-I love Japanese mandarin oranges. The Chinese ones usually suck - just like the toys. I just bought case of Satsumas from Peru at Costco that taste just like the Christmas ones. Score! Where’s the fun fact? I only eat the “meat” in mandarin oranges. I peel each little segment.

-I have never tasted a Big Mac. I’ve had a kids mac and it was good but super greasy. I assume the big one tastes the same, but with more grease.

-I hate pork. I make an exception for extra crispy bacon, though.

-You know how some people are either salt people or sugar people. I’m both. Hence the size of my ass. A bowl of chips alongside a chocolate chip cookie and a bowl of ice cream please.

-Growing up I loved ketchup and hated tomatoes. Now I love tomatoes and don’t much care for ketchup. Except on Acadian tortiere at Christmas. Mmmmm.

-Berries are my favourite food. Perfectly sweet strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, saskatoons. I’m drooling now.

-This morning I made my sister in law, my nieces, Primo and I pancakes with fresh blueberries in them. They were too good to even put butter on. I put it on anyway. See: ass (above).

-The Big Guy says (in jest, of course) that I’m not allowed to eat in front of our kids lest they learn from my weird habits.

-When I eat an ice cream sandwich, I take a particular pattern of bites around the outside every time.

-When I eat a large round piece of pepper salami or summer sausage (which is rare, but yummy), I fold it in half three times to form a triangle, bit the tip off to create a hole in the center, unfold it and then put the ring into my mouth whole. I dare you to try it. It’s fun. (See: The Big Guy says - above.)

-I love my Pampered Chef crinkle cuter. Sometimes I’ll eat something when I’m not hungry just so I can use my crinkle cutter. It’s especially great for cheese & cucumber.

-I love a good cheese, cucumber, mayo & fresh ground pepper sandwich on a grainy whole wheat fresh bread. Mmmmmm.

-I refuse to eat fake food. Powdered parmesan? No. Fake sugar? No. Margerine? No. Yuck.

-When we’re at Costco or stores like it and we’re trying samples, you’ll often hear me say to Primo such things as “No, buddy. That’s got pretend food in it and we don’t eat that.”

-I am a very good cook but don’t particularly enjoy doing it. I love seeing people love my food, though, and love hostessing so I do it anyway.

-I rarely use recipes and it’s even more rare that I actually follow one. I get the general idea for a dish from a recipe, the tv, or a restaurant (or a blog) and I make it my own way, generally healthier/better tasting/more organic…more my way. Like with everything else in life, it’s my way or the highway.

Your turn. What are your fave foods? What foods do you despise? Any weird food idiosyncrasies?

(Image courtesy pachd.com)

Dear Primo,

Dude – you’re two! I can’t believe I’ve been a Mommy for two years already. You will always be the person who made me a mommy, and that’s the best gift I’ve ever received. You and your sister are the most special people in the world to me and it’s an honour to be your mother. I have loved every moment of the past two years. Even the not sleeping, the tantrums and the mundane parenting tasks because they are all part of spending my time with you. When you’re not sleeping, it’s a chance to snuggle you in the dark of night that I don’t get very often any more. When you’re throwing a rare tantrum, it’s my chance to teach you new words to express your frustration and show you acceptable ways to handle your stress. When I bath you, change your diaper, get you dressed and make your meals, it’s a chance to play with you and teach you that though we all have responsibilities they can be a lot of fun if you smile while you do them. I’m not perfect, but I promise to always do my best to make like fun while we learn.

Grandma J bought you a new tricycle before Christmas and you’ve finally been able to ride it somewhere other than the garage. Bike riding is now one of your favourite hobbies, and you look so stinking cute with your little helmet on! You don’t use the pedals yet but you move like a bat out of hell. You run along with your butt on the seat and lift your feet to glide once you get going. In just a week you went from having to stop and turn your bike every few feet so as to not hit the street to steering while you run along. It’s going to be a fun summer out there!

