I AM - BECAUSE YOU ARE

I have never been a fan of Valentine’s Day and all the marketing gimmicks that go with it. I would play along, because... chocolate, but I always found it nauseating. The lucky ones find love surrounding them yearlong, even if it is not romantic love; they don’t need a Hallmark date. This morning a friend posted something on Facebook about romantic love that resonated with me. The article states that “We Only Fall in Love with Three People in Our Lifetime – Each One for a Specific Reason”. You can read the full article on Curious Mind Magazine , but the main points are summarized below: The first love happens early in life. This is the love you would die for. The love that is romantic, even dramatic at times. You think this is the love that would last forever, no matter how many people are against it or what comes on your way. You would do anything to save it. In this relationship, even your own principles become unimportant because you are certain that this is it, until you grow

We are 4 days post-op and, physically, everything has gone well so far! But, emotionally, this round has been very different – for mom and the LO alike. It started once she put the hospital gown on. She didn’t like that it was yellow because the bigger kids had blue, her favorite color. She didn’t make much of a fuss about it, thankfully, but I believe having a gown on at all made her begin to understand that this wasn’t a regular doctor’s appointment. Once they called us in to the holding area, she was absorbed in her Paw Patrol videos so she wasn’t too concerned with what was happening. We spoke with her doctor as well as the anesthesia team and then it was time for her to go with everybody. Last time they bribed her with Paw Patrol on a big screen and she hopped right into their arms, this time she resisted. Not too much, but you could tell that she was not happy to be leaving mom and dad. In fact, after surgery the anesthesiologist suggested that if we need to do this a 4th time, w

As the LO’s surgery was considered urgent, we were put on the waitlist for two alternate hospitals in addition to our primary care facility. We were initially scheduled for next Friday in one of the alternates, but due to a shortage of staff they cancelled our spot. As a result, our primary is pushing her into their already busy schedule and now surgery is going to be this Monday! And, while nervous about yet another procedure, I am very happy with this decision! Her first surgery (ears only) took place at the alternate location so we were already familiar with their setup. While there was nothing fundamentally wrong with their facilities, I just didn’t find them to be as comfortable, spacious and accommodating as our primary was back in September for her second surgery (ears and eyes). We didn’t have very much room to maneuver, hardly a chair to sit in, nowhere inviting while we waited and no one-on-one care afterwards. Granted, the surgery was so simple that she went to daycare rig

Before Christmas I saw a lot of articles pop up on my social media feeds about leaving the smaller gifts for Santa to give, because not all parents have endless money to spend on their kids so it doesn’t make sense to have Santa give your kid an iPad (for example) while his best friend at school gets some new socks and a winter hat. While the LO is still too young to grasp this concept, I did try to explain that her bubble bath, lips gloss and chocolate stuffed stocking came from Santa and the rest came from Mommy and Daddy. We got her lots of smaller gifts, too many probably, but our main gift was the LeapFrog Leapstart 3D with a few books to get her started. It is a learning system that brings books to life with both audio and video. It is marketed towards 2-7 year olds, but at 3 years old I can admit she has some difficulty playing through the activities on her own. I would say that pen control is the biggest issue, so she often points and I press the pages for her. What I like

Yesterday I woke up and decided to cook my family a proper breakfast, rather than pouring a bowl of cereal or throwing an Eggo in the toaster. I made crepes, bacon and cheddar for DH and I but peanut butter and banana for the LO. They were pretty good! We didn't do much all morning; put away laundry, did the dishes, played games and lounged. Before lunch I ran a bath for the LO as we would be out a couple of nights in a row, and after lunch we napped together. Surprisingly we slept for over 2 hours! It was, peaceful. We went over to my mom's and ordered in dinner. We didn't stay too late and shortly after I put the LO to bed, DH went out to a friends for a bit. Home alone on New Year's Eve, watching Netflix and drafting blogs by myself. And while some people wouldn't be OK with that, and don't understand it, I was happy. I enjoyed Christmas this year, so much so that DH said he preferred when I hated it (I think he was joking). But, I'm still not into New Ye