About Canada Post

I would say most of the time Canada Post gets it right (well, we are still waiting for a birthday present my parents sent Jonathan in 2006) and this time they have got it really, really wrong.
About a month ago I got a phone call from my mom asking if I got my parcel. No, I hadn't. Well that's strange seeing as she had sent it a couple of weeks before. She had kept the receipt with the tracking number so I did some investigating. I checked it out and it looked to be in Montreal so we thought we'd wait and see. Mom and Dad went away on their trip to China and I kept looking into this package location for her. Much to my surprise the next place it was tracked to was Richmond, BC...yes, that's back towards where it came from. So I called. First, the lady didn't want to talk to me because I wasn't the one who sent it and really that should be the person calling, and I didn't know how much the postage was and I didn't know the contents...apparently, being in China is not a good enough reason not to track a package yourself. But she took my information and started a file.
I later received a message from one fellow saying that the package was listed as having a BC postal code on it and he would make a note in the computer system to override this and get it sent on to NB. Great! or so I thought. 2 weeks later mom is back from China and still no package...in fact I've watched it bounce back and forth between Richmond and Monteal more than once now.
Mom calls, speaks to a very nice lady that says I should have the package by Monday. Great! Monday comes and goes, no package. Tuesday comes and goes, no package. I call Mom.
Mom goes down to the post office...nothing they can do, call the 800 number...she can't interfere or she can be charged, but she'll leave a message for this fellow that we'd spoken to previously who handles all these things. Mom has his number and calls him herself. He's of no help, all he says (repeatedly) it that it has a wrong postal code on it. Mom says "Look, it was checked in to Richmond again this morning" She will go down there herself to pick it up. Apparently she can't do that as it is a huge warehouse.
Why isn't it being retuned to sender? - no real answer
Why does it keep getting sent out of BC if it has a BC postal code? - no real answer
So she says, fine, I want to collect my $100 insurance on it so I can re-purchase and send the items. - Ma-am, you can't do that because it is still in the system.
Seriously, at last count this package has been across this country 7 times! When do they decide, or notice that something is wrong? You'd think someone in one of these sorting plants would see some sort of discrepancy here. Well Canada, there is our government postal system hard at work.

Kristen, the amazing cleaning machine

No, I haven't improved my housekeeping skills, this is your clean due to neccessity clean machine. Elijah has decided that he doesn't want to wear diapers anymore (Yes! I have been waiting for this moment to arrive) After spending several trips back and forth to the potty ("Mommy, I have to pee now!") with no actual results, just a lot of waiting and looking, we decided to watch a video. Every 10 minutes or so, I'd ask..."do you have to pee?"
"No." Okay.
Reminder, "if you do have to pee, tell Mommy and run to the potty."
"Okay."
"What do you do?"
"Run to the potty." Okay.
I figure I can slip downstairs to switch over the laundry. I was wrong. The moment I hit the bottom step I hear a cry of "MOMMY!" I run back up..."I peed."
"Where?"
"Over there"...he points to a spot beside his chair. Okay, I sit him on the potty to reinforce the use the potty to pee idea, clean up the pee spot and get him some clean underpants. Not 15 minutes later, he looks at me, "I'm peeing Mommy"...I pick him up, sprint to the potty, he giggles his head off as I say this is as fast as you have to go...He sits on the potty and waits as I go, clean up the pee trail from the living room to the bathroom, this time get him an Easy-up diaper...then I hear a shout of joy from the washroom, "I did it!, I peed in the potty!" Great! we celebrate...this is the moment Jeremy chooses to spit up all over me...Okay. I clean it up...finish getting Elijah redressed, attempt to get Jeremy to nap, when I hear an "Oh, no" come from Elijah's room. I go and look..."My music box broke" I look and see glass everywhere and glitter water, all over the wall, the floor and his dresser cabinet. Somehow, he had climbed to the top of the 5 foot structure and knocked it down. I stay calm (Amazing really when you think about it)...you know what, it's nap time, way overdue naptime for both of you. (translation=Mommy needs a break!) I let Elijah nap in our bed, and amazingly enough he actually falls asleep, Jeremy is kind enough to sleep long enough to allow me to clean up the glitter water/glass mess in Elijah's room before screaming his head off. Apparently, he doesn't want to sleep in the swing, he'd rather sleep in my arms...I wonder if at some point this evening I'll actually get to the cleaning I was meant to do today, I now have extra laundry to do!

