My son Sam had his 2nd birthday on October 11 and it was so much fun! Sam is the only "baby" in our family at the moment (the next one closest to him in age is my stepdaughter Emily, and she's 11), so Sam really gets doted on...who am I kidding, we spoil him rotten.
Anyway, after a couple of weeks, the dust has settled and the multitude of new toys have found their place in various spots around the hous, The new clothes have been untagged, washed and put away, and even though Elmo still hangs on the wall and the Sesame Street balloons are still floating through my living room, our house has somewhat returned to it's pre-birthday party state.
So, tonight I sat down to write my thank you cards. As I've gotten older, I've learned to appreciate the small things and I've turned into a big believer in hand-written thank you cards... cards in general actually. I get this from my mother who sends cards to everyone for every occassion (she sends out her Christmas cards in November!). The truth is, we all love to receive mail that isn't bills. Even though my 69 year old mother is on Facebook and has her own email account, snail mail is her forte and frankly, I'm enjoying carrying on this particular tradition.
I have a horrible memory (just ask my husband) so when receiving gifts I like to write the gift received in the card that it (normally) comes with. This task accomplishes many things for me. First, I love re-reading all the cards after everyone is gone so I can concentrate on the thoughtfulness of the card. Some people put a lot of thought and effort into choosing the right card (I am one of those people), so I feel the need to give the card my full attention. Second, sometimes the gift opening happens so fast that I tend to miss a lot of what happened, who gave what, etc. Third, sometimes gifts get misplaced amid the chaos, so it's a good way to keep things organized until I can sort it all out at a later time (especially gift cards or gifts of money). The last reason, and most important reason for me, is so I can personalize the thank you cards.
The question is, now what do I do with the birthday cards? I've read them twice, used them to write the thank you notes, and now what? Do I keep them? Do I throw them out? This is an ongoing dilemma for me... the problem of "keepsakes". What is worth keeping for Sam and what isn't? I'm not into keeping many things, except maybe pictures. I believe my mom has one bin of my "stuff" from growning up, but I think I threw out everything else. Do I regret not keeping some of my old things like my high school cheerleading uniform? Some days yes, but most days no. However, I'm feeling very conflicted on what to do with Sam's stuff. Will he hate me when he's 40 and he realizes that I didn't keep every single card he ever received? I don't think so, but what if...? When he's gone away to college, will I regret not having these things to look back on? I just don't know.
I have kept a few things of his. For example, I kept his baby blanket from the hospital and the hair they had to shave off his head in the NICU when they put the tubes in. I've kept his Baptism outfit, the first picture Emily drew for Sam, and the first picture Sam painted in nursery school. I have also kept all the cards from his 1st Birthday. But do I really need to keep the cards from every birthday?? I had to make make a decision and ultimately they went in the trash. Let the guilt set in...
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
BabySteps - Living Life One Day at a Time: Family, Friends & Fundraising = Happiness
BabySteps - Living Life One Day at a Time: Family, Friends & Fundraising = Happiness: Wow! I can not even tell you what an AMAZING weekend I had... actually I can tell you, and I will tell you, but first a little bit of backg...
Monday, 24 October 2011
Family, Friends & Fundraising = Happiness
Wow! I can not even tell you what an AMAZING weekend I had... actually I can tell you, and I will tell you, but first a little bit of background.
Ever since Arbonne found me almost a year ago, I have done a lot of soul searching and thankfully a lot of growing. With much thanks to Arbonne and their love of "bettering yourself to be a better leader", I've read some wonderful books, taken part in many inspiring workshops and even attended my first Canadian National Training Conference in Calgary this past September with Keynote Speaker John Maxwell.
Now, I have always known (and fully admitted) that I am spoiled rotten. I am the youngest in my family (by 9 years... can you say "oops!") and therefore, I was pretty much handed anything I've ever wanted. I get spoiled in so many ways, that most of the time I don't even recognize it.
So, when I was finally able to quit my full-time sales job in the travel industry this past summer, I knew that I wanted to devote more time to thinking less about me and more about giving. Please understand that this is not an easy task when you've been spoiled. My former sales job took me out of town, out of province and out of the country often and I LOVED IT...when I was single. But having a husband and a toddler changes one's perspective. I really want to be home... and I want to stay home. Don't get me wrong, I still want to travel, but I want to do so with my family, not for my job.