You are really an outside kid. You also love to play hockey in the driveway with Mommy, go for walks, play at the park, play in your sandbox , stomp in puddles or just run and wrestle in the yard with Thai & Mavi. It’s so fun to experience the wonder of the outdoors through your eyes. You get excited every time you see a pine tree (“pine tee!)” or the train bridge (“tain birge!” and it just never gets old.
You love to go shopping with Mommy, especially anywhere with a cart. We go to Costco every Friday with your friends Liam and James, and to Safeway and Save-On most weeks too. We have our playgroup Thursdays with many people from your original baby group and some new ones too, often go to Rhyme Time Tuesdays or the library Wednesdays to sing. No matter what we do, you love it. You have a zest for life and for learning that is truly awesome.

You do occasionally like to play inside as well. You like to play with your trains & tracks, build and crash block towers or mega block towers, crawl in the dogs’ kennels, watch hockey with Daddy, throw balls for Mavi, and watch your “Meet The Letters” DVD. You love to help Mommy clean and cook. You vacuum your own room and Bella’s room too, and love to wash the walls and windows with water and a cloth. You like to stand in your learning tower and help me bake banana muffins or whisk eggs. You’re a great helper! You have friends over often and love to share your toys with them. There’s something inherent in your personality that enables you to share without freaking out like many kids do. So far, anyway. In addition to your generous heart, you show more empathy than many two year olds. When you see someone crying, you day “She’s sad” or “He’s crying” and “Iss okay.” Often you’ll rub or pat their back if they’re close to you.

You love to throw things in the garbage. You’re the diaper man of the house and you throw out all of Bella’s and your own. Sadly, you stopped saying “garmer” and started saying “garbage” last month. It was so cute, but it’s also great that you’re growing up. You like to recycle too, and now call it “recyc-ing.”

In the past three months you have excelled at speaking more than ever before. You’ve always been well ahead of your age but now you’re nothing short of amazing. What 22 month old can say “hippopotamus” and “chiropractor?” You! You also know all of your letters, both upper and lower case and can count to 10. You also know many of the numbers up to 100 because you recognize the patterns. You know most of your shapes, but especially love stars, hearts and circles. We count and do letters all the time and you love it. We count to 30 twice a day when we brush your teeth, sing the alphabet before naps and bed, play letters in the tub, read many many books a day and are generally immersed in literacy much of the time.

You spent your first night in your big bed (which you called your “good boy bed” for several weeks because you misheard me when I told you what it was and then you insisted) on Friday March 7 – the same day you fell out of your crib trying to reach something because you’re so tall. It took you a LONG time to get used to your bed. For the first several weeks Daddy or I had to lie with you for at least an hour to get you to sleep, and then you’d freak out every time you woke up and we weren’t there. It was like a flashback to your infanthood! I did try leaving you in there to play but you started to cry and promptly learned to open the door. You challenge my problem solving skills endlessly! Then we moved on to “quiet time” in your room with a baby gate across the doorway so you couldn’t escape. I needed a break and you really needed a nap, even though you refused to admit it. You went over a month without a nap. It was awful. Your molars were bothering you at the same time and that didn’t help. Then, all of a sudden (well, three and a half weeks later…) you napped one day and started sleeping through the night again. At this time you’re doing fabulously and love your bed and your room. Your bedtime routine is a lot of fun. You pee on the potty, have a bath with either Daddy or I in there to play with you, pee on the potty again, run around naked for a few minutes, get your jammies on and come out to show the other parent which jammies you have on (which is VERY exciting!), read a bedtime story with Mommy and Daddy and then we both serenade you with a list of songs…

1. The ABC’s
2. Twinkle Twinkle
3. Row, Row, Row Your Boat
4. The Itsy Bitsy Spider (which we have to do twice with the actions because you love to be tickled.)
5. Prayers
6. Mommy’s “I love you” song or another made up song that’s just for you

