Thursday, September 30, 2010

Always, Sometimes, Never

Here's a fun survey going around blog land. Thought I'd join in too!

I always...
... eat with a small (dessert) fork.
... smell my blanket if I'm in the same room as it.
... think about the future.
... pack way too much, regardless of how long our trip is.
... am so grateful for the life I am living.
... make sure the doors are locked before I go to bed.
... say please, thank you, and excuse me.
... love weddings.
... smile when Emily smiles. Even when she's being bad (really need to work on that one!).
... floss every night.

I sometimes...
... spend far too much time writing/editing a blog post.
... don't flush the toilet when Emily is sleeping.
... drink milk straight out of the bag.
... can confidently say that I like the way I look.
... wish my stomach could look the way it did before pregnancy.
... care too much about what other people think.
... give Steve the silent treatment.
... spend way more on a gift than I intended to because I think it's the perfect gift.
... can't believe how lucky I am.
... think and worry about death.

I never...
... drink coffee.
... know what to say when people pass away.
... fall asleep easily.
... watch or enjoy horror movies.
... remember people's names after I meet them for the first time.
... learned much about world history and geography.
... swear. I use "nicer" words like shoot, darn, and crap!
... win at trivia/word games.
... can stand the smell of cigarette smoke.
... yell when I'm angry.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Interview with (13-Month-Old) Emily

Nathalieland: Hello Emily! Nice to see you again.
Emily: [waves hello]


N: How was your first month as a 1-year-old?
E: Pretty good. The highlights were starting on cow's milk (yum!) and Mommy giving me a blanket to sleep with! I also visited Grammy and Auntie Kirtie at a (very windy) cottage at the beginning of this month.


N: Fun! I hear you had a cold.
E: Not had. Have. My nose is still snotty and runny. I'm coughing now too. Man this is tough!

N: Sorry to hear that. What's your least favourite part about being sick?
E: Oh, it's when mom has to "blow my nose" with a kleenex. Why can't mom just leave me, my nose, and my boogers alone?


N: You have a point. But I'm sure Mommy knows best. Are you talking yet?
E: I babble a lot, but there are only a few "words" I say intentionally. They are: "ba" = bath, "ba-ba" = ball, "nya-nya" = magnets, "up" = up.

N: Does that mean "UP" can be considered your first word??
E: I guess so!


N: How exciting! Anything new to report in the sleeping department?
E: My sleep hasn't been great recently because of my cold and because I have a few new teeth coming in. I usually have a 1.5-2.5 hour nap every day but over the last couple of days I've been shortening it or skipping it all together! Then at night it can take a few minutes or over an hour to get me to sleep. I might sleep all night long or I might wake up every few hours. You never know what it's going to be like with me!

N: That sounds rough.
E: You mean my mom doesn't like my spontaneity??

N: Probably not :).I hear you've become quite the artist.
E: Yes, I love drawing so much that Mommy got me this awesome easel! Every time I walk by it I have to erase or draw a little something...


N: Well those were all the questions I had for this month. Talk to you again soon, Emily.
E: [waves good-bye]

Monday, September 27, 2010

Recipes: Thai Red Curry Chicken


Steve and I love Thai food. Our first dinner date (Memory Lane post coming soon!) was at the Wok-In, a small local Thai restaurant in Kingston. They have an amazing Thai Red Curry Chicken dish that Steve and I have been enjoying for years.


Once we moved to Waterloo for school, we couldn't find a decent Thai restaurant replacement. That led to us attempting to cook the meal ourselves! After a couple years of perfecting the recipe, we've finally come to what is our favourite meal of the week (we probably eat curry once every 1-2 weeks). Here is the recipe, for anyone who is a fan of Thai red curry and would like to cook it at home.


Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
vegetables (however much and whatever kind you'd like)
2 tbsp. oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ pkg. Taste of Thai red curry paste (or to taste)
1 can coconut milk
¼ can water (optional – only to achieve desired consistency)
2 tbsp. peanut butter
2 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tsp. brown sugar
handful chopped fresh basil

Instructions:

Preheat pan over medium-high heat.
Add oil.
When oil is hot, add chicken; stir-fry until no longer pink.
Remove chicken to a bowl; set aside.
Cook vegetables; set aside.

Add garlic to pan and lightly brown.
Reduce heat and add curry paste; fry gently, stirring for 1 minute.
Add coconut milk, peanut butter, and water; stir constantly until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Add fish sauce, brown sugar, reserved chicken, and vegetables.
Simmer together for 3 minutes or until chicken is done.
Add basil, stir together for 30 seconds.

Serve with rice.
Serves 3-4.

We make Green Curry Chicken as well; we use the same recipe but double the brown sugar and omit the peanut butter. Super spicy, but so delish!


