Travel Log Part 2: Visit to Hartleigh

As promised, here's the scoop on the second half of our trip - and the real reason for the trip at all!

Where is Hartleigh, you might ask? You SHOULD be asking WHO is Hartleigh! She's my new niece, and she lives in Toronto with her Mommy, my sister Susan and her Daddy JM. Here's a picture of the proud Papa and his little girl
Sad to say I really didn't get that many good pictures while we were there. However, there were a few keepers! Here's one of my sister, the proverbial Susie Home-maker - at least looking so in this outfit! I include this one because it shows what a great hostess Susan is - even with a 7 week old baby who is nursing non-stop, and a house full of people, she managed to pull off an excellent turkey dinner for us - since we were missing Thanksgiving here in the US - Thanks Sue!

On the second day of our visit, we went to the Ontario Science Center - it was a great outing! The weather really wasn't conducive to taking the little ones outside, so it was great to get out and run around a little. They have a "Kids Park" that was perfect for Norah (OK, and me too!) and lots of things for us all to take a look at. Here's a picture of Norah and Papa rocking out in one of the activities.

My Dad seems to have a certain way with Roddie - maybe it's a guy thing, finally, after raising three daughters! Maybe it's a shared name thing, I don't know, but it's true! Here's a cute picture of the two of them togetherNanny and Papa both were in their glory with the new babies around. Norah still got plenty of attention, but the real stars of the show where the two littlest ones! Here's Nanny loving life with Roddie and Hartleigh all to herself!

This last one I think sums it all up. It was nice to see Susan and JM and see them flourishing as parents. It was nice for Nanny and Papa to see all of us and to all spend time together, but really, when it comes right down to it, this is what it was all about! As Norah would say, "Love YA, Nanny and Papa!" XOXOX

What to do?

As my time to return to work comes near, I am undecided about what to do about breastfeeding - I'd like to keep it up, but the reality of pumping during the day, and nursing in the mornings and evenings is not quite as bucolic as it was with Norah. As with everything this time around, having a toddler in addition to an infant adds a new degree of complexity. I'm also not really sure what to expect when I go back to work - there have been a lot of changes since I was last there.


Adding to the more obvious issues, is the fact that I don't seem to be producing milk like I should, even while still nursing almost 100%. With Norah, after a few month of pumping, I had to eat like crazy in order to make enough milk - like more than I wanted to eat - and drink water constantly - but it was much later. This time, I am drinking water like it's going out of style and eating a sensible amount (more than I would normally, but not as much as at the end with Norah) and it seems like Roddie is often still hungry when we're done - he will still go up to about 3 hours between feedings, but not always, and it's getting hard all day and all night long. I don't think this alone would sway me, but since I am on the fence, I'm not sure that I want to work at it as hard as I did the last time around either.

So it seems obvious right? Time to wean! But it's not really that obvious - for starters, he's decided that he's no longer interested in taking a bottle - not breast milk, not formula, nothing. That's been a little stressful for both Matt and I - Matt, since he's the one fighting with him to take it, and me, because I can't count on a break, ever! Matt put it in perspective the other day - Roddie is a little more than 100 days old, and at roughly 8 feedings per day, that means I've fed him about 800 times since he arrived! He's had a few bottles here and there, sure, but not many. At an average of 30 minutes each, that's about 400 hours - 10 work-weeks worth!

The second and maybe bigger reason it's hard to make this decision is plain old motherly guilt. I fed Norah for over 200 days, shouldn't I do at least the same for Rod? Ideally, I would, but I also have to look at what's best overall for our family. Formula is a perfectly reasonable alternative, and it frees me up to do all of my other motherly duties. I feel good that we've reached the 4 month mark, and it looks like we're going to be closer to 5 by the time it's all said and done. They say that any breastfeeding is better than none...

Roddie, I'm sorry we didn't make it longer, but know that I had to do what was best in the big picture! We were going to be done in a few months regardless, and this way you get a happier, better rested Mommy as well as (hopefully soon!) some nice early morning snuggles with Dad! So please, please, take the bottle for Dad tonight - he's getting a little frazzled when you fight him all the time!

Cookie Time!

We had a rough night with Roddie last night - waking often and refusing to take a bottle. I am thankful that he generally goes right back to sleep after I feed him, but I'd be even MORE thankful if he slept 4-5 hours instead of 2-3. Anyway, be that as it may, it led to an interesting start to my day. First of all, Norah climbed into bed with me and granted me a snuggle for 45 minutes. Then, as we were eating breakfast, I looked at the calendar and realized I had only a few weeks before I returned to work and decided that it was a good day to keep her home. So I did! Unlike some of our days together in September, the three of us had a great day today! Roddie is more interactive (and LOVES his big sister!) and Norah and I both are more comfortable with her growing Independence. When Matt came home, we were finishing up our gingerbread cookie project:

Travel Log Part 1: Niagara Falls

We went to visit my sister's daughter, my new niece, Hartleigh, in Toronto, over the Thanksgiving break. It wasn't Thanksgiving in Canada of course, but more about that, and my sister's turkey dinner later. We made a bit of a vacation of it by stopping over in Niagara falls - a first for Matt and the kids and about 15 years since my last visit. The kids did great with travel in both directions - we left on Monday around 4 pm and drove to Rochester NY, about 1.5 h from the Falls and got up and finished the ride in the morning. We checked out the Aquarium of Niagara first, then checked into our hotel, got some lunch and took a walk to see the Falls. Thank goodness for the Sit'n'Stand - it was just the ticket for this adventure!


