Pic of the Day ~ The ever Beautiful Becca showing of her new Glasses! (can you see her fat lip and split? hehe! Crazy Girl!) She is going to look even more fabulous once the patch is off!

WOW!~What a day! Becca & I puttered around this morning, both doing our own thing and checking in on one another (I would have loved being the one playing rather than scrubbing!)

At 10:30 we headed over to our favorite book store. However, it was not to buy books, rather to pick up a pair of really snazzy shoes from an awesome Mom from our Mom’s group. She is uber sweet and offered everyone a little discount! I am all about a good deal. Check out her business here, it looks like she has not posted the shoes yet. I will have to capture them on the camera, because dude these shoes could not be cuter!

Unfortunately we could not stay to chat and browse (although I did see a few things I want to get later ), instead we cruised over to the eye doctor’s. Becca & I chatted a lot on the way there about how her new glasses were going to be so cool, make her look even cuter and how proud Mommy & Daddy were of her. I laid it on so thick by the time we were climbing the stairs to the office Becca was bursting with excitement saying “Becca! GLASSES!” over and over. She sat through the fitting and adjustments so good! (her snazzy new shoes match her snazzy new glasses!)
I was prepared to let her go on & off with the glasses. I was determined not to make it a fight and only have fun with them. Becca the wonder child amazed me again. From the time she received them at the office until the time she went to bed tonight she wore her glasses!!!! She wanted to take them off once in the morning and instead we read a book. She was so quiet while listening and looking. After lunch we read another story then I told her that I was going to take her glasses off so she could sleep. The poor girl thought I was taking, taking the glasses and cried no no no!! I softly explained that we do not sleep with glasses on because when we sleep our eyes are closed so Becca was alright.

This afternoon while playing she insisted that her cherished Pooh wore glasses as well. It was so cute, so I took the pretend glasses her Grandma gave her and took a hair tie to make the glasses stay put (psha why don’t they design glasses with pooh bear in mind??!?!) It was to wonderful to witness her full acceptance of the glasses. However tomorrow is a new day, so we shall she how Becca does.

Once again I am exhausted. No big trip today, however it was an adventurous day for Becca & I. Being a single Mom is darn tooting hard I tell you! I always respected single Moms, now I worship them for all that they do!!
Special Note: Thank you for calling today Betty Ann! I was so busy with Becca and everything I just never had a chance to call you back, Sorry!

Pic of the Day ~ Becca & Ryan (they were putting rock in that middle part & it is set up so it makes music as the rocks or sand fall through…seriously the coolest thing!)

I was up with J at 3:30 am . I could not let him leave without saying good-bye and lots of hugs and kisses. I am a little bummed that Becca did not receive the same chance to hug her Daddy bye-bye, however one would have to be insane to wake a toddler at 3:30 am and then think one could return to sleep. I had troubles getting back to sleep, and tried to focus on Becca wandering into my bedroom in the wee hours of the morning.

As I mentioned yesterday, Becca and I joined Ryan & JoAnne for a day at Huntington Gardens. Becca woke up at 6 am again this morning. No coaxing or lying down with her was going to get her back to sleep. She played for a half an hour and when asked what she would like for breakfast she proclaimed “EGGIES”, lol so eggs it was!

We chilled out in the morning, organizing Becca’s summer clothes and packing away her older jeans and that sort of thing. Before we knew it, it was time to head outside and wait for JoAnne and Ryan!

Becca got really upset about moving her car seat to another car (she always does, I try to warn her it is about to happen, still gets upset!) Unfortunately at that time, I was unaware that she had pooped. Well the poor girl (she did not tell me either, just she almost always does) was stuck in a poopy diaper for an hour and a half while we let the kids sleep in the car and we drove around Pasadena! Needless to say the diaper rash that ensued was not a good start to the afternoon.

We had a blast!! We always have such a wonderful time with Ryan and JoAnne. Ryan is older than Becca, however he is so kind and teaches her so many cool things (and not so cool things, but hey they are toddlers not angels ). Ryan and Becca played for an hour and a half in the children’s garden. This garden includes a ton of water fountains, sand box, plant tunnels, a mist area and plant houses! It was not very busy today and the kids ran & ran & ran, all the while squealing with laughter. It was so wonderful to watch.

