A promotion for me!

We had our annual performance reviews last month and I am being promoted to a full-fledged Project Manager. I was doing some PM work before my mat leave and then when I returned from mat leave, I didn’t do any PM work. I think they were a little hesitant to give me any projects to manage until they saw how my return to work 3 days a week (and now 4 days a week) was going to work. Well, I have obviously proved myself because my boss wants to make me a PM again only this time they are making it official by giving me that title (my job title has never been PM before).

So, naturally, I was expecting a huge raise. Well, turns out my raise is decent, but not nearly what I was expecting. It is higher than the company average raise, but I was honestly expecting maybe twice what I got. Our company does raises once per year each April (our reviews were late this year, but the raises were retroactive to April). So, as soon as I got the letter with my salary adjustment, I went to talk to my boss and told him I was expecting more given my increase in responsibility. The raise I got was more what I would have expected if I was staying in the same job, not with the promotion. He gave me lots of manager-speak and what we negotiated to is that in early October, we’ll do an informal appraisal to see how I’m doing with my projects and I’ll get another raise then if merited. So, I’m okay with that. Better than having to wait a whole other year for another raise! And at least he knows I am being proactive with my career, so it didn’t hurt to ask. And if I get another raise in October and then another one next April, that would be awesome.

On to other things…

For those who are curious, the law suit is still on going. We have come to the realization that it will likely take YEARS before it's over. No fun. The next steps are mandatory mediation and then our lawyer gets to examine my uncle and his lawyer gets to examine my mom and I. Both lawyers also get to examine Oma's 2 lawyers (the one she 'fired' because she thought he was working with my uncle and her most recent lawyer), her medical professionals, and the capacity assessor. All that will be completed within the next 9 months, so that takes us to early 2012. Then, if things are not settled by mediation, it will go to trial before a judge, which could take a very long time depending on the schedule of the Court. So, it's going to be a long and expensive road, but we're not giving up - we have to fight for what Oma wanted.

We’ve been in our house for over a month now and we LOVE it! We are in the planning stages of building a deck, so hopefully we’ll have that installed within the next month or so. Still have more unpacking to do (our garage is maybe half full of boxes still).

This weekend I’m going to a ladies retreat. I went for the first time a year and a half ago and I took Julie with me since she was still nursing. Well, she’s not nursing anymore, so I am going without her this time (they only let you bring your child if they are a nursing baby – which makes sense – the whole point of the retreat is to have a little getaway!). This is my first time being away from Julie for more than 1 night. It’s a little ‘trial run’ for Vegas next month when I’ll be away from her for 5 nights! We’ll see how I do! I will of course miss Carlos too ;)

Loving the new house!

Our new house rocks! I absolutely LOVE it!

We got the keys just after noon last Monday. We moved several loads of stuff over on Monday afternoon and evening. We stayed at our old house for the last time that Monday night since our furniture wasn't being moved until the following day. We hired movers to move our large furniture and appliances and am I ever glad we did. That would have been way too much to do ourselves! The movers were done just after noon on Tuesday, so we spent the whole afternoon and evening moving more stuff. On the Wednesday morning, our phone/TV/internet was installed, so we had to hang around home while that was being done. For the rest of Wednesday through Friday, we moved more stuff and did some shopping for things we needed to get for the house. On Saturday, we took a bunch of stuff to the landfill and also used my dad's truck to take 2 more loads over to the new house. Then on Sunday, Carlos and his dad got the very last load of stuff. So, it took us an entire 7 days to get all our stuff moved over.

Now our garage is packed full of boxes. I have the important ones unpacked, but it will take us a few weeks to get the rest unpacked. At least we have everything moved over now! We had a deadline since the first tenant was moving into our old house on the 7th, so I wanted to have most of our stuff out by then.

Today, I took Julie for a walk to the local zoo. It took us 7 minutes to get from our front door to the zoo - not too bad! I think we're going to be going there a lot this summer! It's a free zoo and they also have great playground equipment and have a splash pad in the summer. It's a great place!

We also bought new bikes for Carlos and I and a bike trailer for Julie. So, now we're all set to go for family bike rides this summer! I sold my triathlon bike and we were able to buy Carlos' new bike, my new bike, and Julie's trailer for less than $2 more (including tax) than I sold my bike for. I thought it was neat how that worked out. We got hybrids, so I could easily use that bike if I ever want to do another triathlon since I used a mountain bike for my first 3 anyway.

The Big Egg Hunt was a success!

Our church put on a free Easter egg hunt for our community on Saturday. It was amazing! We were hoping for a few hundred people and we got a few thousand! We had 10,000 Easter eggs and they weren't nearly enough - next year, we'll need 100,000!!!! It was a wonderful event for the community.

Our moving day is getting closer! In one week from right now, we'll have the keys to our new place. It could be as late as 5pm before we get the keys, so we have the movers coming next Tuesday to move our large furniture and appliances. Everything else we'll move ourselves - I imagine it will take us about 20 trips! Good thing the new house is only 7 minutes away from our current house. I am SOOOOO excited!

A beautiful service for a beautiful woman

The funeral for my grandmother was on Friday, which would have been her 83rd birthday. We went to the cemetery in the morning for the burial, which was very difficult, I cried the whole time. Then we had the memorial service in the afternoon, which was a lovely tribute to Oma. Close to 50 people came and we shared funny stories about Oma and everyone had a chance to say what Oma meant to them. I burst into tears and couldn't quite get through my speech, but I'm sure people understood. It was a very emotional day and I felt I was near tears all weekend.

Turns out my uncle did show up at both the cemetery and the memorial service, which was fine. We weren't going to uninvite him since we thought he should be able to go to his mother's funeral no matter what else is going on. So, he did come, but didn't say a word to us. Which is fine. We're glad it's overwith so now we don't have to worry about it any more.

We're hoping that my uncle saw how many people were there and so many of them expressed how happy Oma was with her living arrangements and they had never seen her more happy than she had been in the last few years. We're hoping that softened his heart a little bit to the law suit, we'll see. I'm not counting on it, but it would be nice!

In happy news - we get the keys to our new house in 2 weeks from today - YAY! We spent the weekend packing. We got a lot done, but there is still so much more to do!

Not much new to report here.

We are really excited about our new house! We move in 5 weeks! We got 3 quotes from moving companies to only move our large items (we want to move everything we possibly can ourselves, but need movers for our large furniture and appliances) and they came back at $1,200, $650, and $400. And all 3 companies did a walk-through of the house and quoted on moving the same items. Strange! Needless to say, we’re going with the cheapest one and we’re hoping to reduce that cost even further by moving even more by ourselves. They only have a 2 hour minimum while the other 2 companies have a 4 hour minimum. Seems like a waste of money just to have our items moved, but then again, I would feel safer having a moving company for things like our appliances, mirrors, and TV since then they are insured.

Right now we’re trying to decide which company to go for phone/tv/internet. Right now we have Bell, but I think we pay way too much for what we get. So, our only other option in our area if we want to have 1 company for all 3 services is Cogeco. According to their online quotes, it looks like we’d be saving at least $75 per month if we switch to them. So, it would be worth it to make the switch.

The situation with my uncle has gone nowhere in the last few weeks. Our lawyer submitted an “Intent to Defend” form on our behalf to my uncle’s lawyer, but it hasn’t gone any further than that. I imagine our lawyer will need to meet with us again in the next couple of weeks to figure out where we’re going from here.

My mom is a ball of stress right now over the whole thing. She is having a really hard time with the whole being sued by her own brother thing on top of missing her mother. Oma’s burial and memorial service is coming up in a couple of weeks, and we don’t know if my uncle will show up. He knows the place and time for both since I told him about that before we were served with papers. We didn’t officially ‘un-invite’ him because we didn’t want to come across as spiteful, but my mom certainly does not want him in her home (she is hosting the memorial service). Not to mention there are several relatives who have told us that they will only come if he is not there (they all have their own beef with him that goes back many years, has nothing to do with the law suit). He also already hosted his own memorial service for Oma since he didn’t like the fact that we wanted to wait until the spring and have it on what would have been her 83rd birthday. So, I have a feeling he will not show up for the memorial service, but he will likely come to the burial. Which my mom is terrified of because she never wants to see him or speak to him again. It could be a very difficult situation to be in. Not to mention Carlos and my dad both want to punch his lights out – nobody needs to end up in jail! I just don’t want there to be a screaming match over Oma’s grave.

Update on the bad news and good news

My mom and I met with our lawyer this afternoon to tell him 'our side' of the story. Prior to our meeting, he had only read my uncle's 50-page statement of claim, so once he heard our side, he believes we can provide a strong defense. So, we can certainly fight him, but this litigation process will likely be VERY expensive. It's never easy! The next step is our lawyer will inform my uncle's lawyer that we will be preparing a defense so they know we're not just ignoring the papers. Then, we have to gather all the evidence we possibly can about his mistreatment and neglect of Oma and how happy she was with the care she received from my mom. We have tonnes of people willing to testify on our side, so we have a strong case.

In happy news, we had our home inspection yesterday and the house had no major issues. He did find 3 or 4 very minor issues, which are quite easily fixed. I'm sure any house would not be 100% perfect! He did say that for a new build, they did a very good job. He checked all the walls with an infra-red camera to check to make sure the insulation was consistent and that there was no water damage - that was very cool! So, we signed the papers last night, so the house is offically ours! We move in May 2nd - yay! I drove by the house today to see if the 'SOLD' sign was up and it was, so I took a picture :)

Highs and lows...

As I posted last week, Carlos and I didn't get the house we put the offer in on. We were very disappointed for a few days and then we figured there was a reason we didn't get that house - must mean there is something else in store for us. We went to 2 open houses on the weekend in addition to visiting 4 sales offices for new home builders in the area. Nothing really struck our fancy, so we decided to keep looking.

