The Life of a Modern Mom

Fall Family Picture

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 18:45:00 +0000

Shortly after Miss B turned 1, we, as a family, had our first fall family picture taken. Every since then, it became our family tradition that we have our family pictures taken in the fall. Fall is my favorite season. The colors of the leaves are so vibrant, and the smell of Fall is so inviting, I often find myself spending more time outdoor!

Thanksgiving 2013

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 17:32:00 +0000

It has been two months since Bethany and her friends said goodbye to each other at the daycare. Every morning on our way to school, we drive by Bethany's old daycare center and she says to me "Momma, I miss my friends at the daycare! Can you talk to their momma on the telephone?" So last Saturday, we met up with some of Bethany's friends at Miller's Farm in Manotick.

It was a perfect saturday morning to head out to the pumpkin patch. We arrived there around 10am and the place was not too crowed. We headed to the corn maze and by the time we found our way of the the maze, Bethany's friends arrived. When Bethany saw her friends, her face was immediately lighted up with excitement! Together, we did the tractor ride, picked a pumpkin and did the corn maze again!

First Day of School....

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 18:59:00 +0000

Since Miss B decided to take an afternoon nap (she has not been taking a nap on the weekend for a long time), I suddenly found myself the spare time to blog!

Miss B started JK last month. We had an interview with her homeroom teacher the first Wednesday in September and her first day of school was the following day.

She woke up at 5am on Thursday and asked me "Momma... is it time to go to school yet?" Her voice was filled with excitement. When I told her it was too early, she replied "Oh, OK... don't forget to wake up when it is time for school as I don't want to be late!"

Our New House...

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 18:13:00 +0000

I have not blogged for a long time...

With the house moving and promotion at work, I simply find that it is almost impossible to have enough time during the day to do what needs to be done.

So we moved to our new home in the beginning of July. It is a house with lots of potential... and this translates to lots of work to be done. The house sits on a pie-shaped lot, and the backyard is h.u.g.e.! The previous owner gave up on the backyard, so it was full of weed up to my knee!

Our first project after we moved into our new house was to get our backyard all fixed up. We hired a landscaping company to put in new sod and also built as 14x14 interlock patio. By mid August, we were able to enjoy our backyard! Though the process was painful, but it is well worth it!

Playdoh

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Sun, 27 May 2012 14:41:00 +0000

Miss B has recently developed a strong interest in Playdoh. This morning, we had a lazy Playdoh morning. I must say that playing Playdoh is pretty relaxing!

Day 3 -- Mont Tremblant

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:35:00 +0000

Today was the last day at Mont Tremblant. With Miss B's schedule, we were pretty much up and ready to go at 7:30am! We headed down to the hotel restaurant for a quick breakfast, finished packing, and we said good bye to Mont Tremblant at 9:15am.

Our plan for the day was to visit Parc Omega. It is half way between Mont Tremblant and Ottawa. I read a bit about Parc Omega before the visit, and we brought with us a huge bag of carrots (to feed the deer and moose) and apples (to feed the bear).

We spent a few minutes at the Maison du Parc (Park House) for taking pictures, reading the map given to us at the ticket office, and of course, bathroom breaks. (Now that Miss B is 100% potty trained, my diaper bag has shrunk to 1/2 of what it used to be. We do need to stop bathroom breaks quite often during our trip.)

I volunteered to be the driver through the park, but quickly changed my mind as I got pretty freaked out when our car was blocked by two "welcoming" moose.

Joe and I switched places, and he became the driver and I sat with Miss B at the back. She was scared at the beginning, and I had to hold her hands.

Me: Bethany, if you are scared, squeeze mommy's hand ok?

Miss B: Ok mommy! I squeeze! (and she pretty much squeezed my hand most of the time!)

I was not brave enough to roll down the window and feed the deer. So Joe was our "designated" feeder!

About 1.5 hrs later, we arrived at the beginning of a hiking trail where we are "safe" to get out of the car and walked around. Of course, first order of business was bathroom break for Miss B. We then rented a golf cart (yes a golf cart) and drove to the Old Farm.

