call an ambulance because of weather or continue to labor at home as I was doing well and so was baby. At that point there wasn’t a chance I was going to be strapped to a bed in an ambulance while in active labour. So, we continued labouring at home and at 10:44 Isla was born!!!

It was a fantastic experience and I am so happy that it turned out the way that it did. It was wonderful having my mom and Ewan in the house (Ewan unfortunately fell asleep 15 minutes before Isla was born), but the two of them kept busy with Mickey Mouse and baking a birthday cake for Isla.

During the pregnancy I had read a lot of books on home births and natural births as I had wanted to create a very different experience than what I had with Ewan - an emergency c-section. However, Alan and I agreed that a hospital birth would be the safer option in the event that emergency circumstances presented themselves again. But once we heard that I was already 9 cm's - past the point where things went wrong with Ewan, and I was still feeling strong and confident in my body's ability to know what to do - the decision to stay home was easy. It also helped that I was very comfortable with my midwife and trusted her opinion and that my doula was a good friend who was experienced, calm and confident in my ability to give birth to this baby. It really was a life changing experience and I am proud of myself for trusting my instincts and of how Alan and I really worked together through the whole labour - except early on when he thought building a treadmill was the priority! I could not have asked for a more supportive team or a better birth experience.

As for the past 11 days, we have been enjoying lots of quiet family time as well as visits from family and friends. Ewan is doing quite well with Isla - he adores her, and as long as I am within view he is fine keeping busy with dad, grandpa or grandma. Isla is also sleeping quite well so far, so I am feeling very well rested at this point.

We are so excited to welcome Isla into our family!

Also, for anyone that is curious, Isla is pronounced like Island (but without the 'nd') and Kalelle was chosen as a middle name by Alan because it is Superman's Kryptonian name and he felt her middle name had to be able to compete with Ewan's (Xavier (for superhero Professor X) Braveheart (from scottish movie)).

Maternity Photo Shoot

2012-01-15T09:56:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I had my maternity photo shoot, along with some family pictures, with Elizabeth Fulton Photography. Elizabeth had done our family pictures at our home this past summer and she did wonderful work and was wonderful to work with - especially with a non-cooperative 2 year old. I had really wanted family pictures of just the 3 of us before I began to show that I was pregnant - and the pictures that we have are beautiful. Afterwards, I had decided that I would also like some maternity photos since I really did not have any but a handful from when I was pregnant with Ewan. And last weekends session gave us better pictures than I could have even hoped for. Here is a sample of some of the pictures -

Thank you Elizabeth we are so happy with the memories we have of this special time in our lives. And you have also sparked a love of photography in Ewan who has had us posing and saying 'picture' all week long (and no longer with the plastic camera, but with my point and shoot camera!)

Taking my leave now

2012-01-11T10:57:00.000-05:00

This morning is the first morning that I am off while the rest of the regular Before School and Nursery School programming is up and running (I did have a few days off over the winter break - but I usually take some time off during camp times, so it doesn't really count). It has defintely been wonderful taking my time with Ewan getting ready, eating our breakfast sitting together nice and slow, and letting Ewan stay in his pj's while he plays with his trains. And I am sitting in the kitchen, sipping my decaf coffee and browsing the internet. I also cannot help looking at the clock and wondering every so often how snack time is going at this moment, or are the kids getting their snowsuits on for the bus? I know everyone will not only survive without me, but probably thrive given the freedom to use their own creativity (I think I can sometimes be a little controlling!) I guess it will take a little time gettting used to - or the arrival of baby to keep me busy - which I am now 37 weeks, so can be anytime!

After initially planning on running the play classes right through January, I am finally giving in / giving up? and taking a few weeks off early. Partially due to it now becoming difficult to be on my feet moving for 3 hours straight and also painful to even walk with this baby sitting so low as well as sheer exhaustion and wanting to spend just a little more time with Ewan - just him and I before the craziness sets in. So I have made my decision to finish the play classes this week (tomorrow and Saturday) and then to hand the classes over to Megan and Chrissy - who I am confident will do a wonderful job and be a lot more capable of moving around and being active than I am at this point.

So it is with sadness and excitement that I am saying my goodbyes to everyone currently in the programs for the winter. I very much look forward to coming in and visiting as well as being
back in the Spring time!

But don't worry I will keep on blogging, updating facebook (on both A Gym Tale news and baby news) as well as myself or Alan responding to emails.

The preparations have begun..

2012-01-08T18:31:00.000-05:00

The holiday break has been wonderful. I have been into A Gym Tale a few times, but I have also had so much time to relax and spend with Ewan, it really has been great. We had several pyjama days, play dates with friends, a trip to the children's museum (which was a fantastic morning out) and then wrapped it all up this weekend with organizing and cleaning the house - and finally putting the Christmas decorations away!

I have taken today to go on an organizing and laundry spree of all things related to baby #2. I have now more or less put everything through the laundry that can be put through. I have also actually finished all of the folding and put everything away in drawers, including all items of clothing, bedding, my slings and wraps and all face cloths, blankets, diapers etc. Change table is ready and car seat is out - still needs to be installed, but I think I am actually all prepared.

It is funny some days I can barely get off the couch and other days I can be on my feet all day and get so much accomplished. So baby #2, you are considered full term this week and we are ready for your arrival any time!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-04T19:33:00.000-05:00

I would like to wish everyone a very happy New Year and I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday spending time with family and friends. I also want to thank all of the families of the Nursery School students who came to the Holiday concert. The children had worked so hard to prepare and they all did such a great job! And it was amazing to see how many people came out to see them perform. I also want to thank everyone for all of the generous and thoughtful teacher gifts.

Over the holiday I have had a wonderful time catching up with family members and friends that I had not seen in some time. Ewan was very excited about all of the parties and seeing so much family, however, he was not excited about opening gifts - something I had not anticapated. He opened one gift on Christmas Eve and then refused to open any more! He was very grateful and played with everything once we opened it - he was just not interested in opening the gifts himself.

It has been some time since I posted and to be honest since the craziness of Christmas has been over, I am happy to admit that I really have not done anything! And it has been amazing! Ewan has unfortunately been sick with a bad cold, but it has given us another reason to have 3 pyjama days in a row.

Now I have made a few trips into A Gym Tale and it has also been great to see some familiar faces in the camp program and visiting for Drop-In Play. Alan, Ewan and I also spent our New Year's Eve at A Gym Tale doing our annual Sleepover event and are happy to say that it was another successful night and we saw lots of 'old' friends as well as many new faces this year. Ewan could not actually believe that he was sleeping at A Gym Tale and loved getting up in the morning and going directly to play on the indoor playground! As for me, sleeping at A Gym Tale while 35 weeks pregnant was not so comfortable and the yellow crash mat was not as supportive as I remembered it to be! But I have since recovered and I still have a few more days before back to work.

So again Happy New Year and I hope everyone enjoys the remainder of the Holiday Break!

Holiday Traditions

2011-12-13T17:50:00.000-05:00

This year Ewan is much more aware and interested in Christmas and Santa Clause. Alan and I are trying to create some traditions that we can continue on as a family each year. I would love to hear about the different traditions that all of you have also adopted for your family during the holiday season.

Visiting Santa is of course an important one and this year Ewan did a great job and had a full on conversation with Santa Clause! We also did our own family photo shoot, which turned out not too bad, considering I have barely picked up my camera over the past year. Another evening we made a gingerbread family after dinner - as you can see in the picture Alan took it very seriously!

Another tradition that I wanted to begin was an advent calendar. We opted not to do a traditional (in my family anyway) chocolate calendar and instead I made 24 numbered paper envelopes that we have hung across our fireplace. For this year each envelope has a holiday themed sticker inside and Ewan opens one each day. We are counting backwards from 24 to 1 so that Ewan can see the numbers getting lower and understand that there are fewer and fewer days until Santa will come. As Ewan gets older I would like to have a family event put in each envelope - such as putting up the Christmas tree, building a gingerbread house, a movie night etc.

I am also trying to make more home made gifts to involve Ewan in being a bigger part in giving. One of the gifts I am very proud of is a tutu that I made for my niece. Ewan watched me make it and then tried it on - and also happened to love it - I think I have to make him one as well! Another set of gifts we have made together are peppermint scented and coloured bath salts. Ewan helped me dye the bath salts and add the peppermint oil and then fill each of the jars. And he had a great time doing it. As a gift tag, I am going to print a picture of him making all of them.

It is hard to believe that Christmas is already next week - December is just flying by, but we have had a great time getting into the spirit. We are also very much looking forward to the Nursery School Holiday concert next Wednesday!

Snow Day!

2011-11-24T16:51:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I had taken a day off and Alan ended up being able to take a day off as well - so we were able to have a 'family day' together. After the amount of work that went into the float for the parade - we definitely needed a break!

It was an even better surprise when we woke up to the first snow fall of the season! Ewan was so excited to see the snow that he and Alan went straight outside to shovel while I made a big pancake breakfast. After breakfast, we drove out to Starbucks to enjoy a holiday hot chocolate and do some reading. Afterwards we made our way home for a relaxing afternoon of reading, building a snowman, more hot chocolate and decorating the house for Christmas - a little early, but it just seemed like the perfect day for it!

I hope everyone was able to enjoy all of the snow yesterday as well!!!

Last Trimester!

2011-11-17T23:27:00.000-05:00

I am now currently in the last trimester of pregnancy- which I am both thrilled with and also a little saddened - and also a little anxious. I am excited that very soon we will get to meet the new addition to the family and start on a whole new adventure together as a family.

However, I am also saddened that everything will also be changing - Ewan is at such an great stage right now - everything he can do and everything he says has Alan and I both amazed and entertained all the time. It is also wonderful to be able to give him our full and undivided attention and really just to be the three of us.

The anxiety is stemming from being away from the centre for 8 weeks - don't get me wrong, I am very confident with the staff that I have, however some things you just know because you are always there - like needing to dust the groove of a particular toddler toy or the top of a triangle in the pirate ship that collects dust like crazy or knowing how to set up the obstacle course for a particular theme. Writing these things down make them seem silly and I am sure the centre will not only survive, but will continue to thrive while I am away - it is just hard to leave my first 'baby' for that amount of time.

I have been trying to really stay in the moment when I am with Ewan and really make the most of the one on one time that we have together. I also feel like I should be trying to squeeze in special things that we can do 'just us' - like jetting off to Disney World! (Just kidding, not really, I kind of do really want to go.) But I am having a hard time thinking of things that we can really do only together. Maybe I should just be focusing on enjoying the day to day routine that we have created together. Any suggestions about things you did or wanted to do while it was just you and your first baby?

We are enjoying milkshakes together in the picture:)

The craziness of Fall!

2011-11-05T14:19:00.000-04:00

Since September it really has been a whirlwind of to-do lists and events almost every weekend as well as jumping back into routines and schedules - I really only feel like now things are beginning to calm down.

As far as family life is concerned, I think we have a good routine and schedule that seems to be working for us and Ewan is doing much better than I had expected about adapting to his weekly schedule - that is unfortunately different every day of the week - but he is a pretty go with the flow kid and is taking the craziness of our life in stride. As a family we have enjoyed visits to the apple orchard, the pumpkin patch, a great Thanksgiving weekend filled with wonderful meals with family and friends, and a great Halloween night!

As for me personally, I am still waiting for the 'easy' part of this pregnancy to arrive. I have come to terms with my lack of energy and I am still trying to get to bed earlier and nap when I am home in the afternoons with Ewan. I am also taking an array of supplements to try and boost my energy and trying to fit in a few work outs throughout the week. I have also gotten used to the night time nausea. But now I am struggling with an all over rash and itchiness that by the evening is driving me crazy! I have been told it is nothing serious and that some women develop this rash during pregnancy and it will subside once I have the baby. So, only 3 more months to go!!! I have been to a naturopath and have some supplements to take and I am also taking oatmeal baths most nights - but any other advice from other moms who have had this would be wonderful!

As for A Gym Tale things are always crazy in early Fall, but everything seems to be falling into place nicely. Both the morning and afternoon Nursery School programs are running wonderfully and we have a really great group of kids that are really starting to show their personalities and friendships are beginning to bud. We have also had great parent participation so far this year. The Before and After School program has also found its rhythm and the program has been running really well. Weekends have also been busy with Birthday Parties and the hostess's are really putting on some great performances with the kids and as always we are striving to improve our customer service skills in order to make each visit the very best possible. Lastly, play classes have been an absolute pleasure to run and it has been great meeting so many new families. It is also hard to believe that registration for all the winter programs, camps, and the New Year's Eve Sleepover are also underway!

I hope everyone has been enjoying the wonderful Fall season that we have had so far and that all the kids enjoyed their Halloween! Here is a picture of my little elephant riding on a horse (his very own idea for a costume!)

I hope you all didn't fall for that last post....

2011-10-16T20:37:00.000-04:00

I really hope that everyone did not fall for Alan's last post - but I have heard through the grapevine that many people couldn't believe that Alan actually opened the envelope. Not a single person has told me about the post directly- so I do appreciate that you all tried to let me have my surprise!

For everyone who does not know Alan very well - he would never have actually opened the envelope without me - but he has a sick sense of humour and thought it would make for a hilarious post and posted on my blog before I could stop him!

But Alan and I did decide to open the envelope - TOGETHER - and yes, we are having a Girl! We did it after a wonderful date night out and it was a perfect time to open it up together and we both really liked making it a special occasion and opening it in privacy as opposed to finding out in the ultrasound clinic. We are both very excited that we will have both a son and a daughter. Now for the next baby, there is no reason to find out as we will have one of each!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Envelope Opened! (Exercising a Dad's Right to Know)

2011-10-13T00:38:00.000-04:00

Shhhhhh... I have to share some news..., but don't tell Lindsay...

This might be the last time I have the chance to hijack my wife's blog.

That statement is not necessarily meant to infer that I will not live long after writing this entry - although testing a hormonal woman's patience at this stage of pregnancy might suggest otherwise. At the very least, Lindsay is sure to change her password this time.

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!

(just, don't tell her Mom yet)

All I can hope is that Lindsay will grow to understand that I did what I did with her in mind. You see, I realize that my wife has been sick for six months, is always tired - regardless of how much she sleeps, can barely tie her own shoes, and worst (as far as she's concerned) can not stomach eating chocolate. No chocolate for God's sake! The last thing I want is for her to stress any more than she has to - not when I can prevent it.

And that's what I did!

By finally opening the envelope that hid our next baby's gender from us, I have alleviated needless questions that may have been festering in her head. And the best part is, she is likely to find out tomorrow during play classes when the blog and facebook news spills in. By that time I'll be safe at work and she will have all day to calm down and realize for herself the rationality in what I have done.

