Taking my leave now

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..

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!

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

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!

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!

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!

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!)