You are getting to be a little bit more picky with food. You like noodles, rice, peas, corn, Grandma B’s buns, Grandma J’s hamburger soup, pickles, Dill Pickle Soup, cheese strings, grated cheese (NOT sliced cheese, heaven forbid), yogurt, cheerios and milk, plain toasted twelve grain bagels, toast and butter, cheerios and milk…and that’s about it. Well, other than ice cream, cookies, nachos and other crap that you get only occasionally. On days when you’re not eating much, you’ll almost always drink a smoothie or a shot of juice in your milk. You also eat more when we’re out and when you’re in the bath. Yes, that’s weird, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

You are still the best big brother imaginable. Bella smiles whenever she sees you, and you love her and would go to the ends of the earth for her. You love to fetch her diapers, put her dirty ones in the garbage, put her clothes in her laundry, hug her, hold her hands, burp her, rub her head and occasionally lie on her and try to feed her all of your foods that she’s not allowed to have yet. It’s so nice that you want to share! You offer her something and then you say “Onee bestmilk!”

You are SUCH a Daddy’s boy now. I will do just fine when he’s not home, but once he gets here I’m chopped liver and he has to be the one to help you with everything. You make him carry you around like you weigh ten pounds (you actually weigh 30.4 pounds!) and love to play with him and wrestle for hours on end. I guess you get a little sick of me by the end of the day!

This past weekend we had a party with some friends for your birthday. You had Dawson, James, Connor and Kaden over, along with their siblings and parents. Liam is in New Zealand right now so he couldn’t come. You had a great time, with a picnic on the floor and lots of cake. You were tired, but you were a trooper. The only thing you didn’t like was when I put a birthday hat on you.
Buddy, I have no idea how to sum up the two best years of my life, so the last three months will have to suffice. It’s been an amazing journey and it continues to be an awesome thrill to be your Mommy. You make me so proud and I hope you’re always as excitable, confident and exuberant as you are now. You are my best boy, my favourite little man, and I love you right up to the moon…and back!

Love you SOOOOOOOOO much!

Mommy

I desperately need to update my blogroll (accessible from my right sidebar by clicking on “Cooler People Than Me” under Other Goodies, in case you were wondering…) and I need your help.

If you want to be on it, please leave a comment on this post letting me know. Even if you’re already on it, please tell me again so I can confirm your url. I’ll plug through the comments and enter you when I get a chance. I read hundreds of blogs and really would love to link to all of you but my organizational skills are sorely lacking so I need you to help me.

Come on…throw a girl a bone! It’s like de-lurking day, but not.

(You can also tell me if you want to be removed from it. That would be weird, but go ahead!)

In reverse…(helping you help me)

I’ve got all of the new TOP buttons designed (which match the beautiful new theme that’s not working but will soon if it kills me) and I know many of you link there.

If you used the code that I provided, the image at your site will update automatically.
If you coded your own, however, would you please update it to the new one?

Thanks!

Advance warning - Something to think about…

If you could ask me anything, what would it be?

Soon you’ll get your chance!

At this site, right on the home page, there is a published “review” with images and text stolen directly from The Opinionated Parent and claimed for their own. (Look for Speckles & Weeds about 3/4 of the way down.)

See the same thing here?

It’s bad enough that they can’t write their own blurb about a company who’s items they carry in their shop, but they even stole the images that link directly to my site, indicating they also know nothing about the internet or that I’d know immediately when they stole it. Granted, the title image does link to my review, but there’s no other indication that I wrote it, nor did they have my permission to print it.

I highly recommend never shopping there. Sad, because it’s a small Canadian company and those are the ones I love to recommend. Not this time.

I emailed the owner this morning:

On your website you have copyrighted images and text taken directly from our site without permission. Please remove all of them immediately.

The Opinionated Parent

I’ll be watching to see if they remove it all.

Update: 36 hours later - no response and it’s still there.

Update: 1 week later - it’s gone but I didn’t ever receive a response with an apology or any explanation.

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting their annual Blog Party this week and I’m jumping on the wagon. I like to party and what with all the pregnancies and nursing this is the closest I’m going to get!

If you want to know a little or a lot about me, check this out.

