Forks are for Decoration

Baby Prep

The weather here is getting nicer, the sun is out, and the forecast looks promising. A good Newfoundland windy spring (summer, almost) day is perfect for hanging laundry out. So, I've been spring cleaning these days. Washing all sorts of things from bathmats and pillows to curtains and blinds. And then I'll be washing new cloth diapers and miscellaneous newborn baby items.

Some might call this nesting, but I think it's a bit too early for that.
I'm just taking advantage of only having one child to get as much done around the house when I can. It's not always easy to do housework with a toddler (she doesn't realize that freshly mopped floors are very slippery.. and likes to bring me her toys to help clean the bathroom. or feel the toilet water)-- but I figure it's a lot easier than doing housework with a toddler and a newborn.

I am trying to get a lot done with vinegar, dish soap and baking soda and it's been working well so far. It just feels a little better not to be breathing in too much from the cleaning stuff... plus Bronwen has always got her little paws in whatever I am cleaning and I don't care if she licks the freshly scrubbed tub if it's only got vinegar on it.

My spring cleaning list is almost done- just a few things left that I need Brian's help with (such as cleaning our windows from the outside... not about to get up on a ladder and the front ones are very high up). And move the fridge to clean behind it. Things like that.
Then it's onto the 'baby list' which is infinitely more fun- things like getting out the little newborn clothes again, and setting up the crib. And setting up Bronwen's new room (a cozy nook in our guest room/office).
Putting the infant car seat back in the car- this will be a good experiment in how a 2 door Yaris hatchback will hold 2 tall-ish adults and 2 rear-facing carseats. Let's hope it works fine because a new vehicle is not in the works for a while yet!.. oh Rubee, you continue to faithfully serve us.

I am going to try and make some meals for the freezer... does anyone have any ideas for summer-type freezer meals? So far I have 1 meal in there... black bean enchiladas. Side note.. if you are looking to help out any families with new babies... one of the BEST things you can do, in my opinion, is to bring food! I still will not forget when Bronwen was born and our friends Alex and Adrienne showed up with a big container of chili, and homemade bagels. They didn't stay for hours, they just said hi... and left us a wonderful gift. I'm sure there were other people who brought us food, but that's what stands out in my head the most.

looking back.. some of our friends at the hospital... they arrived en masse.

Bronwen, 1 week old. Maybe an August baby won't have to wear a toque 24/7! (she literally wore one to sleep every night for the first few months). 

Bronwen's latest activities

Here is a little movie I made last night of Bronwen's favourite toys lately. Please excuse the fact that she is not wearing pants...
(it's a little long.. but it's got some really cute parts ;) For one thing, I didn't even take the containers out of the cupboard for her.. she got them herself and filled them up.

June Days!

Here are some pictures from the latest happenings in our life.

30 weeks pregnant with our little sprout.... (this was a week ago now).

 Date downtown with Brian! We hadn't been on a date with just the two of us since January(!), so it was long overdue (getting a babysitter once or twice to go to parties doesn't really count, and neither does taking Bronwen along with us). It's a lot more work to go out child-free.. but always worth it! We hope to squeeze in a couple more dates before the new baby arrives (and it gets even harder to go out!).

We went to one of our favourite dinner spots, Nautical Nellie's, and then walked by the boats and had coffee and dessert at Rocket Bakery.

Mmm, I love dad's homemade bread..

Sometimes I like to eat my snacks on this little bench...

I didn't take many pictures, but we went to the wedding of some of our friends from church on Saturday. It was a really fun, relaxed, and beautifully decorated wedding. Here are the food tables.. they were still setting up, hence the Sobeys bag. Also, 'scoff' is Newfoundland-ese for 'a big feed' aka 'a good meal'.

Family picture!

We had some visitors from Vancouver and Regina. Krista and Chelsa stayed with us for a couple of nights and we got to show them around a bit.

That's all for now!

Camping adventures

Bronwen and I went on a last-minute camping adventure on Wednesday night.... and I'm so glad that we did!

I have some adventurous mama friends who had it all mostly much organized, so all I had to do was pack and show up. The weather was nice.. about 14 and sunny during the day. It did drop down to 4 degrees at night, but we were surprisingly not too cold. The babies woke up several times during the night, but that is pretty much to be expected. 

I dare say we were a little proud of ourselves- 2 moms with 5 month olds, one 30 weeks pregnant with a toddler- setting up camp, keeping the little ones happy, fire building and cooking/cleanup... hurray for multitasking! I think this will be the first of hopefully a few trips with our church mom's group this summer. I know there are several other interested ladies, and with the freedom of maternity leave/ stay at home moms we can go during the week when the park isn't packed full. (though, it is a little early to be super full yet anyway). We went to Butter Pot Provincial Park, only about 30 mins away from town.

 ' here, try these. If you pretend to eat them, your mum will get worried. I tried one once.. they're not very good!' Sharing rocks with Sophie.

cozy

our tent for Bronwen and I

toasty fire.. we needed it at night and especially the next morning!

Bronwen waiting for us to load up the truck

I didn't take too many pictures... but hopefully there will be more trips! We will have to bring our husbands along as well sometime.

Late May weekends

We had a lovely weekend over here in St. John's. It was a taste of summer... temperatures around 20 degrees, and not too much wind!

On Friday I met up with some mama friends at Bowring Park, a beautiful park in St. John's with walking trails, duck ponds, a big playground and a swimming pool. We sat on a  blanket right next to the playground and had a picnic. Bronwen had free run of the playground but I could still see her which was nice. The other babies are all quite young still so they don't yet require chasing.

Here is Bronwen eyeing another kid on the playground. She knows she can climb stairs like that too.

After the park, we went to Lester's Farm.. it is a nursery, market, garden centre and petting farm for the kids just down the road. I had never been there before, surprisingly. Bronwen wasn't too interested in the animals (I can see why... those were some aggressive goats) and just wanted to run around. I bought some herbs for my back deck herb garden.

On Saturday we had crepes for breakfast- yum, love Saturday morning breakfasts around here. We went for a hike by Quidi Vidi Lake. It was really windy, so Bronwen wasn't allowed to be released from her carrier. There was a very real threat of a 22 lb toddler getting blown off the cliff, so we thought we better play it safe

And yesterday, we relaxed! A lovely weekend. 

May long weekend

Well, in typical Newfoundland fashion- the North Atlantic provided us with a very cold, wet and damp long weekend. But, we made the best of it.

Saturday started off with some delicious french toast. Complete with 'fluffy bread' from Sobeys, and strawberries.(I did not take a picture, it was too delicious).

We walked downtown to one of our favourite coffee shops, Fixed. It was their first birthday so they had free espresso. We also had a yummy piece of carrot cake with it. The camera was a bit foggy when I first turned it on, but here are Brian and Bronwen warming up in the coffee shop. I see a resemblance..

Smiling at the people walking by..also very excited to eat the orange slice that came with the cake.

Out the window...the grass is getting greener!

Contemplating life in one of her favourite spots.

I wonder if I can get past this speaker...

 Stack, stack, stack.

We did have a BBQ- just ate inside instead of outside. Homemade patties and Dutch spiced gouda! I tried my hand at hamburger buns, but they came out kind of small so we made mini-burgers... (aka the fashionable slider?). This is our first BBQ of the season (at our own house at least) after finally getting a new propane tank. Very delicious!

As a side note.. if you like hamburgers, you should try to make your own hamburger patties-- they are delicious! Just ground beef, 1 egg and oats (to hold it all together), and seasoning the way you like it (we often just do salt and pepper). Shape into patties and grill! (or freeze for later use).