A little bit of sweetness for your Christmas Eve...

You really, really, really must go here for a beautiful display of absolute decadence....Enjoy !!

Christmas Wish

All I truly wanted for Christmas this year was to be home with my babies on Christmas morning and to deliver another healthy baby a few days after....Well one wish down and one to go !!

We had a great Christmas eve with the kids and it couldn't imagine it any other way.  We had numerous invites to parties but honestly I just wanted something really low key.  We all got in our jammies around 6:30 and watched a few Christmas cartoons while munching on some tasty goodies.  The kids got to each open a gift and then we put out lunch for Santa and his reindeers.

Now they are both snuggled into their beds eagerly anticipating what Santa will bring them tomorrow !

I tried to snap a few pictures of the kids before they went to bed but Laila is at that lovely age of not wanting to pose for pictures and Hayden thinks it is funny to act like a little goofball in most of the pictures so when I did get a good one of her he was doing something silly.  {sigh}

I will make do with what I took and hopefully get a few better shots of them tomorrow morning.

On the baby front I guess we are good to go on Tuesday as my blood pressure has settled down and baby is still moving around like crazy.  We had an U/S done on Tuesday because my doctor just wanted to ensure everything was in fact progressing as planned.  Baby is still breech (which I pretty much figured) and is weighing well over 8 pounds now with a ton of hair.   Hubby and I both said "Yup sounds just like a Suleman baby to us".

Well must run and wake "Santa" as he has fallen asleep with Hayden.  The old guy still needs to put a few toys together before tomorrow morning ! (At least it's not a Thomas the Train table with all the lovely pieces to assemble like we had a few years back.)

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope that your time with family & friends is wonderful and joyous !!

God Bless,
Michelle

So now we wait...

And honestly I don't do "waiting" well !!  I had my 2nd to last Dr's appt on Friday and my dr found my pressure to be elevated higher then she would have liked.  I regularly sit around 120/80 bit it was much higher then that.  Baby is measuring around the 38week mark so even if she had to come now all would be fine with the delivery.  She sent me for a bloodwork which I did Friday and U/S which was scheduled for today but has since been moved to tomorrow.

I did however have a GP friend check my pressure on Saturday morning and it was still very high.  I had started to experience headaches so he advised I should just go to the hospital with the fear of pre-eclampsia.  So off I went and they were great at the hospital....after running some tests it was determined that I was fine but should really just try to rest as much as possible and they used those dreaded words "Bed Rest".  I know I'm lucky with just only a week left but really did it have to be the week leading up to Christmas.

My two best pals are gone on vacation and both called yesterday to find out how things were going.  After a good cry I felt better and know that it is what it is but I know they both feel very bad being away when I could use them the most.

I'm very "A" type and totally need to control everything in my families life but now must do it from the bed.   There really isn't much left to do....gifts are bought and wrapped, Christmas dinner ingredients are bought and just ready to be cooked (which hubby can clearly do),  everything is set up for baby's arrival and hubby cleaned our house last night !  So here I sit this morning in bed just waiting !!

Hubby was planning on taking the kids out for lunch and maybe try to get that elusive Santa picture today.  But the weather is crappy and I'm sure the roads are messy so I would much prefer them to just stay home cozy and warm with me.

I honestly can't believe that Christmas eve will be upon us in 4 days and I really wish to be here Christmas morning to see the kids open their gifts !!

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday with loved ones and you have a wonderfully festive break !!

I will continue to update here on the baby's status and hopefully hubby can put up a small post if I actually need to go in earlier then next Tuesday but I'm not banking on him know how to actually do that so I will post when I get home.

Merry Christmas !!
Michelle

"Yes I Did" Friday

I thought I would join in the fun this week with the "Yes I did" blog carnival hosted by Jeanntte at "And on to today" !

Yes I Did ....Make an appt to get my hair cut where I take my kids to get theirs done. And Yes I Did ....get a far better cut then I did with the big salon that I paid almost triple the amount for the last time.