Some people might even say I'm a hero. The naysayers might suggest that I have acted strictly on a childish curiosity with no concern for my wife's wishes. My fellow man however would realize the sacrifice that I have made tonight.

In an effort to silence Lindsay's subconscious questions, I have taken on an extraordinary burden three months early for which I was not prepared. I will father a daughter.

Obviously, I'm looking forward to having a Daddy's Little Girl, dressing her in frills, and singing butterfly kisses; but eventually my princess-to-be will be a teenage girl... and... that... is... not... cool.

This is my burden.

Have I created a Monster?!

2011-10-06T16:10:00.000-04:00

So I think I have created an Iphone - more specifically a You Tube - addiction in Ewan!!!

About a year ago, Ewan began using my Iphone for educational apps (anything by Duck Duck Moose is amazing for toddlers / preschoolers) mostly when we were out to dinner, at A Gym Tale if I needed to take a phone call, or out doing groceries. But it has slowly progressed to him moving on to You Tube - he can actually turn on my phone, open You Tube, go to his favourites, choose a video and then scroll through all the related videos and play those!!! I don't even know how he has a favourite list and how he figured all of this out?!

I new that a problem was beginning when he started talking about my phone in his sleep - 'phone mama? Please - I NEED IT!' - all in his sleep. And then last week he pick-pocketed me and I turn around and he is huddled in a corner of the party room at A Gym Tale with the volume down low watching a Thomas video! And I should have clarified which videos he does watch - thomas, mickey mouse club house, the shrek theme song, and some penguin videos he found somehow. Now Ewan doesn't watch TV, so the only media dose he gets is the Iphone or sometimes a movie - but he now says that he 'needs' the phone and will steal anytime it is in reach. I have started to limit his usage to just before dinner time as I am getting dinner ready, but in the mornings or mid day it is like he is having withdrawals!

I am hoping with a regular 'scheduled' You Tube video time, he will get into a routine of knowing when he can have his fix and will not try to steal at other times. However, I can only imagine this addiction will get worse as he gets older.

Now he does always see me with my phone - because of A Gym Tale, my phone is always on me or on my bedside table when I sleep, or next to the shower - maybe I have an addiction! But, in the event that someone had to call in sick or an emergency during business hours the girls at work need to be able to reach me at all times.

Oh Ewan, I have tried so hard to shield you away from television and it seems I have only created an addiction to another form of media!

Our Decision...

2011-09-25T14:15:00.000-04:00

Thank you for the messages and emails about your stories and suggestions. I could not decide what I wanted to do, so I had the ultrasound technician put the gender in a sealed envelope and then I hid it when I got home! We have yet to open it up, but Alan has been in China since just after the ultrasound. I think we may have a nice date night at home and open it up together. I do like the idea of a surprise, but Alan very much wants to know the gender, and I think it is a nice compromise finding out together in our home.

So I will let you know when we decide the time is right to find out. But, more importantly, everything is looking great and the baby is growing just as expected. The baby is also very active!!! Over the past two weeks, the baby has been moving so much that it is actually turning my stomach and has brought back the nausea. Has anyone else had experience with this? I am only in my 22nd week, so I can only imagine this is going to get significantly worse as the baby gets bigger!

Other than the ultrasound news not much has been going on. Alan has been in China, so Ewan and I have had oh so much quality time together - for better or for worse. These two year old mood swings are going to be the end of me! Now that Alan is back I think we need some alone time! Also, with Alan away I have had no one to wake me up when I put Ewan to bed, so I have been falling asleep around 8pm most nights. What an exciting life!

One exciting new change with Ewan is his ability to play for longer by himself without me needing to be right by him. Several times he has asked to go into the yard with Sidekick and the two of them just run around for a good 30 minutes - just enough time for me to get dinner and lunches made for the next day. At this moment him and Sidekick are running around the living room and kitchen playing fetch. I wanted him to grow up with a pet and it is so wonderful seeing him develop this bond with his puppy.

Well time to get back outside and enjoy the last bits of summer. I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

The big debate!

2011-09-10T15:16:00.000-04:00

So Tuesday afternoon I have my next ultrasound booked to find out what the gender of the baby is...if we end up going. I booked this ultrasound in July, tentatively, because Alan and I were not in agreement about finding out the gender of the baby and I thought two months would be plenty of time to debate. Well, we kind of forgot about debating and now the ultrasound is this Tuesday!

Alan is all for finding out the gender and I would kind of like the experience of the big surprise. And to be honest, I just don't feel the urgency this time around. The pregnancy is flying by, I in week 20 - the half way point already, and have barely given thought to this baby! We have everything we need this time around, unless a girl - I guess we will need more clothes, a few girly cloth diapers and new bedding. But we really have all the essentials that we will need. But I have such little time off - do I want to spend it picking things up that I could have done in advance. Other bonus is naming the baby - we already have a girl name picked out - since my first pregnancy, but another boy name would be an almost impossible task - that could really take my whole 9 weeks off post baby to decide on a name! The other pro of finding out would be to better prepare Ewan of a brother or sister.

Even with these points I am not quite convinced. So, as much advice over the next few days would be very much appreciated!! Please help us with this decision and let me know what you chose and why.

First day of school already!

2011-09-07T22:00:00.000-04:00

So once again it has been a little while since posting, but I have filled the past 2 weeks with enjoying every last moment of holiday time with my family and relishing in not having a schedule for either myself or Ewan! We also had a wonderful last day of summer celebration dinner out at the Keg - always phenomenal food. As a side note, it was also the first time we brought Ewan and I was blown away with what a great 'family' restaurant it is. For $9.97 Ewan had a drink, a plate of strawberries, carrots, celery and dip as a starter, followed by a full chicken breast and mashed potatoes (actual real food for children is always a bonus as opposed to pizza or grilled cheese), and ice cream for dessert! Anyway, it was a great end to a wonderful summer.

I have also been taking some time to prep for Nursery School and Music and Gym classes - which I am always very excited to bring in new ideas each year, hosting a 'Meet the Teacher Night' and knocking some things off my 'to-do' list at A Gym Tale. The Meet the Teacher night was wonderful and we had such a fantastic turn out, it is really nice to see so many families so excited for their little ones and so ready to get involved in their learning!

And today we had the first day of school (for some children - we are doing 3 first days of school so that all the children start with only about 10 children in the class as opposed to 24). And I have to say it was one of our most successful first days! We did not have any children come in crying and only 2 moments of slight teariness when children realized half way through that mom had left. Now at this age it is many of the children's first time leaving mom and dad and so some adjustment and tears are expected - it is a big transition for both children AND parents. Myself, Miss Linds and Miss Megan are prepared to ease the children in as gently as possible and usually once we get them in they are distracted by the many activities, the ball pit or the trampoline. But we all had to admit what a nice 'first day back' it was for us with no tears! We are all very much looking forward to meeting all the other students this Friday and on Monday.

Well it is 9:55pm and I am falling asleep at the computer - going from no routine to waking up at 5:30am is going to do me in. I will be lucky if I make it to Saturday. It is shocking how quickly my bedtime has changed from midnight and 1am to 10pm!!! Now if only Ewan would sleep in past 5:30am - the child has a sixth sense and wakes up within five minutes of me being awake! Any advice would be appreciated!

Some news to share!

2011-08-15T23:14:00.000-04:00

Alan and I feel that it is probably time to share our big news with everyone - especially since it really is no longer possible to keep private without many questioning looks. We are excited to share that we are expecting our second baby as of February 2nd, 2012! I am now four months pregnant, back into the stretchy pants (which I despise) and I am happy to say that the 24 hour a day nausea is starting to subside - finally! Ewan is also very excited with the idea of a baby, kisses my belly each morning and also thinks that he has a baby in his belly too!

Now after the congratulations, I know that the first question on many of your minds is 'who will be teaching my child?' Well I do have a plan in place as well as a wonderful team of experienced staff that I am confident will continue to run A Gym Tale seamlessly and will win all of your children over as they have over the past three years. And as always I can always be contacted directly by email.

With regards to the Gym & Music classes, I do plan on working straight through my pregnancy until the very end of January. I will be running the first 6 weeks of the winter Gym & Music play classes - I make no guarantees that I will actually be able to get up from circle time, but I will be there! And then one of the girls will finish the session for me continuing on with all of my class plans. I will then be returning to teach all of the Spring session classes, most likely with the baby in a sling (yay, no need for a doll for the baby class!)

As for the Nursery School program, I will start to step back in January as Chrissy, a teacher who has been with us for the past three years, is returning from her maternity leave. Come the Spring I will be back part time in a 'supervisory' position.

We are very excited to share this news with everyone and I look forward to sharing stories of the pregnancy with all of you as well as hearing about all of your transitions from a one child family to two.

An enjoyable Sunday at home

2011-08-14T17:23:00.000-04:00

After spending the morning at the dog park with both Ewan and Sidekick running around for a solid hour we made our way back home with the dog and the boy fast asleep. I was then free to take some time to go through the veggie garden which has been very good to us this summer with an abundance of carrots, yellow beans, broccoli, snow peas, spinach, onions, zucchini and now tomotoes galore. I spent the afternoon taking on the challenge of making homemade tomato sauce in order to freeze for the craziness of going back to work in the Fall - which as much as I have missed everyone, I have also really enjoyed my time off! Making the sauce was a surprisingly easy task - peeling the tomatoes were no problem, I decided to skip seeding them - next time I will try this. But then I just added all sorts of fresh veggies and herbs (carrots, onions, oregano, basil) that we had growing - making sure to puree it all so Alan will never find out vegetables were used! Dinner will be served in about an hour and the house smells amazing and I probably have enough sauce for 4-5 cans just from this batch.

I have really started getting inspired to cook and make more creative meals. The past week I have also started reading up on bento boxes and the hundreds of creative lunch ideas for kids and Ewan is loving them all. One mom from nursery school this year inspired me with all of her creative snack ideas. The idea is to make everything is small portion sizes and in creative designs and shapes. I have ordered my bento boxes so that I am ready for Fall lunch making (I have to find some way to make this task 'exciting'!). For lots of ideas just google bento.

Hiring Time!

2011-08-02T21:08:00.000-04:00

The past week has been busy with interviews - meeting with 17 new potential members of A Gym Tale! We had some really great candidates and it was a difficult choice to narrow it down to 4 new party hostesses and a new nursery school and after school teacher - which is always a good thing to have lots of great people applying. Now this week I am undertaking the challenge of meeting with everyone for orientations and beginning training. Don't worry - the quality of parties and camps will not diminish at the least - no one will ever have a party host who is not trained to our standards. Quite the opposite actually, for the month of August and some of September, parties and campers will get to enjoy all their 'old' favourite hostesses as well as get to meet a new member of the team who will be mentoring with our senior staff.

It is an exciting time of year as we bring on new staff, but also a difficult one as we say goodbye to some very loyal and dedicated members of our team who are going on to school outside of Ottawa or their careers of choice post graduation. Alan and I are very proud to have the opportunity to work with so many wonderful members of the team for usually one full year and most often several years. It is also great to see how much pride and ownership our staff take in A Gym Tale and how serious they all take their 'mentoring' roles in training the new staff. It is a great relief as a business owner to know and see that your staff do actually care about your business and that they take their jobs as entertainers and teachers very 'seriously' and it is their own goal to create the very best birthday party or the greatest camp day ever!

So we welcome our new team members and we wish our current staff members leaving us the very best of luck and great success!

One last note - the only area that I am struggling to fill is our Princess character visits - so if you know of any potential princess's (especially a sleeping beauty), please send them my way!

Family Photo Session!

2011-07-25T14:43:00.000-04:00

A few months ago Alan and I decided that we wanted to have another family photo session. The only one that we have ever had was when Ewan was 4 weeks old, it was a great experience and I absolutely love the pictures that the photographer had captured.

This time we wanted to have the picture done at our home in our back yard. We wanted them to have a more personal touch and we wanted Ewan to be comfortable in his environment for the session. We decided to have Elizabeth Fulton photography do our photo session. She has a wonderful website (http://elizabethfultonphotography.com/) highlighting lots of newborn, family even wedding sessions. On top of great pictures, Elizabeth also gives you a cd copy of your pictures so that you can print them where ever you would like and always have a back up on the cd. Elizabeth was relaxed and patient - even when Ewan decided to be a monster that morning! We had some great posed shots as well as lots of candid pictures of Ewan. And the the cd was ready within a week of the session!

Here are a few of my favourites -

I hope everyone enjoys their week!

A weekend getaway...

2011-07-22T10:50:00.000-04:00

So last Thursday evening we packed up the car and drove to Toronto - Ewan did surprisingly well, just singing and chatting, even though he was up for almost the entire drive right to 11pm! Friday we had a wonderful day beginning with a fantastic breakfast buffet at the Delta east (great hotel) followed by a day at the zoo.

The highlights for Ewan were the pony ride and seeing the penguins, polar bears, rhino's and the tiger. It is incredible how big the zoo is and how much there is to see - Alan and I were exhausted by the end of the day. But we did manage to finish the day off with dinner at the Rainforest Cafe - which is a great themed restaurant, but Ewan was a little freaked out by the mechanical elephants.

The next day we spent a low key morning by the hotel pool to try and recover from the zoo day. That afternoon we took Ewan to see Winnie the Pooh - his very first movie in the theatre! He likes Winnie the Pooh - but definitely liked the popcorn better! Once he was finished his popcorn he was more or less ready to go.

Unfortunately, on the Sunday we went to Wonderland and our weekend getaway took a turn for the worst. Compared to any other amusement park that I have been to, Wonderland was a disappointment - it was too small and way too many people. There was only one sit in restaurant to actually get out of the heat and it cost $40 for 2 burgers and fries! We went on two rides in the crazy heat before Ewan napped and then we attempted the water park. There were no lockers - they sold out first thing in the morning, so we had no choice but to leave our stroller with the other strollers at the stroller parking to go on the lazy river together. Getting out of the water - 7 minutes later, we quickly realized our stroller was stollen along with the diaper bag, our shoes, Alan's cell phone, wallet and car keys amongst many other diapers and our clothes. We spent the next 6 hours dealing with security and then the medical emergency centre as Ewan began passing out from what we thought might be heat stroke. The day just continually got worse until we finally had to cab home. Later that night Ewan began vomiting and we could not get his fever down and so we had to call an ambulance to get us to the hospital. Truth be told, this was probably the highlight of Ewan's weekend - riding in the ambulance! They got the fever down and and chalked it up to a virus, not heat stroke, which is supposedly very rare. The next day I realized he had gotten all 4 of his 2 year old molars in and that was most likely the reason for his fever.

