Blogher 2010 here I come!

Did you know I'm going to BlogHer?!!

I'm not sure why I've never mentioned it here, but with less than a week to go the excitement is really buzzing and I am over the moon with anticipation for this trip.

I know it gets tiresome for those of you who aren't going to hear all the pre-BlogHer, during BlogHer, post BlogHer goings on by everyone, but to you I say - COME NEXT YEAR!

I've been wanting to go to BlogHer since Kiernan was a baby and this year, with a few friends already going, I decided I wasn't going to hold back ANY MORE. And I think it was the perfect timing for me. I'm a little too shy to have been totally comfortable joining in to things all on my own amidst literally thousands of bloggers! Instead, with my little crew (you guys don't being called my crew do you?) I will have the confidence I need to delve right in (I think I'm going to be WAY less nervous doing this than I was on the photo walk - but we'll see :)

I'm excited about the sessions, I'm excited about the parties, I'm excited about meeting bloggers I've never met before, I'm excited to feel the buzz I know will be in the air and (gasp) I'm excited to see what kind of free stuff I get!

I will not be crushed if I don't get to meet my two blogger superstars - Jenny the Bloggess and Pioneer Woman. In fact, I've resigned myself to the fact that they are going to be totally and completely overwhelmed with people wanting to meet them anyways and I'll probably be so shy I'd be mortified by my behaviour so I'm going to try admire from afar.

I will not be crushed if I don't get invited to private parties - but I may try to find out how people got invites so I can get invited in the future.

I will not beat anyone down for swag. I will not be crushed if I don't get swag. If I come home with some cool free stuff - awesome!

I have super cute business cards to hand out thanks to Tiny Prints - I have a hard time believing I'll need 200 but I'm game to try to meet that many people!

I'm bringing my phone and likely my laptop, so I will be online (nobody will tell me I'm being online too much at a blogging conference right?) - at least on twitter.

And if you're going, message me - I want to meet up with you!

PS I am leaving my non-weaned babies. I waiver from totally confident to totally anxious about this. Fingers crossed it goes well because I want to go to Blissdom Canada :)

Quiet down, peanut gallery

So, they aren't exactly a peanut gallery...

... but their unwelcome input is making my life difficult.

Kiernan has found an audience. And audience that thinks he is HILARIOUS! It's hilarious when he shrieks really loudly, when he jumps on the furniture, when he runs around like he's on speed bumping into walls and crashing into furniture, when he plays with his food, when he slides off his chair and under the table throughout dinner, and when he's a bit too rough with the babies ( "but they LIKE it").

I like to get a laugh out of a crowd. I like to be the center of attention too, so I get it. I do. But it is driving me insane!! And I don't know how to stop it. I can't exactly stop the babies from laughing... and Kiernan's need for the spotlight is just too great to hear anything else.

So for now I'm just trying to hold my own through the chaos. And I'm trying really hard to not let him see that I'm often laughing too.

365 update - passing my first big milestone

I made it past my first big milestone - 50! Only 315 more photos to go after that! ;) And I hit a bit of a funk around 50... feeling like some of my inspiration was gone. But then I went on the Worldwide photo walk and chatted with other photographers... and got some good ideas for how to find inspiration. So hopefully you'll see some new and different ideas in the coming weeks. "or not"

Day 45
This is one of my favourites of Juliette in quite awhile. A great smile and she was having the time of her life in Mieka's pool.



Day 46
House detail. Anyone want to guess what/where? ;)


Day 47
My birthday! I got a gorillapod which has been fun to play with and means I can be in some of the photos.


Day 48
A fellow photographer. I always like not being the only one with a camera.


Day 49
Another successful trip to the Aviation museum


Day 50
The fence at the Children's Garden on Main where we had a Kids in the Capital playdate last week.


Day 51
Another gorillapod shot. I bought a remote after this... although there was some fun involved here. I had the gorillapod attached to the play structure, would hit the button to start the timer, quickly slide down the slide and get into position :)


Day 52
I grew something in my garden. And I ate it! And it was delicious!!