Yes I Did... Feed my kids popcorn for dinner one night but added a large glass of milk to go with it.

Yes I Did ....stay home from last Saturday until yesterday because it was just to cold to go outside.

Yes I Did....nothing most days while Laila napped in the afternoon this week. Yes I did....just watch movies and TV shows instead of preparing more for Christmas.

Yes I Did...buy my Christmas Turkey in a box this year. It's just the four of us this year and I couldn't be bothered with a big bird as I'm going into the hospital a few days after Christmas. I hope it's good because it was more expensive then a regular old bird.

Finally Yes I Did.....Just eat a huge carmel square for breakfast this morning but now I'm starting to feel very ill but it was very good at the time.

Stop by Jeanette's Blog to see what everyone else did this week !!

Virtual Cookie Exchange

Thank you Tracy for hosting the Virtual Cookie Exchange  - If you want to see all the yummy recipes you can find them here !

Chocolate Coconut Fancies Squares

These are one of my most favorite squares and I honestly have a problem stopping at just a few....

What you will need:

1st layer: (Crust)

• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup of white sugar
• 3 tbsp cocoa
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 2 cups crushed Graham wafers
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup nuts

2nd layer: (frosting)

• 1/4 cup margarine
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 2 tbsp hot milk
• 1/2 tsp almond flavoring

3rd layer:

• 2 squares of chocolate
• 1 tsp  margarine

4th layer:

• 1/4 cup coconut 

How to make them:

1. For the 1st layer put the butter or margarine, white sugar, cocoa, vanilla and egg in a double boiler and cook  on med-low until smooth - approx. 5 minutes.  Add crushed graham wafers, coconut and nuts to mixture and remove from heat.
2. Press into a lightly greased 9 x 12 pan.
3. For the 2nd layer mix together margarine, hot milk, icing sugar and almond flavoring - Spread onto 1st mixture.
4. Melt the 2 squares chocolate and 1 tsp of margarine and let cool - pour on top of frosting layer.
5. Sprinkle remaining coconut on top.
6. Place in fridge until cooled.

Enjoy !!

Still hanging in...

I'm finding it a little stressful this year trying to get everything done before Christmas.  I think the added stress of the new baby arriving shortly after hasn't helped my "A" type personality either.

This weekend was a bit of a bust mainly because of the stupid winter weather.  I was sad to have to cancel dinner with two friends on Friday night due to crappy road conditions.  I was so looking forward to a girl's night out with ladies to just relax and share a few laughs.  We hope to meet before Christmas if our schedules can sync to the same day.

Saturday our cleaning ladies are scheduled to come so we cleared out just before 11 am.  I had booked haircuts for Laila and I which is always a fun filled adventure with her.  She will not sit in the groovy cars they have and her dad usually has to hold her in a chock hold.  Well it was not different Saturday except she cried so hard this time her little nose started to bleed.  Poor little ladybug !!   But she needed the cut badly so we soldiered on to get it done.  Daddy took the kids for a quick lunch while I got my haircut.

Afterwards, we went to one of the local malls as the boys need to sell some popcorn for the Scouts and it was surprise a crazy mad house....I grabbed some lunch there and then met up with them afterwards.  Thank god the previous scouts had sold all but 3 boxes before we got there so we only needed to stay about 15 minutes.

We got home Saturday afternoon to find that our cleaning ladies had been here but didn't manage to get the work all done.  They had brought 3 instead of the regular 2 girls and we told them that didn't need to clean the basement so what the hell had they done for the time they were here.  We have had a few issues in the past but before we made a judgement call to fire them we wanted to talk to the main girl.  Hubs called her because I was just pissed off and supposedly they arrived almost 90 minutes late and stayed 90 minutes instead of the 3 hours we pay them for.   She then had the nerve to ask if they could come back on our dime of course to finish the work they didn't get done.

I have a couple of issues with this....1) she brought someone new into my home that I was not familiar with 2) We pay them each $20/hour IMO too much but I'm 9 months pregnant and needed the help but because there was three of them they split the money 3 ways and still didn't stay long enough to cover what we left. 3)Then asked to come back for more money and finish the job.

