Pink Pants

I’ve uploaded the photos from the wedding, with the “costumes” that everyone has been asking to see. I’m not sure if people believe Brad wore pink pants… well here is the proof! Enjoy.

  We all arrived in style to the wedding…However we did get alot of looks when walking through the hotel to the taxi!

  Nice pants Brad…nice gloves too!

  Trent and Maya

More photos at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77936547@N00/page2/

On my way home

Well I am in the Hong Kong airport again and thought I would update the site. I’ll post tonnes of pictures when I get home. It was a very good trip to Korea but I admit I am looking forward to getting home to see Carter.

The wedding was alot of fun: Trent and Maya had a traditional Korean wedding. On Friday we went to pick out our hanboks (traditional dress). I am not the size of a teeny tiny Korean woman, and despite the language barrier, I understood that my arms are very long, my feet are very big, and I am very tall… so the hanbok I rented had never been used before! Anyway while we are there and the “girls” are trying on our hanboks, Mike (Shawn’s youngest brother) is somehow convinced to try on the male hanbok. Mike tried it on, but chose blue pants and refused the pink pants at first. It is traditional for men to wear pink for weddings! Anyway, by the time we left Mike and Brad (Shawn’s dad) both had rented hanboks, with yes, PINK pants! So what this meant was that the two remaining brothers, Shawn and Dan (who had not arrived in yet) had to also wear hanboks. Yes we were quite the crew, all seven of us (parents, brothers, sister-in-laws) in very colourful hanboks. All the men some component of their outfit being pink. Something we never thought we would say is: “Brad’s are the brighter pink pants”, when we were trying to figure out if they were Mikes or Brads pants! We do have a great deal of photos of us in our “costumes”, which is what Brad has opted to call the hanboks.

The entire ceremony was in Korean so we had no idea what was being said, there was alot of bowing, drinking of tea, traditional dancers, trading of birds between the couple and mothers, and throwing of rice and beans at the end. It was amazing that  Maya had to hold a large silk cloth over her arms, the entire 30 minute ceremony, which meant she had to hold her arms at 90 degrees the whole time. She had two of her aunts that stood next to her during the ceremony to help her hold her arms up and help her get up from bowing since her dress was so elaborate. After the ceremony we all ate, then changed out of the hanboks and headed to a bar to party until 5am!! Was very fun.

The day after the wedding, the girls (Maya, Shirley, Suzanne and I) headed to the spa for massages. It was a experience to say the least. They split us into groups of two. Suzanne and I were together, and of course we had the staff who did not speak English. So first we stripped naked, put on the disposable underwear they handed us and climbed on the massage table next to each other. Yes, Suzanne and I have now officially bonded! There were two little ladies that came in and rotated between us: one doing the upper and one doing the lower body. These ladies poked and prodded us until it hurt, there were to be no tight spots or knots by the end! Then at one point the little lady tried to tell me something, and next thing I know, my boobs are being massaged. This bring a whole new meaning to “full body” massage!

Next we headed off to Jeju, a small island off the tip of Korea. This was great since it was very hot. We went to a few beaches, did some snorkeling, toured caves and waterfalls, and even did some deep sea fishing. I have to mention, (since it annoys Shawn…and Brad) that I caught five fish and they caught none! Then back to Soeul for the DMZ tour. It was pretty interesting to learn about the war between north and south korea. We even got to walk the equivalent to 25 stories below ground, in one of the tunnels. It is amazing that they have turned some of this into tourist sites while the country is still divided and the military is enforcing this. We also did a little shopping at one of the big markets (tonnes of purse shopping!), and visited a huge fish market. We also ate a tonne of Korean food, which yes is vey different from Chinese food. Spicy, spicy, spicy! But I actually got used to the spice and by the end I was eating food much spicier than I normally would. Kimchi is served with every meal, which is cabbage (or raddish or cucumber) fermented in hot sauce. By the last day I was eating the kimchi even without the rice buffer. Spicy soup, seafood soup, bean soup, spicy rice dishes, tofu soup, sushi, cold noodles, and sweet potatoe noodles… all delicious.

Very fun trip. I’ll post photos from home, I’m sure some of you are anxious to see all of us in the “costumes”.