Back to giving... I truly want to be a better person and this is one of the things I love about Arbonne. They also want you to be the best person you can be. Now, I'm not a bad person by any means. I believe it would be difficult to find someone who thinks I am a truly horrible person, but we spoiled folk tend to be naive when it comes to giving and being sincere. And we desperately want to be liked... by everyone. I will be 40 soon and I still have a desire to be liked... but most importanly I wanted to be respected AND liked. I want words like "fun, giving, engaging, funny, smart, caring & sincere" to be attached to my name. "Yes, I know Michelle, she's a truly wonderful person". Hmmm, maybe people don't really speak like that, but wouldn't it be nice for people to at least think it when they hear my name? I would really like that... but more importantly I would like it to be true. I certainly have many moments of "sincerity", but a lot of the time the selfish part of me asks: What's in it for me? Will being sincere and doing things to make other people happy push aside my own selfishness? Will it still help me achieve my goals for me and family? How will it benefit ME??
The answer is simple: Happiness. I have found that when I do something for other people it makes me happy... truly, sincerely, crazy happy.
This weekend was the perfect example and the bonus is it was so much fun! On Friday night my son stayed at my parents and my husband and I went out for dinner with his sister and brother-in-law (date night!). Then I got to spend some quality time with my man, talking, laughing, catching up together on our recorded tv shows from the week. We both did work around the house on Saturday, and then on Saturday night I left my husband and son to do some manly bonding and I went out. I went out for a cause... a great cause!
My BFF Pat and I, along with two other amazing Arbonne sisters, Evona & Diane, attended Dressfest. Dressfest is a new charity fundraiser in London that supports the London Regional Cancer Centre Patient Assistance Program. We, as Arbonne Consultants, sponsored this event and offered to do makeup and touchups for donations. Why would we do makeup for a charity fundraiser you ask? Well, the catch to this fundraiser is you have to come in your wedding dress. Well yours, or borrowed, rented, or bought, etc. So, armed with wedding dressess and makeup cases in hand, we were able to showcase our product to approximately 100 ladies and we helped a charity that is very near and dear to my heart.
Dressfest is only in it's second year and it is growing by leaps and bounds. The host this year was Q97.5 and they had a silent auction room with so many goodies I'm surprised I didn't go home completely broke, a free wine bar sponsored by Harrison Pensa, fun raffle prizes & draws, a delicious appetizer bar, and music and dancing. It was so much fun to meet all these amazing women and see a room full of beautiful wedding dresses. Some dresses brought back fun memories from weddings in the 80's & 90's with the huge puffed sleeves and hats with veils. They even had prizes for the oldest dress, etc. I believe one winner had on her dress from her marriage back in 1971. Let me tell you, after 5 hours of non-stop talking, socializing, applying makeup and chit chat, I was exhausted. But I felt elated on my drive home because we did something good for people in need. I forgot my camera (duh) so I apologize for the grainy pictures taken from my cellphone. I will be better prepared next year!! www.dressfest.ca
My fantastic mood carried over into Sunday where my mom and I hosted an Arbonne Holiday party/fundraiser at my mom's house for the same charity. I had cash and carry Arbonne items available plus I am raffling off the Arbonne Vanilla Amber Holiday gift set and all proceeds will be going to the Patient Assistance Program charity. We didn't have a huge turnout, but I still made $50 for the charity and my good mood has continued to last me into a gloomy, rainy Monday morning.
I am proud to say that this past weekend was my third charity fundraiser this year. The first was the Yard Sale for the Cure back in May in which we raised over $800 for Breast Cancer Research. I had the help of family and friends and raffle baskets donated.
The second was the CIBC Run for the Cure in September. My husband, son and I raised almost $400 and walked together as a family. We met lots of family & friends who were also walking for this cause. My husband and I decided that next year we are going to put in our own team and my husband really wants me to Run, not walk. My new goal for the spring is to start training so I can run the 5k with my hubby.
The best part is I spent the entire weekend with people I love the most. My family and good friends. I did some fundraising for charity and I feel truly great about myself. I feel... happy. Maybe there is hope for the spoiled me after all. :)
Ever since Arbonne found me almost a year ago, I have done a lot of soul searching and thankfully a lot of growing. With much thanks to Arbonne and their love of "bettering yourself to be a better leader", I've read some wonderful books, taken part in many inspiring workshops and even attended my first Canadian National Training Conference in Calgary this past September with Keynote Speaker John Maxwell.
