I saw a commercial for this gadget today and just had to comment on it. It's the EZ Cracker and you can check out the commercial here. And if you call in the next 20 minutes they'll throw in the EZ Scrambler that... yup you guessed it, scrambles the egg.... RIGHT IN THE SHELL. For perfect scrambled eggs every single time! Too bad the scrambler isn't shown in the linked commercial. The ad today must have been an updated version.
Has the world really come to a level of laziness that we need help cracking and scrambling eggs?
I've mentioned before that I was scrapbooking a baby book for Oliver. After months of work I finally finished it and sent it off to Shutterfly for printing. It looked amazing! We gave copies of the book to many of our family members for Christmas and it was a huge hit. I highly recommend using them if you want a really nice photo book. You don't have to be a scrapbooker, you can upload just regular digital photos and the books look great.
I've been dying to share some of the layouts I did for the book because I used my best and cutest pictures. I didn't of course because I wanted the books to be a surprise. Now that Christmas is over I get to show them off to all of you. So when I don't have anything else to blog about over the next little while, I'll post a few to fill in the space.
This is what we got O for his birthday. Nick's mom had mentioned a while ago that she got all 3 of her boys good old Tonka trucks for their first birthdays and I thought it was a fantastic tradition to pass on to our little man.
Right, fantastic. It would have been if I'd just left well enough alone and let him push it around. But I didn't. If any of you reading this has been a parent for any length of time you will see right away what the problem is. He loves riding in it. And now, he keeps trying to climb in and promptly went ass over tea kettle over the front of the thing. You think I would have thought of it before I started this game but NO. One of these days we'll have more forethought on these ideas. We ended up having to put it away on him which is very uncool when it comes to a newly given birthday gift.
Yup, maybe I should have listened to the box when it said age 3 and up. Maybe I'm just a bad parent. Forgive me, I'm still learning.
Posing for mom wearing his Santa suit. I only wish I had the hat.
This is what happens when you run out of wrapping paper on christmas eve and the store is already closed. Well, if your husband a cop it is. His sergeant even helped with the bow!
The required pyjama clad family photo in front of the tree
Thanks Cheryl for the candle in the cake for O.
Oliver and Mercedes in their christmas outfits. Oliver was laughing like crazy and she just kept looking at him like he was nuts. Merry Christmas to you and your families. I hope that it was a good one.
Exactly one year ago from the moment this letter is posted, you came into the world. It's gone by so fast. At the time I was looking at you and thinking, "Wow, I can't believe that's mine". It was such a strange feeling, I knew my life had forever been altered and I wasn't sure that I was ready. You did try and make it easy by coming really quickly. I have to thank you for that because well, I'll be honest... labor really hurts! And I was so excited when your auntie Courtney said you were a boy because I REALLY wanted you to be a boy. I don't think that it's something most people would admit but it's true. When you came we still hadn't quite decided on a name for you. In the end your dad picked it out so I hope you like it. I wanted to call you Mitchell but dad won the coin toss. Yup, we let a coin decide because neither one of us wanted to give in to the other. In the end, I'm glad he won because you are for sure, an Oliver.
I'll admit to you now that I didn't know if I'd do very well as a mom. I haven't had much experience with babies and was terrified at the idea of bringing you home and not knowing what to do with you. I guess it's true what they say, you told me what you needed and it just came naturally. You have fit into our lives pretty seamlessly, like you were meant to be there all along. Watching you grow the last 12 months has been amazing. You've gone from a helpless little thing that did nothing but sleep to a very busy little man who has today learned how to open doors all by yourself. You are almost walking, you take great joy in climing the stairs and love playing in the tub with your bath toys.
Here are a few things I want you to know. -My favorite sound in the world is your laugh. You have a huge, hardy laugh for such a little guy, especially when you are playing with your dad. -I get a kick out of hearing you shuffling across the floor when you are 'crawling with intent'. Even when I can't see you I always know when you are heading towards something you're not supposed to touch, just by the sound. -You give the BEST hugs. -You make me laugh every single day. You are so silly and mischievious and flirty, I can't help cracking a smile. Even on the worst days. -I find it so funny that you and Tank have been fast friends from the very beginning. He is so gentle with you and I love watching you play together.
Your dad and I love you very much and are so happy that you are with us. There are so many things I can't wait to teach you as you grown and learn. I'm sure you'll teach us lots too and we look forward to that as well.
I hope you have a great birthday and don't feel like it got lost in the shuffle of Christmas. We'll make a plan for that in the coming years so you always get your special day. See, you should have listened to me when we had that talk about you not coming before they said you were due. Then you would wouldn't have to share your birthday with Jesus. And I wouldn't have had to eat hospital food for my christmas dinner. But I forgive you for that :) Love to you always Little Man.