Day 53
I bought a remote and was playing around with toys. I look tired. Or maybe it's eye look tired :)


Day 54
This photo cracks me up!


Day 55
Kiernan always has a blast with his cousins, and sunny days at the cottage with them are even better!


Outtakes

Baby footprints



Quinn



Fun in the mud


Some of my favourite shots from the Worldwide Photo Walk that I went on which was a lot of fun if a bit scary and intimidating ;)

When you do what you gotta do even if you don't want to

I'm holding on. Holding on for dear life. And I think it's making me crazy.

I always felt that while I was home with my kids I could still hold on to me stuff. I want to have time to quietly sit and drink a coffee and check some blogs when I first wake up. I resent the kids for not letting me have it.

I want to have time to work on my resume, to look for work, etc during the day, and the kids won't let me do it. They want me to play with them all day long, and I don't really want to do it. But that's not fair to them.

And we're all getting frustrated and we're all having temper tantrums.

I need to let go and go with the flow that they are requiring. They are one and they need to be entertained. I can't expect them to take care of themselves while I clean, do crafts, blog, etc... no matter how much I want them to. And they deserve more.

We are going to need a new "world order". I am going to need to create a routine. Playtime, parktime, playdate time, lunchtime, nap time, library time, etc. If I schedule it, if I make it more about them, I think it will get easier.

I don't want to let go... but we may all breathe a bit easier if I do.

Six word Friday : Together

Together you three sound like twenty

Together you play as siblings should

Together you make a godawful mess

Together your giggles sound like music

Together you fill my heart completely

Together you push all my buttons

Together we will conquer the world



This was my first six words Friday and it was fun!

Green bin woes

I was super excited when they brought the green bin program to Ottawa and couldn't wait to start using it.

I scoffed at the paper bags that people used in their bins... it was just a big garbage can, why bother with lining it. And it was fine... if a big gunky... all winter long.

And then, just like it was predicted, things started changing when we hit summer. And one word, a word that had a connotation that I think is even worse than their actuality, was my final straw with how I felt about the green bin.

The day Eric came inside to tell me the green bin was crawling with maggots was the day I started wanting to throw my "green bin-able" items back in the garbage. And despite Eric trying to clean the bin and trying to kill the maggots with salt, the day I opened the garage and found it full of hundreds of flies, I had a temper tantrum.

Not to mention the smell. Oh, the smell in the garage was unbearable.

Last week we decided to hire Bin Aces to come and clean the bin. I'd heard about them in a blog post months and months ago (possibly this one or this one ) and because our bin was SO DISGUSTING, we decided to spend the price to do it once. The alternative was getting inside the sludgy maggoting disgusting bin. I'd pay $15 to avoid that! The idea was that we were going to then put away the bin until the heat isn't so bad.

This morning I went outside and not only was our bin clean, it smelled GOOD! (my only small complaint was that the web site said they would be calling up to set up a time they would come and they never did that. Good thing I left the bin outside just in case.) I'm halfway tempted to actually try the bags and see how it goes instead of giving up entirely on the bin.

Some people suggest things like freezing the stuff until garbage day, but I really don't need that as an added task every week.

How are you dealing with the green bin? Are you using it? Are the maggots trying to take over your house too?

Rollin' rollin' roll-oops!

I am no athlete, by any stretch of the imagination, so when I don my rollerblades (very rarely, but that is neither here nor there) I have no style or grace.

As I skate along, I often gain a bit more speed than I intended... I imagine I'm leaning too far forward. Once past a certain speed, I have no clue how to stop so I use two tactics:

1) fall in a planned and non-injuring way
2) grab on to something until stable again

And apparently it's almost identical to learning to walk/run... except it's WAY cuter to watch in a baby :) And the determination and enthusiasm is unmatched.

twin update - 14 months

I haven't blogged up an update about what the twins are up to in eons. In fact, I missed their first birthday which is practically unforgivable and in time I may go back and so that because, wow, that's a big one to skip. So instead I give you...