We were lucky to have family ship our extra car keys to us in Toronto and we were on the road that afternoon excited to get home. Just a word of advice, at least bring a bike lock to keep your stroller locked to fence if you do bring it to an amusement park. Even when we thought we had not brought many valuables, the loss very quickly added up!

We have another weekend away to Montreal planned for next weekend - hopefully this is a better trip!

A must read...

2011-07-12T09:22:00.000-04:00

So, if you haven't already heard of the book titled 'Go the F--k to Sleep' by Adam Mansbach, you really must read it or You tube the version read aloud by Samuel L. Jackson. It is hilarious, although vulgar, especially if you have a child that is difficult to put to sleep. I mean, so funny it actually made me cry! If you are looking for a laugh definitely check it out!

Summer Fun!

2011-07-11T10:12:00.001-04:00

It is only the second week of summer and it has been absolutely wonderful so far!

Last Monday was my first official day of summer and we started the week off by taking a family day trip to Calypso Waterpark! If you have not been to Calypso yet, it really is a phenomenal day out. Although the entrance fee is very steep, it is a full day of fun and in my opinion is comparable to any large amusement park. You are encouraged to bring your own picnic lunch and there are more than enough picnic tables in a shaded location. There are tons of sides for the older kids and tons of fun for the younger ones - Ewan had a great time last year at 16 months and an even better time this year at 2 years being able to go on all the little slides. It was a great day to start out our summer.

Later in the week I also set up a science table outside and tried a few messy experiments with Ewan. Ewan is now in the stage where he must do absolutely everything by himself and so I set all the ingredients up in a way that he can manipulate them. For example squirt bottles with the colored water and vinegar, little scoops for the baking soda and corn starch and lots of spoons and bowls for mixing and pouring. As difficult as it was to not direct him, I was able to just let him go on mixing trying different things and he lasted for over an hour just mixing and pouring! We experimented with volcanoes using baking soda, colored water and vinegar and then making magic mud with corn starch and the colored water. And afterwards I just hosed Ewan down. It was a great messy afternoon! For more messy and creative play ideas visit 'Play at Home Mom' blog http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com/. It is a wonderful blog emphasizing all sorts of indoor and outdoor play activities.

I also have to highlight that we are so thankful that the water ban has been lifted. Almost every day before dinner I have the sprinkler on and Ewan will run around the yard for at least an hour. It gives me time to prep dinner and he cools down and my grass and gardens are finally starting to turn green and bloom!

This week we have some playdates lined up and a trip to Toronto to visit some family, Wonderland and the Zoo!

The Happiest and Saddest Day of the Year

2011-06-30T22:11:00.001-04:00

The Happiest and Saddest Day of the Year

I have not been feeling well lately - that's always the way when you finally get some time off, and I have been too busy to post recently, so my wonderful husband is writing this post for me as I narrate - that's why it is written so well... Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!!

Last week A Gym Tale's Nursery School Program hosted its fifth annual graduation ceremony for all of our students. It was the largest turnout EVER! Moms, Dad, Grandparents and sibling filled the centre to watch a memorable performance and to see the happy graduates be presented with their graduation certificates.

It's so cute to see how seriously they all take themselves when I call their names. They peek up at the crowd, stand up quietly and cross the floor to where I am waiting with the certificate. They beam with pride as they shake my hand (just the way we've practiced).

Lindsey, Katie, Chrissy and I have watched these kids grow for ten months. We've formed attachments to them. We pride ourselves of the work we do with them. Therefore, while this was such a wonderful experience to see our students demonstrate what they had learned for their families, it is always the saddest day of the year. We will miss all of our friends dearly over the summer.

Likewise, a wonderful year has also come to an end for our Before- and After-School Program. The program was re-vamped this year by Lindsey and Katie and was a resounding success. My mornings were earlier this year with my friends from Barrhaven Public, but they were also very relaxied and entertaining with such a wonderful group of students all year.

Meanwhile, Sleeping Beauty has also been making house calls recently. Over literacy week, she visited Jockvale Public School's library and met lots of new friends. Spider-Man, Batman and Wolverine have also been very busy at schools, parties and outdoor events. I wonder if Ewan will grow up thinking his parents are a real Princess and Superhero???

I am looking forward this summer to some extra time off with the Boy. Speaking of whom, in my next post, I will be listing some of the awesome fun super duper activities that I have planned for the two of us while my husband slaves away in the office and while my incredible staff run the most fantastic and entertaining camps for our friends in the community. Should be a Blast!!!!!!!!

Ice cream and watermelon days...

2011-06-07T21:13:00.000-04:00

The last few weeks have brought beautiful weather and I have been trying to take advantage of every free moment and spend my time outside. Although if is doesn't rain soon - and a lot - my backyard paradise is going to be dried up and brown!

Ewan is absolutely loving spending so much time outdoors - especially with the abundance of watermelon and mini ice cream cones that I continually bring out to him! But how can you not with such an adorable little face!

This is the last week of play classes and although it is hard saying goodbye to everyone over the summer holidays, I am very much looking forward to spending more ice cream and watermelon days together with my little man!

Happy Long Weekend!

2011-05-22T21:30:00.000-04:00

So it has been awhile since my last post, the time seems to be flying by! Ewan and I have also been sick with a cold, which has given me some much needed rest and a few early nights. With Ewan's birthday 2 weeks ago and 5 parties later, I think we finally have it behind us and can begin to look forward to the upcoming season. Now we just have to stop Ewan thinking that everyday is his birthday!

Also, with Ewan's birthday finally over, it has kind of occurred to me how little time is left in the school year and Spring session. Myself and Lindsey (yes, there are 2 Lindsey's) have been busy planning some special events for the end of the nursery school year, writing report cards, prepping the graduation and organizing themes and events for the summer camp program. It is kind of crazy how quickly summer can creep up on you! It is both exciting, because I take more time off in the summer, but also sad because many of the families we have come to know and see weekly, or even up to three times a week, we will miss over the summer.

But I am excited and confident that this summer will be our best camp program yet! We will have the themed obstacle courses and playground play that everyone has come to love, but we also have some new themes lined up, a more structured gymnastics skill building component as well as a focus on various sports skills, a themed character visit at some point each week, themed arts and crafts and an outdoor play time once a week which will include rocket experiments, parachute play and even bouncy castle fun throughout the summer.

Currently, I still have spaces in each of the themed weeks and I do have both part time and full time care available. Visit www.agymtale.com for more details.

2nd Birthday Celebrations!

2011-05-07T23:53:00.000-04:00

Today, we celebrated Ewan's 2nd Birthday with a friend party in the early afternoon and then a family party over dinner. It really was such a wonderful day - myself, Alan and Ewan really enjoyed every moment of it. I had so much fun planning for the party and I was organized enough that I also got to enjoy the parties! It was so wonderful seeing Ewan playing and laughing with all his little friends. He was so excited and happy all day - the little guy partied from 1pm to 8pm before crashing in his bed! Thank you to Kids Crooked Playhouse for getting us Ewan's new Play house in time for his Birthday (it's the super cute blue wooden playhouse in the 1st pic below), Run a Mok for the bouncy castle, to Crash the clown (www.dance4dreams.com) for a great performance and to Piece of Cake (http://pieceofcakeottawa.ca/Piece_of_Cake_Ottawa/Welcome.html) for a beautiful and delicious cake.

Here are some highlights from the day -

Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us, Ewan is so lucky to have such wonderful friends in his life. AND I forgot to give out the loot bags - isn't that terrible, that is one of the best parts of the party!!! I will deliver them this week!

Happy Birthday Sidekick!

2011-04-28T21:49:00.000-04:00

Happy 1st Birthday Sidekick - although some days (ok many days) you drive me crazy - we are so glad to have you as part of the family!

My baby boy...

2011-04-25T22:14:00.000-04:00

My baby boy will turn 2 years old in 15 days! For his 1st birthday, I was so excited to celebrate with him but also still so anxious to experience all sorts of firsts with him (words, walking, crawling - Ewan was a late bloomer with many things!). Now, for Ewan's 2nd birthday I just want everything to slow down - I feel like he has turned into a boy overnight! He never stops talking and singing in both French AND English now, his pretend play skills are expanding every day and he wants to help with everything and simply learn about everything around him and he also just learned how to climb up onto the couch for the first time (still a late bloomer with some things, lol!) I simply cannot believe my little man will no longer be my little helpless baby boy.

I also have a confession to make... next Saturday was supposed to be my first overnight away from Ewan - and I cannot do it!!! Isn't that crazy! I should be able to leave him for an overnight, right?! Now if I did leave him, it would be an absolutely awful night for anyone who stayed with him. But I think it would still be worse for me. At first I thought it would be my first full night sleep in TWO years, but I don't think that I would sleep at all that night for being worried. Do you know that this past week, Ewan has slept straight through until 3am several times - and I was awake from 1-3am until he awoke worried that something was wrong - that is craziness!

I am still going to Toronto to visit some University friends for the night - I am not cancelling my visit - Ewan will just come with me. It has actually turned into a family trip - Alan had to leave for Houston on the Sunday morning (which meant I would have to have flown back super early on Sunday) so now we are going to drive down together after the Saturday morning play classes and Alan and Ewan will visit family in TO and meet up with me later that night. Ewan and I will spend Sunday slowly making our way home with lots of stops along the way.

I will aim for mine and Alan's wedding anniversary in August for a first night away from Ewan - lots of time to psych myself up for it:)

Did anyone else just see that snow storm?!

2011-04-17T21:45:00.000-04:00

Really snow?! I am trying so hard to get into spring, the last thing I wanted to see after the crazy weather day we had today was a blizzard and my yard covered in snow!

I have not kept up with blogging lately as I have been preoccupied with planning and planting my gardens. I was a little late starting, so it has been taking up more time than it really should be. But I am seeing results! From the seeds that I planted last week - I now have 'seedlings' for broccoli, green beans, zucchini, tomatoes and all sorts of herbs. They are quickly taking over the only south facing windows I have in my bathroom! The peppers are the only seeds that are not producing yet.

Throughout the week, I have been using my afternoons to prep my veggie garden. After weeding, adding more soil, and compost I then used string and little kabob sticks to make my 16 x 5 square foot gardening grid. I have also planted the peas, spinach and tomatoes directly into the garden. Still to come in the next week are the onions, carrots, cabbage, swiss chard, and lettuce.

And unfortunately, I have also been dealing with a little boy who has just been 'off' the past week or so. I am thinking he is having an allergic reaction to something in his diet. I am taking him off his soy milk and any dairy this week to see if there are any changes. Poor little guy just hasn't been himself. Here is a pic of him peacefully having a late afternoon nap on the couch while I make dinner.

I am hopeful this week will bring some warm weather or at least a beautiful long weekend. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

First blooms in the garden!

2011-04-06T21:44:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I dug out my three planters in the garage under the heaps of things that have piled up over the winter to find that all three planters have started to sprout the tulips and daffodils that I planted in October! It was very exciting to see yet another sign of spring approaching. It also gave me motivation to plant my seeds yesterday evening. For some reason I have been procrastinating on doing this for months now. But seeing those plants peeking their heads out of the soil gave me the push that I needed.

Here are some pics from my gardens last year (again trying to find the energy and motivation to plan this years gardens and I thought going through some pics might help.)

Above: my veggie garden with zucchini, tomatoes, onions, peppers, beans and spinach. This year I have added peas, carrots, and broccoli. And yes, Alan and I also built this rock wall last year - it was a massive undertaking (to us anyway's) and I highly recommend hiring a landscaper instead of doing it yourself - it was so much work!!! Alan was so angry I talked him into it, lol! But google made it sound soooo easy!

The garden by the patio filled with annuals for colour all summer long as well as rose bush's and some ornamental grasses for fall/winter.

My shade garden at the side of the house. We are also adding a stepping stone path to our backyard along this garden.

This is my 'family and friends garden' - it is made up of plants that have been gifted to me.

This is my front yard garden - which was doubled in size in the fall. So I am now trying to plan out how to fill it.

This picture is the pile of dirt that was delivered to my door - it definitely did not sound like this big of a pile when I ordered it over the phone! After digging for weeks and ending up with a pile of 'bad dirt' just as large and then having to figure out a way to get rid of it - I was finally able to plant the above gardens. Last year was my first attempt at gardening - it very much frustrates Alan that I tend to go overboard with every new project that I start. Thank goodness I enjoyed it, as Alan may not have talked to me after I had him dig for a month straight, lol!

First signs of Spring!

2011-04-04T22:46:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone had the opportunity to take advantage of the beautiful weather we had over the weekend! Saturday after I finished classes at A Gym Tale, I did not see outside at all - I actually slept the afternoon away with a 3 hour long nap with Alan and Ewan! Not very productive, but very much needed. That night Alan and I enjoyed a date night out as a birthday present from my dad. We had a wonderful dinner at Mamma Teresa's downtown, followed by coffee at Starbucks (and oat fudge bar - amazing) and then a movie.

Sunday, we made sure to take full advantage of the first signs of Spring and we began our day by jogging for 45 minutes! And it felt great! Instantly I felt re-energized and inspired to continue working out (I even followed it up by walking my dog at 6:45am this morning!). After jogging we ventured out to Westboro to enjoy sidewalk shopping and to find Ewan a tricycle. We made it home with plenty of time to enjoy the afternoon cleaning up the yard, taking down Christmas lights, planning the gardens and walking the dog while Ewan rode around on his new tricycle.

I had a wonderful weekend and I hope you all enjoyed yours too!

A week of Birthday celebrations!

2011-03-28T21:03:00.000-04:00

Last week was full of birthday celebrations for myself and Alan (our birthday's are one day apart - and if you take into account the time difference because he was born in Scotland - we were actually born on the same day - kind of a fun fact!). Although Alan was supposed to miss both of our birthday's because of an ill timed business trip to Houston; he made it back to say Happy Birthday and we spent the afternoon of his birthday together.

Our birthday gift to each other this year was also a morning at the Nordik Spa. Neither of us had ever been there before and I have to say it was fantastic! It is situated in the Gatineau Hills and you are literally surrounded by trees and mountains and it is simply beautiful, peaceful and relaxing. I had booked a pedicure for myself and then we spent the morning together in the 'nordic baths'. The Nordic Baths (which is also a really great price and next time we would probably only do them and skip the spa service) are a three step process beginning with either the sauna or the steam room, followed by a dip in a cold pool (outdoors!But we did it!!!), followed by relaxing time - either in the hot tubs or in an enclosed space by the fire. We did the 'process' twice and then enjoyed a wonderful lunch - complete with wine and a chocolate fondue!