On Sunday Mark, one of the people that Nick works with brought us over an early Christmas gift. It's a piece of baleen from the whale. If you remember, Cape Dorset had the honour of winning a bowhead whale license in September and were successful in the hunt. It was a huge coup for the town. Check out the story and pictures here.
Anyway, for those who don't know, the baleen hangs down over the bowhead's mouth as it doesn't have any teeth. It filters the water as he swims and catches the little fish and organisms so it can eat. The baleen is also what they used to use in corsets. I'm sure you've heard of whalebone. It's not actually bone though, it's keratin.
It's a nice addition to my northern souvenir collection. Once the tree is gone I'll be hanging it on the wall. Thanks Mark.
Jen (formerly of Nunavut) sent me this picture of Ezri today and thought I'd share it for two reasons. One, because I know you've been missing her since Jen became a bad blogger and stopped sharing her beautiful girl with us. And two, because she's modeling the parka I made for her. I think it's my best work to date. Probably because it was my third attempt so I had worked out some of the glitches in my design by then.
Cape Dorset has been inundated with polar bears the last few weeks. I would imagine it's because the scent of the whale is still around even if the whale isn't. I haven't seen any around myself yet but my friend Rose went out her front door the other day and there was a huge one sitting in the yard! I don't think I want to get that up close and personal but I do hope to catch a glimpse at some point. This time in daylight so I can maybe get pictures.
Matt at The M of Cape Dorset has just posted some pictures taken by Vimal who is one of our local nurses. They are worth checking out, click here to see them.
I still find it crazy that I live in a place that a polar bear sighting is as common as a deer at home. Ok, maybe not that common I guess, but you get my drift. It's a interesting place, I wish everyone could experience it for themselves.
My dog is unbelievable, and I don't mean that in a good way. I think I've blogged before about the Scotch Bright sponge he ate and thew back up 5 days later. And then there was Oliver's Robee (leather shoe) that disappeared only to be found 2 weeks later the same way. Two weeks! He must have felt so sick with that in his belly. Over the last few months we have been bragging about how good he is now that he's a little older and seems to have lost the will to destroy everything. I guess we put too much faith in him because yesterday morning I heard the familiar sound and sure enough Tank was throwing up. The strange thing was, it was navy blue! We couldn't figure out for the life of us what he would have eaten that would turn his bile blue. Today the mystery was solved when he threw up another of Oliver's Robees. It was an old pair that I though I had put away last weekend so I didn't even know it was missing. Honestly, one of these days he's going to eat the wrong thing and it's going to kill him. Isn't it enough that he's only two and is already taking medication for arthritis. Does he not understand we live in a place without a vet??
On a completely different note... I would like to wish my beautiful nephew Erik a happy 2nd birthday tomorrow. Even if you didn't like having us around for the month it was nice to get to know you and I know someday you and Oliver will be great friends.
I made Erik a parka for his birthday so he and O would match. He was unimpressed.
Oliver is almost a year old and my weekly BabyCenter email tells me that it's possible that we may start hearing his first words any time now. I've come to learn that I shouldn't worry too much about what BabyCenter says he should be doing vs what he's actually doing because I'll drive myself crazy. He seems to be ahead in some things and behind in others and I think that's pretty normal.
This time it seems O is right on track. Whenever he sees Nick he very destinctly says 'Da-Ti'. Then there is the new thing he's doing with the telephone as you can see below. He puts it on his shoulder and says what sounds like 'Hi'. He does this over and over and it's always the same Hi so I'm counting it as a word. The one word that seems to be glaringly absent from his vocabulary is Mama. I can't get him to say anything mom, mama or mommy-like to save my life. He will in time but I hope it's soon. I can't help but feel a little jealous when I hear Da-Ti come out of his mouth.
When Nick got posted to Nova Scotia I contacted some of the local real estate agents to see what I could find out about housing in the area. The only one that got back to me was a wonderful woman named Joyce. We ended up using her to buy our house and kept in touch with her over our years there. It's a small world because she is now living in Iqaluit and I got to meet up with her for a short visit on our way through there last week. It was great to see her again.
Along with being a great broker Joyce is also a great cook. She's hoping to use those skills for you if you'll have her. Please check out 'Hire Your Own Chef For A Day' for details. If you live in Iqaluit and feel like having a great meal cooked for you right in your own home drop her a line. You won't be disappointed.