The last night, a new listing came through and as soon as I saw the pictures, I knew we had to go and see the house. It only came on the market yesterday and I called my agent right away, but by then it was 6:30pm and it was too short notice to the sellers to see it that night. Which sucked because I was supposed to leave at 5:30am this morning to come to Toronto for a conference. Our agent arranged the earliest showing he could which was this morning at 10am. So, I decided to skip the morning sessions at my conference and go see the house. It was PERFECT! We love it even more than the other house we lost last week. We submitted an offer right away and they had until 8pm to respond. They came back with a counter offer which we now have until tomorrow at 8pm to respond to and we are going to accept. So, the house is ours! YAY! Provided that the home inspection comes back okay, we'll be moving in May!

Then, onto BAD news - my mom and I are being sued by my uncle. Just when I was calling her to tell her our good house news, she sounded all upset and told me she had been served with legal papers this afternoon and that my uncle was suing her and me. Since I am out of town, they couldn't serve me with papers, but they tried to deliver them this evening at 9pm. So, I'm sure they will try again tomorrow. I feel absolutely sick. I can't believe he is suing us! Apparently it's a 50 page document, so my mom hasn't read it all, but apparently he is suing saying he has witnesses (some of Oma's friends) saying that she was afraid of my mom. It would be laughable if it wasn't so scary to be sued! He is suing my mom for $500,000 plus $100,000 in punative damages. Not sure what he's suing me for, but I will find out when I "am served".

The suspense is killing me!

Carlos and I put an offer in on a house yesterday, which was accepted. The only issue is the house already had an accepted offer on it which was conditional on the sale of their home. So, because the seller accepted our offer, the first people who submitted the offer have 48 hours to either remove all their conditions or walk away. The clock started ticking on that yesterday at 4:30pm, so we will know either way by tomorrow at 4:30pm. Could be earlier if they made their decision before then, but I suspect it will be close to the deadline when we hear.

Carlos and I have been thinking about moving for the last several months. We love our house, but it is not the best location (surrounded by student rentals). Think loud parties and broken beer bottles on the front lawn. Now that we have Julie, we want to move to a nice, quiet family-friendly street. But, I’m not willing to move until we find the perfect house – has to have absolutely everything on our checklist, otherwise I am happy to stay where we are until we find that.

So, since October, I have been checking listings on mls.ca almost every day to see what’s out there and we have gone to maybe 5 or 6 open houses. Every house we’ve seen, I left thinking “Nice house, but not the house for us”. Until we went to the open house on Sunday – we both fell in love with the house! It’s on a nice, quiet street with a cul-de-sac on one side (i.e. no through traffic), in our preferred end of town, 2 story, 3 bed, 2.5 bath, double attached garage, unfinished basement that could easily be converted to more bedrooms or a large rec room. It also has a fully fenced in yard (which isn’t huge, but larger than some of the other houses we’ve seen!), nice kitchen, gas fireplace in the great room, main floor laundry, and the list goes on!

This house only went on the market a week ago and the first day it was on the market, they got an offer and accepted it. However, that offer was conditional on the sale of their house and their house didn’t even go on the market until today. So, they have until tomorrow at 4:30pm to either remove the conditions to their offer or walk away. I am doubtful they would be able to sell their house in 1.5 days, but you never know, it could happen. Or they could decide to ‘risk it’ and just hope their house sells in time before the closing date. But, that is very risky, so I’m hoping they would just walk away from the deal!

Either way, in 25 hours, I will know if we get this house or not. If we do, then I already have a home inspection scheduled for Friday afternoon. It is a 4 year old house, so not likely to be anything major wrong with it, but you never know with the builders these days…. So, spending the money on a home inspection is worth every penny in my opinion!

Oma's promotion to heaven

It has been a long time since I have posted anything. I will try to post more often. So much has happened in the last several weeks!

First off, we had a great time in Florida after Christmas. Very relaxing, saw a couple of alligators (one was 4 houses down in a little park and the other was in our backyard). Went to Disney world where Julie got to meet Mickey and Minnie. It was really cute, she was carrying around a Mickey sticker and as soon as she got to meet him, she handed him the sticker like it was some sort of currency ;) We also did lots of shopping and had 4 beach days at various local beaches. We had great weather – some days were as high as 30 degrees! Made it difficult to come back to the cold!

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that my Oma passed away on Jan 21st. As I mentioned before, she suffered a stroke on Dec. 18th and just when we thought things were looking good and they were talking about rehab, she complication after complication. Just when they’d get one thing under control, something else would come up. She had an irregular heart rate that they needed to stabilize with medication, she developed aspiration pneumonia, then jaundice.

We found out on January 15th that the jaundice was caused by advanced cancer and there was nothing they could do and they were moving their focus to palliative care and just keeping her comfortable for however many days she had left. The doctors were amazed that she hadn’t been in pain for the last several months given how advanced the cancer was.

On the Monday, January 17th, the hospital called the family in at 4:30am thinking the end was near, at that point they told us hours, and we were all at the hospital by 5am. We spent 4 days at the hospital round the clock and she passed away just after midnight on the 21st. She had a semi-private room with the other bed empty, so my mom was able to stay in the hospital overnight and slept holding Oma’s hand. We gave Oma the most beautiful sendoff to heaven and it was such a peaceful and beautiful experience. I didn’t know death could be like that! We will all miss Oma terribly, but we know we’ll see her again someday in heaven. Oma always said she wanted to live long enough to see Julie walk, and she lived 6 months longer than that. I am so glad we had a girl and named her middle name (Erika) after Oma. Julie still asks for Oma every day and while Oma was in the hospital for 5 weeks, I said “Oma’s not home right now”, but now when Julie asks, I say “Oma lives in heaven with Jesus”.

I can't believe Julie turns 2 on Monday! The time has flown by! She is talking in full sentences now!

WW Update

This week: down 4.0
Total so far: down 23.5

YAY! I am at my lowest weight since starting WW in July! I gained 3.5 pounds over the last 2 months, so I lost that plus another half pound all in one week! I guess my body likes the new program!

I will have to work really hard to maintain while on the trip, but if I gain a pound or two, I am okay with that. I will start fresh when I get back. I`ll still be careful while I`m away and eat lots of fresh fruit and get lots of activity!

Crazy last few days!

As most of you know, my grandmother (Oma) had a stroke on Saturday. So, it has been a hellish few days. Thankfully, she is recovering well. She`ll likely need to be in the hospital for another couple of weeks.

So, that certainly puts a damper on the trip to Florida. Since the rental house is paid for and we can`t get a refund this close to the time, my mom is insisting that the rest of us (me, Carlos, Julie, and nej) still go. Since Oma is stable, I think she would want the rest of us to still go and enjoy ourselves. My mom wants us to come back all refreshed since she`ll need lots of help when Oma comes home.

With Oma`s dementia, she won`t even realize she`s spending Christmas in the hospital or that I will be gone for 2 weeks. We`ll have a little Christmas celebration once she gets home.

What a crazy few days! I am so thankful she is doing so well! And I`m thankful this didn`t happen while we were on our way to or in Florida as Oma was going to be coming with us!

New program = new start

This past week, WW unveiled the 2011 program which is very different from the current program. It now takes into account the carbs and protein of different foods, so that's cool. Also, the best part is: all fruit is now 0 points! YAY! So, mom and I have both been maintaining for the last almost 2 months, so now with this new program comes new motivation to get the weight loss train going again!

Of course, we are leaving for Florida for 2 weeks at Christmas, so keeping on track with WW will be difficult. I'm just going to try my best, eat lots of fruits and veggies, and walk lots!

I am loving my Wii Fit! I have earned 15 activity points this week so far (so between Saturday and Wednesday) - not too bad if you ask me! That should help kick start my weight loss as well!

Julie is now 22 months old - I can't believe it! She is going to be a cow in the nativity play at our church on Sunday - can't wait! She is going to be the most adorable cow ever ;)

Update from a 30 year old

As far as my weight loss, I have been staying the same in the last couple of weeks - actually, I gained a pound and then lost it again. So, I am still at a total of 21.5 pounds lost. I have really lost my motivation in the last month - I guess I was happy with my 21+ pound loss and relaxed a bit in my efforts.

And, today is my birthday, so this weekend has been filled with celebrations and special treats. But, starting tomorrow, I am back on track!

My hubby bought me a Wii for my birthday, including a Wii Fit Plus, so I am hoping that will give me the kick in the butt I need to up my fitness. I already tried it out and did some fun games and burned 90 calories just in 20 minutes of playing around on it! I think it's going to be lots of fun!

So, today, I turned 30 years old. It hasn't really sunk it yet that I am no longer in my twenties... I really enjoyed my twenties - a lot happened in a decade! Didn't start out so good (with a broken engagement when I was 20), but once I got through that, things just got better and better. You ladies were a big part of that! Meeting Carlos when I was 25 was also a turning point in my life. Becoming a mom when I was 28 was the most proud moment of my life and one which I will never forget. I can only hope my thirties are as good as my twenties were!

Our trip to Florida is less than 4 weeks away now - yay! I am so looking forward to the 2 weeks off work and fun times with my family and nej!

WW Update

This week: up 1.5 pounds
Total so far: down 21.5 pounds

Oops. I had a bad week. I didn't track this week, so I'm sure that's part of the reason for the gain. So, I'm starting fresh this week and getting back to tracking. So, I'm not letting this get to me. I'll keep going and I'm sure I'll lose again next week.

WW Update

This week: down 1.5 pounds
Total so far: down 23 pounds

I'm glad I lost the 0.5 I gained last week plus another pound! And I was away for the weekend, so I am quite pleased with my results this week.

