Missing the good old days

I remember the days when I rode around in the 'very back' of my parents station wagon. Somehow we survived being back there without seat belts. I could also ride my bike, without a helmet. Ironically, I was not allowed to be without fenders but the helmet, never an issue. Roller skating? No knee pads, no elbow pads, no problem. Of course in 2009, none of those things would fly. And as a parent, I get it. Times have changed and most of the time those changes are for the best.

Having said that, I still have a rant. WHY HAVE BABY WALKERS BEEN OUTLAWED!?! You remember them. The modern day excersaucer that back in the good old days had WHEELS! Now that's a fun toy. I'm sure lots of kids went down the stairs in them, including me I think. But is that a reason for them to be gone from Canadian stores? Can't we just be more careful?

Luckily, the american authorities have not yet seen fit to remove the best toy ever from the market. And even more lucky, we had someone who was willing to brave the border guards in order to smuggled one back for Mr. O and he loves it. For the record, it's a main floor toy only so there is no chance of him going down any stairs.


My connection will remain nameless but we thank you. :)

Christmas in July

So the sealift came to town this weekend and our crates were delivered yesterday. Oh the excitement!! Sealift day is almost like Christmas morning except Santa delivers these presents with a forklift. You crack open them open and see 2 1/2 tonnes of wonderful stuff you put on your wish list months before.

AND THEN... there's the excitement of finding the little treasures you forgot you asked for. This year it was the cases of cream soda. Mmmm, sugary sweet goodness... even if it is clear instead of pink now.(!?!)

Every Christmas morning there is one gift where you wonder what the person was thinking. In our case it was the 12 flats of corn. WHAT was I thinking?? 12 cases? I'm pretty sure I had 12 cans in mind and didn't read the order form properly. Oh well, like with any strange gift you find something to do with it. Re-gift it perhaps? So this is fair warning. If you are invited for dinner, don't be surprised if you get corn chowder, corn pudding, corn fritters, corn salsa or other corn related meals.

And finally, it's inevitable that there will be things Santa doesn't bring that you were really hoping for. We found that we forgot quite a few things that should have been on the wish list. Now we have to decide if we put together another small order before the season is over. I vote for yes so we can experience this excitement all over again.

Merry Sealift to all and to all a good night!

Bragging about the weather

The weather has been amazing here lately. We've made it into the 20's every day and it's been SUNNY, SUNNY, SUNNY! To enjoy it, we hit the beach and Oliver got his first look at sand.


I know, I know....jeans and a fleece vest at the beach? Just call it my northern bikini.

Craving carvings

Dad has only been here 3 days and he's already accumulated all these carvings. He's been complaining for months about the 'Inukshuk that got away' from their last visit so this time he's not letting anything go. They are also taking home 2 chunks of raw rock so that my grandfather can try his hand at carving.

He's a little obsessed... It's a good thing First Air allows 70 lbs for each bag cause he's still here for another 4 days.

We appreciate all gifts

We are happy to have my parents visiting from New Brunswick this week. They arrived loaded with 4 huge suitcases filled with very few of their own things. Mostly they brought baby stuff I had been requesting. Bottles because I only had one. Plastic bibs because the cloth ones create too much laundry. Clothes because I bought too much when I was home and ran out of room in our bags. And of course they brought toys that make noise and light up. Because that's what Grandparents do.

They were also nice enough to include a few little things for Nick and I, like the newest technology in smoke detectors. Because... well, that's my Dad. Most notably they brought Tim Horton's donuts which I've said before (see 'The Year In Review') are considered a rare and cherished delicacy by all. Now if I was a very experienced blogger I would have thought to take pics of the donuts before we and the other vultures picked the boxes clean. Unfortunately, I didn't think to do so. So you get the pics of the smoke detectors instead.



Thanks Mom and Dad. It's great to have you here :)

North vs South

Last week I received the new stroller ordered for Oliver. It's the quintessential southern baby travel system with the convenience of an adjustable handle, swivelling wheels, and several cup holders and storage compartments.

