Um, Mum!!

So today was a breakthrough.
Phoebe is saying words. Most of them aren't that clear(ie. hat, bubba (bottle), ella (stella), some are clear as a bell and reappear once and awhile (book, purse, hat, up). Others are words that are said once, and we never hear the again (peeze (please), yep, yummy!).

One of the consistent words we hear daily is Mumma. It was her first word at 6 months and even though, at that point, she didn't know what it meant, the fact that the Mumma sound came out of her mouth first made me proud.

When we refer to P's Mumma, we always say "Mum". "Can Mum help you?", Say "Hi Mum!" and at daycare, they call me "Mum" as well when they refer to me or when I come to pick her up.

So, today was amazing. It was 7am and P. was still in her crib. I couldn't hear anything so I went to her room and peeked in. She was awake, but her eyes were closed and she was still sucking her thumb and caressing her blankie.
I thought I would sneak away quietly so I could make a tea before she really woke up.
I turned around and started to tip toe away and then I heard it. Crystal clear and loud.
"MUM!!!", she said with precision and emphasis.
It was so awesome. I turned around to see her all smiles sitting in her crib.
I love her so much.

So much stuff to do

So, for the past...6 weekends we have been packed with stuff to do. Mostly social stuff - which is fun, but is always ends up meaning that we don't get the house stuff we need to done. This weekend, I am trying to prioritize the house and the "stuff" we need to do here. It is hard- but I will do it. I have still not fully organized our guest room/study. I stand in the middle of this cluttered space and get overwhelmed with anxiety and never end up doing anything. I am hoping Geo will help me this weekend. He is good at that stuff.
Anyways, here are a few more recent cutie pie pics. P. loves wearing mommy's costume jewelry. so cute, she is such a little girl!

Exhaustion

So, I have let you guys and myself down by not blogging to my full potential. I am just so friggin tired! I have had that course last week, full day planning sessions at work and then of course, mommyhood and my neverending attempts to work out, blog, and keep a clean house. Grr.
I will be back into the swing of things soon- I promise.
For now, here are a few recent cutie patootie pictures to hold your interest till my next post.
Girls, they wanna have fun.



And here is a cute one of Daddy with P. on Father's day. He is wearing the hat she coloured on for him and the tie they made at daycare. too cute!

Corporate gong show

I have been lucky enough to be given the opportunity thru work to take a Queens University Marketing course this week. It is grueling. My brain has turned to mush since I have been out of school, and further since having P...
I love learning, but it is exhausting to me.

This is why I haven't blogged much this week. I intend to catch up this weekend.

I have been late every day this week to my course (not only is it embarassing, but I miss the good free breakfast they provide by doing this!)
My hope is to be on time Friday-the last day, to take advantage of the yummy fruit plate!

Lifestyle changes 2

Organics

Many foods and produce contain harmful pesticides and hormones.
Who can afford to eat all organic??? We certainly can't...so here is a list of the "dirty dozen" foods that are the worst for pesticides and are the specific foods where, when possible, we buy organic.

Food

Apples
Cherries
Grapes (imported)
Nectarines
Peaches
Pears
Raspberries
Strawberries
Bell Peppers
Celery
Potato
Spinach


Beef
Poultry
Milk
-Wild fish (not organic necessarily, but not farmed either)

Availability is not always there, so if we have to buy non organic, I am sure to WASH my food thoroughly with a cool wash that I found at the healthfood store. It is a fruit and veg wash and gets off way more dirt and pesticides than just regular soap and water.

Check out my source below. EWG does tonnes of research on this stuff. I use their website as a reference a lot.
**source for list of foods-www.EWG.org

Lifestyle changes

Prior to my life as a mom, I did a lot of what I would now consider to be "unhealthy" things. Things that I knew were possibly not the best things to do, but I just didn't care....or even some things I never even thought twice about. After research and really going with my gut instincts, there are many behaviours from the past that I wouldn't even THINK of doing now.

Some of these things include, tanning bed tanning, cleaning with toxic cleaners, microwaving food, using plastic in the microwave, not reading labels on food, buying processed and "dirty" foods, not reading ingredients in other consumables I purchase (ie. cosmetics/household items etc)
I even aspired to get Botox one day. Yes, I was open to the idea of shooting a toxin into my face to paralyze muscles to "stop the aging process"
Are you kidding me?

I want to preface what I say below by making sure you know that I definitely am not preaching to people. I am definitely far from perfect and do not judge others for what choices they make. I do, however judge people for not educating themselves on these environmental issues and the impact they can have on our health and wellbeing. I also get very frustrated with the people who say "well, we did (whatever it is) when you were young and you turned out fine"
Did we really? do we know yet? isn't it better to educate ourselves now and use the research that is out there to give us power to make more informed decisions?

I realize there is no feasible way to be perfectly "safe" from anything. That is why I have made certain choices on lifestyle changes that are most important to me and hubby, and try not to worry about the other choices we make. You can only do so much. As long as you educate yourself and know your priorities, I think you are okay.
Life is too short and you need to have fun, too...

For the next week, I will do a daily post that details out one major change I have made to my lifestyle, and why.

CLEANING PRODUCTS

Today, I am going to talk about cleaning products.
I am in the process of throwing out EVERY SINGLE chemical cleaner I have ever owned. One by one...
Over the last 2 years, I was using a non -toxic cleaner that I was buying through a retail chain down the street. It worked okay and was non toxic...so I thought, better than the alternative. I didn't want to inhale, or for my family to inhale the fumes and chemicals given off from traditional cleaners.
I had read horror stories about accidental poisoning and panicked about P. drinking it by accident one day...or about the toxins in these items causing health issues down the road etc.

I found this website that details it all out one by one...you should take a look. ARe you ready to make a change for your family?

www.mamashealth.com/doc/cleanprod.asp




If you are, I suggest ENJO. These products are cleaning product using fibers and are CHEMICAL FREE. Not naturally occuring chemicals...chemical FREE. The investment up front is significant, but if you think of how much you spend over a year on regular or greener cleaning products, it is definitely a wash.
I hate cleaning. HATE HATE HATE it. It is the worst job ever for me. But I love cleaning with ENJO. It is quick easy and not harmful to anything or anyone.

Check out the site

www.enjo.com



for more info

Comment if you have any questions or opinions about this topic. I am interested to hear it!

3 little monkeys jumpin'on the bed

Phoebe invited some friends over to her "crib"
Who of the 3 do you think is having the most fun?