Date Night: Melting Pot Edition

This past Monday David and I took advantage of the fact that he was on days off and we had a babysitter. We have a few gift certificates that have been burning holes in our pockets so we decided to use one up.

We have been to the melting pot many times before and have enjoyed it every time. They feature new menus on a regular basis and the menu for this month was American themed. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed that it was not something a bit more exotic but I was excited nonetheless. The four course meal was delicious!

We enjoyed every bite! David doesn't like most seafood and i don't eat beef or pork, so splitting the meat down the middle is always easy. My favourite part of a fondue dinner is how long it takes to cook and eat! There is nothing better than a good bottle of wine and a nice long meal.

Dessert was amazing! Dark chocolate fondue with delectable items to dip.... so tasty. 

Seriously! Who doesn't love a graham cracker crusted marshmallow dipped in warm dark chocolate!

I can't wait for our next date night! We have a few restaurants that we can't wait to try out. I am so happy that we have great babysitters who love Sydney almost as much as we do. Thanks Teryn!

S

Adventures in Avocado & Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Well, we finally manned up and let Sydney try to feed herself. I grilled up a delicious and healthy avocado and cheese sandwich.

 It was crispy and gooey and perfect.

I then chopped it up into little pieces that were easier for tiny fingers to grab on to.

And we let her go to town!

In the end there were pieces of sandwich everywhere! But our little gal seemed to have a great time!

S

Squishy Faces and Love

Sydney's latest and greatest obsession is making squishy faces and huffy noises. It is hilarious and stupidly adorable. She will copy us if we start doing it and we finally managed to get it on video!

Gran and Gido stopped by for a pizza dinner the other night and Syd was showing off her mad squishy face skills... so cute!

S

Homemade Baby Food

When I found out that I was pregnant, one of the things that I knew I wanted to do was feed Sydney homemade food only. I have always worried about what is put into store bought baby foods and knew that by making my own, I was managing the quality of the food she ate.

My parents bought me a baby bullet to get things started and by four months she was eating homemade brown rice cereal. We started with one meal a day. She would get rice for breakfast and milk the rest of the day. One month in we started to mix in fruits and vegetables with the rice and we introduced supper. A few weeks ago we introduced meat into her diet for the first time. She loves everything that we give to her and she packs away an astonishing amount of food.

~Sydney's food "Drawer" in the freezer.~

~Our packed freezer with Sydney's food "Drawer" on the bottom right.~

Making her food has taken some dedication and planning. There were many days when I thought of just running out to the store to pick up jars of baby food instead of making our own because I didn't want to do the work. When we travel we use organic store bought food, but soon she will just share meals with us.

I strongly recommend homemade baby food to any new mom. It has saved us a mountain of money and I feel great knowing that Sydney is getting all of the nutrition that she needs.

The newest item on the menu this week is orzo pasta with homemade "marinara sauce". The sauce is made of steamed tomato, steamed carrot and steamed red pepper. Everything was frozen into ready to eat single portions. Perfect for a little tummy!

~Frozen pasta portions~

~Frozen pasta portions~

S

Baby Weight Struggles

While I have never been a skinny girl, I have always been relatively fit. By the time I had Sydney I had gained sixty five pounds. I lost twenty in the first month and another thirty five over the next few months. Sydney and I had gotten into a great weekday routine:

     ~ Monday - Strollersize
     ~ Tuesday - Salsa Babies
     ~ Wednesday - Strollersize

     ~ Thursday - Mommy and Me Yoga
     ~ Friday - Spin Class

When David started working shift work instead of the regular Monday to Friday work week, our entire schedule changed right away. We started doing a lot of travelling and spending more time with him and less time going to our regular work out classes. As much as we love to spend more time with David, it does make having a regular schedule very difficult.

My goal is to be back down to my wedding weight by the time I go back to work at the end of January. That gives me three months to lose thirty pounds. It will take a lot of working out and healthy eating to get there but I think I can do it! My diet already consists of super healthy meals like grilled chicken and vegetables so now I just have to kick the working out into high gear.