Becca was running towards the end and tripped really really bad. The poor girl split her lip open and skinned her OTHER knee! One of the garden personnel brought us first aid supplies and Becca felt a lot better, not having blood all over her face and knee!

At that point we decided to go for some tea and a late lunch for JoAnne & I (the kids ate when we arrived), there was a cute little buffet with tons of fruit on it. I am so sure both Becca & Ryan ate their weight in strawberries and watermelon!

After a wonderful tea, we walked through a few of the amazing gardens, then headed out of the gardens. We did some shopping in downtown Pasadena then headed for dinner.

It was a great day. Both kids are totally worn out and well I am exhausted and cannot wait to hit the sack. I spoke with J and he arrived and is exhausted.

I promise to catch up with you all tomorrow after a much needed sleep. Hope you all had a great day too!!! Lastly I hope everything I typed makes sense..I am not really sure I am so tired!!! If not please forgive me!! Ok Ok I am off to sleep…

Pic of the Day ~ Becca all cute with her Backpack!

Now I do not everyone to get all excited or get their panties in a twist about what I am about to type … Ok … are you relaxed? …. J is flying back to Canada tomorrow morning for a job interview at a university. This is very exciting, however it may not lead to a job so take a deep breath, and wait on the Congrats cards and presents (or feel free to send presents ). I am so very proud of J!! He had a telephone interview a few weeks ago and they totally called him back to head up there!! It is really early in his post-doc to be accepting offers, however this is an excellent opportunity for him to learn from the experience.

That being said, this leaves me home alone with Becca for 3 days. Now all you uber independent women out there are probably thinking I am pretty darn silly for being a little freaked out. However, this is the first time I will be alone in California. This is a big place with a while lot of people and some of those people … are bad people. We live in an ok area, but there is still shit that goes down around here (one guy got mugged while moving into our apartment complex ). I have never been out after dark alone since we moved here. My thoughts are, why put yourself in a situation that could be freaky?

Now the likelihood I will need to go out after dark is like zero, so I should be set. We have not experienced a real earthquake yet so I should be set there. If something goes down in the apartment complex, I know the guy across the hall and he is super nice (has three kids, his wife is awesome!) yet I bet he could be very scary if he wanted to be! I would not hesitate to ask them for help.

I know I am being silly and more than likely nothing is going to happen. However, I am a Canadian girl in an environment so unlike anything I have ever dreamed of. Seriously, when if ever, has there been a high speed chase in Canada???? Here the news finds one almost daily (here as in LA, my area it is more once a week). Not only crime, whatever it is there and hopefully will never hit too close to home. The sheer mass of people that live in this area is mind blowing!

I have friends here (thank goodness if not I would be utterly terrified) and I know they would keep me company in a heart beat if I asked. This weekend is Memorial day weekend so a lot of people have plans and there is a LLL conference out of town!

So my plans….at night watch chic flix and leave a lot of lights on! During the day it is way easier. Becca & I are joining JoAnne and Ryan for a trip to Huntington Gardens again tomorrow. That is an all day affair so we are set! Friday the weather is suppose to be awesome, so Becca and I are going to have a pool day. I am not sure about Saturday, I am going to leave that open and see what Becca wants to do.

I am so going to miss J like crazy! Not only for the security of his presence, but his humour that matches mine, to have to snuggle with, and his help with Becca after a long day. I am so rooting for him that the interview goes well and he is proud of it. So if you can wish him luck for Friday and keep me in your thoughts as I ridiculously hibernate while he is gone.

Pic of the Day ~ Becca on a Throne (in a castle, come on guys!)

After my frenzied day yesterday, I insanely chose to take Becca to Disneyland today. I want to take her as much as we can before the summer is blocked out to us (we have the cheapest pass so once July hits we cannot not go back till September unless we pay more).