Unfortunately, our bliss quickly ended. By the time we reached Alan's aunts' house, who had so generously played with Ewan most of the day, we were seriously sick. The stomach flu hit us hard - for 4 days!!! Each time I thought I was better - I would try and eat - and then I paid for it for the next 12 hours! Thankfully as of this evening I am sure that I am better now. Although it was kind of nice to literally stay in bed for the past few day!

I also have to thank all of the Before School kids and the Nursery School kids for a wonderful day on my birthday - it was so nice to celebrate with all of you!!!

A Blog Post about A Gym Tale!

2011-03-20T21:41:00.000-04:00

Thank you so much Lara for such kind words on your blog post, it really means so very much. One of the best parts of this career is being able to get to know so many families in my very own community.

Please visit Lara's blog at http://www.kidsinthecapital.ca/?p=4817#comments.

March Break...

2011-03-14T10:23:00.000-04:00

It is Monday morning, Ewan and I said goodbye to Alan at 8am and then fell back asleep until 9am! We are now finishing our breakfast at 10am and are getting ready to take Sidekick for a nice leisurely walk around the neighbourhood and take in some of the beautiful sunshine. Our week is filled with play dates and relaxing time at home. This is going to be a good week!

Books!

2011-03-07T20:12:00.000-05:00

So I have had the book 'Room' by Emma Donoghue posted on my blog over the past week. I actually read this book in three days!! It was fantastic! It was an intriguing story about a mother-son relationship and the life they created living together in an 11x11 room. The book was an intense page-turner and I am still thinking about the story a week later. This was definitely one of the better books that I have read recently.

I then read the book 'Morning Glory' by Diana Peterfreund, also an upcoming movie. And definitely not a great follow up to 'Room' It was a cute, romantic comedy - but nothing great.

I have read quite a few great books the past few months - the Stieg Larson trilogy 'The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo', 'Birth House', 'Secret Daughter' and 'House Rules'. But now I am stuck. I really don't know what to read next. Does anyone have any recommendations?

The Perfect Snow Day

2011-02-28T18:01:00.000-05:00

A morning filled with freezing rain, a heavy snowfall and school buses being cancelled.

Rosy cheeks.

Building a Snowman for the first time.

Hot Chocolate.

Tasting hot chocolate for the first time.

Chugging hot chocolate after the first taste!

Makes for the perfect snow day with my little boy.

A relaxing late afternoon (& Doggy Daycare)

2011-02-23T22:08:00.000-05:00

Monday's and Wednesday's are my crazy days - at the centre for 7:15am with non stop programming until 3:30pm - and then leave to go and pick up the dog, followed by picking up Ewan and then home to face making dinner - they are long days!
But the last few day's have been a little easier and have just felt like Spring to me - it has been so bright - not exactly warm though - and light out when I leave in the morning and still bright while I am making dinner. And today was an even nicer surprise - Alan left work early at 4pm and picked up Ewan so I could get home earlier, make dinner and go to a yoga class.

So today, I enjoyed making a cuban chicken dinner - (another new recipe and it was delicious!) in a bright, sunny kitchen.

With my dog fast asleep.

And Ewan and Alan happily reading books while dinner was being prepared.

I also have to highlight that if you want your crazy, hyper dog to look like mine above - you absolutely must try out Dexter's Den Doggy Daycare located on Fallowfield, in between Greenbank and Woodroffe, even just one day a week - it will truly change your life. Sidekick usually goes on Wednesday's for a full day and absolutely loves it! He knows the minute I take the leash out at 7am that he is going to visit his buddies. He practically sprints from the car to the front door of Dexter's Den and jumps all over Paul (the owner). And then when I pick him up I am always given a run down of his day by Adrienne. Once home, he gets into his bed and more or less doesn't leave until Friday evening!!! Having a few days of calmness in the house is amazing. Visit the website at http://www.dextersden.ca/ for more information.

Kindness Week

2011-02-21T22:09:00.000-05:00

I came across this in another blog and thought it would be a great opportunity to share with everyone. This week is 'Kindness Week' in Ottawa. The idea is to perform random acts of kindness to those around you. Now, this does not really include the daily things you do for your family - making lunches, spending time with your kids etc. This week is to really think about things that you can do for friends, employees, or even complete strangers. As simple as holding a door open or complimenting someone can really turn another's day around. Or as generous as making a donation of food or toys or even buying a coffee for the person in line behind you. Just taking a moment out of our busy lives to think about those around you can really impact another's life and, in turn, hopefully they will pass on the gesture. I would love to hear more ideas on simple acts that can be done. Good luck!

Valentines Day Hijacking

2011-02-13T20:55:00.000-05:00

Alan here - Lindsay's husband. I've commandeered this blog for Valentine's Day. When she finds out what I have done, my wife will be gloriously upset and probably more so to learn that I have changed her password to ensure the publication of this important message...

Lindsay is my Valentine. So, hands off little preschool boys with teacher infatuations. There is no one I love, cherish and respect more than her and (unless Rachel McAdams sends me a friend request that I can not ignore) this is certain never to change.

As a business owner, there is no one who works harder. She spends every evening planning how to make every person happier every day for having visited A Gym Tale. She loves her job. She loves her students. She loves the challenges.

As a mom, she is everything you would want in the principle influence on a child. She is firm and tender; expecting and kind. I have no concerns about the future of Mr. Ewan Xavier Braveheart Wyllie, knowing that Lindsay is with him every step of the way. He is destined for great things and behind every great man is a great mom.

As a wife, she is loving, supportive, and patient. She would have to be. I get lots of "great ideas" and I obsess over them until I can find a way to make them a reality and then I tire of them and leave Lindsay with the upkeep. Like A Gym Tale, for example - my pet project which I swore would have nothing to do with her. So long as she helped me get it started, I would hire my own teachers and she could wipe her hands of it. How different life would have been had Lindsay pursue her own dreams instead of mine...

My wife is the greatest person I know. I am proud of her and I love her.

I love that she works so hard. I love that she is so great with children and even better with our own. I love that she puts up with me (I am funny, but I often tend to be the only person that thinks so, and she has to deal with me amusing myself every day). I love that she relaxes with me (when possible) while drinking coffee and watching TV shows that she hates. I love that she makes me a new dinner every night knowing that I don't like anything but meat and potatoes. I love that she finds a new hobby every other month that she pours her soul into until something else comes along. I love that she enjoys any book that comes in a pastel cover and any movie that stars Hugh Grant or that runs shorter than 90 minutes. I love that she will find any excuse to stay in pyjamas as long as possible. I love that she needs a dozen Lulu Lemon outfits for 3 days of play classes. I love that she only works so hard to stay active to compensate for an inhuman fetish for chocolate. I love that she makes me a better me. I love that she has shared half of my life with me and still finds ways to for me to look foward to the rest of it.

I have Finally Finished:)

2011-02-09T16:39:00.000-05:00

Finally, 9 months after Ewan's first birthday I have finished his '1 year baby scrapbook'!!! It has taken me so long to actually sit down and sort and print and create a keepsake that I will one day be able to give to Ewan. My plan is to create a 1-year album for each of my children - I don't think I could actually commit to doing more than that - maybe I will add extra pages to their books for birthday's or special events - but no promises! I really do love scrap booking and being able to display the big events and all the little day to day memories, but I very much find it overwhelming to stay on top of it! Are there any other scrappers out there? Or do you have a different way to preserve your memories? Either way, how do you keep on top of it? I would like to continue with a family album - but already I have to play catch up from June - 3 trips, and all of the holidays in between!

I am entertaining the idea of holding a once a month scrapbook night at A Gym Tale. This would make me put in a couple hours a month to help keep up to date and I would love to get new ideas techniques from others as well. Would there be any interest in joining me? (Sorry, no children invited to this event - just a mommy night out scrap booking and drinking coffee!)

Getting Ready in the Morning...

2011-02-04T22:00:00.000-05:00

Does this video make you think Ewan may be spending a little too much time with me? This is normal for all little boys, right?!

A snowy day outside

2011-01-30T21:08:00.000-05:00

This morning was a beautiful bright morning with light snow falling - a perfect winter day. We decided to get outside and take advantage of it. We bundled Ewan up, grabbed the sled and the dog and we were off. We were out for about 45 minutes and half of the walk was through knee deep snow, so we also got in some exercise. Sidekick loves the snow and ran through every snow bank and all over the golf course. Ewan just happily sits propped up in the sled laughing at the dog running around.

As we were coming up our street Alan and I turned around chatting to Ewan only to notice that he had fallen asleep and was hanging out of the sled! Once we got home we moved Ewan into his bed (yes, I am happy to say that when Ewan falls asleep you can move him, bring him anywhere, even take him out of a full snowsuit and nothing will wake him up). The best part - the dog was exhausted and slept in his bed for the rest of the afternoon and Ewan had a 2.5 hour nap - that has never happened before!!! So I did some food prep for the week, did some baking and watched Battle Star Gallictica - Alan borrowed 3 seasons from his brother - it is not a great show, but for some reason really addictive.

It was a really nice way to start our day off together - Sunday is the only day that we all have off to simply stay in our pj's and relax and we have been making a real effort to do just that.

PS. I have just finished planning my meals for the week and I am happy to say that I have made a new and different meal every day for the past 3 weeks all from the Family Dinner cookbook - I am still loving it :)

Hair cut!

2011-01-25T22:20:00.000-05:00

Finally, finally, finally I managed to make a hair appointment - is that not always half the battle of actually getting your hair done?! The next challenge is actually fitting in 2 hours of child free time to get it done. And unfortunately, I have been working longer hours and so scheduling a time with my hairdresser became impossible. But I was so desperate to have something done that I called a few local hair salons. The lucky salon I decided on was Capucci's. If you have not been there before it is a very cute little place - actually a very clean and stylish place and they are very flexible with appointment times. The girls are super friendly and easy to talk to and they offer you a coffee when you sit down - and it was a really good coffee too!

I really should try and go to the salon more often. It really is a nice time to simply relax and sit and be calm for a few moments. And always refreshing to walk away with a new hairstyle!

Just one of those weeks....

2011-01-22T15:02:00.000-05:00

So this week started off with walking into the centre Monday morning realizing that the front entrance was flooded and I was then flooded with complaints about the front entrance from what seemed like every single person that had entered the centre over the weekend. By the way, I do realize that the front entrance is very small - we tried to do the best we could with the space we could afford. I have also come to realize after speaking with many business's that avoiding wet feet still remains an ever present and impossible problem to solve. With that said I agree that it is not a good way to begin an experience at A Gym Tale.

The other problem that comes with wet feet in the centre are salt stains - EVERYWHERE. Salt stains are so ridiculously difficult to get rid of that it makes me want to cry. The floors were washed about 20 times over Monday and Tuesday in an effort to get rid of them. And we finally succeeded!

Now much of the week was spent trying to find some sort of solution for the front entrance before the following weekend. I had hired a company to professionally clean the mats, thinking they had lost some of their absorption power. The company cancelled twice and finally showed up last night at 7pm only to say that the mats were not what they expected and would need to remove the mats and clean them off site. Well, having no mats was certainly not an option! So they will be back Monday to remove the mats and clean them as fast as possible. Let's hope it does not snow again this weekend!!!

Another idea we had is to schedule another staff member to work just the front entrance in the hopes of someone keeping all boots and coats tidy so that guests can more easily move around within the small space. The third attempt to solve the problem is to offer slip on slippers in the event that guests' feet do get wet. This way guests feet will be drier and salt will not be carried into A Gym Tale.

So I am crossing my fingers and hope that this weekend we will be able to better deal with the issue of the front entrance.

The week also brought with it a mysterious illness in my dog, which resulted in me being at the vet's office for test after test any time I was not at A Gym Tale. Just when it looked like all options had been exhausted and no one seemed to know how to help my dog (very lethargic, bleeding gums, and fever); yesterday when I arrived home he bounded out of his crate, running, jumping and back to his old self with no more bleeding! A miraculous recovery!

And Ewan is teething again. Enough said.

So, I am hoping that next week is a very different week.

The Family Dinner

2011-01-10T21:43:00.000-05:00

Ever get bored of making the same thing for dinner week in and week out? I love food, to the point where I finish one meal and I am already planning the next. Two weeks ago, I had enough of eating the same thing! So much so that I used my christmas gift certificates for Indigo and purchased three new cook books - with the drive to find spectacular new recipes to get rid of this eating boredom. This scared Alan as he is the pickiest eater I have ever met - actually afraid to try new things - he could happily live on curry, shepherd's pie and meat and potatoes every week. While I studied the first of these cookbooks last week - we actually ordered take out or ate out every night because I really couldn't stand the idea of making one more boring dinner.

The first cook book that I tackled was named 'The Family Dinner' by Laurie David. I love, love, love this book - at first I didn't think it was what I needed as it goes into the importance of eating dinner together and really connecting over food. I have always eaten dinner with my family and continued to do so with Alan and Ewan - every night. But I actually read this book from cover to cover and I love the insights, ideas and especially the recipes. They are very straight forward, great pictures and written in the whole book is written in a similar style to a biography. Needless to say, I highly recommend it.

Well this weekend I was finally ready to tackle a few new recipes. I started on Saturday at lunch - I had just gotten home from A Gym Tale at noon and I had a good friend coming by at one for a visit. I had to walk the dog, so he wouldn't attack my friend and then get changed. By that point I was starving and she was going to be there at any moment. So I tried the 'eggs in purgatory' recipe - 1 jar of salsa and 5 eggs - all in one pan - cook them up for about 10 minutes - during which I warmed up some pitas and then sprinkled cheese over the egg mixture and it was done - a fantastic brunch in 10 minutes! And it was delicious!!

Sunday morning Alan had made the crepe recipe for when I got home from A Gym Tale - and again so simple and straightforward and delicious! That afternoon, I went all out - I made a roasted chicken with herb butter marinade with roasted potatoes and asparagus AND my very own loaf of French Bread! The house smelled divine and the food tasted even better! I am tempted to make my own bread every weekend just to get that smell back again.

Tonight I made tacos (a vegetarian recipe as we are trying to eat meat only 2-3 times per week to be more health conscious) and they were wonderful and ready in 15 minutes. And right this minute I have a banana bread in the oven for breakfast tomorrow morning. And I have a new recipe ready for every night this week - all from that book and all just as easy.

I feel a renewed energy for food!!!