Miss B loves the pigs! She developed her "love" for the pigs when we took her to the Experimental Farm in Easter, and she has been talking about the pigs (specifically "stinky pigs") ever since!

After the short visit to the Old Farm, we hopped back onto the golf cart, and drove back to the trail entrance.

I finally worked out the courage to feed a deer! :-)

We drove back to the Maison du Parc and had our picnic lunch there!

After a healthy lunch, we walked around the Maison du Parc and took a few more pictures and then headed home!

We spent in total about 4.5 hours at Parc Omega, and it was a fun day trip for us!

Day 2 -- Mont Tremblant

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Tue, 22 May 2012 23:54:00 +0000

Both Joe and I turned in early last night, but we all ( including Miss B) managed to sleep in till 7:15am! We had a complimentary breakfast provided by the hotel.

We then took a stroll at the village, and managed to find two geocaches (Joe is a big fan of geocaching)! The village was pretty much "dead" as all shops did not open till 10:30am!

At 10:30am, we were the first three people boarded the gondola! It was Miss B's first time in a gondola. She kept saying, "do it again!". By the time we reached the top, it was foggy and raining, we could not walk around at all. I am sure we were also the first three came down on the gondola.

It was lunch time (we often have an early lunch as Miss B's daycare center lunch schedule is around 11:15am. We often stick to the daycare schedule on the weekends or on vacation), and we headed backed to the hotel and I quickly put together a healthy lunch that consists of rosemary ham wrap with cheese, and apple slices.

With the on and off rain, we decided to chance it and went for a bike ride. It was a 6km ride. 1/3 uphill, 1/3 flat surface and 1/3 downhill. Unfortunately, we were caught in a heavy rainfall about 1/2 way, Joe and I were completely drenched while Miss B was 110% dry, sound asleep in the bike trailer! It was a great workout!

We then went back to the hotel to get a quick change of clothes. Then we headed to IGA Plus on Route 117 for quick grocery / dinner shopping. With a kitchenette in our one bedroom suite, we had the luxury to throw together a healthy dinner instead of dining out. It also helps to track WW points too!

The rain finally stopped by the time we headed back to Mont Tremblant. We decided to take a leisure stroll in the village, scored a 50% Helly Hensan ski jacket for Miss B! Joe then suggested we did a round of mini golf at Le Petit Geant. It was Miss B's first time doing mini golf, and she did great! We had lots of fun and laughter!

It was supper time by the time we finished a round of mini golf, and we then headed back to the hotel. We had rotisserie chicken and a green salad with cucumber, apple chunks and red pepper for dinner! After supper, we began Miss B's evening routine: bubble bath, reading story books and singing songs.

Although it was a rainy day, we managed to get the best out of it!

Blogging once again... Mont Tremblant Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Tue, 22 May 2012 22:04:00 +0000

15 months after the last blog entry, I have decided to pick up blogging again.

It is not even 7am, and I am sitting here in a spacious one bedroom suite at Hilton Mont Tremblant, waiting for Joe and Miss B to wake up. We are on our second annual family vacation. Last year we went to Vancouver for my sister's wedding. This year, we do not need to attend any family wedding, so we decided to have a rather relaxing vacation that does not involve flying (as flying with Miss B is not a pleasant experience.) Mont Tremblant is roughly about 3.5 hrs drive from our house. Yesterday, we left the house around 9:30am, dropped off Bee Bee at the pet sitter, and our trip to Mont Tremblant officially began. Since it was our first road trip with Miss B, we got a portable DVD player and packed tons of Miss B's favorite dvds to keep her entertained. We stopped at a picnic spot about 45 mins away from Mont Tremblant. It was also a geocache spot! We had a rather healthy picnic lunch. Joe and Miss B located a geocache, and I, of course, was busy lathering myself with tons of sunblock and insect repellant!

We arrived at our hotel, Hilton Mont Tremblant at about 1pm. The hotel is nice and cozy, and our room is spacious!