14 months, 1 week update!

Juliette

- started walking at 13 months and is now running
- is starting to talk more and more. hi, mommy, and tata are still the main words but we're also starting to get no, bye bye, night night, ninnin (kiernan) and nin (quinn)
- she is getting violent and likes to hit with things a lot. This morning I heard a particularly distressed squawk from Quinn only to find Juliette POUNDING him over the head with a wooden puzzle
- she's a great eater
- she is sleeping through the night 90% of the time (7pm to 5-6am)
- she is a climber and is constantly trying to scale whatever she finds. I think I need to enroll her in gymboree or something.
- thinks that her big brother is the best person ever

Quinn

- has no real desire to start walking, although, I do see that he is starting to want us to walk him around holding his hands.
- is saying hi, tata and dada. and possibly trying to say juliette with some jjjjj jjjjj jjjjj sounds
- obsessed with buttons and gets REALLY mad when you don't let him play with a remote, phone or cellphone. And whatever he is playing better well DO something, and not be a fake.
- he's always exploring and opening cupboards, drawers and taking off to see the sights whenever we let him out of the stroller at parks, museums, etc
- thinks his big brother is the most hilarious person ever
- is waking up most nights, but only once.
- likes trying to figure out things. He is always trying to figure out how toys work or how to put his seatbelt on.

This is pretty much what Juliette looks like to me most of the time.

Awww cute photo. Except he's trying to get down. So he can explore!!!

She is so brave in the water, shockingly, because she is the one who makes the most fuss about baths.

Check out what I found in these drawers!

Here fishy fishy

He may not be a natural fish, but despite his fears he's been having a lot of fun in the water this summer.

Today he clung to my back as I went into deep water, let me lay him on his stomach while he kicked around, and by the end was proud of himself for what he had accomplished and not being scared.

And most importantly, he loved every second.

Tips for eating

by Juliette and Quinn

1. Don't trust food you don't recognize - throw it on the floor.
2. If you want mom to think you ate your food so you can get something different, hide it under your bum when she's not looking. Added perk - snacks in your clothing for later.
3. If you don't want something, drop it onto your twin's tray, maybe they'll like it (or they might throw it on the floor or hide it under their bum). Either way, it's gone.
   
4. Food makes excellent hair gel, check out my fauhawk.
5. When a parent tells you to stop throwing food on the floor, grin really big and then drop food on the floor in slow motion. Watch parent's head explode for amusement.
6. Bibs are for chumps. To ensure your parents don't even bother any more, make sure to get food on any area of your body the bid doesn't cover and for good measure under the bib. Full armed bibs are a challenge but don't forget tip #2.
7. When you are done your tray should not have any food on it. If you're tired of throwing the food off the tray, feel free to crush the food into crumbs and then sweep it around until the crumbs fly all around the kitchen.
8. You win.

365 project - who made the rules around here?

Of course, *I* made the rules, but there are some days I wish I was more flexible with them. But I'm not. I'm realizing that I am way more of a rule follower than I think I pretend to be. Or maybe I don't even pretend. I like to follow the rules. BORRRING ;)

Some days I have 5 photos I wish I could use, some days none. This makes me think I would really love to do the 1000 photo project Dani (who is doing some fabulous guest posting for the Canadian Family blog and doing giveaways for subscriptions to the magazine) is doing after this one. But I also think the 365 project is good at making sure you pick up your camera every day, so I'm sticking with it! I'm a whole 44 days in. That's like 12% done! :)

Day 36
She's been walking for about a month now and she still gets this look of sheer excitement when she really gets going... especially to a new place to explore!


