Five Minute Friday

Linking up with Five Minute Friday here... see my post last week here for an explanation.

Today's word? Laundry! And go!

I don't mind doing laundry. It's rather satisfying to fill our closets with clean clothes again, and get to the bottom of our green bucket laundry hamper. And the kids' green cloth bag. Or to see the bottom of the diaper bucket again.

I do miss doing laundry in the summer though. On a sunny Newfoundland day, there's no better way to dry your clothes than to let them flap out in the fresh North Atlantic wind. This is such a classic Newfoundland sight that its become almost an icon in the latest tourism series... lots of quaint clotheslines with lines of quilts, colourful blankets.

I'm not really sure why the government emphasizes the clothesline so much in their tourism propaganda here, but I think it's something to do with the quaintness of days gone by and slowing down. It takes longer to peg items onto a line. It takes a while to bring them back in. But it symbolizes a time when mothers stayed home more and had time to do this, when no one had heard of indoor dryers, or when they were a luxury to be used only by those who could afford electricity. Some think that a clothesline is an eyesore.. I think that some neighbourhoods even ban them. I'm glad ours doesn't, because I think it's rather nice.

And stop.. that's my five minutes! Not really very profound, but that's kind of the point of this exercise... to see what comes to your head.

from a recent tourism campaign.. source http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2007/tcr/0620n08.htm

The start of Five Minute Friday

I am going to start participating in something called Five Minute Friday. One of my favourite blogs, the Gypsy Mama by Lisa-Jo Baker, started it all. Basically a word is given each week, and you write for five minutes about it, whatever comes to your head. Unedited and uncut, just pure thoughts. Then, you post your name/blog link back on the starting page for that week on the Gypsy Mama blog, and read the post by the person before you, leaving them an encouraging comment. Kind of like an inspirational blog chain of sorts.
That might be a little confusing.. if it is, don't worry about it. I just wanted to describe what I was doing for those interested. :)

Today's word is... ORDINARY.

Go!

When I think of ordinary, I think of routine. Mostly of the day-in, day-out life of raising our two little ones right now.. because let's face it, the days are fairly ordinary. I get up to usually one or both of them crying. Change diapers before they both end up with wet pj's and/or wet sheets. Put the water on the stove to boil for oatmeal. Oh, and the water for tea. (though recently, the tea was skipped when Brian found a new espresso machine on Kijiji!)

I have to say, I kind of like ordinary. I am a routine person, really. I like predictable things and I find comfort in things like oatmeal in the morning (or maybe granola, if we're in a hurry). I like the bright spots in the routine.... how John always smiles now when I change his diaper, and how Brian and I get to chat over breakfast and how Bronwen is learning how to use a spoon.

But I also look forward to breaks, to holidays, and lately I have been feeling a bit confined. There's no travelling for us in the horizon, which is a big change from last year when I was all over the country with Bronwen. With 2 kids, that's just not going to happen.

But I just need to embrace the fact that this is the season of life I am in. Find the extraordinary in the ordinary.. in the little things that stand out and make me appreciate everything I have been blessed with.

And I truly am thankful. Because one day, I will travel alone with my husband again and we'll worry about the kids in a whole different kind of way. But we'll still have as much fun as we did when we were newlyweds.. because we stuck together through all those years of holding hands at the breakfast table with the crying kids and the soggy diapers.

Stop!

Fall is here!

I am on my own with the kids this week as Brian is away in California for a workshop. It has been a challenge, and we really miss him... this parenting business is a lot easier with a team of two! We're still doing alright though. Both kids are napping right now which is a nice break for this mama and gives me a chance to post some pictures...

I took Bronwen and John to Lester's farm last week with our friends Brianne and Zoey. They have a petting zoo, and LOTS of pumpkins! The pumpkin crop doesn't always grow so well in NL- one year they had absolutely none because it was too cold and wet. There's a pretty good harvest this year though!

I could barely get Bronwen to look at the camera.. she was too busy looking at everyone else.

John's first time in the stroller.. he looks pretty happy!

Riding a tractor, just like Grandpa Claus.

These guys were fluffy and cute!

Thanks Brianne for taking a pic of me with our kids.. I'm usually the one behind the camera.

John is starting to become more and more social and is quite the chatty man.. he coos and gurgles and it is really cute! He would rather smile at a real face than for a camera though...

Saturday morning flyers with Mum.. the boys were sleeping in.

Sibling meeting on the playmat

the big eyed trick.. guess John can do it too! He's getting better at it all the time..

Check out my diaper.. this is the 'Albert' print, very appropriate for PhD babies!

Like father, like son... sweaters with elbow patches!