WW Update

This week: up 0.5 pounds
Total so far: down 21.5 pounds

I had to weigh in early again this week since I will be out of town all weekend in Ottawa visiting Eva - yay!

For the first time since I started WW 3.5 months ago, I gained a little bit this week. No big deal. I have a feeling it was the McDonald's yesterday. I didn't get home last night until 7:15pm and I thought that Carlos was going to have supper all ready when I got home, but turns out he had to work until 7:30pm last night. At that point, I was too hungry to make anything, so I asked him to pick up subs on his way home. He understood that as pick up "something" on the way home, so he showed up with McDonalds instead. At almost 8:00pm, I couldn't say no, especially since it was right in front of me! So, that's probably the 0.5 pound gain right there. I'm not worried, I'll start fresh again today.

WW Update

I know it's a few days early, but I went to weigh in this morning instead of Saturday since I'm busy on Saturday and won't be able to go to WW for my regular meeting.

This week: down 0.5 pounds
Total so far: down 22 pounds

YAY! I was going into this weigh-in expecting to gain because of the back to back big family meals on the weekend, but I managed to lose a half a pound. I am so pleased! Must have been the fact that I was really good yesterday to try to counteract some of the weekend :)

Update on my aunt

I emailed my uncle for an update on my aunt. Turns out Oma had the details incorrect. Annette has melanoma, so not in the eye at all. She is not in the hospital; she just had a day surgery to remove something on her leg to go for testing. Now we’re just waiting to get the results and then we’ll know what treatment she’ll need. I’m glad I asked because it sounds like it’s not as serious as what Oma said!

WW Update

This week: down 0.5 pounds
Total so far: down 21.5 pounds

Not bad considering the week I had. This next weigh-in might not be pretty given the back to back turkey dinners I have this weekend! I'll do my best to stay on track and try to get some exercise in too.

Sad news

Oma got a call from my uncle yesterday - first time he's talked to her since the beginning of July. Turns out my aunt is in the hospital in Toronto and she has just been diagnosed with cancer. All we know is it is some type of cancer of the eye - the same type that my Opa died of 17 years ago. Of course, Oma is quite upset and keeps asking my mom for details, but my mom doesn't know anything because all the information we have received has been from Oma. Doesn't he know giving a woman with dementia details is useless because she doesn't remember things from 30 seconds ago?!?!

So, my mom emailed my cousin to try to get some info. Needless to say, we are all pretty worried! Makes it worse that we don't know any details!

WW Update

This week: down 1.5 pounds
Total so far: down 21 pounds

YAY! This week, both my mom and I got our 10% award - we have each lost 10% of our starting weight. I thought it was funny that we both reached it in the same week - haha!

As of tomorrow, I will officially be a full-time (more than 30 hours per week) employee again. I am adding Monday mornings to my current schedule of all day on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. That will bring me up to 31 hours per week. Which means I'll get the health benefits for free again - yay!

I had a great weekend. Yesterday, I was a vendor at a Girls Day Out event, so that went well. Today, we had church in the morning and then we had some portraits taken with Julie. Our annual family portraits - they turned out really well! We had them done at Walmart this time and now I know that next time I'll go back to Sears. I wasn't overly impressed with Walmart, but live and learn! Here is one of my favourites:

WW Update

This week: down 1.5 pounds
Total so far: down 19.5 pounds

Another good week! YAY! I am just a hair away from getting to 20 pounds lost. And I only have another 17.5 pounds to go to reach my pre-pregnancy weight. I would like to lose more than that though, that's just the minimum that I want to lose by next summer.

I am going to take my measurements again today since I've been on WW for 3 months now. Gotta see how many inches have been lost! I am swimming in my pants, so that is a good sign! Makes it hard though since I don't want to buy more pants since I still have more to lose. Although H&M is opening here in October, so I may have to buy a couple of pairs of pants there in the meantime.

WW Update

This week: down 2.0 pounds
Total so far: down 18 pounds

WOW! I am so happy with the progress I've been making. 18 pounds in less than 3 months - yay! I didn't think I had a very good week in terms of eating, so the extra exercise must be making a difference!

WW Update

This week: down 1 pound
Total so far: down 16 pounds

Yay! I really wasn't expecting to lose any weight this week given all the meals out last week. But, all the walking must be making a difference and I was able to lose another pound! 16 pounds in 12 weeks is awesome; I am so pleased! I am hoping to lose another 10 pounds by the trip to Florida after Christmas - 10 pounds in 15 weeks is doable I think.

I had a great time at Eva's wedding on Saturday. It was beautiful! It was fun to catch up with the gang again.

WW Update

This week: down 1 pound
Total so far: down 15 pounds

Yay! I made it to 15 pounds lost! Not bad for 10 weeks. And I did this during the summer when social engagements are at a maximum. The next 2 weeks will be rough because I have a bunch of special things coming up - including my 3rd anniversary and a wedding to go to, plus a couple of other meals out. I will be okay with just staying the same for the next 2 weeks... we'll see how this goes!

WW Update

This week: down 2.5 lbs
Total so far: down 14 lbs

Yay! I had a really good week and I am so glad that the scale showed it! I am really close to getting my 3rd 5-pound star! Walking Roxi for a half hour per day is certainly helping with my weight loss efforts I'm sure.

We went to Wendy's tonight for supper and where I normally would have gotten a spicy chicken sandwich and fries, I chose a grilled chicken sandwich and a baked potato instead. It was super yummy! I probably enjoyed it just as much and it was WAY less points. So, next time we have a hankering for fast food, I know I can get that and not feel guilty about it.

In other news, we are moving offices in October. To a building that is being completely renovated for us. It is a 4 minute drive from home - awesome (right now, I am a 15-20 minute drive from work). The other reason I am super excited about the move is I will get my own office again - woohoo! I had my own office before I went on mat leave, but while I was away, they hired a senior PM, so he got my office. Well, in the new building, there are more single offices than we currently have, so I will be getting my own office again. I am so excited!

We had a good weekend. On Saturday, we spent 2 hours cleaning the living room/dining room and kitchen. It needed it badly! It looks so much better now! Then we went for a swim at my parents house. Today, we went to visit Carlos' sister and nephew, so that was nice. We took Roxi along too :)

WW Update

This week: same
Total so far: down 11.5 pounds

I totally deserve to stay the same this week since I was at the cottage on the weekend and then had 2 meals out on Monday and Tuesday. So, I am okay with staying the same this past week. This week, I'm kickin it into high gear so that I'll see a loss at my next weigh-in!

In other news - we got a puppy yesterday! Her name is Roxi and she's adorable! We have been thinking about getting a puppy for a few months, but were originally planning to wait until the spring. Well, I just fell in love with this precious ball of fur that we decided to get a puppy a few months earlier than planned. She has such a sweet and gentle nature. She's a morkie, so a cross between a maltese and a yorkie. She'll stay small, likely less than 10 pounds. Perfect little dog to take for walks with Julie and hang out at the cottage!

Week 7

This week: down 2 lbs
So far: down 11.5 lbs

YAY! This week I got both my 10-pound star and I met my 5% weight lost! I am so proud of myself! My normal weigh-in day is Saturdays, but I had to weigh-in a day early this week since tomorrow I am doing a tradeshow all day. Then it's off to the cottage tomorrow night for the rest of the weekend!

Julie's 18 months stats

Julie had her 18 month appointment on Monday. She must have remembered all the needles she has received there, because as soon as we went into the doctor's office, she started screaming and wouldn't stop! But, she is in perfect health and has grown quite a bit in length! She is now 34 inches long, which puts her at the 95th percentile for length for her age. She hasn't put on much weight though, she is still between 22 and 23 pounds, which puts her at about the 25th percentile for weight for her age. She is walking up a storm now and says about 8 to 10 words, so she's right on track.

The doctor will order another ekg for Julie sometime within the next couple of months just to make sure that the small hole in her heart wall has closed. She couldn't hear a murmur anymore, so it has most likely closed, but she'll want an ekg just to be sure. I'm not looking forward to that since getting an 18 month old to sit still for an hour while being poked and prodded will be no easy task!

Week 6

This week: down 1.5 lbs
Total so far: down 9.5 lbs

Yay! I am just a hair away from getting my 5% lost, which is my first goal! I should get it next week, which would be great! I think I did well this week considering I was at the cottage for 3 days. I was really good for the rest of the week, and it paid off!

My mom and I took Julie for a 90 minute walk this afternoon, so I earned 4 activity points for today - good thing I did because we're having steak tonight!

Julie is 18 months old today - I can't believe how fast the time has gone! She's going to the doctor on Monday for her 18 month check-up, so I will post her latest measurements after that. She's walking up a storm now and says about 5 or 6 words.

Week 5

This week: no change
Total so far: down 8 pounds

I went in to my weigh-in on Saturday morning thinking that I'd be happy with staying the same this week since I had an 'unknown' day on Friday with lunch and supper out with my work function. So, I am fine with staying the same.

This past weekend, I was at the cottage all weekend, but I think I did okay in terms of points, so as long as I stay on plan for the rest of this week, I should be okay for Saturday's weigh in.

I enjoyed my weekend with lj, nej, Carlos, and Julie! We went to the cottage and went to the Bancroft Gemboree on Sunday, which was fun. We had nice weather and it just started to rain as we were leaving today, so that was perfect. The weekend went by way too fast, now it's back to work tomorrow... boo.

Week 4

This week: down 1.5 lbs
Total: down 8 lbs

I had a good week and the scale showed it! I have been back on WW for a month now, and I am down 8 pounds, and I am thrilled with that. This coming week, I have a work function on Friday that includes lunch and dinner, so I'm going to save all my extra 35 points for Friday. Then, next weekend, I'll be at the cottage with nej and lj, but luckily my points reset on Saturday, so I'll use my extra 35 points for that week on the weekend.