Off to Korea

So when I last wrote we were off to a cottage and camping at Algonquin park. We opted to leave the dog at Shawn’s parents, which was good because there was definetly no room for Holden in the tent (who would need to sleep in the tent with us since he is a big suck).  The cottage was great, Carter had a good time “swimming” and going in the conoe. Our friends had just finished building a wood burning sauna next to the lake, so that was very good fun to try out! Camping was what we expected: Carter loves the camp fire and the associated marshmellows/smores, he also loved the tent which meant it took him an hour to fall asleep due to the excitement of sleeping in the tent. And of course he woke up bright and early. Shawn and I have decided if we camp again, we need a larger tent. We woke up with Carter sleeping horizontally above our heads. Not so bad for me, but Carters feet were to Shawns head which meant small kicks periodically throughout the night. Actually I think we decided going to a cottage is far more reasonable than camping wtih a 2 year old.

I am actually on route to Korea for Trents wedding. I’m currently in Hong Kong and my flight is delayed so I thought I would do a quick update. I’m in the buisness class lounge (flying on points). Should be a fun wedding — I am going to wear a hanbok (traditional dress). I”ll post photos when we get back. Gotta go they announced my flight!

Summer

Not sure where time goes. Summer seems to by flying by. Last few weekends have been nice finally so we have headed up to Shawn’s parents place in Bracebridge since it is cottage like. We’ve spent alot of time sitting on the dock and Shawn has even taken Carter out in the tin boat. Carter seems to like hanging around the dock and even went in the water… which is still rather cold to my Phoenix standards!

This weekend we are off to a friends cottage and we are going to attempt camping with Carter and Holden. Should be interesting. We are going to algonquin park with some friends. There will be 4 adults, 2 (large) dogs and Carter so there will be some kaos to say the least. We have a back up plan of loading the car & driving 30 min to Dan & Suzanne place (Shawn’s brother) if thigs go horribly wrong… with Carter and the dog in a tent!

Next week my parents arrive to visit and watch Carter while Shawn and I head off to Korea for Trent’s wedding.  Looking forward to the trip but not looking forward to leaving Carter for 10 days.

All for now, off to bed. Tonnes of photos are uploading as I type so check back.

“I’m 2″

Ok a little late but Carter turned 2 on June 9th. Hard to believe! We had a party for him, it was mostly adults since he doesn’t have many little friends out here yet but all in all he had a good time eating cake and playing with his new toys. He loves to ride around in his new wagon, some how it is better than the stroller for trips to the park. He also likes his trucks and while he hasn’t quite figured out Mr Potato head, he does like the hat – which when pressed plays the Indian Jones theme song.

Well he’s running, jumping, climbing like a walk in the park. Actually he can run very fast now and you can’t let him get too far ahead because he is very fast and can run FOREVER! He loves loves loves to run. At the park he’ll do the slide and “jeep” for a while then off he goes into the field for a 30 minute run! He’s very curious and is up for anything, last week he thought it was quite fun to find worms in the garden. Lately he loves his trucks, Thomas the train, and bubbles. The bubble of course involves running through them or after them. He still has a good appetite but is picky at times and veggies are getting more challenging… of course unless they are pickled. Mac n cheese is a staple food for him, along with pickles, olives, yogurt, raisin bread, raisins, oatmeal, and grapes. Some days he’ll try anthing: spicy curry, or he’ll eat only the onion or broccoli out of a dish. Then other days his diet will consist of bead with a side of grapes. He still loves his books, and will even sit and do all the card games my mom loves to buy him. Of course he still likes Elmo, but will also be mesmorized by any cartoon show involving singing. He still “dances”, although he has now evolved from the squat to a head sway, waving arms, while running. Holden and Carter still have quite the special relationship, although he will tell Holden “un-uh Holden” if the dog is sneaking in for a bite of his snack. It is very cute when they cuddle on the floor while watching TV. This usually involves Holden letting Carter lay agains him like a pillow. Carter is talking alot more lately and has even moved onto 3 or sometimes 4 word phrases at times. The longer phrases usually involve him describing trucks while we are in teh car. Words are clearer but he still has troulbe with the “c”‘ sound at the start of words, so he still calls himself “D-arter”. While we though he would never say yes, EVERYTHING was “no” he now says “ok”, actually is more like “oTay”. What is also very cute is he says thanks alot now, Shawn gets a kick out of “thanx dada”. And of course his uncles are teaching him other phrases, which have now backfired since it is now “uncle Trent coo-coo”, rather than the intended goal of Dada coo-coo.

I’ll post some pics later. We have actually just got back from Las Vegas (Carter was with Grandma and Grandpa being spoiled. I do think we missed him more than he missed us). So we are busy unpacking, only to go away again this weekend.