And the winner is...

Paul Potts! Woo Hoo...from Cell Phone Warehouse guy to Opera Star!

Canadian Cuties

Hey everyone, check out my boys at Please Mum

More Connie and my thoughts on British TV

Jonathan and I went to England in 2004. One thing I absolutely enjoyed while there was British TV. They have fun shows, great personalities (I adore Ant and Dec), wonderful humour...it's just good entertainment. Apparently, Americans think so too as most of reality TV has been taken from a British show. I started to get hooked on a show called the X Factor, which featured both Simon Cowell (yes, I enjoy Simon) and Sharon Osbourne. I didn't get to see all of the series, just some of it. I understand that it has since run 2 more seasons. What I do give cudos to the internet for is that I can enjoy British TV once again. I am hooked on Britain's Got Talent. The website won't let me watch clips as I'm not in their region, but I can watch them on YouTube. (not the whole show of course, but the best of the best). The Semi-finals are over and my 2 favorites, Connie Talbot and Paul Potts have made it to the finals. Which of these 2 will get to entertain the Queen? Maybe neither...there are 4 other contenders. I'm kinda leaning towards Paul at this point, although I believe that 6 year old Connie has gained a huge world-wide following via YouTube. Here's her semi-final performance:

And on with gardening

I've now learned what a daunting task weeding can be. I actually don't know how to tell the difference between what is supposed to be growing in there and what isn't...at first. Now, some things are becoming clear so...I'm weeding around what I know and leaving the rest. It is actually quite relaxing if I look at it a little bit at a time and not the whole garden, which becomes overwhelming and makes me want to give up altogether. There's something about the repetitiveness of it, sitting there with the baby in my lap that I enjoy. Knowing that I'm actually growing real vegetables is exciting too. We ate green onions from the garden last week! I know that we are growing peas, beans, lettuce, tomatoes and herbs successfully too...we'll see about the rest in time.

More Paul Potts

Britain's Got Talent

I was looking around on You Tube yesterday for new things to watch with Elijah (like any other preschooler he likes repetition) and found these. I think the British version is way better than the American from what I can see.

Hey Ya! - Charlie Brown Style

Why I love 2

I love watching all the stages that my boys go through, some are more pleasant than others granted, but most are endearing. Example: Elijah's pronounciation, he tends to add a syllable to a number of words:
hospital=hos-i-pit-al
Piglet=Pig-il-et
yogurt=yog-ur-et
but then he will leave off syllables of other words as if to even things out:
computer=pu-ter
I also enjoy the complete innocence of his age. Example: Yesterday, he came in from playing outside and told me he just needed to get something. "Okay" I said. He went to his room and came back moments later without any clothes on, carrying his bathing suit and heading out the door. "Whoa, wait a minute, where are you going?"
"I'm just going to play in the sprink-e-ler with Jillian"
"Let me get you dressed first buddy"
He's also pretty funny trying to express his independance. Example: We were leaving Chapters on Saturday and just as we get outside he says to me, "oh, I forgot something, I'll be back in one second" (oh really, I think), "what did you forget?"
"My jamanama"
"what's a jamanama?"
"it's a bamming" he answers ever so matter a factly.
Yes, my son is full of wonderful made up words like bamming and jamanama that he uses frequently in conversation. Every night at bedtime he tosses his hand toward me as I head out the door and says "here's your manama" , I make sure I give him some manama too.
Also, yesterday Elijah decided he needed a jacket, so he put on his winter coat, pulled up the hood and played outside in his shorts. It was a pretty funny sight.
And what conversation on being 2 and independant is complete without a comment on potty training? After 2 lovely hassle-free successful potty days, Elijah decided to declare the potty, his pull-ups and his underpants his mortal enemies...don't you even dare mention them unless you want to witness the master of all fits...clearly, he's not yet ready.
Yes, when they are miserable, they are really miserable, but when they are lovely, they are really lovely creatures, 2 year olds are. He gives the most wonderful cuddles and complements. "Mom, you're pretty, you're beautiful"
And they are funny creatures. This morning the poor dear fell and bumped his head. As I scooped him up to comfort him I kissed him better and asked "are you okay?" "I bumped my head, that's why I'm crying" (just in case I missed it).
Another time I asked for a kiss and he said "we don't have any kisses, but we have a holiday kiss" "can I have a holiday kiss" "nope, we are all out" "what kind of kisses do you have?" "we have a hos=i=pit=al kiss, and a doctor kiss and a holy kiss..." I did get one eventually.