New Year's Resolutions

2011-01-04T14:41:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! To begin with, the New Year's Eve sleepover at A Gym Tale was once again a success. We had a group of 20 children and we all had a wonderful time. The evening was filled with running, climbing and an obstacle course, snack and winding down with a movie. Afterwards, getting ready for bed and our countdown to midnight (which in reality was 10:15pm - but we turned all the clocks ahead to midnight!). And everyone slept until 7:30am the next morning!

One of my favourite things to do at this time of year is take inventory of the resolutions that I made last January and which ones were worth while and those that I did not continue with. I find it inspires me and re-energizes me to continue working towards goals.

During the last year, I really tried to focus on expanding my connections with clients as well as other local businesses. I feel as though through my blog, Facebook and monthly emails I am able to keep contact with the many families we see on a much more regular basis and it has been wonderful getting to know so many families better. As for other local businesses, I have also tried to run various promotions and exchange ideas and cross marketing strategies and I also feel that this has been a success over the past year.

Personally, I had wanted to get back to working out regularly. This was not successful - at all. This year it will be moved up to one of my priorities - and not excessive exercise by any means - 1 yoga class a week, running 2x a week and a daily walk with my dog. I feel as though I really need this to better cope with stress, gain more energy and simply to feel healthier than I am now.

The second personal goal I had for this past year was to keep in touch better with friends and to make the effort to go out with friends or date night's more regularly. This was not a success, but not a failure either. From January - June, we saw friends at least once a week - even if it was just dinner or coffee. During the summer I played soft ball a group of friends and had a great time each week. And then September rolled around and I have barely seen anyone since!! For this year, once again I would like to make a commitment to going out or seeing friends at least once a week.

I try not to make too many resolutions because than I cannot keep any of them. But I am hopeful that these two personal resolutions will be rewarding enough to keep me motivated! What resolutions have you made for this year?

The Holiday's!

2010-12-27T22:34:00.000-05:00

So it has been some time since I last blogged - there has been so much going on that I just never seemed to get a moment - or sleep was more enticing!

To begin with, two weeks before Christmas Alan and I had more or less finished our shopping because he was leaving for a week to Finland for business - his other job, not A Gym Tale. His trip went very smoothly until he was ready to come home. That is when all of the terrible weather hit Europe and he ended up stranded in Switzerland. At first for only a few extra hours and then he was told it may be for more than a week and he would miss Christmas! Obviously this was terrible news and I really didn't know what we would do. Luckily, some how a spot became available to get to New York City and Alan was in the right place at the right time and he ended up on the flight and then found another to get him back to Ottawa - and only one day later than his original plan. We were very lucky and have appreciated spending time together over the holidays that much more.

During the time that Alan was away, A Gym Tale had the Nursery School holiday concert. I was a little afraid of having Ewan with me as Alan was originally supposed to be there as extra support. But Ewan did just fine and simply sat in my lap. The children, however, both morning and afternoon - blew me away. The sang their little hearts out through 15 minutes of our favourite songs that we have learned so far this year. They sang better than I had ever heard them and it was wonderful seeing how proud of themselves they were. What a success!

On a personal side, the holiday's are a great time to get back in touch with friends and family and we definitely took advantage of it this year. To try and make up for not seeing our friends and family as much as we would have liked to over the past year, Alan and I decided to host three Christmas parties - this sounded like a great idea in November. Although a little overwhelmed when I thought that I would be hosting these parties alone - since Alan made it back we were able to relax and really enjoy ourselves. It really was wonderful getting to spend an evening with friends, an evening with all of our staff and then a fantastic Christmas eve dinner with family. Ewan and the dog both did great with all of the commotion and people that threw our routines out the window over the past week. It really was so nice getting to see everyone and catch up and simply talk all night long over great food.

Christmas day was also brilliant. Alan surprised me with having a king sized bed delivered the day before as my big surprise (side note - we have more or less given up on night weaning Ewan and simply made more room so we can all sleep more comfortably - I'm sure he won't still be nursing when he goes to school, right? Someone, please tell me I am right!). I have been longing for a king size bed for some time now - so that was a great surprise. But the morning of Christmas, Alan also surprised me with a digital scrapbook that he had made and printed about how Ewan loves his Mama - it was a fantastic collection of pictures taken over the past 18 months and a story of the many reasons why Ewan loves me - it was a perfect gift!

I had decided for Christmas that I would get Alan tickets to a Sens game - with seats as close to the glass as possible. We went to the game on Boxing Day and we had a great evening out together - first out to dinner and then to see the game in the 6th row centre ice, behind the Pittsburgh bench.

Alan and I decided that for Ewan's big surprise from Santa we were going to start a Thomas train collection along with the train table. We had a great time on Christmas eve wrapping the individual trains and then setting up the table and tracks. We covered the table with a blanket and on Christmas morning Ewan unwrapped the trains with a huge grin on his face, saying 'choo choo', 'choo choo'!!! And then when we lifted up the blanket we nearly blew his mind! It was so exciting to see his reaction, he absolutely loved it - you can watch the video to see for yourself.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday week and has been able to spend some time relaxing. The next big night is New Year's Eve - if you are still looking for child care so you can enjoy a night on the town or simply a child free night at home - don't forget Alan and I will be hosting the annual New Year's Eve Sleepover Party at A Gym Tale! We have had great success the past 3 years and we are sure this year will be no exception!

Last minute vacation..

2010-12-07T15:11:00.000-05:00

So it has been awhile since I have written! I was very fortunate to be able to jet off with Alan and Ewan for a last minute vacation to Punta Cana. Our schedule come January will be kinda crazy for awhile, and we thought it might be our last opportunity to travel for awhile. And I just so happened to have a friend getting married there last week. So off we went to the beach!

It was a fantastic week spent relaxing by the beach, reading, swimming and eating - with no worries at all. Ewan had a great time on the beach and was quite content to play in the sand while we lounged in our chairs. When he was tired he would nap on a chair next to us. We would then spend each afternoon by the pool. In the evenings once Ewan was asleep - Alan and I put on the first season of 'Dexter' and finished the whole season over that week.

And if you can believe it, when we arrived back A Gym Tale was still standing with no issues over the week at all!!!

The Barrhaven Santa Clause Parade

2010-11-21T22:20:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful night at the parade! A very cold night, but at least the rain and snow held off. Each year the parade has been a great experience working with friends, family members and staff members to prepare a float for the event. This year, I think, was our best effort yet! Alan did a fantastic job taking part of the pirate ship apart at A Gym Tale and actually built a ship around his dad's truck - much to his dad's surprise! But he really pulled it off and it looked great! It was also so much fun getting all of our new characters out and meeting everyone. Spiderman, Batman, Wolverine, Princess Belle, Princess Aurora and, of course, Tales the dragon all made it out as well. While the superhero's ran around trying to meet as many new friends as possible, the princesses looked beautiful waving with Tales on the float. Unfortunately, with all the excitement, I forgot to take any pictures:( So if anyone was able to catch a few pic's of our float I would love it if you could email me them (info@agymtale.com).

Afterwards, we had our annual 'thank goodness the parade is over' celebration party back at a Gym Tale with lots of pizza, hot chocolate and 'Glee' themed karaoke songs. Thank you everyone for your help, we really had a great night!

Ewan's First Haircut!

2010-11-07T22:38:00.000-05:00

So we finally did it - Alan and I took Ewan for his first haircut. We were a little worried about how he would handle someone touching his head - as it was next to impossible even for me to cut off his rat tail. We knew our best chance would be to take him to a children's hair salon that could offer the best distractions. We decided to try Chiquicuts and what a great place!

The theming is wonderful, it is bright and welcoming, and the kids sit in cute little cars with a television in front of them. I am sure that for most children they would have a wonderful experience - and I have heard first hand from many people that their children had a great time. Ewan unfortunately did not - as you can see by the look on his face and how Alan has him in a head lock! But the hairdresser we had was so very patient and still managed to do a wonderful job. And afterwards, we recieved a certificate and a lock of his hair as a souvenir.

And now my baby looks like a little man!

Chiquicuts also has an awesome website - check it out for more details of what they have to offer!
www.chiquicuts.com

Halloween Excitement!

2010-11-04T22:11:00.000-04:00

I am not normally big into Halloween, but having Ewan around and some brand new 'real life' costumes for 'Character's Come True' really got me in the mood to celebrate. Alan and I decided on some traditions that we wanted to begin this year for our family. The first being taking a trip out to Saunders Farm for a wagon ride and choosing a pumpkin. I was really surprised by the amount of things to do there - from a little farm, to the pumpkin patch, wagon rides, beaver tails (yum!) and parks around every corner - we had a really great time.

Another tradition we wanted to begin was on the eve of Halloween to carve our pumpkin, bake the seeds for a snack, and watch a scary movie (one with Ewan and then a real scary movie). Ewan was a little unsure about reaching into the pumpkin, but did decide that he would try a bite of pumpkin - his face was priceless!

And at this point he really wasn't interested in a movie. But Alan did force me to watch Saw 4 - I absolutely despise scary movies, my body just cannot handle the suspense and I get terrible nightmares - but I survived it.

The day of Halloween, we also had a wonderful time. Ewan spent the day with my mom while Alan and I dressed up in the most authentic costumes I have ever seen and went to the centre for a day filled with entertaining the kids, signing autographs and taking pictures. It was great to see all of the kid's costumes and their faces as they saw their favourite superhero or princess come to life!

That evening, we stayed dressed up in our costumes and got Ewan into his Tigger costume - which he really didn't mind - until I tried to give him whiskers! Alan and Ewan went Trick or Treating around the neighbourhood, while my brother and I - Spiderman and Sleeping Beauty answered the door. We ended the evening with coffee's and a whole lot of chocolate!!!

A Mom's Night Out & Shopping Local

2010-10-25T22:07:00.000-04:00

Last week I had the opportunity of going out to coffee with a group of mom's from a parenting group that I belong to. It was the first time I have been out in quite awhile and what a well needed break from my routine. It was really great getting to talk to other mom's about issues that I was dealing with and hearing their experiences as well as sharing my own. The evening flew by - I arrived shortly after 8pm and the next thing I new we were being kicked out at 11pm! I definitely have to make time more often to get out on my own - it was a great experience.

After feeling re-energized from my night out, I decided to venture out the next day with Ewan to some local shops. We began at Two Monkey's Coffee and Tea House on Strandherd and met up with a friend and her little guy for some play time and some time to simply talk and drink coffee. The minute you walk in, you are greeted by friendly staff and the scent of fresh baked desserts. The play space is great to keep little ones busy while you can enjoy your coffee.

Afterwards, Ewan and I went down the road to take a look at some clothes and toys at Upper Canada Kids. I very much like this shop as it is well organized and there are always a wide selection of toys and books for all ages. I especially love the many wooden toys that are often there - from children's furniture to pull toys. I am also always sure to find a book for Ewan as well as the school age children at A Gym Tale. Upper Canada Kids is also now offering and accepting items for teens, so it really is a great place for children of all ages.

Our next 'local' stop will be this Saturday at Chiquicuts for Ewan's first real haircut. I will be sure to post some pic's next week!

A Family Business

2010-10-19T22:02:00.002-04:00

Last Friday, I unfortunately had all three of my daytime staff members away sick. I know they must have been really sick because I am very fortunate to have very committed and reliable girls to keep A Gym Tale going. So after the panic of having all three of them call me between 7:30pm Thursday evening and 6:30am Friday morning, and being exhausted from having Ewan up most of the night who appears to be getting four new teeth in - I knew I had to call in my support team. That team consisted of Alan and my mother in law, Frances, who both came in to help with Nursery School without any hesitation at all. Alan and Frances are both wonderful with the kids - Alan's excitement and enthusiasm is contagious and the children love his sense of humour. And Frances is just the most soft spoken, gentle, and safe person as only the mother of four and grandmother of four could be.

Although at the outset it looked like Friday was going to be an impossible day, it turned out to be a really relaxed and enjoyable experience. The children were excited to meet Mr. Alan and Miss Frances and it was wonderful to get to spend extra time with family. With the three of us there all day, it also meant that Ewan was also spending all day at the centre. Surprisingly, he did wonderful as well. He loved getting to have his Mom, Dad and Gran with him playing all day and then he had a wonderful 2 hour nap behind the pirate ship!

It brought back so many memories of just opening up the business and working every day with Alan and having both of our families around helping out any way they could. Working as a 'family' business is definitely one aspect of the original A Gym Tale that I miss. However, it is also wonderful working with so many great girls and having such a well organized and structured business that does not all fall solely on my shoulders!

Oh the memories!

Being Thankful... and a New Adventure

2010-10-12T23:25:00.000-04:00

This past Thanksgiving weekend was a wonderful opportunity to take some time and relax. Ok, not so much relax, but it was great to visit family that we haven't seen in some time as well as get some outdoor maintenance stuff done around the house. I really enjoyed setting up and planning all of the gardens in the spring, however, I now have very little motivation to clean them all out. All in all a very productive weekend and some great meals with great company!

This weekend, Alan and I also took Ewan to the pumpkin patch. He had such a great time wondering through all the pumpkins and sitting on them! I don't know why he thought he should sit on them, but he did. And we chose the comfiest pumpkin he could find! Now that he his up and running, it definitely is a lot more challenging getting great pictures - I seem to only get him running away from me! (I can't seem to post pics tonight, so I will update this tomorrow)

Other important 'Ewan' news - he had his very first hair cut! Well, an unofficial hair cut. Really, I just cut
his rat tail off - it really had to go. But I think he may be due for a real hair cut soon.

Over the past little while, Alan and I have been talking about how thankful we are that the business is going as well as it is and the many wonderful families that we have come to know through the business. These families have supported us in our new programming and ideas - some successful, other ideas not so much. But our new A Gym Tale adventure is going to be an extension of our Birthday Parties, by adding on a new option to have a character visit your home.

Not just any characters, but Spiderman, Batman and Sleeping Beauty just to begin with. These characters have only the most authentic costumes available. I don't really know anything about comic stuff - but these costumes are pretty fantastic. This party option will allow families to have an at home party but still bring in an entertainer who can take care of all of the activities while the parents can sit back and enjoy the party as well. Depending on the ages of the children and the character visiting, the kids will take party in super hero training or a princess story telling, singing and dancing activity. As well as incorporating a variety of other activities for the hour that the character is present.

We are very excited to introduce these characters and we will be doing so on Halloween day. Sunday, October 31st we will be hosting a Costume Party at A Gym Tale between 10-3pm with half price drop in play and lots of great picture opportunities.

I hope to see everyone there!

Bringing my Son to Work

2010-10-05T22:14:00.000-04:00

For the past month, I have been fortunate enough to have Ewan attending morning Nursery School as well as a Tuesday morning play group. The convenience of having my son with me and the opportunity to spend time with him and watch him grow and learn are some of the reasons why starting A Gym Tale made sense for myself and my husband.