GIVEAWAY! I’m giving away a three month ad spot to one lucky first place winner and a one month ad spot to a second place winner. You just have to be a blogger or a business owner to win so that you have something to advertise! The winners will be selected from everyone who leaves a comment on this post introducing yourself (or re-introducing yourself or saying hi if I already know all about you). Leave your comment by Friday 3/14/08 to be eligible.

Thanks for stopping by! It’s nice to meet you!

(I’m so un-creative that I’m doing pretty much the same thing over here. Come for a visit and enter twice!)

Just testing a new post.

Upgrades pretty much done. Thanks for the emails (and comment) about the dark background colour - I will try to lighten it but I don’t have time now. Also working on the header thing so I can have a custom one each month-ish again.

The only thing I can’t fix yet is under the post where it says “posted on on” instead of the date - have to find it in Chelle’s interwebbish code and change it but I’m thinking that might require actual code and therefore help. Chelle’s sleeping right now, as I should be, so I can’t bother her.

G’night!

OH CRAP - I forgot to tell you…

Primo’s in his big boy bed tonight!!

This weekend, I finally figured out how to code this:

I know many of you are regular contributors to and/or reader of T.O.P. so this will make it easier to tell everyone about it - especially for any of you who don’t code at all. Just right click in the box below the image you want and “select all.” Then copy and paste the code wherever you’d like it on your own site.

(I also learned how to make a line. Silly, but I was quite proud of myself. No more periods across the middle of a post. Yay!)

I’m still struggling (read: going absolutely nowhere and begging for help) with

1. Turning this theme into a 3-column design (sidebar, posts, sidebar)
2. Getting the poster’s name and post time out of the posts. I’d just like the date to be there. I want to do this at T.O.P. as well so I’d like to do it myself with help as opposed to having someone do it for me.

If you can help, I’ll love you long time.

It’s a long weekend in Canada (not in the US, right?) and we pretty much spent it packing, doing errands and getting stung by a wasp whose compatriots live under our front steps and are perpetually pissed off. I’ve been limping since I was stung and my ankle is swollen, but it’s getting better. The BG’s was better by last night because the little prick left most of it’s venom in me before jumping on to him to deposit the remainder. Thank God the boy was still inside. I can’t imagine him in this much pain.

Today we’re doing the walk-through on the new house and tomorrow at noon it’s officially ours! I’m going to start moving 2-3 van loads a day to try to get most of the small stuff out before the big move on Saturday.

Our new bed is being delivered to the new place on Thursday. NEW BED! Wheee! I’m SO excited! We bit the bullet and bought a top of the line king size monstrosity for my huge husband with sleep issues. Hopefully he’ll stop complaining about me hogging the bed now. (Kidding. He won’t stop.) I’ve got the new bedding all washed up & ready. Do you all know how expensive king size bedding is. The mattress cover alone is $150 (unless you get the kind that does nothing - we got the dust mite proof kind). We got a huge sale on the bed in a bag so it was cheap, and when I took it all out to wash it I realized why. It’s transparent.

Just had to put another line in. Can’t help myself.

Sorry I can’t come to the blog right now. I’m visiting my family but will return soon. Until then, leave a message and have a great day!

When it’s been a while, I miss these. Here are some of the most interesting search strings people have used to find me over the last 6 weeks.

cancer sucks - Yes, it does. Buy a shirt from my store, save a life. Thanks to whoever bought shirts last week. Sales are back up and the Canadian Cancer Society thanks you.

mom is a whore/whore moms - These both appeared multiple times. What are you saying?

how much will people buy for my 15 inch size dick - Dude, whatever you’re selling, there are no takers here.

there’s more processed food in the day we live in than back in the days - Ah, those were the days.

chubby cleaner baby wipe - Like, you want something special just to clean his little chubby? Use a wet washcloth - no chemicals necessary. Particularly on his chubby.

girls who seen boys penis shrink after swimming - Well, haven’t we all?

how much money should you ask for dog walking and care yard care and babysitting - Sorry, I’m not really sure. Perhaps my readers can help you. Maybe $5/hour if it’s tax free?

my son is circumcised - Sorry to hear that. I’m sure he’ll be fine
should I circumcise? - No. Read this.

mom got boobs - Yep, and they’ll only get bigger!

watch how to video straight catheter - Three words - get.medical.help.

lactation pump milking porn - Whatever floats your boat, but you won’t find any of that here.

baby inhaling window cleaner - Yikes. Ditch the chemicals and make your own.

beautiful mom teaching and enjoying sex with her teen son and also guiding him how to enter his fat long penis in his hairy vagina - I just about didn’t include this one, but really - how could I not? Who the hell searches for this stuff?