Julie is WALKING!

Julie took her first steps on Sunday afternoon. It was just a special moment, and I am so glad she decided to take her first steps when both Carlos and I were right there! Good timing! I would have been so sad if I had missed it!

We bought her some mega blocks (lego for babies) and were building a tower. I stood Julie up a few feet away, and she walked right to the tower! She did this several times in a row. I right away called my mom, and came right down with my dad and Oma to witness it first hand. We got out the video camera and took some video as well as a few pictures of this momentus occasion.

She is so adorable. The look on her face when she realized she was walking on her own was priceless. She was SO PROUD!!!

Week 3

This week: down 0.5 lbs
Total: down 6.5 lbs

Another slow week in terms of weight loss. My normal weigh-in is on Saturday mornings, but this Saturday I have my next CropDay, so I won't be able to weigh-in, so I decided to weigh-in this morning, so it has only been 5 days since my last weigh-in. I lost a half a pound, so I am trying to focus on the total weight lost (6.5 pounds - yay) instead of the weekly loss since I feel that me level of effort in the last 2 weeks deserves more than a half pound lost each week. Could be the fact that I'm a nursing mom, maybe that's throwing everything out of whack. Who knows. I still have 25 of my extra points left for the rest of this week, so I doubt I will use them all.

Week 2

This week: down 0.5 pounds
Total weight loss: 6 pounds

I'm a little baffled at how in my first week, I went over on my points and lost 5.5 pounds, and this week, I have 20 of my extra points left and I only lost 0.5 pounds. Who knows, could be water retention due to the heat wave. Could be salt. I'm not going to worry about it, at least I'm still heading in the right direction!

Week 1

This week: down 5.5 pounds!!!

I got my first 5 pound star for my very first week! I am so proud of myself! And the week I had consisted of going to a buffet, eating at my in-laws (where food is a plenty!), and a potluck with friends. So, I think I did amazingly well!!!

I set a goal to lose 10 pounds by mid-August and I'm already half way there!

It has been awhile...

Does anyone even check this anymore?!?!? I really want to start blogging again, so I hope I can keep this going again.

Things are going well right now with me. I am looking forward to some upcoming vacation, I only have 1 workday left and then I'm off for almost 2 weeks - yay! My first vacation since starting work again back in January. And it will be my only vacation until our trip in December. So, I'm going to make the most of it!

My mom and I started back at Weight Watchers this past weekend. I need to make a change, and I really need the accountability of knowing that I have to go there to weigh in every week.

I really want to lose a significant amount of weight (up to 50 pounds) before I get pregnant again. So, that gives me about a year probably, so here's hoping I can at least get down to the weight I was before I got pregnant with Julie!

My first couple of days back on WW have been a real eye opener. I have started measuring portions and I am shocked by how much I was really eating. I am guessing I was easily eating 40 or 50 points per day. No wonder I wasn't losing any weight! The good thing is I get more points per day than last time I was on WW since now I am a nursing mom, so I get an extra 5 points per day because of that.

Are any of you girls following WW? Have you had some success?

I am planning to post the results of my weekly weigh-in here and hopefully we can all encourage each other to reach our goals!

What a whirlwind couple of months!

It has been awhile since I've last posted. Things have been busy!

I am back at work now, 3 days a week. That seems to be working well; I am enjoying it. I am considering upping my hours slightly from 24 hours per week to 30 hours per week since then I would get free health benefits again (part time employees have to pay approx. $135/month for health benefits and it is free for full time employees). And I would have to work 30 hours per week to be considered full time. So, it would be worth working the extra 6 hours per week for that. And the extra money would be good too ;)

Things with my uncle have gotten a lot worse. Long story short, 2 months ago, he invited Oma out for coffee and took her to her lawyer instead. He somehow convinced her to change her will and power of attorney documents back to the way they were before she changed them last year. When we found the new papers at Oma's, we asked her about them and she said she never would have signed them since they didn't reflect her wishes. We couldn't understand how Oma's lawyer could go along with whatever my uncle wanted when he was supposed to represent Oma! Last year, she told her lawyer she didn't want her son to have access to any of her documents and that she wanted her daughter to be protected. Then, all of a sudden, he can take her to the lawyer and get everything changed back? After it took months last year to get it changed the first time?

So, we took Oma to a new lawyer the very next business day. She met with the new lawyer by herself on several occasions and what she told her new lawyer was the exact same as she has been telling mom and me over the last few years. So, the new lawyer drew up a new will and power of attorney documents and they were signed less than a week after the one was signed with my uncle.

The problem was, we couldn't relax knowing that my uncle could just pick her up and change it all back again. We didn't want to be in a situation where she could change her will every week. So, she decided to transfer her properties now (home and cottage) to the people who would be getting them in her will. This way, we don't have to worry about my uncle picking her up and convincing her to change her will since now she doesn't own any property. I am so relieved this is all done and we can finally relax. We know it's going to come to a law suit when my uncle finds out, but he won't have a case. Oma's new lawyer has known right from the beginning that this will likely come to a law suit, so she has been very meticulous about making sure that she met with Oma by herself on several occasions to make sure this is really what she wants.

So, after almost a year of this stress with my uncle, we can finally relax.

On to happier things...

Julie is 13 months old now - I can't believe it! She is so amazing. She's got 6 teeth, with 2 more coming in. She is pulling herself up on furniture, so I'm thinking it won't be long before she starts to walk!

Our kitchen renovation is almost done! It looks so awesome!

A New Year

Hard to believe I've been keeping this blog for over 5 years now - wow! How much my life has changed since I started this blog!

This is my very last week of maternity leave. I go back to work on Tuesday. I am actually starting to get excited about going back to work, much to my surprise. I think it will be really good for me to get back into the working world. I am so happy that I'll be working 3 days a week instead of 5! I think it will be a bit of an adjustment at first, especially getting up at 6am so that I have time to feed Julie (probably twice) before I leave for work at 7:30am. After I leave, Carlos will be home for 2 hours each morning with Julie before he drops her off at my mom's on his way to work. Then she'll be at my mom's for 7 hours before I pick her up on my way home. Julie will be fine; it will be me that will have a rough time of it in the beginning I think.

I have been enjoying this week since it is my last week of my mat leave. Tomorrow, I am getting together with a friend, on Friday I am getting a massage, and on Saturday, I have a hot date with my hubby! Should be lots of fun!

Enjoying the Florida sun

It is gorgeous here! Low to mid 20's and sunny! This afternoon, we are heading to the beach and tomorrow we are heading to the everglades to go on an airboat tour. Tomorrow is supposed to be the warmest day yet at 27 degrees. Then it is supposed to be cooler for Thurs and Fri - so you know what that means - outlet mall shopping!

Our house here is absolutely gorgeous. We got the master bedroom since we have Julie and the bathroom (complete with 2 walk-in closets) is bigger than our bedroom at home. We love this house! If we come back again next year, we'll likely get the same house again since it is gorgeous and in a nice quiet area, but close enough to the shopping.

Julie did so amazing on the drive down! It was about 25 hours of driving time and we only lost an hour total due to traffic, which isn't bad considering how long the trip was. Having the portable DVD player in the car for Julie was awesome, it kept her occupied for most of the drive.

We are enjoying our vacation so much, I don't want the week to end!

Last post for 2009 (probably)

This will likely be my last post for the year given that I'm leaving for Florida on Friday and won't be back until January 5th. Although, who knows, I may post while I am sitting by the pool at our house in Florida ;) I'm so excited about the trip! I hope Julie does okay in the car for that long! We bought a portable DVD player to help occupy her for some of the drive.

This is my first time ever going south during the winter. All the other times I've been south have been in August, April, October, and September. So this one will be different because I can escape some of the snow! I have also never been on this long of a drive. My longest drive thus far would be to New Brunswick in 1996.

We had Christmas with my side of the family on the weekend, and it was awesome! We had our turkey dinner on Saturday, then played games for the evening. We played this new (to us) game "Settlers of Catan". Have any of you ever played it? It is AWESOME! We loved it so much that we played it again on Sunday! We had our 'Christmas morning' on Sunday and it was so much fun.

On the 25th, we will be heading to Carlos' parents house for the afternoon and then we're leaving on our trip - yay!

I hope you all have a fabulous Christmas!!!

Great weekend

I had my company Christmas party on Friday and it was a lot of fun. It was great to see everyone again and get to know some of the new people. I was so glad that Julie was okay without me from 6:30pm until almost midnight! She was with my parents and was an angel, she only got a little grumpy near then end and that was only because she was really tired. I'm so glad I can get out in the evenings now! Tomorrow, I am meeting the girls from work for dinner and then we're going to see New Moon. They even made T-shirts so we all wear either "Team Jacob" or "Team Edward". We'll feel like we're 15 again ;) I decided to go with Team Jacob for this movie, but then I'll switch to Team Edward for Eclipse ;)

And then on Friday I'm going scrapbooking with a mom's group that I joined, so that should be fun!

Hard to believe it's only 11 days until the trip now! I'm getting so excited!

It's a lonely world...

... this blogging world is. Seems like I am the only one who is still posting. The rest of you haven't posted since the summer! I'm feeling a bit like the cheese standing alone...

That's a first!

We have our Christmas Tree put up and decorated - and it's still technically November! We put up our tree on Sunday afternoon; our very first Christmas tree of our own! We figured that now that we have Julie, time to put up our own tree! And since we're leaving for Florida on the 25th, I thought we should put our tree up early so we can enjoy it! This morning, I wrapped most of our presents and put them under the tree. We only have 2 more presents to buy (I know what to get, we just have to go out and get them). Other than those 2, all our other presents are wrapped and under the tree. I am thrilled since I hate the crowds in the stores, so we don't have to do any last-minute shopping this year - yay!

