Our List of Waiting Room Essentials

Emmy and I spent the morning in the doctor's office waiting room during their "After Hours Clinic" since she was awake for a large majority of the night last night crying and telling me that her ear hurt. That darned right ear. It's always the right one. I think a visit to an ENT (Ear, Nose + Throat) Doctor may be in our future next Spring.

We have learned, through multiple visits to the doctor and the urgent care centre, that we need to come armed with a few essential things to make our wait a little less painful for us AND for the other people in the waiting room. Here's what we pack in our bag when we know we're going to have to wait for an hour...or two, or three, or even sometimes four:

1. A snack.

I always make sure to ask Emmy before we leave he house what snack she wants to ensure that we don't have a waiting room meltdown (e.g. "No, I want cheese and crackers!"). I bring a ziplock baggie to distribute the snacks in and then the whole original bag in case we are there for a long time. 

2. Reading material.

Who doesn't love Rickard Scarry!?

I love groups of small books like this - there are four books and they are each about 12 pages long. They are small so I don't have to worry about packing a whole separate bag the size of a large book. 

3. Colouring tools.

When we are out at a restaurant and get a pack of crayons, I always make sure to take them home with us and add them too our "waiting room essentials" bag. That way we aren't removing crayons from the set we use at home and losing them/worrying about losing them. I usually bring a colouring book or some scrap paper, but have also asked the receptionist is she can spare a piece or two. 

4. Flash cards.

I got this set at the Dollar Store for A DOLLAR and we love them. This one is "Beginning Words", but we have a number of them (e.g. numbers, first words, Dora themed cards, etc...all from the Dollar Store). Again, they are small and take up minimal space in my bag, but provide a LOT of entertainment and keep Emmy occupied for quite a while. 

These items work well for us and are easy enough to pull together in a few minutes so that we can get out the door in a hurry and hopefully be first in line to see the Doctor! I think this list of items would also work well to keep Emmy happy and occupied in any other setting that required a long wait, such as an airport visit.

Here's hoping that the antibiotics Emmy is on clear up this ear infection before Christmas!

Crazy for Curtains!!

Oh how I love these Roman blinds - forgive the bad iPhone/nighttime shots please!

They turned out amazing with black out fabric on the back to ensure it gets dark in Emmy's room (I'm kind of overly obsessed with it being dark for naps)!

I'm thrilled with how the fabric/pattern looks in her pink room - there are SO many fun, bold colours that no matter if we want to reprint another colour in a few years, the options are still endless!

ACHOOO

We are sick.

As of 9:03pm on December 11th, here's how we are doing:

Mummy = knee deep in the part of the "flu" where your nose becomes like a leaky faucet. I've blown my nose about 500 times today. Not kidding. Breathing through my nose is becoming impossible.

Daddy = mid-fever portion of the "flu" with the shivers and shakes (where I was on Saturday). I made him tea and let him have the sofa seat closest to the fireplace so he can warm up. Aren't I a good wife?

Emmy = on antibiotics for an ear infection. She was inconsolable last Thursday night, so Friday morning when her temp was 103.5, we went to the Hospital. I believe that's where Mummy picked up the flu and then passed it along to Daddy. BLERG. On the bright side, the doc prescribed antibiotics for the infection and her temp is back to normal and if you ask her how her ear is, she will now tell you "Gooooood" instead of "My ear hurts!". She is currently having a sleepover with Grama and Grampa (oh thank goodness we moved here)!!

We have tea in hand, meds on board and hope to wake up feeling a little better tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

For my next project...

I am finally tackling that chalk board in the kitchen.

Except that I decided to take a different approach than I had posted about previously. Originally we were going to get an oversized mirror at Ikea and paint it with the trusty rusty chalkboard paint. That was going to cost more than the budget allowed so instead, we went all in and decided to paint the wall with the chalkboard paint and frame the painted area with some wood or moulding.

Step One is complete. The wall was painted today with two coats and I think that may be all it needs. Time will tell.

I can't wait to draw a big ol' calendar on the top and list my "To Do's" and perhaps our meal plans for the week to help me stay on top of that better on the bottom.

Our DIY Nightstand Makeover

My very first DIY project (the Ikea Rast "hack") is now complete, and although it was successful, I learned some very valuable lessons, such as:

> research, research and research before you jump into a DIY project to ensure you aren't forgetting an important step
> be patient. Follow all of the instructions/directions for the products you are using, even if they take longer than you want them to

The inspiration came from here (you can find detailed instructions on how to create the end result at that link) and I'm very happy with how ours turned out.

They were relatively straightforward to customize - I bought some wood stain, white paint, foam brushes (for the white drawer fronts) and bristle brushes (for the wood stain) and applied multiple coats of each plus a final two coats of varathane to seal that puppy. The knobs are from Wal-Mart and cost only $32 for six of them. Not too shabby.

Are they perfect? Nope.