Now, I have always known (and fully admitted) that I am spoiled rotten. I am the youngest in my family (by 9 years... can you say "oops!") and therefore, I was pretty much handed anything I've ever wanted. I get spoiled in so many ways, that most of the time I don't even recognize it.
So, when I was finally able to quit my full-time sales job in the travel industry this past summer, I knew that I wanted to devote more time to thinking less about me and more about giving. Please understand that this is not an easy task when you've been spoiled. My former sales job took me out of town, out of province and out of the country often and I LOVED IT...when I was single. But having a husband and a toddler changes one's perspective. I really want to be home... and I want to stay home. Don't get me wrong, I still want to travel, but I want to do so with my family, not for my job.
Back to giving... I truly want to be a better person and this is one of the things I love about Arbonne. They also want you to be the best person you can be. Now, I'm not a bad person by any means. I believe it would be difficult to find someone who thinks I am a truly horrible person, but we spoiled folk tend to be naive when it comes to giving and being sincere. And we desperately want to be liked... by everyone. I will be 40 soon and I still have a desire to be liked... but most importanly I wanted to be respected AND liked. I want words like "fun, giving, engaging, funny, smart, caring & sincere" to be attached to my name. "Yes, I know Michelle, she's a truly wonderful person". Hmmm, maybe people don't really speak like that, but wouldn't it be nice for people to at least think it when they hear my name? I would really like that... but more importantly I would like it to be true. I certainly have many moments of "sincerity", but a lot of the time the selfish part of me asks: What's in it for me? Will being sincere and doing things to make other people happy push aside my own selfishness? Will it still help me achieve my goals for me and family? How will it benefit ME??
The answer is simple: Happiness. I have found that when I do something for other people it makes me happy... truly, sincerely, crazy happy.
This weekend was the perfect example and the bonus is it was so much fun! On Friday night my son stayed at my parents and my husband and I went out for dinner with his sister and brother-in-law (date night!). Then I got to spend some quality time with my man, talking, laughing, catching up together on our recorded tv shows from the week. We both did work around the house on Saturday, and then on Saturday night I left my husband and son to do some manly bonding and I went out. I went out for a cause... a great cause!
My BFF Pat and I, along with two other amazing Arbonne sisters, Evona & Diane, attended Dressfest. Dressfest is a new charity fundraiser in London that supports the London Regional Cancer Centre Patient Assistance Program. We, as Arbonne Consultants, sponsored this event and offered to do makeup and touchups for donations. Why would we do makeup for a charity fundraiser you ask? Well, the catch to this fundraiser is you have to come in your wedding dress. Well yours, or borrowed, rented, or bought, etc. So, armed with wedding dressess and makeup cases in hand, we were able to showcase our product to approximately 100 ladies and we helped a charity that is very near and dear to my heart.
Dressfest is only in it's second year and it is growing by leaps and bounds. The host this year was Q97.5 and they had a silent auction room with so many goodies I'm surprised I didn't go home completely broke, a free wine bar sponsored by Harrison Pensa, fun raffle prizes & draws, a delicious appetizer bar, and music and dancing. It was so much fun to meet all these amazing women and see a room full of beautiful wedding dresses. Some dresses brought back fun memories from weddings in the 80's & 90's with the huge puffed sleeves and hats with veils. They even had prizes for the oldest dress, etc. I believe one winner had on her dress from her marriage back in 1971. Let me tell you, after 5 hours of non-stop talking, socializing, applying makeup and chit chat, I was exhausted. But I felt elated on my drive home because we did something good for people in need. I forgot my camera (duh) so I apologize for the grainy pictures taken from my cellphone. I will be better prepared next year!! www.dressfest.ca
My fantastic mood carried over into Sunday where my mom and I hosted an Arbonne Holiday party/fundraiser at my mom's house for the same charity. I had cash and carry Arbonne items available plus I am raffling off the Arbonne Vanilla Amber Holiday gift set and all proceeds will be going to the Patient Assistance Program charity. We didn't have a huge turnout, but I still made $50 for the charity and my good mood has continued to last me into a gloomy, rainy Monday morning.