The same day I got my new northern 'travel system'. It came in the form of double sided, quilted material which I used to make a new amautik vest. This form of travel comes without cup holders and certainly no storage compartments. (although I did sew a pocket into my winter one)


I found it ironic that they should arrive on the same day. It was the perfect demonstration of what (in my opinion) is the biggest difference between living up here vs down south- SIMPLICITY. While I love the amautik, I'm a southern girl. I like bells and whistles so I 'compromise' by having both....Nick on the other hand really likes the adjustable handle.

Hello Mr. Blue Eyes

And to think I was sure his eyes would end up brown.

Strange Bedfellows

I woke up in the wee hours from Nick tugging on the duvet. How was it possible he wanted more blanket when I barely had enough to cover me?? He obviously already had it all! I tugged back and a mild war ensued. When neither one of us came up with more blanket we realised that the third member in our bed had all spoils. Yes, that's right, the 65lbs dog had conquered blanket land.

Now, I know what you're all thinking... and you're right. I didn't start this and I didn't want this. 'Someone' started this trend when he was a puppy and here we are fighting for bed space with a dog that gets very grumpy with you if you try and move him. We even have a plastic tub at the end of the bed so he can get up and down himself. That was a brainstorm I had late one night after listening to him whine at the edge of the bed once too often.

The solution... perhaps a king size bed. Unfortunately we have not been able to convince the government to provide us with one.

PS: Please disregard the decor, especially that lamp. We have government issued furniture and could only bring so much with us. We make do with what we have :)

The year in review

Some thoughts on the the last 12 months.

Who knew...
....how much you'll to pay for a case of Coke when you just have to have it.
....given the choice, I would take a dry, Nunavut -35 any day over a damp, Maritime -5.
....Nick could make it months without a beer and be ok.
....you can learn to live without anything when the shipping cost more than the item itself.
....there is still an airline in Canada that serves MEALS... in economy class...for free! You also get wine with dinner, 'special' coffees and hot chocolate chip cookies.
....you can still gain weight when there is no fast food in a 3000 mile radius.
....I would go from being envious of other woman's shoes to coveting their amauti and parkas.
....the word 'pooptruck' would become part of my lexicon.
....I'd be disappointed we got Tank fixed before we got here. Can you imagine a bulldog/malamute cross?
....I would wear fur without feeling guilty.
....the horribly stale Tim Horton's donuts brought by visitors would be received as a rare delicacy.
....I would meet such great people.

One year ago today Nick and I became northerners. I really didn't know what to expect when we made the decision to move here but it has been a great adventure so far. I will admit that I miss Walmart and McDonalds. I sometimes long for movie theatres and the ability to leave town without a plane ticket. I do wish that our family could be closer so they could see Oliver grow in person instead of in pictures. Having said all that, we are glad to experience this unique part of Canada.

First impressions in pictures:

The first glance at our new home.
The ice on the beach in July was a little unsettling.

One year later this place really feels like home. Happy anniversary to us.

Cheers

Baby food

Long before Oliver was born I had decided that I would make his baby food. Dealing with foodmail and the prices at the northern made me realise that homemade would be cheaper. Not to mention most of the the stuff here in town seems to be expired more often than not. I also have to admit that there is a part of me that feels like a better mom when I've 'slaved' over his food. (Luckily for Nick I feel the same way about being a better wife so he's very well fed. I know.... sucker)

Making the food has actually been pretty easy and not very time consuming. I did order a book to give me recipe ideas but haven't really used it. I laughed the first time I read it because the pictures of the purees looked like something a gourmet chef made. We're talking baby food here. Oliver eats beef and carrots mixed with bananas for crying out loud! Maybe making it look pretty makes it seem less gross to the mother.

If I was going to write my own cook book it would say:
Steam or boil veggies/fruit/meat till soft.
Puree in a food processor with a little water.
Freeze in ice cube trays for individual portions.

And of course I'd have a picture.

And every good cook book has a feeding tip:
If they don't like something, mix it with their favorite.

Hence Oliver's beef and bananas. Ewww! Happy eating :)

Brrr!

Is it still considered a polar bear dip in July??

Since it was about 12 degrees and there was snow on the beach...

I'm voting yes.

I was told the anticipation was bad... and it was.

I was told the water would burn... and it did.

I was told that when I got out I'd be warm... that was a lie!

What a rush... I would do it again.

Mexican anyone?