I went down for a much needed nap (as I only slept about 4 hrs in total the night before), and Joe and Miss B went exploring in the pedestrian village where Miss B had an ice cream and some marshmallow.

We then went swimming at the hotel's swimming pool in the afternoon. The pool was pretty much empty and we had the pool all for ourselves. It was Bethany's first time using the floaties and she did exceptionally well, and she was not afraid of the water at all.

By 6pm, we were seated at Spag & Co for dinner. The restaurant was not busy so our food arrived fast. We had vegetarian pizza and fettuccine with a creamy sauce.

All the shops in the pedestrian village closed at 5pm, and there was not much to do after dinner. We walked around in the deserted village for a bit and then headed back to the hotel.

Miss B did not have an afternoon nap so she was pretty cranky when dinner was finished. We went back to the hotel and started our normal evening bedtime routine. By 8pm, Miss B was sound asleep!

Joe and I enjoyed half a bottle of Chardonnay, caught up with emails and Facebook. Nothing special, but it was super relaxing.

A Gym Tale

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 17:53:00 +0000

Joe and I enrolled Bethany in the Enchanting Chrildren Program (10 - 16 months) @ A Gym Tale last September. It was a 14-week program, every Saturday from 8am to 9am. The one-hour program includes circle time, nursery rhymes, free play, parachute (Miss B loves the parachute... and she always loves the parachute and enjoys being under the parachute! If I let her, she would probably stay there for an hour or so!) and bubbles (I guess all babies / toddlers love bubbles... the fascinating look on Miss B's face when she saw bubbles is just priceless!)

http://www.agymtale.com/programs.htm

Miss B had a lot of fun in the ball pit (she spent most of the free play time there... and even when we all gathered around for circle time... she would still crawl (for the first 7 weeks) and walk (for the last 7 weeks) back to the ball pit.

When the program ended in mid December, Joe and I, without any hesitation, enrolled Bethany in the Wee Wonders Program (16-24 months), which runs from January till April.

Where was I the last 6 months?

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 02:48:00 +0000

I can't believe the last time I blogged was almost 6 months ago! Seriously, where was I?

My maternity leave ended in mid August, and I took two weeks vacation right after my maternity leave, so I went back to work, full time, the second week in September. Transitioning from a full-time mom to a full-time working mom was beyond challenging in the first little while. I was gone from my job for 13.5 months so I was pretty "lost" the first two weeks when I returned to my old position.

For the first month of so, there were days that I was sitting at my desk, working on reports, while questioning myself repeated if I should stay home with my child? There were also days that I was fighting the urge to call the daycare provider and asked if Bethany drank her milk in the morning, had cheese and crackers for lunch, napped in the morning or got along well with other kids at the daycare. I was lost in my identity... the concept of "working-mom" was so foreign to me!

莫文蔚-忽然之间

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:34:00 +0000

August...

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:31:00 +0000

It has been almost a month since I last blogged! I can't believe time flies!

A lot of things have been happening this month:

1. Miss B turned 1 on Aug 17!
2. Miss B and I ended our two-month vacation in Vancouver and finally came home on Aug 15! (Traveling with a one-year-old alone was t.o.u.g.h.! I have never realized my daughter is a biter until we were on the plane! )
3. Miss B uttered "Pao Pao" the first time a week ago!
4. Miss B's b-day party was a great success!

Our Etsy Shop

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 17:22:00 +0000

After a few weeks of serious thinking, numerous discussions and tremendous over time in preparation, my mom and I have decided to open our very first Etsy shop!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheHappyBabyShop

The Happy Baby Shop -- Quality items for the tiny and trendy!

Miss B's first hair cut!

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:13:00 +0000

Joe and I took Miss B for her very first hair-cut last Thursday! Miss B hair was uber long that the hair cut was long over-due! Miss B was sitting on my laps to get her hair cut, while Joe was taking pictures! Joe got a tad emotional (and yes I saw tears!) when the first strand of hair fell on the ground!

Before: (hair was super long and out-of-control! Miss B hates it when I try to put a hair clip on her head!)