I will keep you updated on my progress!

S

Calgary Chaos

We have just returned home from five packed days in Calgary. We left the city on Wednesday ready to do some volunteering and attend an AGM. David and I have spent the last year dedicating much of our time to the Alberta Triathlon Association Board of Directors. David was acting president and I was a member of the marketing and communications committee. It ate up a lot of our free time but it is something that we are truly passionate about.

~Getting ready for a Swim!~

We hit the road at around noon on Wednesday and we were in town in time to get over to Speed Theory for David's bike fitting. It was so interesting to see David hooked up to a bunch of sensors and a full computer system all to see his pedal stroke and efficiency. It is all about having the bike set up perfectly so that you can be the most efficient cyclist possible. Super cool stuff!

~Mommy, I'm trapped!~

We spent all of Thursday volunteering for the ATA casino. The money we will earn for volunteering will help float the ATA for almost two years. I took the day shift while Sydney and Daddy had a great day shopping and playing. When my shift was done we did a baby swap in the parking lot and David took over for the evening. It gave Syd and I time to hit up Chinook mall and get in some shopping before heading back to the hotel.

~Daddy and Sydney show Oilers support in front of the home of the Calgary Flames!~

On Friday we decided to take an impromptu trip to visit family in Lethbridge. We figured that we could not drive over half-way there without stopping by to say hi. It was great to surprise my grandma and spend some time with her and my dad. it was all cuddles and kisses for Sydney and she loved every minute of it.

~Toy Explosion!~

~Cuddles with Great Grandma~

~Cuddles with Grandpa~

Saturday was the big AGM. David had to run the entire day and he did a fantastic job! I am so beyond proud of him and what he was able to accomplish. He will be relinquishing the title of ATA president in order to focus on family for the next year. We knew that with the insane schedule we have to look forward next year, we would have to give up something. I will stay on the board but I have no idea how much time I will be able to dedicate to it.

So after three months of travelling like crazy we will finally be home for six glorious weeks in a row! It will hopefully give me an opportunity to get our house in order and start figuring out how to baby proof this place!

S

8 Months of Mayhem

Well, we officially have an 8 month old little girl.

Over the last few months, Sydney has been learning and growing at a rate that we didn't think was possible. She is army crawling and rolling around the house at an alarming speed. We have had no time baby proof anything and I truly think she is enjoying every minute that she has access to the books and DVDs on the shelves she can reach. I can't even tell you the number of times a day I put everything back in it's place.

She is bordering on twenty pounds and is fitting comfortably into her twelve months clothes. We have had to make several trips to "Once Upon a Child" to re-stock her dresser with bigger clothes and I think we are starting to run out of room for the smaller clothing! Yikes! The last few months have also seen the appearance of Syd's first tooth! The bottom, left, front tooth is about half way through already so we are just waiting for the others to catch up!

We are really looking forward to the coming months and all of the new things that we get to look forward to as a family.

S

Back to Blogging!

After a MASSIVE break from blogging over the last few months I am finally back! We have had an insanely busy summer and early fall and I feel like I have to catch you up on so much!

Sydney is almost 8 months old now and she is turning into a little girl before our eyes. She is army crawling around the house like she has been doing it her entire life and never stops eating. David is working hard in his new position at ATCO. He is working shift work now (including nights) and we have been working hard to adjust to our new schedule. I finished planning my kids Triathlon and everything went off without a hitch (maybe just a few hiccups). I have been making an effort to enjoy every minute of my maternity leave and have been busy completing the pile of projects that I had started at the beginning of the summer.

We have been travelling non-stop and have spent many Sunday mornings at races supporting friends. We managed to squeeze in a trip to Penticton to watch friends compete in Ironman at the end of August and just recently returned from a road trip to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore. We have one last road trip to Calgary this week and then we can finally settle down for a month and a half or so.

Here are a few pictures from the last few months:

More regular blog posts to come soon!




S