We were beginning to wonder if it is because we live in a nice large home in a nice neighborhood that she felt she could just start changing the rules of the game.  I think we were pretty fair in the beginning with her and tried to work to their schedules but always felt like we were the last in her line.  She is a nanny working her weekends as a cleaner and I know that she wants to make as much money as possible but I really felt as if we were being taken advantage of so we just fired them and cut our losses.

So I sit here now with no cleaning lady and honestly at a time when I really need one.  I have placed a few calls with our old cleaning services to see if they could possibly pick us up again but I'm still waiting to hear back from them.

Sunday we decided that Ladybug and I would just stay home instead of going to the Christmas party at the hubby's work.  It was so cold and honestly I just couldn't take her out again.  After the party the boys went onto a hockey game and arrived home around 8.

So all in all it was a bit of a bummer weekend but onwards and upwards we go...We are expecting warmer temps by Wednesday so that should brighten the moods of all.

Baby is still kicking up a storm and is more then ready to come on out...I'm feeling very, very large and just want it to be done.  15 days and counting unless the little lady decides to come early which is a total possibility.

I hope all your Christmas preparations are going well and you will be ready for the big day !!  Only 10 days until Christmas eve !!

Chow for now - Stay warm !!

Mother Nature you suck...but so does our city council !!

Seriously, Calgary has been hit with crappy weather for the past 2 weeks and I have had just about enough.  I know I live in a country that has winter but for heavens sakes winter hasn't even officially started yet.

We live in a city that has a city council that doesn't believe that we need better road clearing services.  With a population of over a million people and with a great majority actually having to drive these roads everyday to and from work I for one say they do.

Last week we had a very serious fire that destroyed 5 homes all because the fire trucks could not reach the houses...they were not located in rural section of the city but a residential area within the city.  That could have very well been any of us.

We have a whole community in another area of the city that were not able to get their cars out because they were completely buried under snow drifts but even if they could have gotten the cars out they couldn't drive their roads as they were completely impassable as well.    The city it would be at least 3 or 4 days before they could get out and plow them out.

Even emergency personal needed to abandon their vehicles and walk by foot to the people requiring medical attention.  As someone who is in her 36th week of pregnancy that causes me great stress.

When is the city going to wake up and realize this is not going to stop happening every year !!!  They need to formulate a new plan to effectively deal with something that is going to keep coming back.

There is a civil election coming this year so maybe it is time that the people of Calgary wake up and put their votes to good use by replacing the ineffective mayor and council we currently have running this city.

So dear Mother Nature can you please stop dumping snow in Calgary at least until our city can clear out what you have already gifted us with !!

Best thing ever...

Not sure about you all but the worse part of putting up our Christmas tree was ensuring that the 1000 lights were connected and working.  Honestly, it would take hubs a few hours just to find where a string had come unplugged (and of course because it was older I didn't have the strands that if one light went out the others stayed on...that would be too smart).   I know last year we had a section that he just couldn't figure out so I started grumbling quietly about getting a "prelit" tree this year and he totally agreed.

So this year we trudged off to 6 different stores looking at all the lovely "prelit" trees and trying to decide which one we were going to make our own.  I could see hubs already figuring out what he would do with all the free time he was going to get from buying me one of these babies.

After what seemed like hours I finally decided on an a lovely 7 1/2 foot  Oregon Pine with 800 clear lights on it but sadly found out that this specific store was sold out.  The sales clerk checked and one of the stores on the other side of the city had 3 so off we went to get the one.  Bonus was they were on sale for 35% off that day....it ended up being around $250.  My 6 year old wanted to put it up the day we got home (which was two weeks ago) mainly because he associated the tree with Santa coming and wanted to ensure he covered all the bases early.