I've always been a fan of advertising. I find it interesting to take note of what products are being pushed during the show I'm watching to see what their target audience is. I also like to flip through magazines just to look at the ads, I find the ones for booze especially clever.
When we were in Hawaii a few weeks ago I came across this ad on the side of a gas station and it really caught my attention.
If you can't read it, it says "No one thinks they'll lose their virginity here. Meth can change that" and 'Here' is a dirty, nasty public bathroom. Honestly, it shocked and disturbed me. It's pretty graphic really. I kind of thought it was a strange thing to have right out there in such a public place.
The next evening while we were hanging out in our room this commercial came on TV.
It really makes a point doesn't it? Throughout our stay on the island I saw a few more of these ads which are unsettling to say the least. I figure they must have a real problem with meth in Hawaii to have such in your face PSA's on the subject. If I were a teenager or anyone else thinking about trying meth I think seeing this would sure make me think twice. If you are interested in seeing the other ads, search Hawaii Meth Project on YouTube. There are about 10 different ones and they are all good.
I'll have to remember these when Oliver gets to be that age.
In my December Babies post a while ago I forgot to mention one other very important birthday. My precious first born son turns two today. I made Tanko a hamburger cake to celebrate and he loved it. I even 'iced' it with mustard. Not sure why I put one candle in it instead of two but he didn't seem to mind.
Ahhhhh, Home. There is nothing better than being in your own space. O and I completed our journey Friday and spent yesterday cleaning up and getting settled. There was tonnes of mail, packages everywhere from family waiting for Christmas morning. While we were gone our friends unloaded our second sealift so that filled the entryway. And of course there's the unpacking of the suitcases with all the new clothes, toys and other stuff we got while down south. It's a big job and I'm about half way through.
My biggest priority when arriving home was putting up the tree and getting the house ready for Christmas. I usually have it up much earlier but putting it up before we left in November would have been a bit much. And with Izzy and Zazu (the cats) home alone for a month I didn't trust it to be still standing when we got back.
My favorite part about decorating the tree is the memories that each ornament brings. I have a few that were on our trees growing up that have been handed down to me like my baby stocking. Unfortunately my halo from my 5th grade Christmas pageant isn't there because after over 20 years on the tree my mother threw it out. I've never really forgiven her for that... but I digress. In the last few years we have started collecting ornaments from each place we've visited or lived to remind us of our travels. These are some of my favorites.
I bought this in Iqaluit last summer to mark our time up north.
These commemorate our 3 chrimstases in Shelburne NS. A lady there makes one every year for every member of the detachment. She even coordinates eye and skin color to make them look as much like each person as possible.
This is from our honeymoon in Australia.
From our trip to Hawaii a few weeks ago.
Today I'll keep working on getting things in shape. It's snowing and blowing outside so it feels like a lazy day so I won't be working too hard.
Today really sucked. Travelling alone (Nick is already back home) with a baby isn't easy on a good day but when you are running late and have to deal with a few other issues at the same time, it's even harder. I have to say though, it's amazing how accommodating people can be when they can tell you're stressed. I was in tears after what seemed like one problem after another and the Avis lady, the Air Canada agent and my fellow passengers did everything they could to get me to where I needed to be. It's days like today that remind you that there are alot of really great people out there and it makes you feel good about the future of our world.
After a bad start Oliver and I have made it to the half way point and will be continuing onto Cape Dorset tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to getting home. It's been a great vacation but it's time. Here's to a better travel experience tomorrow... and to packing much lighter next time.
December is a busy month around the Steeves/Kelly household at least when it comes to birthdays. Mine is the 5th, my nephews Erik and Logan are on the 21st and the 23rd respectively and Oliver is the 25th. Yesterday we celebrated two of those by having a small family party for Erik and Oliver. Erik will be two and Oliver will be one on their actual birthdays.
This is Erik sporting the 'traditional' Kelly birthday hat. I just realised I didn't get one with O wearing it.
I at least got one hat picture of him.
The cake before....
Cake after.... Erik didn't really care about the cake.
Oliver loved it. Of course he did, he's my son.
My mom and dad helped the boys blow out the candles.
Lots of loot for 2 little guys.
It was a great day. On behalf of the boys, thanks for all the gifts everyone!
And if you call in the next 20 minutes they'll throw in the EZ Scrambler that... yup you guessed it, scrambles the egg.... RIGHT IN THE SHELL. For perfect scrambled eggs every single time! Too bad the scrambler isn't shown in the linked commercial. The ad today must have been an updated version. 
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I made Erik a parka for his birthday so he and O would match. He was unimpressed.
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