I had a lovely birthday weekend. Crop Day on Saturday went very well. We had some last-minute add-ons, so we ended up with 12 of us in total, so we had enough to cover all our costs and a little extra... so yay! Everyone who came really enjoyed themselves and wanted to know when the next one is. So, I'll likely do another one in the early spring and hopefully get some more people out.

We bought our dishwasher yesterday and we are having it installed this week - likely on Wednesday. I can't wait! I am so pumped about having a dishwasher; it will be the first time I've had one since living with my parents!

Julie had her 9-month check up yesterday. She is now 30" long and weighs 18.5 pounds, so she is on the 95th percentile for length for her age and 50th for weight. She's in perfect health and my doctor thinks she'll be reading at 3 since she's so alert.

This weekend, we'll be making a purchase that I am SUPER excited about! We're getting a dishwasher! The dishwasher that matches our new fridge and stove is on sale this weekend only for $100 off, so we thought we'd jump on that chance. So, hopefully we can get it installed soon and say goodbye to washing everything by hand - yay!

I've had one more person sign up for CropDay (they saw my ad on Kijiji), so now I only need 1 or 2 more people to sign up to break even. I still have 3 or 4 solid maybes, So I'm hoping a couple of those people come! Should be a great day!

EDIT (1:44pm)

That person that had signed up for Crop Day just cancelled - what a bummer! I was really hoping to get at least 1 new person out! Sheesh!

EDIT (9:33pm)

I just had another 2 people sign up, so I am really close to breaking even now - yay!

Feelin a little discouraged...

I am co-hosting a Crop Day (scrapbooking) in a couple weeks with my leader. We decided to do this to increase our client base. We rented a hall and advertized in the newspaper, on kijiji, put posters up around town, through facebook, and sent invites to all our personal contacts. After ALL that, we only have 6 people signed up (2 of which are my mom and Oma). VERY disappointing. I just joined a local Business Network and went to a networking meeting last week to try to make some new contacts. There was certainly lots of interest, but nobody signed up for my event. I also joined a local mom's group, and have posted my event there. So, it's certainly not for lack of trying! I don't know what else I could have done!

I am just really disappointed because we need another 2 people to sign up to break even. The space we rented can hold 26 people, so we still have 20 spaces left! So, I am really discouraged. At least 7 or 8 people have told me that they would really like to come, but can't make that particular day and would like to know if I run it again. I'm thinking maybe next time, I'll have one at my mom's house so it won't cost me anything. We'd be limited to 8 people or so, but at least I wouldn't have to pay for a hall rental if not many people show. And I could reduce the cost to people that way too.

I am disappointed that I didn't get a single phone call from all the advertising we did. I guess in hindsight, it's probably not a good time of year for people, but I thought people might like to work on Christmas gifts or cards.

I just wish people would give it a chance. Because the products are absolutely amazing and there is something for every level of creativity. There are really simply albums where everything is included (papers, photo mats, stickers, etc.), so no thinking required. There are even albums where all you do is slide in your photos! I just need to find a way to get it across that you don't need to be creative to do scrapbooking. There is even digital scrapbooking for those who don't have a lot of printed photos, but have lots on their computer. This is a great way to get your photos from your computer to being enjoyed; also make great gifts for people. I just created my first digital scrapbook and had 5 copies printed for Christmas gifts... made shopping really easy!

I just realized that when I go back to work in mid-January, I will have a total of 4 part-time jobs - yikes! I will have my regular job 3 days a week (24 hours a week), my Creative Memories business, looking after Oma 2 evenings a week (8 hours a week), and my marking job for the local university, which is 44 hours per semester (works out to ~4 hours a week). So, when you add all that up, I will be working at least 40 hours a week! But, only 1 of those jobs means being away from Julie, so I'm happy about that.

WOOHOO!

My Dad's passport came in the mail today! I was at my parents house when it was delivered and mom and I were totally floored that it arrived exactly a week after we mailed that paper we were waiting months for! We thought it would take 4 - 6 weeks to get his passport.

The Austrian Embassy was really on the ball! We thought they were waiting for the Citizenship record search before they sent the application to Austria, but they must have sent it back in August when Dad applied and then when we sent the Citizenship record paper, they sent us the passport right away. Amazing! So, Dad is coming on the trip for sure now! We still have to apply for the Permanent Resident card, but apparently as long as we can prove we have applied, that will be good enough for getting across the border. But, with 6.5 weeks until the trip, that may be enough time to get his PR card, especially since we can have it rushed since we have proof of travel plans. YAY! I am so glad he can come! He totally deserves a vacation!!!

Julie is 9 months old now, I can't believe it! She is 30 inches long, so she is the length of an 18 month old! Gonna be a tall girl!

I LOVE my new software. I can create scrapbooks, calendars, cards, etc. I have been working on a scrapbook since they are on sale 25% off this month (so my 20 page scrapbook will cost me $15 to have it printed). All these pages are pre-designed, so I just drag and drop photos and write some text - the rest is done for me! SO EASY! I'm going to have a whole scrapbook printed, but this is my favourite page so far:

Update on various things

I heard back from my company, and they have accepted my proposal to work part time. They will be sending me a letter sometime soon with the details, but I'm going to be working Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (24 hours/week). Which sounds good to me! That way I will have Mondays and Thursdays off to be with Julie and I also can do some work from home on those days if needed. I will try not to make a habit of it, but it's good to have that option if I need to. So, I have mixed feelings about returning to work. Intellectually, I know I should go back since we will need the income. I will give it a try and see how it goes. So, my official return to work date is Tuesday, January 19, 2010. So, I still have 2.5 months of mat leave left, so I am going to enjoy it to the max!

Good news: my dad will be receiving that paper he was waiting for within the next couple of days. Our local MP's office was really pushing them, so they finally processed that application. So, as soon as it arrives, my mom is going to send it overnight to the place to get his Austrian passport, which takes 4-6 weeks. The trip is 8 weeks away, so we should be okay there. Turns out we can also apply for his PR card at the same time, which is awesome. The current processing time for the PR cards is 4 months, but we can have it rushed since we have proof of travel arrangements. And our local MP's office will help us again with the PR card. So, it is actually looking hopeful that he will be able to come on the trip after all! I'm sure it will be down to the wire, but it may actually come out in our favour!

We took Julie to my parent's house tonight so Carlos and I could go out on a date. It was really nice; we should make an effort to do that more often! Julie was dressed up and looked adorable! We also took her to visit Thom and his girlfriend, also to Al's place, and to our neighbours. She was quite a hit! She was a little leopard:

I received a response

I got an email from my boss this afternoon which said the following regarding my proposal to work part time upon my return in mid-January:

"In concept it should be workable. We’ll be back to you with the details next week regarding a change to part-time employment. Talk soon."

I had a feeling he would come around once he thought about it a bit and talked to the other senior staff. So, it is looking promising that I will be able to work part time. I will wait and see what he sends me next week. I am hoping he is okay with a 24 hour work week, that would be me working 3 days per week. I think that would be the best option. It will still be very difficult to return to work, but with 3 days a week in the office, that means I would have 4 days a week with Julie, which is certainly better than 2!

Feeling a little lost

I had my meeting with my boss yesterday in which I told him I would like to work part time. He said he wasn't expecting that and he would have to think it over and talk to senior staff to see what they thought. I made it very clear that I was willing to take work home with me if there was something that really couldn't wait until I was back in the office. Turns out they just hired a hydrogeologist/senior project manager last week and he is in my former office. Which means when I go back, I won't have my own office anymore, I would be sharing. I couldn't expect them to keep my office for me, but when October came around and it was still empty, I thought there was a good chance I'd get it back! Oh well. If I am going to be part-time, I am totally okay with sharing an office since I won't be there all the time.

I told my boss I am flexible on the details but that I would work a minimum of 3 days per week and he agreed that 3 days in a row would probably be best for the company, so we're thinking Wed/Thurs/Fri. He seemed positive, so I am sure he will come back saying it is fine. He asked me whether this was just in transition or whether this would be my new hours permanently and I really couldn't answer that. I don't know whether I will be back full time down the road or if I want part time forever (at least until kids are in school).

The meeting yesterday really made me realize something: I don't want to go back to work at all. Which doesn't make rational sense since I like my job and love the people I work with. I just felt this tug on my heart saying that I don't wan to leave Julie at all. I would love to find some sort of job where I can work from home. That just doesn't seem to be an option right now.

So I am feeling very lost because I'm not sure if my boss will agree to part-time and if he doesn't, I'm not sure I will say yes to full-time, in which case I will be out of a job. I would be very surprised if they let me go, but on the other hand, I don't even want to go back. It's just a money thing. So, I'm feeling a little lost.

I feel like I could rip my hair out!

More drama on our vacation. We booked the rental house in June and at that time, I asked everyone to check their passports to make sure they are still valid. Everyone said they were good, so I didn't push the issue.

Yesterday, I checked Oma's passport and Thom's and Oma's expires soon and Thom's is already expired. No problem. I took Oma today to get her passport photos taken and I printed out the form and filled it out with her and I will take her next week to submit it. Since her passport was issued less than 6 years ago, she can go through the simplified renewal process - awesome.