But we decided to wait to after Ladybug's birthday last week...I figure it's going to be hard enough having her birthday in December we don't need to overshadow it with Christmas.  So the other day while the boys were gone to work/school and Laila was napping this very pregnant mama pulled out the tree to see if it was really going to be that easy to put together.   Honestly, I'm not sure why we didn't get this tree years ago.....it was so easy.  It took me maybe 2 hours from start to finish and I have to say it is just lovely !

I left ornaments for Hayden (with assists from  Laila) to put on when he got home but all in all it was the easiest assembly we have ever had.  So if you are in the market for a new "fake"tree I would strongly suggest getting a "prelit" one.

Here is a picture of the final product (I will try to take a better one later as this pic isn't the greatest and really doesn't represent how pretty it actually is).

My favorite time of the day (at least) for the next few weeks is coming downstairs early in the morning, turning the lights on the tree and enjoying my morning cup of tea in peace and quiet !

Now I'm in the mood for Christmas and all the joy it brings !

Inexpensive Teacher's Gifts

This year Hayden has 6 teachers that I require Christmas gifts for and remembered something I had stashed in my "To Do One Day" pile a few years back. They are super cute and very inexpensive but just a little time consuming.  I have showed them to my girlfriend who is a teacher and she loved them so I feel pretty confident his teachers will appreciate them.

What you will need :

• A shadow box frame (I got 8x10 frames at Michael's for $12.00 on sale)
• Crayons - I did buy a few new boxes but you could use your kids old ones.
• Piece of cardstock to print the name and letter on.
• Glue gun

How to make them:

• I used Powerpoint on my computer to print the first initial of the teacher along with their first name (some may use Mrs or Ms Last Name but our school goes by first names for the teachers)
• Place crayons over the large letter by cutting crayons to the appropriate sizes.  I just used a sharp knife to this.
• Once you have them all in place start hot glueing the crayons to the paper.
• Place finished  picture in the frame and you are done !

Each one took approx. 2 hours to do but it was probably me being fussy on how I placed the crayons on the sheet.

(Credit to Testosterone Times Three where I originally found the idea)

Rolo Cookies

I received these as part of a cookie exchange this past weekend and have to say they are very  tasty cookies.  Once I stock my cupboard with Rolo's I plan on making a few batches myself.  I thought I would share the recipe here because it's just that good !!

What you will need:


1 cup of sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup of butter
3 1/4 cup of flour
3/4 cup of cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
8 packages of Rolo's

How you make them:

• Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl and then the remaining in a separate bowl.
• Add dry mixture to wet one - Mixing with hands.  (This will be very messy)
• Flatten a small amount of cookie dough in your hand and wrap the rolo in the dough making it the center.
• In a small bowl of white sugar roll the dough and place on a greased cookie sheet, flatten slightly with a fork.  
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 350 F

(I would have posted a picture of the ones I received but they have all been eaten.)

All I want for Christmas....

Is my two front !!!

My little guy lost his other front tooth yesterday....It looks so strange but he seems to be coping well.  Eating is a little tricky but it will be like that for awhile so he needs to get used to it !

Sadly to me it means he is just growing up and I'm losing my "little tiny man" !

Hello Winter.....

Well this is what we woke up to this morning in Calgary....Welcome to Old Man Winter !  I guess he is here to stay for awhile now.

So for all my new friends in the States and other parts please don't be too jealous of all the snow I have received because I would gladly send it all your way....I really need to work on moving to a warmer climate.

Happy Saturday Everyone !!

Happy Birthday to my Little Ladybug !!!!

I can't hardly believe that our little Laila arrived two years ago today.  We prayed for you and I truly find it hard sometimes to put into words what you mean to our family.   I thank god everyday for you and know you are a true gift.   I'm so excited to be part of your life as you get older and I'm so proud to be your mama !!

Enjoy your 2nd birthday Laila and know you are loved very, very much !!

Birthday Pictures

We had a very low key little party for Ladybug last night...just us and close family friends but it's pretty much all I could handle this year.  We had a great time and Laila seemed to really enjoy herself !!

Happy Birthday Sweet Laila !!

