Happy Birthday Sidekick!

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...

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?!

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!

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!

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!