Author: Sabrina

God Care About My "Little-Big" Deals

My computer went down a couple weeks ago. Not good when it’s like a basic lifeline to the outside world. I had used it one Thursday morning and everything was normal. I took a couple cutie pics of baby and went to upload them, and found the machine frozen. So, I rebooted….but there was no connection the screen.

It may sound like a little thing, but it’s a big deal to me. It’s kinda hard to understand unless you’re in the situation. But tv is dull and very limited during the day and I’m so not a phone person. So, the PC is the next best thing. However, it’s not at it’s best when you can’t see what’s going on!!

When hubby came home, I explained what had happened. (See–I can live without it–I didn’t even call him at work to tell him about the PC malfunction). He took it in for service that same evening.

(Here’s where the story gets cool!!!)

While Jono was at the repair place, our church treasurer called. He wanted to drop off the church laptop for Jono to work on some software stuff.

The laptop doesn’t work like my home PC–it was dreadfully slow. However, I didn’t complain. It sure beat having nothing at all.

This was a nice reminder though, that God cares about all kinds of things that affect us.

Free Photo Session

Free? Can the word free actually be linked together with photo session?

Yes, they can! While at the Baby & Kids Show, I was handed a coupon for a free photo session with Joel Ross Photography (yes, an actual big name studio, and not just your simple department store studio!). The studio has just expanded with the “Expressions” line, which is basically just an all white background. I’ve seen some samples of his work, and have always wanted to have pictures done there. Thanks to the coupon, this was possible.

So, we did a family shoot today. Next week, we’re going to view the photos and pick out what we want. Unfortunately for us, the word “free” only applies to the session and not to the actual pictures. But that’s alright. It was a super fun shoot. Jamayia did awesome, posing & smiling like a big girl.

I know that our budget won’t like this viewing…but we’ll surely have a blast.

Baby Show

I had the chance to attend the Baby & Kids Show today. I went with Jamayia & my cousin. It was a good time. The setup is quite similar to the wonderful wedding show, or probably any other exhibitionary-type of show that some to the Convention Centre in town, just done on a smaller scale.
There was a stage for live mini-performances by the Backyardigans (love them!!! And we managed to catch the tail end of the first performance–yeah! Hey now, don’t knock them till you’ve checked them out yourself!), a meet and greet area for kids & some fave cartoon characters, and play area, and some other great things. Not to mention the booths by different vendors and service providers in and around town. There were draws and/or samples at many booths.
I loved how the Wal-Mart booth was giving away samples of diaper cream (which you also got in your welcome package at the door) and a handful of their store brand diapers for you to test out. Some vendors had some of their products on sale and/or provided coupons for their in store inventory. The show covered a wide range of things from pre-natal to post-natal and financial advice (ie: RESPs), and everything in between.
My fave giveaway was a coupon for a free photo session by a well-known name here in town. Hopefully, I can get an appointment….
After the show, we went out to eat at Baked Expectations. To quote Rachael Ray “yum-o”! I got my pavlova, so I was a happy girl.
Gotta love a good day.

Foul Matter

**Disclaimer–this post will be icky for the faint of heart, but highly entertaining.**

Foul Matter–that’s one of the suggestions I found when I searched the Thesaurus site for a synonym for feces. I figured that it was a more polite title than the original idea of “Crap Disaster”.

You see, my darling baby girl finally pooped after a couple weeks. Yes, that’s correct–it’s been many days since we’ve been graced with a poopy diaper in our household. We did check with her doctor about this and it’s normal. According to the doctor, breastfed babies can be so efficient with their digestion that they can often go days with a bowel movement. As long as she was acting like her normal self (which she was), there was no need for panic. The doctor’s longest poop holdout on record was 15 days.

I was in the midst of washing a few dishes when I heard the sounds of Jamayia grunting in her Exersaucer. Actually, I’m pretty sure I could also smell her from where I was, a few feet away. Not a good sign.

I picked her up, and well, she definitely wasn’t smelling like roses. We went to her bedroom to begin “the change”. I peeled back the diaper to find it literally plastered in poop. Plastered is the prefect words because of the texture. I’ll spare you the details there…

On a sidenote, I must say that it was a gorgeous colour. The best I can come up with is this colour from Behr:


Pretty, ain’t it? It’s called Autumn Orange. This is the kind of colour that would look great in a living room with vaulted ceilings and white baseboards and hardwood floors…but I digress.

That was probably the only positive thing about this diaper change. Of course, like my diaper-adapted version of Murphy’s Law–when it’s ickyist, baby’s hands must get in it.

Yes, Jamayia got her hands in there, and proceeded to grab her socks. Now the once pink socks were pink & orange. Not good. Then, I discovered that the diaper was filled to overflowing. Again, not good. The safest way to remove her shirt would’ve been to cut it off. But, I couldn’t do that safely. I said a prayer, and tried to take of her shirt in a way that the dirtyness stayed at her back.