Photos

Well Shawn is in China for work, and Carter and Holden have gone to visit Grandma and Grandpa Willett for a few days while I work and do some stuff around the house. It is trying to be a “single mom” for almost 2 weeks so it is nice to have a break in the middle. Mind you it is very lonley to be here completely alone so I am looking forward to going to Bracebridge this weekend to pick up Carter and Holden. The lack of kaos druing the day I expected with Carter (and Shawn) gone, but it is strangely quiet at night without the dog to follow me around. I was going to keep Holden but when Brad and Shirley loaded Carter in the car, Holden gets very anxious about being left behind on a road trip and takes all measures to get in and stay in the car… so I let him go as well.

So wtih all my “boys” gone, I work like a maniac around the house. I was going to surprise Shawn with having the “grand foyer” painted but he knows I got a paint quote… and that I usually move forward when I become determined. So I am madly painting baseboards, ceiling and prepping the walls because we still are do-it-yourselfers but don’t want to fall off a ladder tying to pain the gigantic 2 storey wall up the stairs.

All for now. 

I”ve uploaded some photos on flckr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77936547@N00/

Almost Two!

Carter is doing great. He is going to be two in 3 weeks! He’s definetly got the toddler personality down pat. Shawn loves to tease and play with him, and now Carter is giving it right back. Lately he loves to say “no dada”, which includes a talk to the hand motion. I am certain he does it just to spite Shawn because it is often followed by his little mischievous grin. He does have this grin down pat, especially when he is doing something he is not suppose to do. For example the other day he walked upto my coffee cup, looked at me, grinned, then proceeded to almost dip his car in my coffee. Of course he had to do this a few times, just getting the tip of the car wet with coffee.

Carter has also mastered “mine”, “my turn” (its always his turn), “my car” and “Carter’s”. Needless to say we are tring to teach him to share. Lately he shares by giving you the car he doesn’t want anymore… and no way are you gettitng your hands on the car he wants!

We’ve also started to get him used to the potty. He is showing a little more interest lately, and a times he will want to have his turn on the toilet before he lets you go. He’s very insistent and takes what seems like forever when you are waiting to pee yourself. He has yet to pee or poop but is very good at farting. Refered to as “fartie” in our house. Be aware that he will point out anyone who lets one rip in our house.

We have Carter in swimming lessons which he is really enjoying lately. Last night I got told he was the most fearless kid in the class by one of the dads. He is quite fearless. He loves the slide & will shove to go first, and is not afraid to let you go under as he launches himself off the slide. He also likes to jump in off the side. Last night he showed up a group of adult swimmers who were learining to float. Carter had these hard float things that he put on his arms like floaties, anyway he was floating around… very independent, which involves “no mama, Carter do it”, then he began to listen to the adult instructor tell them to go on thier back & put their head backs, which he did. Then of course you hear them all discuss this teeny tiny kid floating around  without an ounce of fear. He does have no fear because he also figured out how to loosen the floats while upright & sink/dunk himself and bring himself back up, this also involves the grin I was talking about. Little bugger! About once or twice a swim lesson you pull him out since he has pushed the limits of his fearlessness.

Shawn is off to China this weekend for work, he’s not overly thrilled since the weather will finally be nice again & he’ll be out of town. I’ve changed jobs slightly within the hospital, I’m now working with the neurologist for the summer (maybee permanently if I decide I like this better than geriatrics). Physician seems very nice and loves to teach so will likely be a good change.

All for now, I’ll post pictures later. Carter and I have to take Holden to the vet for his shots, then off to the park and maybee a walk through Kleinburg.

Spring is here!

We are starting to get settled in Toronto finally. Still feels like there is always stuff left to do though. For example last weekend we finally changed Holden’s tag to our new phone numbers… but we have yet to take him to the vet.

Carter is doing great. He LOVES being outside. The weather is finally nice & he’d like to stay outside forever. He’ll roam around the backyard, ride his 3-wheeler, and “help” us. Lately he loves to run, and of course he likes it better if you chase him. He also likes chasing or being chased by the dog, and if Holden is in the mood to play, the two of them will run around the back yard for a good 30 minutes together. It is also very amusing that he likes wearing his sunglasses. First he wanted ours, then we pulled out his toddler oakleys (Jackie will be happy to know his is very trendy in his sunglasses – she gave them to him) he insists on wearing them. We have no complaints because its good for him, but it is funny when people do a double take to look a this teeny tiny kid in sleek black sunglasses.

Carter also likes to jump (he practices), reading books, playing with his cars, playing his matching card game, and watching elmo. He’ll ask for TV and elmo, but he  now thinks elmo is on all the time because in the basement with the dvr it is on anytime he wants. 