It's 915pm. O is down for the night and I have just finished a hot bath with a good book. Can anything ruin this weak legged, drowsy, warm from the inside feeling? YES! Yes there is something. It's the sound of a garbage bag rustling downstairs in the kitchen. The sound of the bag containing the recently collected house garbage. The garbage that includes the dirty diapers.... Oh no....TANK!!!!!!

I get downstairs just in time to see Tank remove his huge head from the bag. He has a look of guilty satisfaction on his face having just dined on what Nick likes to call 'Shit Burritos'. Oh, so gross! This is something he's done before when I forgot to put up the gate on Oliver's room. I thought I ended this habit when I finally had the insight to use a diaper pail with a lid. Yet here we are again. The only good news is the faux polar bear mat that he usually likes to dine on isn't in the kitchen.




I know that ultimately this is my fault so I can't really blame the puppy. If you left a Taco Bell bag on the floor I might have to dig into it too. Maybe black garbage bags represents fast food in doggie world.

Happy Nunavut Day to all Nunavummiuts!

The dreaded 'Look at my kid and love him' post.

I made this video about a month ago for my fam so they could enjoy O's newest accomplishment. I'm sure some of you have already seen it so I'm sorry to subject you to it again. Actually NO, I'm not sorry! My boys are just too cute. You'll watch it again... and you'll like it :)

Wow, I've turned into THAT mom. I swore I wouldn't. And yes, I have several pictures of him in my wallet too.

Poor choice in footware...

It was a beautiful day yesterday so friends and I decided to head down the the beach. Tank needed a run, they needed to run their 3 year old. We soon found that although most of the ice had melted or drifted away, mother nature had left some behind. It's amazing to see evidence of how high the tides are. OK, it's no Bay of Fundy but still impressive. Unfortunately I wore the wrong shoes and almost killed myself getting down to the rocks from the iceberg. Luckily, nobody got pictures of that.

The Cast Of Characters

Morena- Wifey/Mommy/The human who feeds me
I am a 35 year old woman living in Cape Dorset, Nunavut. I love doing anything creative, miss McDonald's more than is acceptable and still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. At the moment, I am a stay-at-home mom and thought I didn't have enough to do (?!) so I decided to write a blog. I have been inspired by friends who have blogs (see links to the right) and they seem like alot of fun. It's a great way to keep friends and family updated on all the trials and tribulations of living in the north, being a wife and mom and just being me. If anyone else is interested that's great too. Before I start posting, I'd like to introduce you to my family.



Nick- The husband (see Wifey)
Nick is...well, lets just say younger than me. Yes, I'm robbing the cradle
and I'm ok with that. Nick is always direct and logical which can be very annoying to an emotional being such as myself. However, he is willing to mop floors which is high on the list of why I married him. Most of all he's VERY funny and a wonderful dad. I knew he liked kids but to see him doing daddy things when he doesn't know I'm watching breaks my heart, in a good way. He's a good man and I consider myself lucky to have him.

Oliver- 'The boy' (see Mommy)
Our beautiful boy arrived December 25th at 551 am. Yup, Christmas morning. Apparently he didn't listen to the talk I gave him about that not being a good day to make his appearance. At 6 months he is sitting, rolling, cooing and growing a tooth. For the most part he has made new parenthood very easy on us. He's a great sleeper and has been sleeping though the night almost since birth. Yeah, you can hate me. I'm not sure why we got so lucky but you know what they say. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth... I always thought that was a weird saying.

Tank- Our English Bulldog (see The human who feeds me)
Tank is our 'firstborn' son and is a great pet. He can look mean but is scared of everything, especially all 'stick like items' like brooms and swiffers. He doesn't like the rain, loves the snow and hates to be alone. As you can see he has the face only a mother could love but I think he's gorgeous.

Izzy & Zazu- 'The Girls' (see again The human who feeds me)
They have been with us for almost 4 years now. They were our test kids you could say and made me realise that maybe I could do the parenting thing. Izzy (right) is the outgoing sister and has a talent for flushing the toilet. She unfortunately doesn't use it before she flushes. Zazu (left) is the quiet one who we hardly ever see. She does grace us with her presence every once and a while but spends most of her time lounging under the bed.


So that's my family.
These are the stories of our lives. Yes, I watch too much daytime TV.