Thom on the other hand, his passport expired in September 2008, so he will have to apply for a new one instead of the simplified renewal process. His passport was issued in September 2003, so if he had renewed his passport a month ago (or in June when I told everyone to check their passports!), he would have still been within the window of being able to do the simplified renewal. Fine. I printed off the longer application and was filling it out with him and he needs 2 documents as proof of identity and the only 2 on the list that he would have are driver's license and health card. Well, I asked him for these 2 documents, he handed me his driver's license and a little piece of paper with his health card number on it and our conversation went like this:

Me: What is this? Where is your health card?
Thom: I don't have a health card; I never have. This is all I have.
Me: You MUST have a health card. What do you show when you go to the doctor?
Thom: They never ask for it.

Mom looked in her files and he got a letter saying he had to renew his health card immediately, but there is no date on that, so it could be years old. I phoned right away and I got him an appointment for tomorrow morning. I am taking him down there to make sure it gets done and to ask them if they could rush it since we need that in order to apply for his passport. I will also ask if we could use his temporary one that he will get to apply for a passport.

What a pain! I am starting to feel like if I didn't push everyone, it would only be me, Carlos, and Julie going to Florida. Which wouldn't be such a bad thing, I suppose... but so not the point! This is supposed to be a family vacation and nobody seems to be putting in the effort to get their travel documents in order!

Grrrr - stupid government!

We have a family vacation to Florida planned at the end of December. We are all really excited. The only problem is I don't think my dad will be able to go. All because the government is being incompetent! My dad is a landed immigrant and his Austrian passport JUST expired in July. So, he had to go to Ottawa in person to apply for a new one. The only thing he is missing is his citizenship record search, which my mom applied for in mid-July. Well it STILL hasn't arrived. And he needs that to get his passport and he needs his passport to apply for a Permanent Resident card. We were getting really worried that we wouldn't get this done in time, so my mom called the office of the local MP and got in touch with someone to help. Well that lady phoned to see what was taking so long with the citizenship record search and they are REALLY backlogged and are currently completing requests submitted in April. So, at this rate, he won't get it until December and then his passport takes up to 6 weeks, and then he needs his PR card, so there just won't be enough time. The lady at the MP's office is going to try her best to push them, but it's not looking hopeful.

I am so sad because my dad really deserves a vacation! I will be so upset if he is not able to come!

You'd think that 5 months would be plenty of time to get travel documents in order, but apparently not! It's going to take that long just to get the first of the 3 steps required!

Julie is great!

We had the follow-up appointment today and it turns out Julie has a small ASD (Atrial Septal Defect) and the doctor said it is no cause for concern and the small ASDs almost always close up on their own. We need to have her re-tested if it persists in several months, but the doctor said she could barely hear the murmur today. I am hoping it is well on its way to closing up and perhaps by her next check-up with our family doctor on Nov 24, it will be completely gone. So, I am very glad that everything is okay!

Julie is now 8 months old and here are her stats: 18 lbs and 29 inches long! She is off the charts in terms of her length and is around the 35th percentile for weight for her age. So, the doctor said she is at the age where she should be getting a good portion of her daily calories form baby food, so I guess I have to up her intake of babyfood and cut back on the nursing a tad. I guess I only have a little over 3 months before I go back to work, and then she will need to be on babyfood during the day and only nursing morning and bedtime.

I had a nice weekend away at a ladies retreat with Julie, mom, and Oma. Julie was a real hit! So many people asked me "is she always this good?" She was an absolute angel!

The only downer was that Oma cried the whole time and said she wanted to go home. And we were 2.5 hours away from home. Yet when I asked her what was wrong, she would reply with "I don't know". Then I would tell her if she doesn't even know why she is upset, she should just decide not to be upset. Then we would have the same conversation 5 minutes later and again and again all weekend. I have really noticed a change in her in the last month or so. She just seems so depressed and sad all the time, yet she doesn't know why. Mom is taking her to the doctor tomorrow to get the doctor's opinion on whether Oma should go through the mediation process, so I think we will have a list of things to mention to the doctor. It is so sad to see Oma go through this. It has gotten really bad now she cries all the time and says "I don't know what I'm going to do". Yet she doesn't know why she is upset. And it's gotten to the point now that mom has to bribe her to shower and she refuses to wash her hair. I think we'll have to take her to a salon to have her hair washed once a week because she absolutely refuses to wash it herself yet she doesn't know why she doesn't want to. This is really hard on us all. I am looking after Oma the 2 evenings a week mom has to go to work. Tomorrow, mom is going to a support group for caregivers, so I really hope she gets some good support there.

On Thursday, we have Julie's follow-up appointment with the pediatrician to go over the results of her echo cardiogram, and I really hope everything is okay. I will be so relieved after that appointment.

On Saturday, one of my childhood friends is getting married. She and her fiance are getting married exactly one year to the day after their first date. I am looking forward to the wedding and then enjoying 2 turkey dinners on the weekend as well!

We had a great time at the Toronto Zoo on Friday. It was a gorgeous day and I finally got to see the Tundra exhibit – yay for polar bears! Julie was WAY more interested in looking at the other kids and not so interested in the animals… except for the monkeys – she loved them!

On Saturday, something happened that made us realize that Oma has deteriorated even more to the point now that she will need to be with someone all the time when she’s awake. Mom had a fitness class, so she was gone from the house for 1 hour. My dad was home so Oma wasn’t there by herself. My brother Thom was in the dragonboat races out of town, but for some reason Oma thought they were in town. She went to ask my dad several times if he could take her there and he kept telling her the races were out of town, but she kept forgetting and thought they were in town.

My mom came home from her fitness class and was going to take Oma to go pick up a prescription and Oma was nowhere to be found. Dad said he hadn’t seen her in awhile, but thought she just went to lie down. Mom looked everywhere, but no Oma. She also noticed that her purse and cane were missing, so Oma must have left. My dad said he didn’t see a vehicle come, so they had no idea if she just wandered off or what happened.

Just when my mom was getting hysterical and thinking she may have to call the police, Oma came home and she was crying. She told my mom that she wanted to go see Thom in the races and started walking to the spot she thought the race was. We do have dragonboat races there every June, but Oma did not understand that Thom was in a race out of town. We have no idea how far she walked before she turned around. She was very upset that she couldn’t find Thom.

Now we don’t know what to do because we can’t have Oma wandering off. She could get mugged or something… I’m sure there are people out there that prey on the elderly because they can’t defend themselves. And the area she was walking in is not the best area.

My mom doesn’t know what to do because now she feels like she can never leave Oma and she obviously has to leave her to go to work. Luckily, there is a support group here in town for caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s/dementia, so my mom is going to go to the next gathering and I really hope she gets some good advice and support there.

Glad that's overwith!

We went for Julie's Echo Cardiogram this morning. It was basically a very detailed ultrasound of her heart. The hardest part was she had to sit still! Trying to get a 7.5 month old to sit still for 45 minutes while being poked and prodded was no easy task! But, they finally got all the measurements and we'll get the results at our next appointment with the pediatrician on October 8th.

Julie still has a bit of a cold, so I'm not sure whether to take her to her music class this morning. I would hate for her to miss it since she enjoys it so much, I'm just not sure how the other moms would like it if I brought her since she is still sniffling a bit. But I doubt she is contagious anymore. Hmmmm... dilemma.

A couple weeks ago, we had some family portraits done. We did some 4 generation pics with Julie, me, my mom, and Oma. We also did some of Carlos, Julie, and me... some of Julie and me, and some adorable ones of just Julie. I get to pick them up tomorrow and I can't wait!!!! I will try to scan some in so I can post them on Facebook because some of them are just TOO CUTE!

We're all miserable around here!

Last weekend, Julie was a grumpy girl because of teething, this weekend she has her first cold! It started Thursday evening when I noticed she was coughing and had a bit of a stuffy nose. She also woke up several times during the night on Thursday night, which is a rarity around here, she usually sleeps though the night. Yesterday, she was obviously uncomfortable and very congested. Which makes breastfeeding difficult since she needs to be able to breathe through her nose! I used some saline drops and a bulb syringe thingy to try to clear her nose a bit. It is working well enough for her to be able to nurse, but I feel so helpless that there isn't much I can do to help her. Last night she slept with us in our bed since she was waking up every hour or two. Poor ju-jube.

She is looking slightly better this afternoon, but she's still quite congested. She had a mild fever yesterday, but that was gone today. So, I hope she is on the mend!

And an update on the situation with my uncle... we are not sure if we will proceed with mediation since she charges $200/hour and wants a $2,000 deposit. Oma keeps saying she's not going to pay $2,000 to talk to her son, so I'm not really sure how we are going to proceed. We are willing to participate in the process, but we're just not sure who is going to pay for it. And my mom is not speaking to my uncle, so we can't ask him what he thinks about it. I think my mom may talk to the mediator and ask if she has any indication from my uncle whether he would be willing to pay for it.

Perhaps a family meeting would be better since it won't cost any money? And we could ask a friend of Oma's to be there as a '3rd party'. Although most of Oma's friends want to stay out of it, so I'm not sure if we would find anyone. And we're not really sure if we should put Oma through that since she gets really upset easily and even has trouble breathing when she even thinks about my uncle, so I can't imagine how she would be if there was a heated discussion going on. What a mess! I just want this to all be over and move on! It has pretty much ruined our summer and I don't want it to ruin our fall as well!

Oh, the pain

Poor Julie is not her usual happy self right now. Her second tooth is coming in and is giving her a lot of grief! Poor girl! We have her some baby tylenol one night when she was having a particularly difficult time and that helped her sleep. I wish there was more I can do to help! She was so unhappy on the weekend that we had to cancel going to a wedding on Saturday evening. Luckily, we were only invited to the dance portion, so we didn't have to RSVP or anything, so I felt a little better. I was planning to go after we got Julie to sleep, but she didn't get so sleep until midnight that night!