There were oh so many more…there are some scary folks out there!

Several people have asked me for help with design lately.
I’m NOT the girl to ask.

Wanna learn web design online?
XHTML, CSS, web apps, design tips & more @
http://www.shaziamistry.com/learn

So, um…I got a lovely email this morning.

Apparently, I’m among some pretty amazing company in being nominated for some Blogger’s Choice Awards.

Best Parenting Blog

and *ahem*

Hottest Mommy Blogger

If you’d be so kind, please click over and give me your vote. It’s a one time per IP address thing so it’ll only take a second. You can vote for me in each category - just click on each of the links or images above and you’ll go right there. (Apparently I’m not above begging.)

(PS: Also blushing over there.)

Michelle at Scribbit has created a Google custom search engine of nearly 1700 mom blogs. If you want information on one of the many topics we all post about, try her search engine out. If you want similar posts to link to, she’s got that too. It’s really very cool, and huge props to Michelle for putting it together.

A little more info for you via an e-interview (paraphrased, because I lost the questions I asked her):

MMTaM: How on earth did you come up with such a great idea?

Scribbit: My husband needs the credit. He’s been after me for a couple months to put the CSE (Custom Search Engine) together because he did one for maps that’s been successful. He’s been my agent and mentor in the whole blogging experience and finally I figured that since he’s been right in so many other areas maybe he was right about this too.

MMTaM: Are you some kind of special techie genius or something?

Scribbit: Figuring it out wasn’t hard, Google announced months ago that they were making it possible to put a CSE together, and it’s fairly easy. It was merely being aware of the technology available and then putting it to use in my niche. I’m not adept at coding, I bumble around the CSS and haven’t a clue about things like java and PHP but I get by.

MMTaM: How did you decide which blogs to include?

Scribbit: At first I only intended to add the 200 or so blogs I’ve frequented from time to time but when I got into it I quickly realized that it made sense to add as many as had pertinent posts and information. I’m a member of several blogrolls so I went through each and added the momblogs that were listed there. I didn’t add all of them–if their content was objectionable (and that’s a purely subjective thing I know, but it is my CSE so I had to be the one making the judgment call in this area) or if they hadn’t posted in a month I didn’t add them. Of the blogs registered with Blogher I added the majority of them but wasn’t as thorough there just because of the huge number of blogs involved. I was getting tired after 1500.

MMTaM: Is your CSE complete or are you continuing to add to it? How can someone get their blog listed?

Scribbit: It’s now grown to nearly 1700 momblogs, though I’ve kept the “1500″ label just for convenience sake. If someone wants their blog added (and they should check first to see if their blog comes up) they should email me at scribbit at gmail dot com. Please don’t leave a message in the comments because it’s harder to trace it back and with the number of emails I get that’s a little inconvenient to respond that way.

So there it is, glad you like it and thanks for the interest. As a final note, one of the things that I love about blogging is it’s non-competitive nature. That may sound odd to say but with blogging, as opposed to print and other media, my neighbor’s success helps me as well. If I can boost another blog’s stats and ranking and they link to me, then my ranking and links are benefited. When a blogger friend succeeds, it boosts my blog as well. It’s a symbiotic relationship that no other media enjoys and one that I find wonderful. I hope this CSE I’ve created helps to strengthen the momblog/blogs by women community and makes all of us a little more successful in our endeavors.