Foraging Adventures

I have a husband who likes to hunt for things. Specifically, forage for edible items in the woods. I think that this is a side effect of growing up on Vancouver Island. I had never gone looking for mushrooms in my life before we met... it's not something that ever really occured to me growing up in Southern Ontario. (I'm sure that people do though!). However, Newfoundland has an abundance of edibles in its wilds if you take the time to look for them. For example, chanterelle mushrooms. They are bright yellow, edible, and not easily mistaken for other poisonous mushroom varieties (something you really do need to be careful of when on the hunt for fungi!). On Saturday afternoon we took a drive to Windsor Lake, just north of town, and went mushroom picking. Well, I had fun with the kids on the main trail and Brian was the one ducking in the dense undergrowth to find our treasures!

On the way there we stopped at a new bakery. They had delicious cinnamon buns!

Love this pic!

Can you spot a Brian? (see how dense the bush is...)

Oh look, a Bronwen..

John was hanging out in the Ergo baby carrier..

Such a beautiful day.. it was the first sunshine we had seen after a week of rain, drizzle and fog so we were glad to get out!

Highlights for Bronwen= rocks and dirt

I took a picture of this berry because Bronwen ate one and I thought I might need to get it ID'd for the poison control centre or something.. luckily they are harmless!

The mushrooms! We had them for supper, fried in a bit of butter.. delicious!

And one more of our little rascal... climbed onto the table to get into John's bouncer.  This is how I found her... pretty comfy eh Bronwen?

High Fives

This is all unprompted.. for Bronwen, outstretched hand equals high five!

Latest pics

Here are a few more pictures from the last few days. Mostly of John but one of Bronwen too. The weather is beautiful here today so I'm about to go on a walk with the kids.. fresh air and sunshine is good for the soul :)

Freshly bathed John

Mum and Bronwen

Taking a snooze on a very humid Sunday afternoon

Watching Dad make his beer

Taking notes for the future

One month old!

Doesn't mind baths so much anymore

Also, here is a picture of Bronwen and John wearing the same sleeper. She is a month older than him in this picture... he is a bit bigger than her, but I think that also the sleeper may have shrunk. The month difference accounts for her chubbier face and better sitting up skills... but I think that you can still tell they are siblings! I'll try to take another one where they are the same age for comparison sometime soon. A lot of people say that John looks like Bronwen... in some ways he does but they are quite different too.

Here they are at approximately the same age...

September days

Time to post another update... though the easiest way to update seems to be just posting a bunch of pictures! I am trying to take lots of pics... to avoid the 'second child syndrome' where there are tons of pictures of the eldest child, and barely any of subsequent children. 

We are doing pretty well over here, for the most part. I am really sleep deprived but somehow managing to cope pretty decently during the day. It must be survival instincts. The longest John has ever slept between feedings, day or night, is 2.5 hours... but it is usually 2 hours for the first part of the night and then decreases to 1.5 and then only 1 hour. Broken sleep isn't easy but this is the plight of new moms everywhere. Sometimes I get so confused when I hear him at night, and can't remember if I already fed him... wait, am I holding him right now.. nope, that's my pillow. Needless to say he is thriving and growing like a weed. 

Bronwen is sprouting 4 more teeth at the same time (pointy canines, none the less), and both her and Brian are fighting off the annual 'back to school' cold... but that's all part of everyday life and really, I have nothing to complain about!

This was one of the first posts I wrote after Bronwen was born. It is pretty applicable right now as well, except for a couple of changes..

Not microwaving nearly as many coffees. The baby can squeak a little... not scream, but squeak ;).

With a boy, it's the pees that are projectile (Peepee Teepee-- someone gave me some of these... however, a large washcloth is better defense!)

The only napping opportunity window is when Bronwen naps, so a morning caffeinated coffee is fine and much needed!

People are still generous and lovely. Most notably, our friend Maggie, who has made 5 food dropoffs to our door already. 

With a newborn and the toddler, the fact that they are close in age draws more attention than the newborn itself. And the fact that the toddler likes to be very social and blow kisses.

Naps are still good... especially with a snuggly wee boy on your chest.

And now, some pictures. 

What a face! 

Little brother fast asleep

Our friends Ethan and Lauren came over to say bye before they headed overseas... here is Bronwen with her little buddy. They are 6 months apart.

We had a fire at the beach last Saturday, it was a lovely evening. Bronwen enjoys lots of attention from this particular group of friends as she is the only kid there! (well, John is there too now :). Everyone else has dogs instead.

 Beautiful beach!

My boys! John's first beach fire

Charlie comes over for a look

'I'm just going to sit right here. With very good posture.'

Whale sleeper from Grandma B! John is wearing 3 month sleepers already. He was weighed on Tuesday and was 10 lbs 14 oz... up from 8 lbs 13 oz on Aug 26, so that's 2 pounds in 2 weeks!

'Enough with the pics!'

Sibling shots

3 1/2 weeks old!