My Saturday on my own

This past weekend Jonathan was away in Fredericton at Synod. So I had the task of getting myself and both boys ready to pick him up. Elijah is fairly easy to get ready, once you convince him not to stay in his pyjamas all day. I also had muffins and bananas on hand for breakfast so that was easy...or should be until Jeremy woke up and needed to eat so I basically handed the muffin container to Elijah and let him go at 'er. After Jeremy was happily fed, I started to get his bath ready, reminding myself continuously not to forget to bring his towel with me because there was no other adult in the house to rescue me. As I'm on my way to the tub with Jeremy and a towel, I hear a cry of "I need help please." Elijah is coming towards me carrying the jug of chocolate milk. My first thought is exasperation, but he says "please Mommy, I can't do it"...and I look and see he also has a sippy cup out and the regular milk out to pour half and half. So I put Jeremy down and help Elijah out. After getting Jeremy successfully in the bath, congratulating myself on having a towel close at hand I realise I have no washcloth. The only person who can help me out is Elijah. So I call out "Elijah, can you please get Mommy a baby washcloth?" "I can't" "Yes you can, please go now" "I'm just busy dancing now" rrrrgggghhhh! After some convincing and threats of toys taken away he finally gives in. I finish getting Jeremy ready. I get Elijah resettled with 321 Penguins on, Jeremy happily babbling away to his mobile animals and here's the trick of the day, attempt to get my own shower in. Just as I'm about to shampoo I hear, a crying baby...shoot...ouch! shampoo in my eye (when do I ever do that?) "mom, baby is crying!" comes the shout from the hall. "I know" as I frantically rinse the stinging shampoo out of my eye. So I finally get finished and dressed and race to the crib to find a smiling baby cooing...he had self soothed. Okay, deep breath. I move Jeremy to the bassinet by my bed a begin to fold the laundry and then Jeremy does something I'd only read about in books, he fell asleep on his own in his bassinet. Not nursing, not rocking, not in the car, but on his own completely. I'd heard about this but I thought it was some myth made up to make parents feel inadequate. This unexpected miracle allowed me to finish the laundry and spend some time playing with Elijah before we had to truck out to Fredericton...hmmm, maybe we'll get through the 2 weeks Jonathan will be away this summer after all.

my pirate name

My pirate name is:

Captain Grace Flint

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Jill Inspires me yet again

Jill recently wrote about being the encyclopedia for her son's world. It was one of those read it and smile moments for me, nodding my head and relating, "so true, so true". Jill's son, Andrew is only weeks apart in age from Elijah...he too uses us as his encyclopedia of the world. Most enjoyable, or exasperating depending on your mood are his questions about his brother.
"Where's Baby Mommy?" *side note, I'm sure Jeremy will love being called Baby by Elijah 13 years from now
"Right here Elijah"
"Is Baby sleeping?"
"Yes"
"Does Baby have eyes?"
"Yes"
"Are his eyes closed?"
"Yes"
"Why?"
"because he is sleeping"
"I have eyes, right Mommy?"
"Yes, you have eyes"
"And baby has eyes too!"
"Yes, you both have eyes"
"And Mommy and Daddy have eyes"
"Yes, we all have eyes"
"Mommy and Daddy and Jeremy and Elijah all have eyes"
"Yes"
"Does baby have a nose?"...
and so it continues

He also thinks I know everybody we see.