Saturday, September 25, 2010

Sick Baby & Travel Items

We've got a sick baby at the house. Emily had a mild cold a couple weeks ago but now it looks like she has a full-blown fall cold. Complete with sneezing and a big snotty, runny nose. Poor girl! At least her sleep isn't suffering too much from it -- she had one bad night, but then had a 3-hour nap yesterday and slept 11 straight hours last night. Yay!

Emily's favourite activity while sick: reading

Next weekend Steve, Emily, and I are taking a road trip to Paris, Ontario (about 4-5 hours away). Steve's going to a badminton coaching clinic there while Em and I visit some friends. We're really looking forward to it! As usual I'm curious to see how Emily will do on the long car ride. Lately, to keep her entertained in the car she plays with her LeapFrog Learn and Groove Radio:


Emily got this as a birthday gift from her cousins and she loves it! It's a "radio" with pages that she can flip through and by each picture, there is a button she can push that will say what the picture is and have a short song to go with it. It's also bilingual so Emily is learning her French words too! Anyways, it keeps her entertained for quite a while, but 4-5 hours? Probably not ;).

Another very useful travel product (suggested by Carrie) has been the Tiny Diner by Kiddopotamus.

We use it every time we go to a restaurant. It's perfect for holding Emily's food, catching falling foods, and avoiding contact with dirty restaurant tables. I would recommend this to any parent out there!

Friday, September 24, 2010

Water Painting

Tools you will need:
1) Paintbrush
2) Cup of water
3) Driveway, sidewalk, or similar surface

Step 1: Dip paintbrush in water

Step 2: "Paint" the surface

(Repeat Steps 1 & 2 until you are no longer interested)

Step 3: Admire your art

Step 4: Admire Mom's art

Step 5: Spill water and get very wet

Ok, this picture (below) has nothing to do with the water painting (except it was taken on the same day) -- I just think my baby's super cute in her fall gear!!


p.s. How cool is it that Caspar Babypants commented on my blog post about him??? I'm a little star-struck!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

I'd Like to Thank...


I just won the Versatile Blogger Award from Cee at Smookie Style!

The rules for winning this award:
  • Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
  • Share 7 things about yourself.
  • Pass the award along to 15 other bloggers who you recently discovered and think are fabulous.
  • Contact the bloggers you chose and let them know about the award.
So here are my 7 things:

1) French is my first language, but I feel more comfortable speaking English. I also speak a bit of German!

2) This Saturday (Sept 25) marks the 10-year anniversary of Steve asking me out on our first date! Today (Sept 22) marks the 10-year anniversary of our first kiss!! [gasp!]

3) I love homemade (stove-top) popcorn.

4) I sleep with a blanket that I've had since I was 12 years old. I love the way it smells and I basically fall asleep smelling it. (In other words, I never grew out of using a "blankie". This blanket replaced the one I used from ages 0-12 ha!)

5) I never used to cry at movies. But since I was pregnant/had a baby, I cry at the most random ones, like Shrek 3.

6) At a restaurant, I always sit with my back to the wall. If I'm facing a wall I feel very uncomfortable/claustrophobic.

7) I'm 5'1" and my husband is 6'3" tall.
    Now the problem is that, although I think all the blogs I read are fabulous, I don't have 15 of them and most of them don't know me or know that I read their blogs. So I'm going to have to do the general "if you read this and feel like playing along, then consider yourself awarded!".

    Thanks, Cee!

    Monday, September 20, 2010

    Caspar Babypants

    A couple of weeks ago, Cynthia wrote a blog post about Caspar Babypants. I thought I had never heard of him, but it turns out I had -- he's Chris Ballew, the lead singer of the Presidents of the United States of America (I grew up listening to the songs "Peaches" and "Lump"). He started writing/singing children's music and his songs are awesome!

    The blog post included a music video and I thought it would be fun to watch it with Emily while we had breakfast. Well she LOVED it. We watched it a couple more times and each time she got happier and happier.


    Now I've created a monster; she's totally hooked! Every time my laptop is near, all she wants to do is watch his videos! Ha. They are all fun and cute, so I guess don't mind, but we were really hoping to keep her away from "tv" until she was at least two. Also I miss the days of being able to check email/blogs while we eat breakfast ;).


    The best part about all of this? Cynthia had a blog giveaway for Caspar Babypants' newest album (out this November) and I won!!! I can't wait to listen to it. We've already purchased his other two albums and are really enjoying them.

    Anyways, in case you're curious, here are the two videos Emily loves the most. Like Cynthia said: so simple, so kooky, so fun!



    Saturday, September 18, 2010

    Memory Lane: My Master's Degree

    As I briefly mentioned before, I did a master's degree in mathematics. I studied at the Royal Military College of Canada (as a civilian, of course!) here in Kingston. I had to choose between Queen's University and RMC, but RMC offered me a fellowship that I simply could not refuse. Plus I was still allowed to take courses at Queen's so RMC was the ideal choice for me.