Oh, and did I mention that when she was playing gleefully with her socks, she was also grabbing at my arms? I was just thankful that she wasn’t trying to play with her mouth too!

So, it was time for the first bath of the day.

My darling was quite sleepy, so she wasn’t looking forward to the bath–and she started to bawl…h-a-r-d-c-o-r-e. Crying is a rare occurance for Jamayia, so I know that she was just sad.

But, after a quick bath, we were both cleaner and fresher. She got a nice little snack and settled down for a nice long nap. I had to soak her change pad, shirt & socks. After a good soaking, I also had to hand scrub out the stains. Then, proceeded to use the ‘pre-soak’ option on the washing machine. They all came out. Yippee!!

I just had to share this latest adventure. I wish I could say it’d be the last time I’d have to experience this, but fat chance. Upon later reflection, I was praising God that this was all I had to deal with. Many people go through so much drama with their babies (and other things in their lives) and have such a stressful time. So, the diaper was icky & the smell was out of this world. But it was a temporary situation and it’s over.

Thank God it’s over. I hope that she doesn’t “store up” again for another couple of weeks.

PhysioFit Mom

Yes, it’s true–I’m taking an exercise class. I saw this ad on the St. Vital Mall website last Sunday:

Physiofit Mom: From Belly to Baby & Beyond
Mondays & Wednesdays

Stroller Fitness: A great way for Mom’s to be active and meet new friends while enjoying extra bonding time with baby. An hour packed with fun for baby and excercise for you! (for children 6 wks. to 4 yrs.- double
strollers welcome- first class free!)

Includes: 60 minute excercise session with circuit training combining
cardio and total body toning, & focused time on regaining abdominal and
pelvic floor strength.

Classes: Mondays & Wednesday’s 8:50- 9:50
*meet in the Food Hall next to Tim Horton outside Family Room*

Winter Session – starts January 22, 2007
1xweek for 6 classes = $65
2xweek for 12 classes = $110

Note that the class was starting in less than 24 hrs from the time that I first saw this ad.

My next dilemma–clothes. Can’t take an exercise class in jeans or pantsuits, now can we?? So, we had to go shopping (don’t you love when shopping becomes an obligation?!) Thankfully, there were sales happening and I did find some workout pants–yeah!

Monday morning, I awoke and got dressed. Jamayia woke up at a decent time and we actually reached the mall ontime. I was surprised at how bustling things were. I forgot that the mall is open early for mall walkers. I was already struggling with the concept of working out with complete strangers–I’m an extremely shy person. (Can you tell I absolutely detested Phys Ed classes growing up??) So now I was trying not to panic at the thought of doing this class in front of a ton of eyes. Did I mention yet my bigger fear of being the most unfit and uncoordinated person in the entire class? But I tried to look at the positives–a chance to get out the house; a chance to meet new people; a chance to get in shape.

I’m happy to report that I did survive the first two classes. There were 2 other moms along with me, and the instructor. They started off things pretty easy–very low impact for the first class. I’m just praying for strength & endurance for the next 5 weeks. Unfortunately for me, the other 2 are in great shape–they even worked out during their pregnancies! Their babies are 6 wks & 10 wks old.

I’ll be sure to keep you posted on this exercising venture.

Oh, and the best news of the week– I can try and see if my health insurance will cover this class, as it is a form of physiotherapy. Yeah for savings!!!

2nd Braiding Attempt

When was the last time you heard about Coolio? Remember him? He is a rapper turned actor, hot from back in the 1990s. Well, Uncle Sherwy brought up his name last Sunday. Said that Jamayia’s braids (à la Grandma) reminded him of Coolio’s hairstyle… That brother of mine is something else.

Well, Mommy did try her luck at braiding last night, after our bath time… Can you tell that I tried rebraiding it this morning? I only managed to redo half of her head before she got overly fussy…

First Set of Braids

Thanks, Grandma! She managed to tackle Jamayia and keep her distracted long enough to do this to her head:

It’s actually braided, not twisted. Understand that my child doesn’t like to have her head touched. So this was definitely an adventure. It probably won’t stay in for too long (she is going to the doctor tomorrow and there’s no need to look g-h-e-t-t-o). We’ll see how things look in the morning.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2007!

It started out with a big, fat, dumping…of snow, that is. A whopping 29 cms hit here the Sat. nite (Dec 30). Needless to say, it was a very quiet New Year’s Eve. But at least it wasn’t cold. We took “professional” family pictures for the first time, with Mommy’s family.

Here are some pics from church on Dec 30th:

At home, getting dressed.

Posing with Mommy & Daddy.

And of course Auntie & Uncle can’t be left out.

We hope that everyone’s 2007 is full of blessings galore.