So, there you have it. A very cool little idea grown into a very cool big thing. If you’d like to post Michelle’s CSE on your site, just email her for the code. It looks like this:

Search 1500 Momblogs

Search for ideas on parenting, crafts, gardening, books, cooking and more…
hosted by Scribbit

Give it a shot. You know you’re tempted. Try it from this post and see what you come up with. Find something interesting? Tell us in comments!

We’re back from our first Easter as a family of three. We had an awesome time! Poor BG had to work overtime all day Good Friday and Saturday so he joined us on Sunday. Since it’s a 4 day weekend he still had some time to relax and enjoy my mom’s cooking. I, being there for four days, gained no less than ten pounds. Mmmmmm. Nothin’ better than mommy’s cooking! The animals always like going to Grandma & Grandpa’s place too.

My father in law and his wife were able to join us for Easter dinner and some play time.

Click here to see a short and crappy quality video of the boy playing with Grandpa K before bed.

The Easter bunny brought the boy a new mega-blocks dump truck, which was a huge hit. He also got a very cool Body Glove float suit from Grandma & Grandpa for Easter.

He kindly modeled his float suit. It was like watching a sad little turtle stuck on it’s back for the first few minutes (but funnier).

If you’re not excited that I’m back here, you’ll still be happy to know I’m back over there too, where the freebies are.

“Can you tell me when my registration is due? I didn’t receive a notice and we’d like to have both vehicles due at the same time,” I asked the nice girl at the registry counter. The BG and I were renewing the registration on the Prelude on his way back to work.

She offered to look it up in her computer using my plate number. “That plate has no records.”

Um. Shit?

“Well, that’s weird. I have my insurance right here.” The BG and I look through my files and the registration paper is from 2005-2006. Hmmmmm.

“Do you have a 2007 sticker on your plate?”

I ran outside to check, and the last sticker on my plate…

2005.

From my old Honda Accord.

Yes, shit.

Apparently when we bought my van we didn’t switch the plate over and I’ve been driving an unregistered vehicle for 2 years.

Thank God I didn’t get pulled over or in an accident. I’ve had lots of photo radar speeding tickets, but they’re just a fully automated cash cow so nobody was the wiser.

We’re all up to date now, and I’ll be writing REGISTRATION on my calendar for next year - just to make sure.

There have been far too few bulleted lists around here of late. You all know how I love the bulleted list, so we can’t have that.

Anyone know how to easily switch a two column theme to a three column theme? I want to put a column on each side. My web guru is due to have a baby any day so, though she can probably do it, I’d like to leave her alone for once. If you can help, please email me. I’m in training, so I need someone to either walk me through it or do it for me. Rest assured, however, that I’m not a complete moron. Not all the time, anyway.

Thanks to my new friend Liz at greatgreenbaby, I now have blogads on this site in addition to the other sponsors who’ve been here all along. Since they’re brand new here and currently empty, I’m going to do a draw for any of you who’d like to place a free ad for your site. To enter, email me. I’ll contact the winner via email. Thanks to Izzy for the great idea. And go check out Liz. You’ll like her!

Do two bullets count as a bulleted list?
How about when the bullets don’t show up. How disappointing is that? Crap.

Man, I lurve bulleted lists!

Now, because I know someone out there is going to help me with my column issue, and because you’re nice, I’ve got some gratuitous cuteness to brighten your Monday.

“I lurve blueberries. They’re way better than bulleted lists.”

First this, then this. But now…

…but I’ll accept the highest offer. Any bids?

Heh.

I’ve lost everything.

My host had to revert my site to the last backup and I’ve lost the last 2 days, including Laura’s great blog exchange post and my post from today.
Also, I lost all my updates to The Opinionated Parent and the last 2 posts. Don’t suppose there are any stalkers out there who have a copy of any of that, eh?

Edited to add:Or maybe just someone who hasn’t closed their window yet? Godsend UBR owner Cara hadn’t closed her window and was able to shoot me the text from her review. Anyone got the Maliboo Kids one? Please?

Edited to add again: Chelle rocks. She suggested I search google for the cached version of the post and I got it! So…go enter!

Back soon…with a lot more grey hair.