However, along with those benefits comes finding the balance between meeting the needs of my family and those of our guests at A Gym Tale.

Within the Nursery School program, I have a wonderful group of children who welcome Ewan into the program and try to teach and play along with him, while at the same time understanding when he accidentally sits on their laps in circle time! Ewan is very content to wonder around and watch the children during free play - which is also helping him to become more confident in leaving my side. And throughout the songs and music portion, Ewan is learning to participate, sing and master the actions of a variety of rhymes and songs. As well, seeing all of the 'big' kids eating snack and chatting at the table also reinforces that he needs to be sitting, eating and taking in how the other children connect.

Unfortunately, with the Play Class, it has not been quite so smooth. And I must thank the parents for their patience and effort in helping me deal with my miserable child during that class! I was hoping for the opportunity to have Ewan socializing with children his own age, two of which are his cousins. However, the timing just isn't working. In an effort to have him nap only in the afternoon instead of 2 naps during the day- one of which tends to go over dinner time, he is just unable to participate for the entire class. And although I love seeing him perform all of the circle songs at the beginning, it is just too hard for him to make it to the end.

I am very thankful that my business allows for the opportunity to maximize the time I have to be with my family and I am also very thankful for the support of so many families!

Small Business's & Shopping Locally

2010-09-23T16:09:00.000-04:00

Since becoming a small business owner, I have since become aware of the number of obstacles which exist in order to become a successful business - or for that matter even to simply be able to keep your business open. Especially in Barrhaven!

To begin with, rent is extortionate - some of the highest commercial rent fees in all of Ottawa can be found in Barrhaven. Another obstacle includes the many 'big box' stores in the area, which often times make being able to compete with prices difficult because of the large quantities they may be able to order. Furthermore, being a small business owner requires that quite often one person is responsible for all aspects of the business, including customer service, marketing, accounting and human resources - which can easily lead to working 7 days a week, all day long!

Now if you are thinking about owning your own business, the many perks can often out weigh the difficulties.

One of my favourite aspects of owning my own business are the many people in the community that you meet and create relationships with - whether as clients or in a business sense. It is wonderful going out in the community and seeing so many familiar faces! It is also wonderful being able to have flexibility in my work day, especially with a young child; I am able to minimize the amount of time that my son is cared for outside the home. Another benefit is if you are really passionate about what you are doing than it can also become somewhat of a 'hobby' and not necessarily seem like you are 'working' all the time. But achieving balance is still my ultimate goal.

I did not think about the challenges of local business's until I opened one. Even then, I was amazed at the number of clients that gave A Gym Tale a chance in order to support a local business. I have become aware of so many families who do make a conscious decision to support small local business's instead of simply going into the 'big box' stores. It is a wonderful opportunity to meet people who live in your community and very often the best customer service comes from those business owner's who value each and every guest that comes through their doors.

I am also trying to make a commitment into supporting other small business's - whether by shopping at these locations or trying to advertise for these business's through A Gym Tale's local business community board. Next time you are at A Gym Tale, please take a moment to look at some of the business's that we have featured on our board. Many of them offer fantastic services that I use myself or for my family. I will also try to blog about my personal experience with these business's over the next few weeks. And if you are a small business owner, please contact me and maybe we can work together in the future.

Happy Anniversary Alan!

2010-09-16T15:47:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago, Alan and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary and we had a wonderful low key evening out to dinner and a movie. We enjoyed just getting out of the house and simply relaxing. The past 3 years have kind of been crazy - from our business really taking off, to expanding the business, to buying a home and then having a baby. It is nice that we are able to begin to slow down a little and really enjoy the point that our lives are at now. One of our new goals are really trying to be in the moment and enjoy every moment of the life that we have created.

It was also this night out that we came up with a new business plan - I will share with you soon once we have worked out some details - but it is very exciting.

This month we will celebrate our 12 year anniversary since we began dating!!! 12 years - that sounds a little ridiculous even to me! It is crazy thinking about how we have 'grown up', graduated high school, gone to university, and then went into business together. There have been many ups and downs over the past 12 years, but every moment has brought us to where we are today and I couldn't imagine going on this adventure with anyone other than my wonderful husband...even though he does have a mild obsession with spiderman. Happy Anniversary Alan!

I Survived the First Week of School!

2010-09-13T23:01:00.000-04:00

Last week was the first week of the Before School program as well as the Nursery School program. Although, as I said in my previous post that I was very excited to meet all of the new children and families, I was not looking forward to having to be at A Gym Tale for 7:15am! But I made it there on time each day and I have to admit it was quite nice getting up before everyone else in my home and getting ready in peace and I was very productive having the extra morning time at the centre. Not to mention the children in the program are so happy and excited to be there each morning.

It was also great getting back into the Nursery School Teacher role. Although the first week can be a rough start for some children, it is clear that we have a wonderful group of children in both the morning and afternoon. I am very excited to be working with Miss Linds and Miss Chrissy, we have a great year planned!

In addition, Ewan had his first day of Nursery School today. He will be attending on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. I was worried he wouldn't want to leave my side, however today he was exploring and watching the other children as well as participating in circle time. I am looking forward to having Ewan at work with me as well as having him learn from the other children. Also, in the picture below - Ewan is propped up against the door as he kept falling straight back with the weight of his bag, lol!

A New Year around the corner!

2010-08-26T22:52:00.000-04:00

With the last few days being so cool, it kind of feels like fall already. With one last week of camp - which is going to be a mash up of all the themes, it is guaranteed to be a great week. Then we are back into the Fall programming with Nursery School and the Before / After School program getting under way and a few weeks later the Play classes will also begin.

It is also a time of goodbye's and welcomes when it comes to staff. I am very sad to say that Kelly will be leaving us after 4 years. She is moving on to a new full time position and I wish her the best of luck. Kelly has been a wonderful addition to A Gym Tale and has touched many children's lives. She has helped A Gym Tale grow and transition to meet the needs of our community. A Gym Tale will also be losing some of the best party hostess's that we have ever had as they move on to University and I also wish them great success. At the same time, I would like to welcome the new party hostess's onto our team as well as welcome back Chrissy who is returning from her mat leave to teach in the Nursery School program.

It always feels like a fresh start each year with new intentions and resolutions. I am very excited about the new program ideas that are being put into place for both the Nursery School and the Before / After School program. We will be introducing many new themes and new activities into both programs.

The most exciting part of the new season is getting to know all of the new children and families to A Gym Tale and welcoming back our 'old' guests after a summer hiatus. We have big plans for this year at A Gym Tale and we are very excited to get it underway!

Give Away - Gift Certificate to The Mill Tavern

2010-08-15T21:20:00.000-04:00

A fantastic new restaurant located on Main St. in Manotick has just opened up this summer. It is a British styled Pub with really great pub food ranging from the best fries I have ever tasted to steak pie, fish and chips, and best of all for dessert - a deep fried Mars Bar - incredible!

The decor is simply beautiful with a casual dining area and bar downstairs and then a cocktail lounge and wine bar upstairs. A patio on both the main floor and upstairs overlooking Manotick Main St. Live music on Thursday nights and Karaoke on Wednesday nights - both nights you are sure to have a great time!

The Mill has graciously offered a $50 Gift Certificate to be won in a draw for all individuals who visit their website to check out their menu and then post on my blog about what dish you would like to try. Visit www.milltavern.ca - they have some really great authentic British dishes.

The Mill has become one of my favourite restaurants this summer - great food and an equally great atmosphere!

When will my husband ever grow up?!

2010-08-08T00:22:00.000-04:00

So the past week has been absolutely chaotic - I now feel like I have 3 babies! Between toilet training the puppy AND Ewan - Alan has gone and broken his thumb! Now this does not sound like a big deal, however, when you break your thumb, you need a cast right up to your elbow - can you believe it? So Alan can no longer pick Ewan up, write, type or do much of anything it seems.

Now ask me how Alan broke his thumb.

Our special guest - Spiderman - was unable to make a guest appearance at the camps last week, so Alan decided that he would fill in. He already had a spiderman costume and he loves entertaining children or anyone really. So Alan decided to make his grand entrance by climbing on top of the Pirate Ship and once he had the children's attention he jumped off - 14 feet down - and landed just like spiderman. ALMOST. Except that he landed with his thumb first before his feet. The result was that he shattered his thumb. He did, however, go on to do a one hour performance that the kids are still raving about.

So, where does this leave me? Well, with my plate more than a little full!!

On the upside, toilet training the dog is going really well - he now goes to the same spot (on gravel) each time he is in the back yard - in order to save our grass, and hasn't had an accident in days.

As for Ewan, yesterday he had only one accident - today was not quite as successful, but he is out of diapers and into training pants now!!!

And Alan, well he is still whining about his thumb - and that he cannot go near water for the rest of the summer. Will he ever grow up?

A New Puppy!

2010-07-27T00:38:00.000-04:00

So a few weeks ago my family and I decided to adopt a puppy! What brought us to this decision you may ask, when we already have a busy 14 month old? Well, last June our family dog, a beautiful Shar Pei, passed away at only 2.5 years of age of an awful skin eating disease. Our Hiro was well trained and had a great loving, personality. We had hoped she would be with us for many years and be Ewan's first buddy and they would grow up together. Only recently have I had the itch to begin looking for another dog to join our family.

After lots of research on what breed of dog would best suit our family life style, we decided on an English Bulldog. They are supposed to be great with children and families and a 'lower' maintenance dog needing less exercise than some other breeds, but still a playful dog. We met with several breeders and decided on a breeder that had plenty of experience and knowledge about the breed. Last Wednesday evening we met the breeder in a park as well as six of her puppies. After an hour of playing with puppies, we chose the puppy that was the most playful and that kept approaching Ewan.

Since then, we have been pretty busy - that's actually an understatement - we haven't stopped! I kind of forgot how much work a puppy is! But we are starting to get into a routine and I think this puppy will make a great family addition and a great friend for Ewan to grow up with!

Ewan is now walking! How to Baby proof?

2010-07-17T13:06:00.000-04:00

Ewan is now officially walking - not just a couple of steps, but actually crossing the room! So I guess that means that I should start some sort of baby proofing. This is where I need your help. After looking online for baby proofing items, I have found that there are thousands of items available! I am assuming that the majority of these items are not necessities and simply a marketing ploy to make more money off of toddlers. I have three baby gates, one for the top and the bottom of the stairs as well as to block a single step going to the dropped laundry room. The heavy furniture in Ewan's room and play room have also been secured to the walls to avoid any tipping. As well, I have plugs for each of the electrical outlets. What else do I really need?

Ewan has not shown any interest in cupboards as of yet - will he eventually? Are all of those latches really necessities?

Please let me know what you feel were your most important baby proofing items. Thank you!

Summer Vacation!

2010-07-12T00:51:00.000-04:00

To kick the summer off, Alan, Ewan, my dad and I flew off to Disney World to enjoy a week away. Although it was super hot - the heat wave we are having now is nothing compared to Florida heat - we all had a really wonderful week. We went to each of the parks, and enjoyed Magic Kingdom the most. We also took advantage of the 'baby swap' pass and made sure that we went on every ride at each of the park's. We chose one of the food plans and enjoyed some great food - ranging from African meals, buffets to all American classics, as well as some great entertainment at the character dining events in which we met the Disney Playhouse gang and Winnie the Pooh and friends. Ewan loved Winnie the Pooh and Tigger best!

Although keeping busy at the parks, we did take some down time at the resort, the Animal Kingdom Lodge to relax by the beautiful pool or to look at the animals (zebras, giraffe's, flamingo's - all on the resort right outside your balcony!)

Unfortunately, Ewan was not walking by our trip - but we had a great time all the same. It was just a really great work out getting around all of the parks with him! However, he is so very close now, he has taken up to 12 steps and he is so proud of himself! But it is so difficult to see him falling so much, I know I have to let him take risks and practice, but the poor boy has so many bruises from all of his walking attempts!

Now that summer is underway for Ewan and I - we are looking for things to do to keep busy. The local park is a favourite spot - but after going to the park almost each day last week - we (and by we, I mean me) are getting a little bored! What kind's of activities have you found around the city to keep a 14 month old busy - besides A Gym Tale play classes which are on a summer hiatus! Any suggestions would be great!

Father's Day

2010-06-22T21:31:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day. Although a busy morning with the Carnival at A Gym Tale, the afternoon was full of relaxation and spending time with family.

I am very lucky to have a great dad who is very involved in my life and always has been. From being at every soccer game and tournament, every school event, and even visiting me throughout the year when I was away at University. And now, he is a wonderful Grandfather to Ewan. He absolutely loves spending time with Ewan and makes sure to see him several times a week - many of you have seen him at A Gym Tale bringing Ewan to his morning class! And Ewan absolutely adores him!

Ewan is also very lucky to have a wonderful Gramps (Alan's dad) as well. Gramps is always excited to have Ewan visiting and will bring him around the office to show him off - Ewan has sat in (and participated) on many a conference call or simply banged away on the keyboards! Gramps is also the one to sneak Ewan all of the treats that he isn't supposed to be eating!

And then Alan deserves special recognition for being such a wonderful father. From the very first hour Ewan was born, Alan has been involved in every aspect of caring and loving Ewan. From diaper changes to feeding to putting Ewan to bed (an impossible task when I am not around) Alan is always there. Even when Ewan really didn't like Alan (he couldn't breastfeed, lol!) he stuck it out and they now have an incredible bond. Ewan doesn't move much, but you should see him scramble to the door anyway he can to see dad when he comes home from work! Alan also began spending all of Saturday mornings with Ewan when I went back to work when Ewan was only 3 months old. He even ventured out to take Ewan to swimming lessons - I still don't know how he managed the change rooms!

Ewan is a very lucky boy to have two wonderful grandfathers and a very special dad in his life.

Father's Day Carnival and Summer Fun Kickoff!

2010-06-16T23:23:00.000-04:00

So this Sunday, in celebration of Father's and families, A Gym Tale will be hosting it's first carnival. For $5, the indoor playground will be open as well as lots of fun outside - a bouncy castle, giant slide, limbo and more! All the exciting party hosts and camp leaders will be there to introduce themselves as well as an appearance by Tales the dragon mascot. The carnival will run from 10-1 and should be a ton of fun!

In other news, yesterday was the last day of play classes and today was the Nursery School graduation. Both a sad and proud day to see how well all the children did today. The concert went fantastic, the children were so loud and excited to perform for their families as well as to accept their diploma's. It really is amazing to see how far each and every child grows and develops as a person over 10 months. I wish everyone continued success next year and I hope to get lots of visits over the next few years! It is crazy to see some of our very first clients come and visit that are now turning 11 years old!!! Makes me feel old!