"Who's that Mommy?"
"A lady"
"what lady"
"the lady at the store"
"the lady at the store?"
"yes"
"what is she doing?"
"she's shopping"
"she's shopping?"
"yes"
"like Mommy and Jeremy and Elijah?"
"yes"
"what's her name?"
"I don't know"
"why?"
"because I don't know her"
"she's a lady mommy?"
"yes"
"at the store"
"yes"...
and so it continues again

My boys

It has ben a while since I've really sat down to blog. The evil called Facebook has overtaken my online time. I've even started importing my blog to Facebook, just because I can.
So today is Jeremy's 3 month birthday...officially ending the 4th trimester. The question I get asked the most is how is he like Elijah? Well...they are very different. Jeremy is much more social than Elijah was (than Elijah ever was really). He is full of smiles for everyone and has no problem being held by someone that isn't me. Elijah is much more cautious when it comes to new people and people that aren't us. Jeremy is a happy baby who love to smile and "talk" to us. Already he loves to jump with Jonathan...a game that Elijah loved at the same age. Pretty soon he will be able to go into the Jolly Jumper. He's also pretty portable, on a good schedule and I can take him pretty much anywhere...Elijah was like that too. The great thing about breastfeeding is that you can breastfeed anywhere...you don't have to worry about mixing formula and making the bottle the right temperature. I also always carry a nursing canopy in my diaper bag, which helps. Actually, Jeremy won't take a bottle from me at all. He has taken one from our friend Debbie, who has looked after him a couple of times, but not me...he's like, that is not what I want mom...I want the good stuff. The only funny thing with Jeremy is that he seems to know that the bassinet is for sleeping at night. He won't sleep in it during the day. He will sleep in my arms, in the stroller, in the car, or in the swing, but not the bassinet. So on my friend Jill's reccommendation I bought a sling. I got it yesterday, made locally from a girl here in Saint John. Very well priced if you are looking for one, I'll give you her email. So far, so good. We're still figuring out the best way for Jeremy to be the most comfortable, but he seems happy to be in it, or sleep in it and I can still get work done in the house. The other big difference between Jeremy and Elijah is that Jeremy won't take a soother. Elijah had his until he was about 18 months old and Jeremy spits them out. He has started to suck on his fingers...I sucked my thumb for a long time, so we'll see how long this habit lasts. The good thing with the soother was that we could "lose" it.
Elijah is coming into his own at 2 (almost 3). He is quite the musician/actor/athlete. He has a great imagination and sense of humour. He likes to tell stories about when he was a teenager. This morning he told me he didn't like Daddy. I asked why and he said because Daddy is a giant and giants squish people. Later on I found out that Elijah had climbed into the futon with Jonathan in the middle of the night (because Jeremy sleeps in our room, usually one of us ends up on the futon at some point to get more sleep)...anyways, Jonathan had a dream that he was hugging Elijah...I guess that is when the giant was squishing him and so he left and crawled into bed with me instead. Elijah also told me recently that he was going to college to study music...we'll see how true that is 15 years from now. The next 2 months are going to be long months as now he knows about birthdays and keeps asking for his party. This Sunday at church we sang Happy Birthday to a congregation member. At the end Elijah called out "Where's the cake?" Oh and to answer the other question we get a lot, Yes Elijah likes his baby brother and is looking forward to when Jeremy can really play with him. Right now, he enjoys holding him and talking to him and singing to him. He does not like other people stopping us in the stores to see Jeremy. "That's my baby, you don't talk to him!" is the response from Elijah. And that's a brief description of my boys at this point in time...I better log off now and clean the pizza sauce of Elijah's face!

funny church moments