Carter is talking alot and his w ords are getting clearer. He’ll use 2, and occaisionally 3 word phrases. He’ll also repeat anything so we now have to be careful what we say. Shawn slipped and said “oh sh*t” in front of him, which then lead to Carter repeating it over & over in an attempt to say it correctly. Luckily if he doens’t know what it means it is soon forgotten. He’ll also have the whiny spells, which always involves us encouraging him to “use your words” to tell us what he wants. Which only works sometimes, but it did work one morning when he eventually told me he wanted a cookie for breakfast. On that note he is also full of drama, and is perfecting his tantrum. He’ll switch from a smile (or his mischievious grin) to throwing himself on his knees with his head down. It is however funny, when he glances up to see if it is working, then will toss his head down again. Tantrum in the company of two or more adults, then involves a such up period to someone. Little bugger! Generally though he is in a pretty good mood, which involves smiles,laughs, hugs & kisses, saying “happy”, and his squealing jumping excitement thing he does (too funny).

Carter is now starting to get picky about what he eats as well. He seems to go through phases with his fruit. Basically it is one fruit for a few weeks then he changes to a different food. Bread and yogurt are always welcome. Pasta is still a staple, but it has to be the good stuff, no canned stuff for him. I think this stems from the fact that food at daycare is prepared by a little Italian lady. While he is picky at home, he is the “eating champ” at daycare. There is only one other kid that even comes close to his food intake, & of course they scratch their heads because he is still tall & skinny as ever. They write down how many servings he has at breakfast and lunch. One day Carter had 4 servings at lunch! My pasta is not quite as popular, probably because it is not as good!

Just a quick post tonight to let everyone know whe are still alive, and now that the snow is gone we are starting to come out of hibernation.

I’ve posted a few photos. Enjoy.

 Kiss, kiss!

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77936547@N00/?saved=1

Adjusting to Toronto

Well life is still pretty busy as we are still getting settled into our new house. We have pretty much unpacked but now we are painting some rooms. We put a second coat of paint in our “office” room tonight… it was previously a bright pink/coral… sorry no pictures until we put the room back together (I download onto the desktop). It is taking forever to get painting done since it involves naptime, evening & weekends. I am sure Carter would love to help paint but he tends to make more work anytime he “helps” you do something.

Carter is doing great. He seems to like his daycare… well school since it is called Jellybean Academy! There are no tears when we drop him off or pick him up. He takes off his coat, wanders into his room and gets right in on the action, & then when we pick him up he likes to point out all his favorite things (the mural, wagon, kitchen, guinea pig).  They comment on how cute he is (of course) and how much he eats. There is only one other kid that eats even close to what he does. Apparently he always has two helpings of lunch and a few helpings at snack time. He also eats breakfast at daycare even though he eats breakfast at home too! I think they are amazed since he is quite tall and lean still. They also send him home with all kinds of little crafts & paintings as well. They are basically smeared paint & randomly glued items on construction paper… too cute, yes they are hanging on our fridge! Anyway he definitely likes the classroom setting,  so I may have to start looking for an actual preschool.

Carter is talk talk talking now. He is starting to repeat everything you stay, although some words are clearer than others. Shawn is having fun teaching him words like boobie and bum. He has tonnes of words now but his most common words are mama, dog, grandpa, tractor, more, dirty, up, down, and of course no. Lately he loves to “hide”, which is amusing because he can’t help peek to see if you are looking for him. He also likes to chase the dog (or be chased if he is holding a cracker), dance, play with is race track, feed the fish, help Mama dust (give him a swifter duster & he goes to town), and play hockey with Dada. Yes we have a hockey net and sticks. Shawn is determined to teach him how to shoot. He also likes to go outside & will “help” shovel the snow. He is getting used to the snow and lately he likes to pick up and carry around the biggest boulders he can find. He also loves the water, whether it be the bath or the pool. He is now eating with utensils & his food must be in a bowl or dish. Yes a little neurotic. But on the good side of this he likes to wash his hands and will request to have them washed. We are working on a regular cup. He can drink from it but he prefers to play with it, meaning he places food in it, stirs it or rinses is fingers.