As much as it is sad to see everyone go after the past 10 months, it is now the start of my summer vacation! Yay! I'm just a little excited! To kick the summer off, I will be going on a trip to Florida with Alan and Ewan and visiting Disney World - and yes, I know this trip is more for Alan and I than it is for Ewan. I would love to hear any suggestions about what parks restaurants would be great for us as well as places for Ewan to see.

Also, Ewan is standing on his own now - almost ready to take steps - we are still hoping he will be walking by the time we go to Disney - 8 days for him to become a pro walker!

Bumbo Toilet Seat

2010-06-10T17:01:00.000-04:00

Just a quick follow up from my Toilet Training post in May, I have had many questions about where to find the toilet seat that Ewan is using. The only place that I have found that still carries the Bumbo Toilet Trainer is a shop called Sweet Peach in Perth - www.sweetpeach.ca. I purchased mine at the Baby Boom Show, however cannot remember what the shop was called. Sweet Peach will deliver if you are not able to make the trip out, but it does look like a cute baby shop and could make for a nice day trip.

Ewan is now awake from his nap... I will post again soon, lot's of fun events coming up at A Gym Tale!

More Teeth!

2010-06-06T22:51:00.000-04:00

So the past week has been a little rough as Ewan is currently having 3 teeth break through - so once again I am complaining and going on very little sleep! But as of today we are almost there - all three are just about through.

Another issue we are currently dealing with is sleep or lack of it and I could very much use some advice. Except for the teething issue this past week, in which case nights have been exceptionally bad, Ewan still will wake up every two hours or so. We decided early on to do a family bed because that worked best for us since I began working 6 days a week when he was 4 months old and I am nursing him. It was just so convenient simply having to roll over as opposed to fully wake up and go down the hallway. But I guess Ewan has obviously become accustomed to this and really has not gotten used to falling asleep any other way. Once the school year is over and I will have some time off, my next step is to try and night wean him.

Anyone else have any sleep issues like this? If so, what got you through?

Not working enough?!

2010-05-25T21:46:00.000-04:00

I like to use this blog as a way to connect with families and to share a little about my life, my family and the centre.

This post is just to clarify that I am still very much present at A Gym Tale, even though I may not run every program or work open to close every day. A client had made a suggestion that I do not want my business to suffer as a result of not being there. At the time, I did not know what to say, because they are right - I am not at the centre for all 66 hours that A Gym Tale is open to the public. This comment has stayed with me for a few weeks, and I have not been able to shake it. I know that I am not there every hour, but I do still run 30 hours of programming a week, plus work on admin tasks in the evenings, answer emails in the mornings and I am only ever a call away from being at the centre within minutes. In addition, I receive written summaries of the events that take place when I am not at the centre. In order to be able to continue running quality programs, I simply cannot manage to be working 7 days a week, open to close.

Now I am not looking for pity - I am in a very lucky position to be running my own small business right around the corner from my home and to have flexibility to spend more time with my son. However, I am still very much involved in the business.

I have also received emails from clients as well as comment cards giving feedback on the centre, birthday parties and programs. I very much appreciate all of the feedback - good and bad. It is essential for me to get this feedback if A Gym Tale to continue to survive as a small business in Barrhaven. I need to be able to know what families are looking for, expecting in a play centre and programming and the areas that we still need to improve on. At the centre you are the guests and you are the ones we are trying to impress, if you ever have any advice we are here to listen!

Dirt...and lots of it!

2010-05-18T23:40:00.001-04:00

So I have decided to go ahead and make gardening my new hobby. After reading plenty of books and background info, I planned out 6 garden beds around the house, deck and yard and ordered the dirt from the depot. This is what I came home to on Friday:

Since Friday I have been working at A Gym Tale or digging in dirt. So far I have one bed completed and 3 more ready for planting. I am very happy with how the first garden turned out, which has given me some more motivation to finish the others - not to mention all of the plants sitting in my garage! Alan and I are so sick of digging in dirt and the last garden left is going to be the most difficult to prepare.

Now once all of these gardens are complete I am afraid of all the maintenance needed! The books don't really go into the maintenance aspect of gardening, they all make it seem like you just pick the odd week out as you stroll through the gardens and admire your work. Except one book that went into great detail about bugs and pests - but the pictures were pretty scary (I have a phobia of bugs), so I have chosen not to read into this topic further and just hope that I never come face to face with one of the monsters! But so many people have now said that gardens are very high maintenance. Have I gotten myself in over my head?

Other news, Ewan stood on his own twice today! He has not taken to crawling any more and is still very upset any time he is forced to, but there is now hope that he may walk some day or at least want to be mobile some time in the near future.

Also, with the beautiful weather that we have been having it really feels like summer is here. Which got me thinking about how fast this past year has gone by. There are only 3 weeks remaining of Play classes and 4 more weeks of Nursery School. This is a very bitter sweet time of year; it is nice that I have more or less the summer off of work, but at the same time I have been seeing and getting to know so many families once a week or more for the past 10 months! It is always kind of a sad time of year. I typically see many of the families the following Fall season, but lots of the children are also moving on to Kindergarden and so we see them much less frequently. Also, getting to know all of the families is my social time as well - and now with a baby it is also my adult time. What I am getting at is that I will miss seeing all of you that I have to come to known over the past year!

Happy Birthday to my baby boy!

2010-05-13T23:46:00.000-04:00

Ewan's birthday has just passed, what a very special day it was! We had a giant family party on Saturday, and I mean huge - 60 people! Ewan did a fantastic job and was wide awake and in good spirits the entire party. After all the guests arrived, John from monkeyrockmusic.com came by and did a 45 minute music class which entertained all the kids (ages 1-14) as well as all the adults. It was a great way to get everyone involved, singing, playing instruments and everyone was talking about it for the rest of the party!

After the Monkey Rocks show, we had a BBQ lunch and then the cake! At first Ewan did not know what to think - he has never had sugar before. After a taste from my finger, he slowly tried it himself and after a moment was shoving handfuls into his mouth - all over his face actually! By the time we finished cake and quickly opened up gifts, Ewan was exhausted and it was time to say goodbye to everyone.

Although we had a wonderful time and I think Ewan very much enjoyed all of the excitement - it really is a lot of work and preparation to host a birthday party at home. Not to mention the clean up afterwards - it took me a week to clean the house before the party and then two days after the party to get it clean again! Next year we will definitely be doing the party outside of our home - maybe we will have to host it at A Gym Tale after all!

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T12:56:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to write a quick note to wish all the mom's a very Happy Mother's Day. I hope you all are enjoying a relaxing day and getting the appreciation that you deserve for all you do. Enjoy your children and all the joys that mothering brings. I hope everyone has a beautiful day!

And a thank you to my wonderful husband for giving me a morning to sleep in until 10am (the first sleep in day that I can remember since I don't know how long ago) as well as a delicious pancake breakfast, flowers, and a few great books - one of which from Ewan "Why I Love my Mommy" - melted my heart! This is my second official Mother's Day, but last year I gave birth on Mother's Day, so although memorable, this day has been much more relaxing and enjoyable!

Toilet Training!

2010-05-05T22:27:00.001-04:00

Toilet training - always a hot topic at the centre, especially since all children must be toilet trained as per our licence for the Nursery School program. For most children that is not a problem by 2.5 years, although it does take a considerable amount of 'training' on the parents part. I have taken part in trying to facilitate many children's transition to the toilet - some using a rewards system, some by cheering like a maniac when they pee, and others by simply telling them that they cannot come to school until they are wearing big boy/girl underwear.

I began an experiment with Ewan to try and avoid this training ordeal all together. Since Ewan has been about 3 months - more or less able to sit up with support, I have been sitting him on the toilet for a couple minutes, with a bumbo toilet seat cover, at many of his diaper changes. I say many, because sometimes I am at work, out in a public washroom, or simply do not have the time. At first he would just sit on the toilet and smile as I would sing songs or read stories. Then one day, when he was about 4 months he actually peed while he was on the toilet. From 4 months to about 8 months it was just a hit or miss. At 8 months, Ewan knew when he heard a noise that he was doing a good thing and he would clap his hands and cheer. But now, as of this week, Ewan is able to 'make' himself pee or have a bowel movement when I put him on the toilet. We both go quiet and I say 'listen' and he reliably goes within a few seconds and makes a really funny face when trying!

So, my goal was to have him toilet trained by one year. I know he is not actually toilet 'trained', but I can get by with only 3 cloth diapers a day, if I keep bringing him to the toilet every hour or so and I am pretty happy with that progress. My hope is that as his understanding and recognition of his needs improves it will be a smooth transition from this point.

By the way, I cannot take credit for this approach, it is called Elimination Communication, although I have followed a much less 'strict' approach to it and I think it worked very well!

Does anyone else have any experience with early toilet training? Will it be a smooth transition or will I hit a phase of refusing the toilet?

Approaching first birthday...

2010-05-02T00:01:00.000-04:00

So it has been awhile since my last post... between planning Ewan's birthday party, taking a 4 evening first aid course, and going on very little sleep since Ewan has decided that he would like to eat every half hour at night now - I have not had a moment to write!

But, as of today Ewan's 1st Birthday party is planned and prepared for - from the cake, to the entertainment, to party supplies and food. I am ready!

And last night I had a wonderful night sleep! So I am not sure what was going on this week with Ewan - maybe his eye teeth still bothering him - which have yet to come through, or maybe another growth spurt? What ever the reason, we both slept very well last night and we both enjoyed a two hour nap today!

My next goal is to attempt to finish Ewan's First Year scrap book - I am only at the 6 month mark for completed pages, but I think if I put a big push in this week, I may be able to catch up. I am afraid if I do not have it finished by his birthday, he may be 5 and I will still be working on it!

I am surprised that Ewan's approaching first birthday is becoming so emotional for me. After looking forward to all of the milestone's and what he will be learning next over the past year, it feels as though the year has passed at light speed. I just keep thinking back to the first day bringing him home and how tiny he was. Or to my first breakdown when he was 1 week old - there simply was not enough time in the day to get everything done between feedings and diaper changes - I couldn't imagine how I was even going to remember to bath him! But in nine day's he will be 1 year old. I am glad that I have made a scrap book detailing all of the little events that can sometimes be forgotten in the craziness of life.

On another note, I am also really glad that I have updated my First Aid and CPR. It has been a long week completing the course in the evenings, but also an enjoyable one. The staff and I did the course together, so it was nice getting to spend time with some of the staff that I do not always see in such a relaxed atmosphere. Although theses courses can be long - I really feel that all parents should take the time to complete a course - parents with children of any age. The skills are so simple and straight forward and yet in an emergency they can make the difference between life and death. And knowing the basic skills can keep you calm enough during an emergency to think clearly. The scenarios just offer a reminder that an emergency can arise at any moment to any of us.

Well I am off to what will hopefully be a good night sleep!

Temper Tantrums!!!!

2010-04-18T23:06:00.000-04:00

Someone please tell me that taking temper tantrums every time my 11 month old son wants something or any time I take something away from him is a short lived phase!!! I have been very lucky that up until this point Ewan has been a very happy and easy going baby - so this is a big change to having to deal with all of this frustration and intense screaming from him.

For the past week, these tantrums seem to be happening all day long. I can handle a two year old tantrum - talking it out or having the child take a break to recollect is often all that is needed. But there is no reasoning with an 11 month old! My only tool seems to be distraction. I am trying not to give in when he screams for something so that we do not give him the impression that screaming will result in him getting his way, although my husband is having more difficulty with this. Does anyone have any other tips?

In other news, Ewan prefers to only stand up now - so we are thinking that he may skip the whole crawling stage all together. Maybe when he becomes mobile it will ease some of his frustrations...or maybe it will increase his frustration as I will end up only taking more things away from him!

As you may have noticed, I have also updated the blog site and page! Please leave me your feedback and if you have Facebook join A Gym Tale's page to receive more updates on our programs and specials.

Have a wonderful week - and wish me luck with these tantrums!

Sooo sick....

2010-04-13T16:43:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning I woke up early at 6am determined to be organized for the week. Our childcare (my dad) called in sick so Alan was going to try and work from home with Ewan. I had both their breakfasts, snacks & lunch prepared as well as diapers and activities set out for Ewan and a makeshift office for Alan set up in Ewan's play room. I left for work by 8:15am feeling good that everything was organized and ready to go. After getting to the centre early and setting up for Nursery School - and prepping the transportation themed activities, I greeted the children and we began our school day. However, by 9:30am I started feeling a little queasy. I didn't think much of it, maybe I didn't eat enough breakfast. But by 11:15am I knew I had to get out of the centre because I was going to be full on sick. I made it home just in time - to be sick from 11:30am right through to 7pm last night - non stop! I cannot remember the last time I have been this sick. I literally was not able to get out of bed, except to run to the bathroom, or do anything at all - not even hold my baby!

Thank goodness Alan was able to stay home and watch Ewan all day. And how lucky I am to have family around for extra support. My mother in-law was able to come this morning and watch Ewan for most of the day. It made me wonder what parents do when they get that sick and do not have any extra support available. I had to nurse Ewan in bed yesterday because my arms did not have the strength to even hold him - without help, I would not have been able to care for him.

I am so thankful that Ewan almost seemed to 'understand' that I was not well. Not once did he get upset when he couldn't stay with me. Usually if he knows that I am in the house he refuses to leave my side. A friend said she thinks children must have innate sense when the parent isn't well and to go easy on them.

Also, my apologies to those families that I had to cancel classes this morning with such short notice. My two supplies were sick and out of town, so I did not have another option. Hopefully you got to enjoy some free play on the indoor playground. See you all next week. Also, join A Gym Tale's Facebook page, I am going to start putting all updates on Facebook.

Well I am feeling a hundred times better now, so everything will be back to normal at A Gym Tale tomorrow!

This blog has moved

2010-04-10T23:25:00.001-04:00

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Shopping!

2010-04-10T23:15:00.000-04:00

So I set off this week to Bayshore with a pile of gift certificates that I have been collecting ready to shop for a whole new wardrobe - one that does not include pants with an elastic waist, maternity anything, or yoga wear (aka my work wardrobe). After roaming the mall for an hour and a half and trying on a huge amount of clothes, all I could come up with were two tops! Since when is shopping for yourself impossible? I don't know if I have lost my sense of style since being pregnant or if I am just shopping in the wrong places, but nothing fit well or looked quite right, it was very disappointing.