After:

Bethany and Elmo

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:28:00 +0000

Elmo is a 14-year-old Schnauzer and he loves Bethany! It took both of them a few days to adjust to each other... and now they are friends! It is amazing how babies and dogs get along!

My daughter is a monkey!

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:19:00 +0000

I can't believe Bethany is 10.5 months old! Ever since she turned 10 months old, she has hit a lot of milestones. She spends most of her waking moments crawling, pulling herself to stand and climbing. Diaper change is nearly impossible these days! I seriously think that my little girl has somehow turned into a monkey!

Bethany can now stand in her crib!

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Not sure if it is Miss's age (10 months) or the change of surroundings (staying at Gong Gong and Pao Pao's), Miss B has experienced a lot of firsts since this past Monday:

1. she has mastered crawling (no more army crawling!)
2. she has said "Mama" repeatedly and clearly!
3. she can give "high five"!
4. she babbles a lot... and I think she is doing about 10 different sounds!
5. 1/2 hour ago, she has stood up in her crib!

Bethany h.e.a.r.t..s Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Coldplay

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:11:00 +0000

Bethany said "Mama"!

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 19:38:00 +0000

The first time Bethany said "Mama" was about a week ago, when we arrived at my parents' house! She was crying hysterically and cried "Mama". A day or two later... she said "Mama" uber clearly!

Bethany's First Plane Ride

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 19:41:00 +0000

We have been planning this trip to Vancouver for almost 4 months. Traveling with a 10-month -old is a challenge. Packing means "fitting everything Miss B needs in a suitcase or two!" Traveling "light" does not appear in my mommy-dictionary. On board entertainment means singing lullaby repeatedly for "I-have-lost-track-of-how-many-times" on the plane to keep Miss B amused and entertained.

We were on the 7am direct flight from Ottawa to Vancouver. Miss B had to wake up two hours earlier than usual. I thought she would be cranky and would have a meltdown, surprisingly, she fussed for less than 5 mins when I woke her. After her uber early breakfast, she was all happy! We left the house at 5:30am and arrived at the airport at 5:45am. Check in at the Executive Class counter was a breeze. We were allowed to gate check our Uppa Vista (and I was relieved as I did not need to worry that the stroller would be damaged!). Going through Security was a also easy-peasy! They did not ask me to empty my diaper bag, which contains two outfits of Miss B, one pack of Mum-Mum, a container with formula for two feedings, two bottles with pre-measured water, numerous disposable diapers, sunblock, hand-sanitizer, diaper cream, numerous teething toys for Miss B... and many more stuff! (I find that my diaper bag is a treasure box these days....)

Pre-boarding was not as difficult as I expected. An Air Canada staff offered to carry the stroller and my diaper all the way to the cabin for me. I had Miss B in the Ergo so folding the stroller was easy.

The Executive Class was not full, so Miss B ended up having her own seat -- Seat 1A! She was such a good girl that everyone in the executive class adored her and took turn waving at her! :-)

Miss B had two naps on the plane. One was shortly after the plane took off, so I managed to enjoy the breakfast while she was sleeping sideway on my laps. The other nap was when the plane went through some turbulence, and she had an hour nap and I managed to enjoy two episodes of Two and A Half Men!

I am surprised and at the same time, amazed that Miss B did so well on her very first plane ride!

Seat 1A AC 163

First Time Bethany pulled herself up....

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 19:27:00 +0000

Being first-time parents, Joe and I find it uber rewarding and exciting to see Bethany hitting yet another milestone.

Two days after Bethany pulled herself to a sitting position from lying down, she managed to pull herself up by grabbing onto Joe's fingers!

She did it a day prior to Joe's birthday... and this was the b.e.s.t. birthday present for Joe!

Bethany is an active crawler!

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:48:00 +0000

Miss B is an active crawler! She has been army crawling for what seems like f.o.r.e.v.e.r.! On Father's Day, she decided to progressed from army crawling to real crawling. It took her only a few days to master the crawling department!

Annoyed and offended...

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:56:00 +0000

Let's get to the point! I am slightly annoyed and mildly offended!