Are they pretty darned nice looking and good enough for my first DIY? Yep, they sure are.

Here's a reminder of what they looked like before the customization phase!

There is still some bedroom styling that needs to get done to make the tops of those dressers sing, but even with a few items plopped on them quickly they look GREAT! Next DIY project on the list is the chalkboard for our kitchen wall. Chalkboard paint and rollers are sitting in our foyer just waiting to get used! Woo hoo!

Sitting Pretty

After spending about an hour at Sears today with a sales associate who walked me through just about every detail possible, I finally decided which carseat would be the last carseat we ever buy for Emmy.

I had done some online research and narrowed it down to the following options:

Graco Nautilus Gavit 3-in-1 Multi-stage car seat:

What I liked about it:
> it reminds me of a captains chair, so it seems like it would be very comfy
> it has a very tall sitting height, which will be good for our long-torsoed little Lemon
> ease of recline and ease of harness height adjustment
> good safety rating
> converts to a booster and then a backless booster

What I didn't like about it:
> it's wide. If we ever (easy Mum, I'm just saying) had another baby it might be tricky to have this, another carseat AND an adult in a backseat

Diono RadianR100 Convertible+Booster:

What I liked about it:

> it has a simple installation with LATCH hooks that are similar to the ones in our Britax 

> it has a very tall sitting height like it's competition, which will be good for our long-torsoed little Lemon

> good safety rating

> the carseat sits very low on the seat of the car (because of the short base) so it's easy for Emmy to get in and out of it on her own, which we tested right there at Sears

> if we ever had another baby (seriously Mum, who knows what may happen in four years) he/she could use this carseat right out of the hospital

What I didn't like about it:

> it didn't have a drink holder (kind of a silly thing, but the other one did, so this stood out)

> moving the harness height up seems a bit more involved than it's competition even though everything I had read said that it is simple to do

> it doesn't convert to a backless booster which the lovely Sears associate said could be a problem if an older child doesn't want to sit in a "baby seat" to which I replied "She will sit where I tell her to sit!". 

I waffled back and forth, but when it came time to pull the trigger, I chose the RadianR100 and I can't wait to get it installed in our car and see what Emmy thinks! Our current seat will move to Grama and Grampa's car so we aren't constantly transferring one seat back and forth from car to car! 

In the Driver's Seat

Before we moved to Brantford, I was afraid to drive. Afraid isn't actually a strong enough word. I was terrified.

For some reason Toronto driving scared me like birthday clowns scare small children. I would get sweaty palms, nervous tummy and had a number of really good excuses lined up in the event that someone asked me to drive, such as "I had a beer at lunch so I really shouldn't get behind the wheel" or "I'll just order whatever I need online, I don't need to go out to get anything" or "My glasses aren't working today and I need them to drive". OK, so maybe they were crap excuses, but I would dish them out anyway.

This fear of driving developed when I was involved in a t-bone accident back in oh-two (2002) where I was at fault turning left at a stop light and an oncoming driver struck my passenger side. That accident happened only about 14 days after I bought my very first car and there was about $6000 worth of damage to it that took two months to fix. I lost all of my driving confidence that day and that's when I started using the excuses. The times I sat behind the wheel grew further and further apart until I'd go months and months without driving.

I'm not sure exactly what it is that changed after we moved, but I've regained my confidence behind the wheel. Perhaps it's that things move a little slower here vs in Toronto or maybe I had a bit of irrational anxiety about driving in a "big city", but either way, it feels good to "be behind the wheel" and "in the driver's seat" about where I want to go.

Sorry, no more puns.

I'm actually quite proud of myself and wanted to share this achievement just in case there is anyone else out there who frequents this blog who might have a fear they've been thinking about trying to overcome. Those who know me well probably never thought I would be a regular, confident driver again, but if i can do that, you too can conquer your fears.

Here are my wheels:

Busy little bees

We've been busy.

In no particular order, here are some things we've accomplished over the last week:

> put up the Christmas shrub...ahem, tree. Emmy got pretty excited about it and constantly asks for the "lights to sparkle Mummy?"

> made 600 peanut butter balls and dipped them in chocolate

> finally put the final coats of varathane on our dressers turned nightstands so we can put them in the Master bedroom and start using them

> helped put up and decorate Grama and Grampa's Christmas tree

> saw the new James Bond movie Skyfall with the hubs (damned that Daniel Craig is handsome...so is the hubs)
> wrapped some of Emmy's presents and put them under the tree. Taught Emmy that we don't open anything until Christmas Eve after she immediately ran to them and said "This for me? I open now?"
> ate four peanut butter balls (self props for restraining myself!!!)

It's been a good, but busy week and there is a ton that I want to get done before Christmas gets here. I think tomorrow's blog post might be a list of things we need to accomplish before Santa makes his appearance this year!

Hope you've had a great week too.

My little lemon and I on our Friday together last week.