I then took a half hour to shop for Ewan and had an entire new wardrobe for him picked out and paid for! It is so much more enjoyable shopping for kids clothes - at least it is now when he doesn't have a say in what he is wearing. I will have to venture out again this week, maybe I was just not in the right frame of mind to shop for myself.

I also went on a book shopping spree. Books are one of my favourite things to shop for. As I previously wrote about - I really enjoyed the book 'The Happiness Project', so I decided to pick up a few more memoir's - a new genre for me. Usually I like to read light, funny books such as 'chic lit', one of my favourite authors being Sophie Kinsella. I am now going to start 'Julie & Julia' followed by 'Eat, Pray, Love'.

For Ewan, I picked up two books by Jeremy Tankard - 'Grumpy Bird' and 'Feed Me' as well as the series of 'Little Pookie' books by Sandra Boynton. The Tankard books have hilarious dialogue and the pictures are made up of bright, vivid colours. The Boynton books have almost a musical rhythm to them and a very cute story line. Ewan loves books, they are his current favourite 'toy' and he could sit and turn the pages, look at the pictures, and listen to the stories for a whole afternoon.

Any other suggestions for a great read would be very much appreciated. I would also love to know what toddler books your children had you read over, and over and over again.

Easter Weekend

2010-04-05T22:56:00.000-04:00

What a wonderful long weekend - great weather, spending time with friends and family, and building a garden rock wall! Ok, so building the wall was not so much fun, but it did turn out really well. What started as a small raised vegetable garden, quickly turned into three garden beds, for a total of 50 feet! A little bit of a larger project than we had initially bargained for. Myself and my husband can barely move this evening without moaning and groaning. But we now have our very first do-it-yourself home renovation project under our belt. Now what can we do next....maybe a fire pit?!

Ewan also had a very busy weekend showing off all of his new 'tricks' to family and friends that we haven't seen in awhile. Ewan can push himself backwards on a few different types of surfaces, he can rip door stoppers right out of the wall, he can now stand up without his legs instantly turning to jello, he can bounce while standing, consistently wave, clap and bump heads when asked and talks non-stop, all day long! It is so exciting seeing him turning into a real little boy!! And with his 1st birthday less than five weeks away, party plans are well under way. Does anyone have any birthday party venue suggestions?!

Ewan is mobile! Sort of....

2010-03-29T22:45:00.000-04:00

So while playing on the floor with Ewan this afternoon as well as simultaneously getting back to emails, I looked up after pressing send and Ewan was across the living room! Now the living room is not that big - so he probably only moved about 4 feet, I don't want to sound like a negligent parent - but he actually moved without me assisting him! Granted he is only moving backwards, but it is movement all the same. Also, Ewan is finally showing that he actually has interest in moving - so it may only be a matter of days before he is fully crawling - whether or not this is a good thing for me I'm not sure! So all you crawlers in the Enchantments class tomorrow - just watch out, Ewan is going to back up over you!

New Hobbies....

2010-03-25T20:27:00.000-04:00

So in January, I began a new hobby - photography. I bought a digital DSL camera and enrolled in a basic photography class at Algonquin college. My interest in photography has been long standing and I was interested in learning how to take more creative photo's of Ewan for his scrapbook (another hobby that I would also like to dedicate more time to). I have to give photographer's a lot of credit - it is a difficult hobby to take up. There are so many aspects to taking good pictures - the composition, lighting, focus, shutter speed and apertures - there is a lot to take into account!

Although I am very much enjoying my Thursday evenings out on my own and meeting new people with similar interests - and getting my Starbuck's to sip on during class (this may in fact be my favorite part!), I do not think I was cut out to be a professional photographer! It was going to be my next career, but I do not think I have the patience. I do feel that it was a useful skill to learn and I must say that my photos have improved. But I do still like to simply point and shoot!

The next hobby that I am planning on starting is gardening. Now that I have a backyard, I would like to do some landscaping. I just bought a new gardening how-to book - how hard can it be? I have already planted herbs and several veggie seeds in little green houses and as of today some have started to sprout! Now I just need to build a raised garden rock wall and get the plants in there. No problem, right? Any tips would be appreciated - I hope I am not getting in over my head!

March Break camps - good times!

2010-03-19T23:40:00.000-04:00

Today, the March Break camps have come to an end. After going on Space, Superhero, Princess & Knight, Pirate, Dinosaur, and Pop Star adventures, completing obstacle courses & crafts, as well as having a St. Patty's day party, it's back to the old routine on Monday. The week was very successful - both with the number of children attending the camps as well as simply having a great group of children to play with all day. We were lucky to have many 'old' faces returning as well as meeting many new friends this week. While it will be nice to get back to the regular schedule, we are very much looking forward to summer camps - which are now only 3 months away!

Spring is here!

2010-03-18T20:58:00.000-04:00

Is it too soon to say that Spring is here? I hope I do not jinx it! The past week has been such beautiful weather, I have tried to take every opportunity to take advantage of it. Ewan has been to the park three times and absolutely loves it! Even though he cannot yet move - you would think it would be any day now - he loves playing in the sand, throwing sand and eating sand (only once, I turned away for a moment). He also loves going down the slide, which is also a good arm workout for me. The swings are another favorite that brings about non-stop giggles. And after we have made the rounds of the park, Ewan can watch the other children running around for another half hour more. We have very much been enjoying the park!

On another note, Ewan now has 4 teeth, Yay! And he is much happier and much more playful. However, he is still not liking when I put him down. Is anyone else going through a clingy stage like this? It is not stranger anxiety and not really separation anxiety - if I actually leave the house, he does just fine. But if I am in the house, he needs to be in my arms constantly, even through nap times. As a bonus, I have never had such muscular arms before, nor have I read so many books!

After moving to a new neighborhood in late August, it is wonderful to see so many familiar faces in the area. I am so happy that I am now living in such a family and child centered neighborhood. I look forward to seeing more of A Gym Tale's guests outside of the center through the spring and summer at the local park!

Teeth!!!

2010-03-13T14:06:00.000-05:00

So it has been awhile since my last post, my apologies. Ewan has had both of his front teeth coming in for the past week and has not done well with them. The first two came in and we never noticed until he bit my finger one day! However, with the top two teeth, he has barely been sleeping, unless he is sleeping in my arms, and just overall miserable. Needless, to say I am also exhausted and my home is a disaster because I have not been able to put him down. One tooth is completely through and the other is so close - hopefully any day it will be through.

With all of this going on, I have also have not been successful with getting my 8 hours sleep each night - or my resolution to exercise each day (that was this weeks resolution). Obviously, Gretchen Rubin did not have a baby when she took on her project!! I will keep trying...

One resolution that has been successful is to tackle a nagging task. Each day this week I have tackled a task that has been on my to-do list forever. The first one was to return a pile of things to Staples that have been sitting in the garage since January another was to bring in two posters to have framed. It definitely felt good finally getting these things done!

Well Ewan is up, I promise to update again soon!

The Happiness Project

2010-03-02T22:07:00.000-05:00

I have just finished a wonderful and inspiring book called The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It highlights one woman's challenge to herself to try all sorts of resolutions to make her even happier. She was not unhappy before, but she felt as though there were some aspects of her life that could use improvement in order to allow her to make the most of her life. The 11 resolutions ranged from energy to marriage, parenthood, leisure and money. Each month she attempted several resolutions related to one area of her life.

After reading this book, I have decided to create my own 11 resolutions and put each one into effect over the next year. For the month of March, I am going to work on increasing my energy. This week I am attempting to get 8 hours sleep each night.

My hope in writing this is that I will feel more accountable to myself. If anyone else has read this book or put their own happiness project into effect, please let me know your thoughts!

For more information on this book visit www.happiness-project.com/

A class full of future Olympians!

2010-02-21T21:03:00.000-05:00

This past Wednesday I organized a Wild West theme for the Nursery School program, however, after the arrival of the children I quickly realized that almost all of the students were well aware that the Olympics were underway. I quickly changed the theme to the Olympics in order to take advantage of all the enthusiasm the children were expressing. Together we made a chart to track the number of medals that Canada has won and we will keep a count each day of Nursery School until the closing ceremonies. We also made a giant banner to cheer on the Canadian athletes. After an in depth discussion of the different types of sports that the children had seen on TV, we began a discussion about whether or not the athletes were still good even though they may not all win medals. I explained that even the athletes who do not win medals are all extraordinary athletes, some of the very best in the world. The children then went on to tell me that they are really good at skating, skiing, hockey, sledding and that they thought that they would be in the Olympics when they were older too. Seeing the certainty the excitement in their own skills and talents is very inspiring and I look forward to seeing the kids compete for gold one day!

Family Day Weekend

2010-02-20T00:01:00.000-05:00

Over Family Day weekend, my family and I took the opportunity to go on a short getaway to Toronto. Part of our New Year's Resolutions were to take two vacations a year - even if it was just a weekend away from work. It turned out to be a wonderful weekend away - not a single call from A Gym Tale, thanks to all of the wonderful, hard working staff and the place was still standing after me being away for 4 days!

Although trip consisted of hanging out in Starbucks and reading, watching movies, swimming at the hotel pool and meeting up with some friends - and eating out for every meal - one of my favourite parts, it was just the perfect relaxing weekend. And the drive down went very well as we timed it perfectly to coincide with Ewan's nap time.

What a nice way to feel refreshed and and full of motivation to tackle all of the upcoming spring promotions!

Finding Balance & New Year's Resolutions

2010-02-07T23:00:00.000-05:00

To date, this has been one of the more difficult issues that I have had to deal with as a new mom. Just as I was finding a balance between work and personal life, along came my beautiful little boy - who now takes up almost every moment of every day! How do you strike a balance between baby, couple time, personal time, work, fitness, household chores, etc - has anyone actually found a way to fit it all in within a 7 day period - without needing to skip sleeping a couple nights a week?!

Now that we are in February, I have been trying to take inventory of which of my New Year's Resolutions I have been able to maintain. Several of my New Year's resolutions included getting together with friends at least once a week, working out 3 times a week, cooking dinner at least 5 times per week as well as date night at least twice a month. My main goals have been to create more of a social life - I tend to be somewhat of a work-aholic. Now some weeks I am very productive and I just breeze through it all - morning workouts, play dates, chicken pot pie, and cleaning the bathrooms! But then the next week I am so exhausted from the week before that nothing seems to get accomplished!

Another issue is that I love schedules and routines. I am all about scheduling everything - just making a schedule helps me feel more productive and organized. But, as I am sure many of you know, schedules and babies just do not mix very well. It seems every time I plan out a full day, Ewan will be up all night or just simply have plans of his own and then the whole week will be thrown off.

So, do you have any tricks or suggestions about how to fit it all in, I would love to have some new inspiration!

Just one of those weeks....

2010-01-31T20:50:00.000-05:00

So, it is Sunday night 8:30pm and I am just now starting my weekend:(

This past week has just been one of those weeks where anything and everything that could go wrong, went wrong. From starting the week with a very long P.D. day, to having both party room sinks break, to issues with the landlord, to having Ewan up for two nights with teething pain, to being short staff and needing to work all weekend!

After a week like this it is hard to find the positives in owning your own business. However, I do have to remind myself of the flexibility that my job offers (most of the time) as well as the fact that I can bring my baby to work with me - so that even when I am working, I am able to spend quality time with him as well.

But at last, I am now sitting down with my wonderful husband who has also worked seven days straight with me, eating chocolate cake and drinking champagne to celebrate the end of this week and discuss new hopes for the coming week.

The hard times are easier to leave behind you when you have a very strong support network that will listen. So thank you to my loving husband, to my smiley baby, and to all of you.

Separation Anxiety

2010-01-24T18:46:00.001-05:00

Now that school is back underway after the Holiday break, everyone must get back into their daily routines. For some children this is an exciting time to get to do fun activities, gym time, and socializing with friends. For other children, a two week break can send them back to the heart wrenching episodes of separation anxiety when leaving Mom & Dad - like it was the first day of school all over again.

What leads to separation anxiety? There are many possible contributors - from personality, changes at home, up-bringing etc. Even so, some children who you would think might have problems leaving their parents never even take a look back at mom & dad!

I have to admit, my son is not away from me very often. To be truthful, he is not really even out of my arms that often! Now in the abundance of parenting literature there tend to be two schools of thought - one that recommends keeping your children close to you as much as possible in order to develop a strong sense of attachment that leads to confident children who are open to new experiences. The second school of thought encourages boundaries in order to teach children self soothing skills and become accustomed to leaving mom & dad - also leading to children who are confident in new situations. Both sides are adamant that they are right.

Is either side right? Or does it simply depend on the child's temperament and personality?

One thing is true, all children do get past their anxieties with caring and supportive individuals around them. Some may take longer than others though...my mother continually reminds me that I cried every single day for both Junior and Senior Kindergarten. And I guess I turned out alright ;)

Anyway, my hope is that my son grows up to be a confident and outgoing child who enjoys new experiences. However, I do hope that he does take a look back to wave to me!

A New Adventure has begun...

2010-01-16T23:50:00.000-05:00

I have always led a very busy, active and full life - and according to my husband, always looking for ways to add more, sometimes too much more. My 'adult' life began five years ago when I graduated from the University of Guelph Child and Family studies program and then almost immediately began my own business with my yet to be husband. The birth of A Gym Tale! During our first year of business, we worked 18 hour days every day of that year - it was a wonderful year full of learning and stress, but we survived and we were thrilled with the business we had created and the wonderful clientele that we were gaining. The second year we hired 3 staff members and took holidays off - a very big step for us. And just as we were getting comfortable, we decided to buy a condo and get married and I decided to go back to school to do my Masters so I would not get bored. During years 3 and 4 of A Gym Tale, we moved locations and expanded our business to include an indoor playground and increased our staff to 14 employees. Once again, we are thrilled with where this adventure has taken us and the many families we have to come to know and love in our community. To add to the excitement in the first year at the new location, my husband and I also decided that it would be a good time to have a baby.

On Mother's Day - May 10, 2009 my beautiful son was born at 11:31pm. And so a new adventure has begun. The past 8 months have been a whirl wind of new experiences - full of excitement, laughter, tears and not a whole lot of sleep! I am now in the process of finding a balance between my 8 month old son, who seems to be changing and growing faster than I can keep up with, as well as with my first 'baby' - A Gym Tale and the children and families that I love to get to know, teach, and entertain.

I hope you will join me as I begin my new adventure as a mother, teacher, and business owner. Whether you are a new mom or an old pro, I'm sure you can relate to the many experiences that come with raising and working with young children. Motherhood is a long journey and I would appreciate any advice along the way as this adventure will surely lead to many 'Gym Tales'.