Norah is at the stage where staying in a hotel is exciting - watching TV in bed in lieu of a nap is one of her favorites (she's big into telling me what her favorite everything is these days...) We had a great location and we could see the falls if we looked to the right out our window. The hotel was part of a complex that included a water park, restaurants and other entertainment venues. We went to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner - if you've ever been, you know it's no place for a nap, but that's exactly what Norah did - she climbed up onto Matt's lap and fell asleep!


We scored ourselves some free breakfast at the rooftop restaurant - check out this view, you can't beat it! All I did was let them know the room was really warm - honestly, I was not complaining, but needless to say, this started our day off on the right foot!

Before we left town, we took a spin on the "Big Wheel" - a giant Ferris wheel overlooking the Falls. Norah was fascinated by if, maybe even more than the falls, and doesn't seem to have inherited any of her mother's fear of heights - she didn't seem to be the least bit uncomfortable - unlike me :)
This picture is a little deceiving, as it kind of looks like I am attempting to reassure her before we go on the wheel, which is not all all the case!

Gentle Norah

I've been saying that Norah is great with Roddie, and very gentle and caring with him. I witnessed her being the same way with one of her peers the other day. As I arrived to pick her up, they were just getting the kids lined up to head in from the playground. One of the other February girls, Kailyn, fell off the equipment - it wasn't far and she wasn't hurt - but Norah stopped in her tracks and ran back to help her up, asking "Are you OK Kailyn?" I was so proud!

Rod's Baptism

On November 21, we had Rod's Baptism. It was no small feat to get a quorum of family members present to share his special day, but we managed! As I mentioned previously, we had both sets of grandparents and one sibling from each side, who are his Godparents. We were happy to be able to entertain our families at our home! The only problem was that with both granmothers there, I never knew who to hand Roddie off to! Both Nanny and Oma were very nice about sharing their Roddie time, In a funny coincidence, both Nanny and Oma showed up in essentially the same outfit! In real life, the colors seemed much closer.

My sisters and I have made a habit of surprises, and also of sharing big events. Maybe it's a function of the distance between us all, or maybe we all inherited a funny gene somewhere along the way, but this time was no different. My sister Erin announced her engagement to her significant other, Eric. Well, maybe not so much announced as subtly flashed her ring around. Well, maybe not so subtly... in any case, we're thrilled for them. I've long thought they were a good match and I am very happy that they are 'going legit' Here's a picture of them with Roddie, perhaps a glimpse of things to come? I hope so, Eric had such a great way with Norah that I think he'll be a great dad when the time is right.

Norah of course, was a big sister extraordinaire. She did a great job of sharing her toys when all of her cousins were at the house, and behaved very well in church, and all weekend. Of course, it didn't hurt that Father Peter, who knows Norah by name, made a point of including her in some of the proceedings. Norah actually told him at one point, in front of everyone, that "I already had my baptism"Here's a picture of Roddie and all his mothers an fathers - Grandfather Opa, Grandmother Oma, Godfather Uncle Mike, Roddie, Matt, Me, Norah, Godmother Auntie Erin, Grandmother Nanny and Grandfather Papa.
We also had some other, very special attendees - our 7 o'clocker friends Alice and Denis, Bob and Anne, and Lorraine all joined us. We've been regularly attending 7 am mass on Sunday's since I was pregnant with Norah and we've become friends with these folks over the past couple of years. We really enjoy having them in our lives and were honored that they were able to join us.

Lastly, I took the opportunity to take a family picture for our Christmas cards while we were all spiffed up

Time Flies on Maternity Leave!

My oh my, November was a light month for blog posts! I've got no excuses really, all I can say is that life can be surprisingly busy when you're on maternity leave! I've been able to catch up with quite a few friends that I haven't seen in ages. I've also been heading to the gym at leas 3 days a week. I've been looking after all kinds of random items around here that we never seem to get time for. I've been doing the Christmas shopping. I've been looking after car maintenance. I've been cooking baby food and grown up food for the freezer. Oh, and I've been bonding with Mister Smiley, our boy Rod!

November was also a busy month for us on the practical front. It was our turn to host Family Friday night - our regular neighbourhood gathering. Our little house happily held 20 people - 12 adults and 8 kids, along with 2 pots of chili, and all the beer and fixin's that must accompany it. It felt a little chaotic, but I think any get together with 8 kids will be that way, and it felt really good to open up our home, and not just our yard, to our neighbourhood friends. In attendance were Erin and Ally, Connor and Evie, Jack, Lelani and my two as well as all their parents and Lauren's mom. On top of this party, it was the week before the project that Matt has been working on got turned over to the customer. Poor Matt was pretty tapped out at work and still managed to lend a hand getting ready for the party.

As if that wasn't enough, the following weekend was Roddie's Baptism - the party continues! We were very happy to have both of our parents in town, as well as my sister Erin and her (now fiance!) Eric, and Matt's brother Mike and his family - Lynn, Kaitlyn, Adam, Olivia and Ella. More on that in another post (Maybe today if Roddie keeps sleeping!)

Immediately following the Baptism whirlwind, we left on a roadtrip to visit my new niece Hartleigh in Toronto, and took a couple of days to visit Niagara Falls along the way. It was a long trip and a lot of driving, but well worth it on all fronts... more again (including some pictures!) in another post!

As we wrap up November and start the very busy month of December, I am relieved to be back on payroll at my job - still on 'vacation' - for real this time, I am now using my vacation days rather than unpaid leave - but at least earning money again. My leave was accounted for in our financial planning, but it still felt disconcerting to be not earning money for the longest period since I was about 14. I did consign all my maternity clothes and sell a few furniture items on Craigs List, but it's really not the same!

On that note, I am off to enjoy some quality time with my boy!