On to other baby related things... we have been using cloth diapers for the last few days and I love them! I have been meaning to give them a try for awhile, and we finally are giving it a go. I got a gift certificate for a month free of our diaper service in town, so we are doing that right now and after our free month is up, I think I will buy some of my own and wash them at home (I can't see paying $110 plus tax per month for the service).

Oh, Julie calls!

The good, bad, and ugly

The good: we had a lovely weekend at the cottage. Weather was gorgeous, mom and I swam around the point... good family times.

Julie is 7 months old now and I am blown away with how smart she is! She learned how to clap and loves it!

Carlos and I celebrated our second anniversary yesterday. It was lovely! We went to the place we had our wedding reception and had a lovely dinner and then walked around the grounds and took some pictures.

The bad: On Sunday, my uncle got his 10 year old son involved as a pawn. He got his son to call Oma at the cottage and when Oma asked him when they were coming to visit her, he said he was going to come and pick her up to take her to their cottage. When they showed up (it was all 3 of his sons), we thought perfect, they can visit with Oma here like she wants! But the 10 year old insisted on taking Oma to their cottage and even said "my dad told me to bring her to our cottage because he wants to talk to her there". So, he had obviously been trained. My cousin looked very uncomfortable that he had to say that. So, we weren't about to get them involved, but they did stay to visit for awhile. Until their mom called to see if they were on their way (I guess she was worried that Oma was putting up a fight about going to their cottage). She ended up going and stayed for a couple hours. My uncle and aunt dropped her off and Carlos and I were sitting on the deck when they came and they totally snubbed us. I waved and they totally ignored me. So, I guess they are mad at me too. The night before, there was a big party at the marina, and they ignored my brother, so I guess they are not speaking to our entire family.

The ugly: we had the appointment with Oma's lawyer yesterday. It actually went quite well. The ugly part is he informed us that my uncle has hired a lawyer and his lawyer has been in touch with Oma's lawyer. I suspect my uncle hired a lawyer because he couldn't get any information from Oma directly about Will changes, so he thought he'd try another route. His lawyer talked to Oma's lawyer and because of client confidentiality, Oma's lawyer couldn't tell him any specifics about any documents he is preparing, but he did say that Oma has been in to see him and he recommended a capacity assessment and that she passed that. So, basically, my uncle wouldn't have a case if he tried to contest the Will.

The good thing is, a couple weeks ago, my mom walked in on my uncle talking to Oma and he was asking her "are you trying to change your Will? What changes are you trying to make"? Luckily, Oma didn't remember, so she said she wasn't making any changes to her Will.

The new Will was signed yesterday, so that is good. Only took 3 months! But, I'm really glad the lawyer insisted on a capacity assessment because now we know my uncle will contest it when the time comes for sure. And he won't have a case.

I am really relieved that the Will is now changed. That doesn't help us with the day to day life though and all the stress my uncle is causing. The lawyer recommended mediation, which is what we are moving ahead with now. It will be Oma, my uncle, my mom, and me involved in that and initially, the mediator will meet with us all separately. So, I'm sure that will take place in the next couple of weeks. It really offends me that my uncle thinks I would lie for my mom, but the mediator is the professional, so she will listen to everyone and then come up with some sort of plan with how we can move forward.

Am I crazy?

Here is the latest: my uncle apparently phoned Oma to invite her to his cottage. She didn’t remember this conversation, but my mom found some notes written on a newspaper to that effect, so she asked Oma if he had called. She remembered that he had called, but not which day he wanted to visit or any of the details. So, I emailed him and he is picking up Oma today to take her to his cottage until Saturday.

When I asked Oma about this yesterday, she said she didn’t want to go. I spent 6 hours with Oma yesterday, and every time she though of going, she would gasp for air and look very agitated and say that she doesn’t want to go. She would turn to my mom and say “please don’t make me go!” I was very worried about her since she was having problems breathing because she was so stressed out about this. She REALLY doesn’t want to see my uncle after what he’s done, but she does want to see her grandsons (they have not visited her at all this summer).

So, mom suggested that we invite her grandsons to her cottage for a visit this weekend since everyone will be at the lake. This made her feel much more comfortable and she was so relieved that she wouldn’t have to go to my uncle’s cottage.

I emailed my uncle and told him very clearly that Oma has decided not to go to his cottage since she doesn’t want to go away overnight, but that she would like his sons to visit her at her cottage.

He responded with “Oma will be fine with family, she went to Quebec City overnight, so this will be okay… please make sure she is ready as promised”. So, he is not listening.

I am going to visit a friend out of town this afternoon and one of mom’s friends lives very close to her, so I think we are all going to disappear this afternoon and I will drop mom and Oma off to visit mom’s friend while I am visiting with my friend. Since Oma clearly is having health issues over the thought of going to my uncle’s cottage, we have to step in and keep her safe. He will show up to pick her up and there will be nobody home. Which will make him furious, but it’s not my fault he didn’t listen to me when I told him Oma decided not to go! Sheesh!

Good thing Oma’s appointment with the lawyer is on Tuesday… that appointment can’t come soon enough!

Okay, freaking out a bit here

I took Julie to a pediatrician today since we were referred there about the white dot on her nose. The pediatrician said it is nothing to worry about, we can have it removed if we want, but she recommends waiting until she is older. What she did notice however, is Julie has a heart murmur. Which of course sounds terrifying to me! Anything with the word 'heart' sounds very serious! She said most of the time, this is a problem that fixes itself as the child grows, but she has ordered an echo cardiogram just to be safe, which is scheduled for Sept. 22nd, but we won't get the results until her follow-up appointment on Oct. 8th. It's probably nothing serious, but of course I'm freaking out!

In happier news, Julie cut her very first tooth today!!!

Busy few days!

Yesterday was my company's annual fun day. We started this tradition 4 years ago and usually, it is a triathlon (with events such as bowling, mini-golfing, go-karting, etc.). This year, we did the "Walk in the Clouds" in Haliburton Forest. It was AMAZING! First, we had to canoe across a lake, then hike through the forest (including climbing a hill called 'huff and puff'), then we started the canopy tour. It is a series of bridges (wooden planks with cables on either side to hold on to and we were also harnessed in attached to a cable above). The whole thing was 30 to 75 feet above ground and took about 1.5 hours to complete the whole course... it was SO awesome!!! I'm so glad I went! I took my mom and Oma along with me so they could babysit while I went on the tour (it was about 3.5 hours in total). It was so nice to catch up with my coworkers again.

Today, we went to Carlos' parents house and my parents and Oma were invited to come along. So that was fun. We even had a stop at a local marina to look for a pontoon boat for the cottage. Oma is having lots of trouble getting in and out of the boat now, so we're thinking we'll need something easier for her next year. So, my parents are in the market for a used pontoon boat. We figure now is the time to start looking and hopefully they'll find an awesome one by the spring.

Tomorrow, we are headed to Carlos' sister's house, so that will be fun. Just means the weekend is jam packed full of traveling!

Trying to lay low

We are trying to lay low for the time being with this whole situation with my uncle. Oma's lawyer is on vacation for the next 2 weeks, so we can't get anything done before then. Oma is at the point where she wants the Power of Attorney to take effect so she can't be held responsible for any decisions she makes. Which means if my uncle shows up to force her to sign anything, it won't be valid. She has an appointment with her lawyer in 2 weeks, so we just have to get through until then. The problem is, he won't leave Oma alone. Today, he called at least 6 times and the one time Oma answered, he got her really upset and confused. We don't know how to protect her from him... mom doesn't want to leave Oma alone incase he shows up, so we are literally taking Oma everywhere with us.

In the meantime, my uncle sent me an email today trying to get some answers about Oma's finances. Oma tells me it is none of his business, but if I tell him that, he could question Oma about it and she could completely change her mind and tell him whatever he wants to hear. So, I'm really stuck. I can't give him the answers he wants, but if I tell him why, he will question Oma about it and she will forget what she told me, making me look like a liar. But if I don't give him the info, it looks like I am intentionally withholding info. What a dilemma!

In happy news, Julie had her 6 month checkup today, and she is in perfect health. Here are her stats:

Weight: 17 lbs, 3 ounces
Length: 71 cm (28 inches)
Head Circumference: 44 cm

Here's one of my favourite pics of Julie:

Things are a million times worse now...

I am so upset... my poor mom!

This morning, we were figuring out what we could do to stop my uncle from badgering Oma, and we thought it would be best for Oma to write him a letter expressing her wishes since when she talks to him in person, she gets all confused and forgets what she wanted to say. So, we sat down this afternoon and drafted a letter together and we edited it many times until Oma said it was exactly what she wanted to say. Then we read it to her 3 times so she was sure it was what she wanted. The basis of it was that my uncle was not welcome on her property until he accepts Oma's wishes (that I am to manager her fiances) and apologizes to my mom for the allegations he made towards her. We have not yet sent the letter since we want someone impartial to this to witness it and talk to Oma when mom is out of the room to read her the letter and make sure it is what she wanted to say and ask her whether she is being forced.

Oma also told me several times this afternoon how he is not welcome at her house right now and even said she's not sure she can ever forgive him. She told my mom that she will do whatever it takes to protect her.

My uncle dropped by this afternoon and my mom told him that Oma said he is not welcome on the property. My uncle turned to Oma and said "did you say that"? And Oma's response was "of course not; you are welcome here anytime". My mom said she wrote a letter just an hour ago stating that he is not welcome and my uncle turned to Oma and asked "is that true?" and Oma said "Of course not, I didn't write a letter". My uncle laughed in my mom's face and said it must have been her that wrote the letter. So, Oma completely forgot everything from this afternoon and took my uncle's side.

Now my mom looks like a complete liar! She feels completely betrayed that Oma could say this morning that she will do anything to protect her and then only hours later, she throws her under the bus and takes my uncle's side. My uncle said in writing that he will spend every dime he has taking my mom through a bitter and expensive law suit.