... and all because of Facebook!

Bethany is not a fast-track baby, but she hits all her milestones, so far, according to her age / month. I have a copy of "What to Expect in the First Year" and I have been referring to it as the baby-bible.

Three days ago, she just started sitting up from a lying position. At first it took her a bit of a time to figure out how to place her little hands and feet to pull herself to a sitting position. It took her less than a day to master it. As first-time parents, watching Bethany accomplish yet another milestone is rewarding and exciting!

Two days ago, while I was out grocery shopping, Bethany managed to pull herself up from a sitting position by grabbing onto Joe's fingers.. I was only out for 1.5 hours, and Bethany, once again, hit another major milestone. Same as all other first time dads out there, my husband posted this piece of joyful news on Facebook!

Fast forward to this morning, I had coffee with my mommy friend and her 8-month-old son. Her son is two months younger than Bethany, and he seems to be hitting the milestones faster than Bethany. For example, he managed to pull himself to a sitting position before Bethany did. He has been cruising the furniture while Bethany is perfectly happy army-crawling!

My mommy friend: "Remember a few days ago, your posted on FB that Bethany is able to sit in the crib? My husband and I had a discussion about you. You know you are so competitive and you want to make sure Bethany hits those milestones before anyone does."

Me: "Yes I am competitive in nature and it is in my blood. But Bethany DID sit up in her crib!"

My mommy friend: "Hahaha! This morning as soon as I posted that my son is standing in his crib. I told my husband "Wait until Louisa sees that. She is going to post right away that Bethany is able to stand in her crib too! Hahaha!'

Me: (speechless for a few seconds... and this was what went through my head, " Ok this is not funny hahaha! At this point, I was annoyed. Was she implying that I "lied" when posting on Facebook to make myself and Bethany look good")

Me (put on my normal face though I was upset): Bethany did pull herself up by grabbing onto Joe's fingers wednesday night!

( I was out grocery shopping when Bethany pulled herself up! Although I did not see it with my own eyes, I am sure my husband would not, in a million years, lied about Bethany's achievement !)

My mommy friend: Joe knows you are competitive and I am sure you must have rubbed some of your competitiveness on Joe as well.
(Seriously... I was beyond annoyed at this point. So I admit I am competitive and I have been secretly compare Bethany with other babies at her age to see if she is slow, fast or normal in achieving milestones! As much as I would like to see Bethany on the fast-track, I am relieved to know that my little girl is normal! My husband and I would NOT lie or post un-truthful comments on FB about Bethany just to make us look good! And this is not what parenting is about! Plus... babies do not lie! They can either stand or not... !)

Somehow we moved onto a different and lighter topic. After coffee, we went to a friend's house for mommy & baby's playdate. While I was sitting on the floor, chatting away with other moms, watching Bethany sitting happily on the floor, clapping her hands, the conversation I had with my friend earlier at Starbucks kept replaying in my mind. Being competitive is one thing, but lying about Bethany's achievement is another thing and I do not see a correlation in those two at all. The comments she made left a very bad taste in my mouth and I was not enjoying myself at the playdate. At the end, we left early so that I could come home, take a deep breath and collect myself.

The bottom line is, I am a.n.n.o.y.e.d. and o.f.f.e.n.d.e.d.!

Let the f.u.n. begin...

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:06:00 +0000

When I was pregnant, I "waddled" to Chapters and got a copy of "What to Expect in the First Year". This book has been my "go-to" guide for the last 10 months.

According to the book, by the end of 9 months, a baby should be able to push herself up to a sitting position when lying down. I have been waiting patiently for Miss B to do this, and with only one day shy from being 10 months old, I began to have doubts and worries.

... and this morning, I put Miss B in her crib for a morning nap and then went to the kitchen to get my caffeine fix. Then I went back to her room and with my own eyes, I saw this:

One week from today...

noreply@blogger.com (B's Mom) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:31:00 +0000

One week from today... Miss B and I will be vacationing in Vancouver at my parents' home!

... but before that... I need to figure out how to pack B's Jumperoo in the suitcase!