Day 37
Blog out loud was so awesome. I really need to be less shy with my camera though. Although I like this photo, it's almost the only one I took. And I took it as unobtrusively as possible. Because obviously everyone was going to look at me like I was an alien if I was taking photos at the event right? When I was there with a photo book. Right. #getoveritLara


Day 38
The joys of playing with a hose.


Day 39
An outing to the airplane museum. Kiernan shown with the girl who has ensured I haven't moved into the attic or the shed or something equally coo coo because I would have LOST MY MIND with the crazies of this summer ;) If you can swing it, get a mother's helper, they are the best!


Day 40
At the Smiths Falls railway museum. (Post coming up this weekend on Kids in the Capital)
The textures of the old trains were fascinating. And it was quiet enough I didn't even feel self conscious lying on the ground in the parking lot taking photos ;)


Day 41
The Cumberland museum is NOT WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS!
So, in my head, the Cumberland museum was an old house with some period furniture. BOORRING.
But it's like a miniature Upper Canada Village (kind of wish I'd gone here instead last year with my 3 very young children!) and I can't wait to go back for more!
My camera battery died 15 minutes in. I almost cried.


Day 42
Monkey.


Day 43
This was the best photo I took this day. SAD. I apparently spent too much time playing around with my camera and getting things wrong because I had a lot of blurry and out of focus photos and .... this. Ah well, he's always cute no matter how boring the photo.


Day 44
This boy LOVES buttons, phones, gadgets, etc. And he can't be fooled with a toy or electronic that doesn't DO anything. I let him play with my iPhone, only because it thrills him every time the screen lights up and he can't unlock it. YET


Outtakes

Quinn has changed in the last couple of weeks. He looks a lot older all of a sudden.


More texture from the Smiths Falls railway museum


Along the Queensway


More airplane museum - I often struggle between interesting photography as my choice of the day, and a photo that includes my kids and are part of the telling of the story of 365 days of my life.


Things growing in my garden delight me beyond measure

The one where French made his head explode

We're sending Kiernan to French school this Fall. Not immersion but full on French school.

Kiernan speaks no French. He could count to 7 but that hardly seemed adequate for starting school in French. Being thrown into the deep end was essentially how I learned, but I had a bit more experience. French sitters, living in Quebec, etc... all gave me a BIT of a start.

So, to help him get ready we put him into a 5 week French school/camp. They only speak French to him and hopefully by the end of it he'll at least have enough comprehension to not feel completely lost when he starts FULL day school in September.

I was extremely nervous for him on his first day, but he did so well! And he never makes a fuss about not wanting to go, which really surprised me.

So far, he claims to have learned nothing, but I'm pretty sure there is a lot going on inside his head and it will soon turn itself into something we can actually see language wise.

For now, the biggest result of 5 day a week French camp seems to be.... a completely nutzoid Kiernan!

My tendency is to blame the fact that he has been so stimulated by everything that he's learning that his brain is just on constant overdrive. Overdrive as in his brain... and his mouth... NEVER stop working. It is stream of conscience verbal diarrhea. It is beyond irritating.

But not only that! He also has this excess of physical energy. He runs around like a chicken with it's head cut off and gets more and more excited until, I kid you not, he is literally bouncing off the walls! It is INSANITY!

Thank god my mother's helper is out of school for the summer and back on duty helping me with these three kids. She gives me breaks and she helps me wrangle all three of them when we go out. And go out we will because the bouncing off the walls inside the house? Not making me happy at all!

Last Thursday in an attempt to find some sanity we threw them all into the car and decided to check out the airplane museum (we have a membership that includes this museum so it was free)

The only other time I recall going to this museum I was about 7 months pregnant with the twins. I hated it. Fairly obviously because I was 7 months pregnant with twins and wouldn't haven't enjoyed any museum let alone one with nothing to do but walk from airplane to airplane.

With 3 young kids in tow and none in my body it was actually really awesome! We had a blast and were only there for just under an hour and already planning a return trip to explore some more. (probably Thursday or Friday if anyone wants to join us!)

Here are a few photos from our short visit!