So, now we have no idea what will happen. We don't really have a leg to stand on if Oma tells one thing to my mom and then the complete opposite to my uncle. We don't know how far he will take this. My mom is scared to go home in case he calls the police claiming elder abuse.

I think we are going to hold off on sending the letter since that will only make him even more mad and then he will definitely take legal action. We want to lay low until the new will is all signed and that's done. Mom sent Oma's lawyer a copy of my uncle's nasty email tonight saying that Oma is asking for his advice on how to proceed to make sure she is protected.

What an absolute nightmare!!!! I feel absolutely sick.

It never ends

Yesterday, my aunt and uncle took Oma out for lunch. Of course, my mom and I both thought that they just wanted to get her alone to talk about money instead of actually just wanting to spend time with her. Oma was going to tell them that I was looking after her fiances and they don't need to worry about it, but I think they got her all confused again. When my aunt came to drop her off, mom, Julie, and I were in the pool and she came out there to talk to us. The conversation started pleasant, until my aunt brought up the bills. I said I have them and I am looking after it. She was not happy and I got the impression that she thought I was being sneaky by keeping the bills at my house. I bought a file box last week and made labels with my label maker for each of her expenses so I can keep everything organized. I have no idea why she is upset with that, when she was looking after things, she took the bills to her house! The bottom line is, they won't accept that I am now looking after it. She said that Oma told them that she didn't want me looking after her finances, and when I asked Oma about that later, she said there is no way she would have said that, and that she does indeed want me to look after it. So, I think they just got her so confused that she didn't even know what she was saying.

So, my aunt started screaming at my mom. Good thing we were in the pool, so she couldn't get in our faces to yell at close range. She certainly tried to get as close as she could to my mom by coming right to the edge of the pool and croching down to yell at my mom as close as she could. My aunt said that my uncle is mad that "the kids" are taking advantage of Oma. My mom said "what kids?" My aunt meant my mom, my brothers, and me. WHAT?!?! They think we are taking advantage of Oma? Oma keeps saying "what would I do without you?" We are the ones who look after her 99% of the time! My mom looks after her full time! We spend every day with her and my mom takes care of her meds, invites her over for almost all her meals, drives her to do errands, does her laundry, cleans her house, etc, etc, etc! I can't believe they think we are taking advantage of Oma! Well, my aunt stormed off all mad. I'm not sure what they will try now... My guess is they will try to take legal action against us. They are going to be LIVID when they find out they no longer have Power of Attorney! What a mess!

The problem is my uncle is a bully. When my mom told my aunt that she didn't want to meet with my uncle because he's a bully, her response was "Well the same could be said about you!" You all know my mom and she is ANYTHING but a bully!!! The first time in her entire life she is standing up to him to protect Oma and she gets called a bully. Since my uncle is such a bully, he gets Oma all rattled and confused so then she'll say anything to keep the peace. I think perhaps she needs to write him a letter explaining that she does indeed want me to look after her finances and that he needs to respect that and stay out of it. But that he is welcome to visit her for fun. He won't accept that, he says he has a legal responsibility to manage her assets. HUH? Even if he was still co-PoA, that only takes effect when she is no longer capable of making decisions. Which he thinks is now, but she is perfectly capable of still making decisions!

It is so sad. All he cares about is money. He is so worried that Oma is spending all her money and there won't be anything left for his inheritance. Our attitude is that Oma has worked hard her whole life, if she wants to spend her money, she can!

And if this wasn't enough drama for yesterday, Carlos found out that his (former) friends' wedding was on the weekend. I have never seen him so upset. He is so hurt that he was excluded and doesn't even know why. His friends are complete jerks and he doesn't deserve this; he is the nicest guy in the world!!!

Finally, some summer weather!

The pool still isn't too warm, but I was tired of waiting, so I went swimming yesterday and the day before. It was actually quite nice once I got used to the temperature. Mom bought a little kiddie pool for Julie. The first time, she cried only being in up to her ankles, but yesterday, she was actually enjoying it. She actually sat down in the water and the water was up to her waist, so that's improvement!

The situation with my aunt and uncle is still ongoing. As of the weekend, Oma asked me to look after her finances instead of them (my aunt expressed on Friday that she didn't want to do it anymore, so that was the perfect opportunity for me to step in). Well, I sent them a very nice email thanking her for all her help, but that I will be taking it over. Well, my uncle sends back a 5 page email thanking me for my offer to help and saying how he has a legal responsibility to make sure Oma's assets are being properly managed. He doesn't know that he no longer is co-PoA or executor of the Will, but regardless, even if he still was, he has no right to take over - Oma is still capable of making decisions! She just can't handle the stress of day to day banking and making sure her bills are paid. But my uncle wants to have control and tell her what she can and can't spend her money on and says that we all have to pay her back for gifts she has given us - the nerve!!!

So, yesterday, we went to the bank and I now have online access to all Oma's accounts, so I can see when her bills are paid (almost all of them are on automatic payment) and when her income gets deposited. So, now I can look after it for her. I sent my aunt and uncle a nice email thanking them for all the info they have provided me in the last couple of days and that I will take care of it from now on, as per Oma's request. I wonder how they will respond to that one!!! I hope we don't have to go as far as telling them they don't have co-PoA, because then they will make Oma's life a living hell. Perhaps they will back off, but I doubt it! And my aunt can still see all the bank transactions since it is actually a joint account with her, so hopefully being able to check to make sure all the bills are paid will be enough for them. What a nightmare!

The insurance is all taken care of, we went to the office on Tuesday and were in and out in 20 minutes, so I have NO IDEA why that wasn't done 2 months ago!!! The fact that my aunt and uncle left Oma's house, my parents' house, and the cottage go completely uninsured for 2 months without telling anyone is completely ridiculous!!! That's why Oma wants to "fire" them from looking after the bills. That and the fact that they never keep her informed. They only see her a handful of times a year, and she really needs a more hands on approach. Someone who can tell her on a near daily basis if she has money or not.

What a mess! I hope we can get the changes to the Will made by the end of this month, and then we can finally put this all behind us! Of course, until my uncle finds out, then it will be WW3!! We don't want to deliberately hide things from him, but if we don't, he will badger Oma and guilt her into leaving everything to him. Sigh, family drama!

Oh the drama!

The situation with my aunt and uncle is still going. On Friday, I stopped in to see Oma and my aunt was there. At first, our conversation went well, but then she brought up Oma's finances. She said she didn't want to look after it anymore, and I do understand that she feels caught in the middle. She wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise, just went on this big speech about how our entire family is jealous of them because they have lots of money and assets and that's why there is tension between our families. WHAT?!?! She couldn't be further off the mark! She also accused me of trying to keep things from her and asked me if someone had called me to let me know she was there and I came running to protect Oma... huh?

She also said something about the house and the cottage not being insured right now. And my uncle called Oma this morning to tell her to go to her insurance company. Ummm, she doesn't drive... how is she supposed to get there? My mom called the insurance company and they said Oma's policies have been cancelled since they haven't been paid since June and they have been talking to my aunt as the contact person on the account! WHAT! For the last 2 months, both the cottage and house have not been insured. My aunt and uncle came by in mid-June to look after the bills, and when they left, they said everything was up to date and paid. Now we find out they were lying and the insurance has been cancelled?!?!?! That not only puts Oma at risk, but also my mom's house since they are all under the same policy! And my aunt and uncle didn't even think to tell anyone this?!?! My mom and Oma are livid, but this gives us the perfect opportunity to tell my aunt that she is no longer going to handle Oma's financial affairs. She told me she didn't want to do this anymore when I saw her on Friday anyway, so this is the perfect time to tell them I will be taking this over. So, mom, Oma, and I have an appointment tomorrow morning to set up a new insurance policy.

And if my aunt and uncle get all offended, we'll have to tell them that my mom has sole power of attorney and they need to butt out.

In related news, Oma had her capacity assessment done on Saturday and she passed with flying colours. This test was to see whether she has the mental capacity to make decisions and understand the ramifications of her decisions (i.e. changing her Will). So, now she can finally have the changes to her Will made and we can put this all behind us for now... here's hoping, anyways!

Great cottage weekend

I had a great time at the cottage with Carlos and Julie. It was too bad that lj and nej didn't end up coming, but I'm glad we have rescheduled for a few weeks from now.

That was the first time we've been to the cottage just the 3 of us and it was so nice to have a little vacation. It was so quiet and peaceful! I enjoyed every moment! Until we were about halfway home and I realized I forgot to turn off the pump and hot water tank. So, we had to turn around and go back. We spent a little extra time at the cottage that way ;)

I am struggling with something and I'm not really sure how to handle it. Oma wants to see Julie all the time. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she cares. I just think the second we walk out the door, she has forgotten that we have visited and is desperate for another visit. We went to visit yesterday after getting home from the cottage even though we were both tired. Well, a half hour after getting home from visiting her, she calls to ask if we could come back for another visit! I really wanted to have today at home to just get caught up on laundry and spend some time with just Julie, and Oma has already called saying she misses Julie and asking for us to come for a visit. Am I crazy for wanting a break from Oma? I realized this weekend that my maternity leave is more than half over, and I have spent almost all of my time either looking after Julie or trying to make Oma happy. Am I being selfish for wanting some time alone with my daughter? I don't want to sound ungrateful, I am happy that mom and Oma live so close and want to spend time with us, I just don't like being made to feel guilty if I don't want to visit every single day! So, I'm going to have to start saying no some of the time, but I know what's going to happen if I do that... she will start crying and begging. I will still visit of course, I just can't do every day anymore. Any advice on how I can get the point across that I want time alone with my daughter without hurting any feelings?