I am proud to say that this past weekend was my third charity fundraiser this year. The first was the Yard Sale for the Cure back in May in which we raised over $800 for Breast Cancer Research. I had the help of family and friends and raffle baskets donated.
The second was the CIBC Run for the Cure in September. My husband, son and I raised almost $400 and walked together as a family. We met lots of family & friends who were also walking for this cause. My husband and I decided that next year we are going to put in our own team and my husband really wants me to Run, not walk. My new goal for the spring is to start training so I can run the 5k with my hubby.
The best part is I spent the entire weekend with people I love the most. My family and good friends. I did some fundraising for charity and I feel truly great about myself. I feel... happy. Maybe there is hope for the spoiled me after all. :)
Sunday, 16 October 2011
He still loves me! A "sleep training" success story!
I can actually ask this question of many things, but tonight I am referring to "sleep training" my son Sam.
If you look back at a previous post a few days ago, Sam has trouble sleeping. Well, that's not entirely accurate. Ever since our trip to Italy this past summer, my husband or I have been having to lay down in Sam's room until he falls asleep. That was fine for the first few months, not a big deal really. Just missing some average television. It actually gave me some time to catch up on my reading. However, lately Sam has been waking up in the middle of the night and wants us to lay down in the bed. Please understand that Sam has just turned two, and he has always been a good sleeper (we've been spoiled). Most of the time he will sleep right through the night, so these past few months have been exhausting, to say the least.
In hindsight, we should have started sleep training him as soon as we returned from our vacation. We actually thought it would rectify itself over time (WRONG!). I also have to be honest, the idea of "sleep training" made me want to vomit. I couldn't bare the thought of Sam crying himself to sleep. However, after one particularily exhausting evening of getting up with Sam through the night, I decided it was time. My husband and I read some books and articles on sleep training, discusssed which method we were comfortable with, and then chose our course of action.
This past Thursday night was THE night. We conducted our usual nightly ritual of bath, snack, brush teeth, books and bed, and then we left the room. Before I left the room I told Sam that I would leave the door open and I would be in my office (across the hall) and that I would come and check on him in a few minutes. He looked at me for a moment (I could see this processing, and he didn't look happy) and then it started. The crying. I continued to walk out of the room (with my heart sinking) and the crying turned into screaming. I went into my office and my husband went into our bedroom (to make sure I didn't crack). After a few minutes, I grabbed a tissue, went into Sam's room, wiped his eyes and nose, told him that I love him but it's time to sleep and I'll be back in a few minutes. And that's what we did for the next 46 minutes. Every few minutes, I would go in, wipe his tears and his nose, reassure him, kiss him, and then leave.
At 47 minutes, the screaming and crying stopped. It just stopped. I thought to myself "Good Lord, I killed him." My heart broke. I jumped out of my office chair and slowly crept into this room. As I made my way to the crib, I picked up two stuffed animals, his favourite blankie and his soother... all of which he threw at some point during the screaming fit. I approached the crib quietly and peeked over the rail. There he was, my beautiful son, laying quietly on his back, staring up at me. He didn't say a word. I tucked him under his blanket, gave him his stuffies and his soother, wiped his eyes and nose, told him again how much I love him and that it was time for sleep, and he closed his eyes and went to sleep.
I went to bed feeling horribly guilty and truly believing that that my son was going hate me forever. My husband told me he was proud of me, and although I truly appreciated his support, I still felt like a horrible mother.
Eight hours later I awoke with a start... I realized that miraculously we all slept through the night! I went in to check on Sam, fully expecting him to give me the cold shoulder, and he just looked up at me with those big brown doe eyes, smiled and said "Hi Mom". HE DOESN'T HATE ME! YAY!!
I am happy to report that for the past 3 nights Sam has gone to bed, on his own, without a tear, and has slept through the night. Tonight I asked myself a question: How did I not see it? Why did I not understand that Sam fully expected us to still be in the bed because that's where we were when he fell asleep? Duh! It's common sense! Now, because we are not in the room when he falls asleep, he doesn't look for us if he wakes in the night. He just puts himself back to sleep. Why didn't we do this right when we got back from Italy? Who knows... I guess some of us have to learn the hard way.