I'm just pregnant...

not dying !  Yesterday before Lady Bug and I left to run errands I figured I would shovel the driveway.  Hubby has been getting home late every night and leaving early in the mornings so it hasn't gotten done.  Now we didn't even have that much really but just enough to bug me.

I got Laila set up in the van with a movie and started to clear the little bit of snow.  Truth be told it was beautiful out and I was actually enjoying the nice cool breeze plus the little bit of exercising was probably doing me some good.

When all of a sudden I heard "Young lady" (I seriously didn't even look up since I haven't been "young" in many, many years).  But I quickly realized my neighbor was talking to me when he came outside with his shovel and was intent on taking over shoveling my driveway.  He was furious that someone in "my condition" (his words not mine) would actually attempt to do something so silly.  I just know Faruq will hear an ear full the next time he sees him.

I had pretty much finished by the time he came out but I let him finish what was left and went on my way to run errands.

Now today he is nowhere to be found and we got over 20 centimeters of snow and could really use his help !!  But I guess Faruq will have the pleasure tomorrow trying to dig us out !!

Now I'm in the spirit...

I did a little updating tonight to get myself in the mood for the festive season upon us.

I hope you enjoy the new tunes as well !!

Can we top this...

After fuming last year about our family Santa picture I quickly started to see the humor in it and we actually ended up sending it out as our family picture in the Christmas cards. While we mom's dream of that wonderful pictures with kids smiling and sitting pretty on Santa's lap it doesn't always turn out that way.

We actually got really lucky last year....the kids picture alone with Santa was great and the family one was just down right funny !!

I suspect any pictures with Santa and Laila this year will be more like the 2nd one but she could surprise us.

Just call me Gloria.....

Honestly, the last few weeks I have felt as I'm getting my ever expanding behind handed to me on a plate every day. I'm really trying to enjoy these last few weeks of pregnancy but it's been tough to stay positive and maintain that glorious pregnancy glow that all us gals get !

Really I'm just feeling more and more like Gloria from the movie Madagascar.  I have successfully managed to gain more weight with this pregnancy then either of my other two and I'm really feeling huge now.  Sleep is a luxury when I manage to get it and it is never enough.   Little kicker decided it would be a hoot to flip herself into a breech position for the last trimester so I feel as if a watermelon is sitting on my bladder and I might as well just take up residence in a bathroom.

My nearly 2 year old has decided that it is a great time to start exercising her "independent" streak and refuses to listen to me at all. She has become the Tasmanian Devil creating mess after mess for me to clean up.  When daddy arrives home nightly I'm pretty much ready to throw in the towel and give the game up.

And not to ever be out done by his sister Hayden has been an interesting little human to be around lately....everyone says he will return to normal programming when he hits 7 but man it has been tough the last few months.  I so wish my polite and quiet little man would return to me.

Now I'm faced with Christmas and everything joyous about that holiday...I have almost finished my shopping because I knew when I was pregnant two years ago at this time I was not in any mood to fight the crowds at the malls.

We are going to put the tree up on Sunday after Laila's birthday Saturday and maybe try to throw a piece of  garland over the bannister.   The boys both start their Christmas breaks on December 18th and I'm really looking forward to just having a quiet few weeks before the new little kicker arrives.

Okey Dokey pity party is done at least for now.  I have another yummy Christmas recipe that I will post shortly to add a little sweetness to your holidays !

Michelle's Yummies

These are a great treat at Christmas and the bonus is they are super easy to make. Be warned they can be very addictive so make sure you make an extra batch or two !

What you will need:

1 tsp of Oil
1lb of White Arctic Melting Wafers
4 Cups of Golden Graham Cereal
1/2 Cup of Cranraisans
1 Cup of Salted Peanuts (I have used unsalted and it was still yummy)

How to make it:

• Melt the white wafers and oil together - stirring constantly for 1 minute or until completely melted on medium heat.
• Mix cereal, peanuts & cranraisans together in a separate bowl then pour melted wafers over mixture and stir until completely coated.
• Pour mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet and put in the fridge for 1/2 hour.
• Break into bite sizes pieces and enjoy !!