Becca and I had a wonderful time. We did some usual stuff, like visit Pooh and his friends, then tried some new to us stuff! We went to a jungle gym island on a raft saw the Muppets 3D, and some misc. stuff. Becca was quiet at first, it was odd however as the day progressed she talked more. Becca absolutely gushed and melted in my arms when she met her first princess!! For a girl that does not like dolls, Becca sure likes the whole princess thing! Even at home she has been building “castles” out of mega blocks!! She has a cute Cinderella mega blocks figurene with a horse and has sent a lot of time with it lately. Just when you think you have your kids figured out!?!?!

I think the patch is annoying her a little and she expresses it through quietness and a little sadness. It is totally bugging J & I, however there is still 10 more days then we see if she needs more time! Her glasses should be ready any day now. I am hoping that even with the one eye it will improve her eyesight and she will instantly fall in love with her glasses (wishful thinking eh?)

Phew now that I am all caught up on reading blogs and posting I am off to bed…Thanks for all the great comments yesterday!

Pic of the Day ~ Becca & Mommy at the Zoo (again)

Have you ever looked around your home and realize you would want to shrivel up and crawl under the fridge if someone showed up at your house expectantly?  For the past month week, I keep looking about and seeing sneaky clutter and mess creeping up on me.

I raked my brain to figure out where I have gone wrong. I am an ok housekeeper, especially since Becca came into the world. Before that J & I both worked, him at his school jazz and me at the various jobs I filled. He did a lot of the cooking and dishes, I would do the major cleans, you know everyone once and a while. We lived the life of university students, even though I graduated before we got married. J’s income was based on scholarships and grants (in fact it still is, good thing he is not only good-looking but smart too!) Since J keeps moving me all over North America, work wise I have always had to start at the bottom and claw my way up.

I am babbling….Back to the household jazz. I worked my butt off while pregnant with Becca (that is a long story remind me to tell you about it!) so that I could take my year of maternity leave without taking a huge hit financially (Canadians receive 55% of their wage from our government benefits and quite often are given more from our employers). Once Becca arrived (early always on her own schedule!!) I took full responsibility of the house stuff (I even mowed our lawn!) while I stayed home with our gorgeous daughter (this was a slow transition J totally helped so much when we first became parents and still does!!)

Since arriving to California, I have moved into the role of housewife all the way. I take responsibility for all the household things. Cleaning, laundry, budgeting and bills. J has the luxury of coming home and enjoying his daughter till her bedtime, then enjoying me! It allows J to focus on this last leg of our journey to his career goals. Taking this responsibility has been stressful at times. It is all me baby if things lag behind like now. The thing is, I always try to put Becca first, before dishes, vacuuming etc. If I am in the middle of something and she asks me to read to her, I do.
Luckily J totally gets me and why I wanted to be a stay at home mom. It was J’s thing first for me to stay at home. His mother was a stay at home mom. I was a latch key kid, often left alone to my own defenses. I always wanted things to be different for my children. J totally supports our family lifestyle. It sucks not to be able to get the latest Apple or to have two vehicles instead of one. However, Becca is happy and content. I am very happy & J is doing great and is happy. What else can we ever want as a family?

(a minivan, an Apple G4, the Canon digital camera, new clothes, Thomas table with a cool set of trains, oh oh a house we own, with a yard, a second vehicle, new shoes)

Since we do not have all the latest jazz, I try to ensure Becca has the best from both of us. The emotional, creativeness from me and the logic,  analytical-ness from J. So if our home is a little spotty, I can live with that (especially since I cannot afford a maid!)

btw - I know my life is not the “feminist way”, some may even condone it and say I am anti-feminist. However, I never wanted to see the glass ceiling nor have I ever been ambitious in a career sense. I always wanted to help people and from my experience so far, I am more empowered to do so at this time as a community member that cares. Once my daughter is older I am going to use my education and power as a mother and a woman to better our community (where ever that may be). Feminism to me has always been about choice. Some women make the greatest impact and are happiest in the corporate world. While women like myself are empowered in a different way. There has to be a few moms that will bake for our children’s bake sale, just as we need women in corporate positions taking care of our children. Equal yet different.