He sounds so wonderful… well he is now a toddler so he does have his moments too. So so stubborn and he will now have tantrums if he doesn’t get his way. He is also a testy little bugger. Tonight, he was drinking his disgusting soapy (likely peed in) bath water from a little shovel he plays with in the tub. Well, of course I ask him to stop… he doesn’t stop… so I threaten to take the shovel… doesn’t stop… take the shovel, he has a fit, I wait a while & then tell him he can have it if he doesn’t drink from it, he gets it back, pretends to drink form it, smiles & laughs, then drinks from another bath toy followed bay a loud “AHH” while he looks at me and smirks. Well it wasn’t the shovel he was drinking from. His grandpa Willett is convinced he has the “mischievous twinkle” in his eye (like how his uncle Trent was as a kid)… I am worried he may be right. Did I mention that his grandfather and uncles think it is good fun that he is such a character!

So Shawn told me it “hardly ever snows in Toronto”… whatever! This year we Toronto has had more snow already than the last 2 years combined. The only good thing about snow is that the weather is usually milder. Today though we had a cold snap and for my Phoenix friends going to the park in shorts, today it was 6 Fahrenheit! Yikes! I now wear a large down-filled coat with a gigantic hood to keep me warm.

There are things I miss from Phoenix that I am still trying to find here. A good moms group for one.  I am glad our neighbour across the street has young kids, so we may have to have a playdate! Also looking for a cheap housekeeper and somewhere I can premake frozen dinners (SuperSuppers!). It is odd the things I depended on to make life far less stressful. Luckily the community center has all kinds of “kiddy” classes & swimming for Carter.

All for now. Things are good here. We’ve been very busy lately but hopefully relaxing times are ahead!

Welcome to the frozen north!!

Wow it has been a long time since I have done a post. We are now in Toronto!! Yes that is what we have been doing for the last 2 months or so. Moving is one thing, but moving to a different county is a whole other ballgame. Can’t say Shawn or I would recommend it to anyone, in fact I am not sure we will ever move again.

We have had many many headaches to say the least. Lets see the first involved tarantulas!! Yes tarantulas! We got a call from our movers that there may be tarantulas in our stuff when they started to unload into storage in Toronto. Hmmm, the “large hairy spiders” changed from the size of a fist to the size of a loonie. Shawn and I were a little unphased by this and were more concerned about the cost of fumigating or damaging our stuff than some spiders. We have been living in where coyotes, snakes, scorpions, and gekos frequent your backyard. Anyway, so now our stuff is in a trailer in the cold and the company will pay for any damages. We figure the spiders were probably living in the mast of the sailboats stored outside.

Well then we had issues with moving money which involved a trip back to buffalo, fedexing, and changing exchange companies. As well we found out about a some fraud in my name at Bell Canada when we got cell phones. And then we are now having issues with getting drivers licenses. This on top of selling our house, buying a house, finding daycare, importing our cars, etc… Basically I have been doing paperwork full time for the last 4 weeks and we are still not done!!

On a more positive note… Our house in Phoenix has closed last week so we are happy. I also got a job at York Central Hospital (part-time –woohoo!) as their geriatric clinical nurse specialist/Nurse Practitioner. I don’t start work until next week, but then I have 2 weeks off for Christmas. We also bought a house!! And move in on December 22nd!! We bought in Woodbrdige, by Ilsington and Rutherford (west of Von Mills mall).

We are living in a hotel suite right now so I only have a laptop. I’ll post pictures in the new year of Carter once we get settled in our new house.

Holden is living in Bracebridge (and basically Carter has been too) with grandma and grandpa Willett until we move into the new house. I think Holden is more of a Canadian dog now than a desert dog. He loves the snow!! The dog loves to roll in the snow, eat it, and chase squirrels.

Carter doesn’t seem to mind the cold either. He’s been out helping grandpa load wood into the truck, long walks outside, and even out for rides in the sled. He knows what snow is and can even say snow (he crinkles his nose when he says it, too funny!). He is starting to repeat alot of words but some are much clearer than others. He can say no, yah, mama, dada, dog, hot, dirty, grandpa, tree, tractor, cracker, door, down, banana, pee-ew (& he plugs his nose), etc… He’s pretty funny because he likes to change his expression or tone when he says certain words. Grandpa Willett is having a great time since Carter can say Grandpa pretty clear but doesn’t say grandma. Grandma and grandpa have been taking him swimming regularly so now he is becomming quite the litter swimmer. He’s even gone down the water slide on his own. We also put the christmas tree up last weekend, with non breakable ornaments on the bottoms (someone likes to check them out). Carter likes to stare at the tree and say “ahhhh”, and get all excited… he likes the Christmas tree… wait till he see it with presents!!

Anyway by next week we hope to be fairly organized, that we can finally start to enjoy being in Toronto. By the way — it has snowed a tonne here since we arrived… so much for Shawn saying it doesn’t snow much in Toronto! At least it is pretty.