Flies, squirrels and baby girls

My house is as quiet as can be.  Everyone is in bed, and all I hear around me are the crazy amount of flies that managed to find their way into our house, which is a nice reminder of all the wonderful weather and outdoor fun that we've been having this summer.  Yeah, they are slightly annoying too.

I do realize it's been ages since I've written, so I'll get everyone up to speed on what has been happening in my life.   

Our sweet baby girl. Photo by Four Bees Photography.

In March of this year, another little lady joined our family to further outnumber the Acadian in the male/female ratio of our household.  He's loving it though, as am I, and my postpartum hair loss is perhaps a bit of foreshadowing of clogged shower drains to come in a few years from now with a house full of girls! We're having a wonderful time getting to know our newest baby as well as watching our eldest come into her own feisty personality.  And watching both of them form a relationship as sisters is pretty cool too - smiles and giggles being shared with occasional bouts of sibling rivalry - heck, the little one is even starting to hold her own by pulling her big sister's hair (which she practices on me - ouch!).

And in between all of this fun, busyness, occasional breathlessness and frequent tiredness, I find myself dreaming about doing all sorts of things.  Especially with the wonderful summertime weather approaching - I really wanted to make the most of this precious time that I have at home on mat leave with my kids and the Acadian.  I've found myself wanting to cut away extra tasks from my to-do list and find ways to simplify my day-to-day life so I could spend more time living out what my imagination might conjure up instead of staying stuck in a rut of endless chores.

I started a few weeks after our wee-one was born.  Hoping to not get stuck eating crap food, which in turn just makes me feel crappier, I set out to find a way to have home-cooked meals for us with minimal amount of effort.  After eating A LOT of crockpot chicken, I stumbled on the idea of freezer cooking, where you cook in bulk and then freeze portions to be used at a later date.  I`ll be doing a whole post on that soon as it was a lifesaver!  On two separate occasions, I cooked for a whole day which gave us enough food for roughly a month, which was perfect to make things easier with a new baby and a toddler.  I only wish I had done it *before* baby came.  Live and learn, live and learn!

Now the following statement might seem silly, but I write it with complete seriousness.  This spring, I bought a double stroller and it was life-changing. Life. Changing. I know. I knowwww!  It's a stroller.  A second-hand stroller at that!  But seriously, this thing changed my life.  I'm big on the baby wearing, but when it's hot and you're pushing a grumpy toddler in a stroller with a baby strapped to you with 5 yards of fabric, it can be a little difficult to keep your cool, both literally and figuratively.

Fun times with Mr Squirrel.  Or is it
Mrs Squirrel?  I wasn't brave enough
 to check.

But after discovering that both my girls absolutely LOVE the double stroller, things in my life just felt so much better.  Going out to the store didn't seem like such a chore because everyone was happy and my shoulders didn't get tired.  I could go for super long walks and haul the astounding amount of snacks that my toddler goes through, peanuts for squirrels, diapers for wet bums and a coffee for me without a second thought as to how I would carry all of it. Together, the little ladies and I have discovered so many trails and parks around our house.  It's a nice feeling to know that there is a mini-adventure waiting just outside your doorstep!  So I may have lost a few crunchy points from the baby wearing peeps.  Whatever.  We're having fun with our new wheels! And the squirrels are getting tons of peanuts.

Another thing I've done to find some more time and a bit more peace is to pull myself away from Facebook. When I'm at home and not getting out a whole lot, it can be pretty easy to rely on Facebook as a bit of a substitute for real human contact and it freaked me out how automatic it was becoming to check for new updates as soon as I had a spare moment.  It has definitely been a nice little break for my mind and allowed me more time to pay attention to tasks that need to be done or to just daydream for a few moments (moments are usually measured in seconds around here these days!). 

Baby cuddles at a local kiddie farm.

Ah, the daydreaming.  It really only does take a few seconds sometimes to think about how cool it would be to do this or that.  But it does take a an great partner in crime to go along with all of those sometimes kooky ideas.  So far this summer, there have been plenty of trips to the splash pad, many parks, a petting zoo, a farm, Toronto Island and a day trip to the US to find Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavors that are oh-so-elusive in Canada (see the article that inspired that trip here). 

The selection of Ben and Jerry's flavors in a
U.S. Walmart.  We only have two shelves worth
here in Canada. And no Salted Caramel Core.
Sniff, sniff.  

Tina, eat.  Eat the food!  

And the flies.  A reminder of all that's been a-buzz beyond the screen door that opens on to our patio.  Of all the yummy BBQ that the Acadian has been cooking up. Of the garden that is slowly creeping up the wall of our house. A reminder of the countless castles that have been built in the tiny sandbox and all the pretty clouds and leaves floating above our yard that so fascinate a certain little baby.  Sigh.  It was fun to wax poetic about the flies for a minute.  But as I listen for them, it seems that even they have hit the hay (or rather the compost bin) for the night - perhaps to remind me that I should do the same if I want to be fit for any type of adventure in the morning!

Our tiny but very cucumbery garden.