    It was a 2-year program consisting of six courses and a thesis. In my first year I completed the courses and started researching my initial thesis topic, Clone Theory. Unfortunately (and maybe fortunately?) because I did my undergrad at the University of Waterloo, the courses I ended up taking for my master's were a total joke! I found their difficulty level comparable to a second year math course at UW.

    After the first year was over, I decided Clone Theory wasn't for me. I switched supervisors and started research in my new topic: Graph Theory (favourite topic in my undergrad), or more specifically, Chromatic Ramsey Numbers (the title of my thesis). I worked on and completed my thesis in 6 months, all thanks to my supervisor's help and dedication. There was a pretty strict deadline after all -- I defended my thesis when I was 8 months pregnant! Do you think they pitied me? Ha!

    I officially graduated in the fall of 2009. My supervisor wrote a paper on our results and it was just approved for publication by the Journal of Graph Theory. Yay!

    Throughout my master's I also tutored undergrad students and taught a second year Integral Calculus course. My original plan (following the master's) was to continue, do a PhD, and then become a math professor. My experiences with research and teaching, however, led me to believe that this was not the path I wanted to take. So it ends here.

    Working on my thesis: the view

    My three biggest fans at my thesis defense (Mom, Dad, Steve)

    The Examining Committee
    (My supervisor in the center)

    The Thesis Defense/Presentation

    Next Up on Memory Lane: Our First Dinner Date

    Friday, September 17, 2010

    A Budding Artist

    Emily has recently shown a strong interest in colouring! I have a dry-erase board (as seen on "The Animal Magnets") and she loves to scribble on it. The only thing that makes me sad is that her artwork gets erased every day! So the other day I got her to draw on paper and (of course) I framed her very first piece of art. Voilà!


    Isn't it funny how when it comes to your own children, everything they do is a masterpiece?

    Wednesday, September 15, 2010

    Emily TV

    starring: Emily (at 12 months old)

    Here is Emily's blog-video debut! She's been doing/learning some pretty cute things lately so I thought it would be fun to post videos of her adventures. Enjoy!


    Episode 1: The Shopping Cart


    Episode 2: The Animal Magnets

    Monday, September 13, 2010

    Emily the Chef




    Saturday, September 11, 2010

    Memory Lane: Emily's First 5 Months

    Since I only started this blog when Emily was 5 months old, you might not know much about what Emily was like before then. To be honest, since I didn't blog before then I don't remember much either! Looking at pictures helps, but I still forget a lot of what life was like with a newborn.

    Here is what I remember most...

    Leaving the hospital          First night at home

    First sleep in her crib

    Breastfeeding was a huge issue in her first few months, but I'll skip that since you can read about it here.

    Like most newborns, Emily slept a ton during her first couple of weeks. Once that was over, I remember a strong pattern of eat, sleep, cry. It felt like if she wasn't eating or sleeping, she was crying. I'm sure I must be exaggerating, but that's what I remember. She needed to be held, bounced, walked, and sung to a lot to keep her happy (not the laid-back kind of baby that's for sure!).



    Emily's first walk -- NOT a fan.

    Emily -- 1 month old

    I nursed Emily to sleep every night and for most naps during the day. Sometimes she would fall asleep in the car, once in a while we could rock her to sleep, but nothing worked as consistently as nursing.

    She loved to read, even at a young age

    Emily's playdate friends

    She's always loved baths

    Emily -- 2 months old

    When Emily was two months old, I specifically remember being able to put her in her swing and having her not cry. This was a huge deal! All of a sudden we could get a break from holding her and she was content swinging away, listening to the music.

    One of Emily's (and Mommy's) favourite pastimes: singing

    Celebrating graduating from my Master's

    Emily -- 3 months old

    At this point I feel like we were still adjusting as parents, worrying about our baby girl's eating and sleep, but also loving every second with her. Emily's personality was developing and she was smiling and noticing more about the environment around her.

    Christmas picture

    Christmas family picture

    Emily -- 4 months old
     
    In Emily's fifth month, Steve went away for about a week. My mom stayed with me and things went relatively smoothly. It was at this point that I (very) gradually stopped nursing Emily to sleep. We gave her a pacifier instead (somehow we were able to avoid using it until then!), and to this day she still needs the paci to fall asleep.

    I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton of stuff, but I've also written a ton already ;). All that to say that those first 5 months were definitely the hardest, most sleep-deprived, most love-filled, and happiest months of my life and it just keeps getting better!

    Next Up on Memory Lane: My Master's Degree

    Friday, September 10, 2010

    Bonne Fête

    Bonne Fête Grand-Maman!
    Happy Birthday Mom!
    We love you.
    xoxo