Now to figure out when to tackle the soother...
If you look back at a previous post a few days ago, Sam has trouble sleeping. Well, that's not entirely accurate. Ever since our trip to Italy this past summer, my husband or I have been having to lay down in Sam's room until he falls asleep. That was fine for the first few months, not a big deal really. Just missing some average television. It actually gave me some time to catch up on my reading. However, lately Sam has been waking up in the middle of the night and wants us to lay down in the bed. Please understand that Sam has just turned two, and he has always been a good sleeper (we've been spoiled). Most of the time he will sleep right through the night, so these past few months have been exhausting, to say the least.
In hindsight, we should have started sleep training him as soon as we returned from our vacation. We actually thought it would rectify itself over time (WRONG!). I also have to be honest, the idea of "sleep training" made me want to vomit. I couldn't bare the thought of Sam crying himself to sleep. However, after one particularily exhausting evening of getting up with Sam through the night, I decided it was time. My husband and I read some books and articles on sleep training, discusssed which method we were comfortable with, and then chose our course of action.
This past Thursday night was THE night. We conducted our usual nightly ritual of bath, snack, brush teeth, books and bed, and then we left the room. Before I left the room I told Sam that I would leave the door open and I would be in my office (across the hall) and that I would come and check on him in a few minutes. He looked at me for a moment (I could see this processing, and he didn't look happy) and then it started. The crying. I continued to walk out of the room (with my heart sinking) and the crying turned into screaming. I went into my office and my husband went into our bedroom (to make sure I didn't crack). After a few minutes, I grabbed a tissue, went into Sam's room, wiped his eyes and nose, told him that I love him but it's time to sleep and I'll be back in a few minutes. And that's what we did for the next 46 minutes. Every few minutes, I would go in, wipe his tears and his nose, reassure him, kiss him, and then leave.
At 47 minutes, the screaming and crying stopped. It just stopped. I thought to myself "Good Lord, I killed him." My heart broke. I jumped out of my office chair and slowly crept into this room. As I made my way to the crib, I picked up two stuffed animals, his favourite blankie and his soother... all of which he threw at some point during the screaming fit. I approached the crib quietly and peeked over the rail. There he was, my beautiful son, laying quietly on his back, staring up at me. He didn't say a word. I tucked him under his blanket, gave him his stuffies and his soother, wiped his eyes and nose, told him again how much I love him and that it was time for sleep, and he closed his eyes and went to sleep.
I went to bed feeling horribly guilty and truly believing that that my son was going hate me forever. My husband told me he was proud of me, and although I truly appreciated his support, I still felt like a horrible mother.
Eight hours later I awoke with a start... I realized that miraculously we all slept through the night! I went in to check on Sam, fully expecting him to give me the cold shoulder, and he just looked up at me with those big brown doe eyes, smiled and said "Hi Mom". HE DOESN'T HATE ME! YAY!!
I am happy to report that for the past 3 nights Sam has gone to bed, on his own, without a tear, and has slept through the night. Tonight I asked myself a question: How did I not see it? Why did I not understand that Sam fully expected us to still be in the bed because that's where we were when he fell asleep? Duh! It's common sense! Now, because we are not in the room when he falls asleep, he doesn't look for us if he wakes in the night. He just puts himself back to sleep. Why didn't we do this right when we got back from Italy? Who knows... I guess some of us have to learn the hard way.
Now to figure out when to tackle the soother...
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
BabySteps - Living Life One Day at a Time: Just who is in charge here?
BabySteps - Living Life One Day at a Time: Just who is in charge here?: It seems like just yesterday I spent 36 hours in labour to finally meet my son Sam. In the blink of an eye, two years has flown by and his ...
BabySteps - Living Life One Day at a Time: All About Sam - A birthday tribute to my son who t...
BabySteps - Living Life One Day at a Time: All About Sam - A birthday tribute to my son who t...: I can not believe how quickly the past two years have gone. I remember Sam's birth like it was yesterday. I have vivid memories of a very...
BabySteps - Living Life One Day at a Time: An Unproductive Rainy Day
BabySteps - Living Life One Day at a Time: An Unproductive Rainy Day: My day started like most days for us.. Paul leaves for work as I lay in bed waiting for Sam to wake up. Sam wakes up too early (6:30am), so...
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