Angry Birds

Carebear and B-Man's Uncle gave them a tablet as a gift last year and along with the tablet a funny little game called Angry Birds.

I had only heard of this game from the parody music video by a group called The Key of Awesome, and had no first hand experience with the game. Carebear fell in love right away and although she didn't understand at the time how to work the tablet or what the object of the game was, she loved to watch the birdies fly!

She caught on to how to make the birds launch from the sling shot pretty quick (although in the wrong direction). She still loves to send the birds flying the wrong way, but has recently discovered the joy of what happens when you send the birds the RIGHT way!

You get to hit the pigs!

What's crazy is watching how she handles the tablet! If you hand it to her, she'll turn it on, open the apps section and click on Angry Birds. We have other apps on there too and she'll pick and choose which ones she wants to play, open them up, minimize them, open another, flip through the open ones to go back and forth between them, close them and then open the internet, and hop onto youtube.com to watch Gummy Bear! It's crazy to think that she just turned 2 and she can do all this without much effort. She's even showed US a few things about the tablet we didn't know! LOL

She loves to play Angry Birds and would play all day if she could! I've recently discovered that there are Angry Bird clips online that you can watch and so she's been watching them over and over and loves them!
Angry Bird Episodes

I'm always amazed at how good she is at the game and how she's managed to beat a few levels all by herself!
I can only imagine what her generation will be doing by the time she is my age!
Wow!

Trial Child

Every parent needs a Trial Child, so it's a good thing we all get one!
A Trial Child is the first born baby that you get to try things out on and learn from.
Carebear is our Trial Child.

When Mr. Rooster and I first had Carebear we were noobs, we were worse than noobs, we were utter noobs!
Both of our family and close friends hadn't had little babies for a long time so we had no fresh first hand experience to pull from. We took the prenatal classes and parenting courses so we would have something to start with. Although, a plastic doll that doesn't move while changing it's diaper is NOTHING like a real baby that squirms and wiggles!
We took the classes in stride and hoped that they would prepare us for our new lives as "parents". Then the big day arrived and Carebear came into our lives! I have never been so happy and so terrified in my LIFE!
We had taken the classes, read the books and had a ton of "advice" but nothing prepared us for the moment we held our baby in our arms for the first time. I was terrified of hurting her, dropping her, bathing her, changing her, you name it, I was scared!
When the nurse gave us the check list of things we'd like someone to go over with us before we left the hospital I think ever box had a check in it! LOL That poor nurse, we made her show us EVERYTHING! How to change a diaper, bathe her, feed her, EVERYTHING! The classes, books and "advice" meant nothing when faced with a real baby, that is 100% YOUR responsibility!
We were so new it was almost funny, and with that newness came paranoia! LOL I wouldn't let anyone leave Carebear alone if she was sleeping! LOL I hated bath time because I didn't know how to hold her properly. Those first few baths were few and far between and super fast! LOL Good thing it was winter!

It took a bit but we got the swing of things, we figured out how "we" liked to do things and what worked best for us. We tried numerous different approaches to things and there was a lot of trial and error, but we made it through that exhausting first year and really loved it a lot. So much so we decided to do it again and B-Man was conceived. :)

Carebear really is our Trial Child. We got to figure things out, decide what worked, what didn't, what products we liked, and which ones we hated, how to pack when you travel with a child, how to trust one another with a baby, how to work as a team.
She taught us a lot and so when B-Man was born it was such a different experience. When the nurse came in with the list for us to check off, we had nothing to check. It wasn't that we "knew it all" it was that it was still pretty fresh in our minds.
We knew how to bathe a baby, feed a baby and change a baby. We had the basics down. I just had to learn how to change a boy baby (something I HATED doing for the first few weeks till I finally figured out the trick, and yes, there is a trick to it). LOL
Our Trial Child is still at work as we start to battle the "terrible two's". We're learning each day how to deal with her and so when B-Man gets to this age we'll at least have a better understanding of what to expect and what to do.
Having children also opened doors for us to get to know other parents and talk to them about their experiences, what they like and don't like and to build some bonds that only parenthood can build.

Our Trial Child has taught us a lot and is still teaching us each day. I'm grateful for all the things I've learned and even though each child is sooooo different, the basics are there and I find I'm a much more relaxed Mom this time around.
I've done things with B-Man that I would never even dream of doing with Carebear, like letting him sleep unsupervised. LOL

This picture doesn't really have anything to do with today's post but I love it so much I wanted to share!

I need a new nickname for my son.

I love nicknames. I think they're fun, creative and really create a bond between people. I've had a ton of nicknames over the years, most of them I've liked. Different people have used different ones based on funny things that we've been through together. Flash, Taco, Charlie, Nightowl, Grassy, and of course, Mother Hen. Each has a funny story or a reason behind it and each one makes me smile when I hear it being used.

My daughter has a few nicknames so far, Carebear and Bear, both I love so much, but my son so far only has B-Man. It's ok, but I've been thinking about this for weeks now and feel he needs a better nickname. He's too little to really have a funny story to create his nickname and unfortunately his real name doesn't help to create any new nicknames.

I've always loved names that could be broken down into other little names. My real name is Susanne and I love it. It can be made into Sue, Susie, Susan! Each one can depict a different mood I'm in. I use Susanne for when I need to be more professional. I occasionally use Susan if I'm trying to be serious. If I'm feeling fun or silly I'll use Susie. And about 90% of the time when I introduce myself to people I'll tell them my name is Sue because it's easy to remember and easy to spell right (no one spells Susanne right, they always spell it with a "z" and it drives me crazy).
So, yes, I love names that can be broken down into other little names. I love Carebear's real name since her name can be broken down into a few, but B-Man, poor B-Man. He's got maybe one other name his can be broken into. He was named after his Grandfather and I love the name dearly but no nicknames can really come from it.

So I'm stumped and guess I'll have to wait for a really good nickname to come around for him.
All this thinking about nicknames got me pondering the people I know and the nicknames they have. I can't really think of anyone who doesn't have a nickname at all, even if it's just a shortened version of their birth name.

I started to think about nicknames in general and why we even use them. I did some research and discovered some pretty interesting things, like how nicknames are used in various societies and how they can come from physical characteristics, personality traits, mental characteristics, lifestyle, social group, the list goes on and on. It doesn't seem to matter where you get the nickname, just that you have one.

So since they seem so important I guess I've got my job cut out for me to find the best nickname I can for my little guy!

My Year in Photos ~ 2011

So 2011 was an interesting year. We did a lot, learned a lot, laughed a lot and cried a lot. It brought new adventures and closed some old ones.

We're looking forward to 2012 and all the new things that it will bring.

I got this idea from Jackie at withjustabitofmagic.com. I thought it would be a good way to close 2011 and bring in 2012!

My Year In Photos ~ 2011

January

We WALKED into January with smiles and hope for a fun year! I was already a few months pregnant and Carebear had just started walking! 

February

February was full of love and fun!

March

Carebear got her own bed!! She had been sleeping on a mattress for a while but this was her first official bed! She loved it and started sleeping so well, so did Mommy and Daddy!!! Which was good, since I was 6 months pregnant and working and needed as much sleep as I could get!!

April

April was hard to find a picture to sum it all up. This April held birthdays, Easter, Anniversaries and so much more but one of the best was rainy Spring days! Carebear and I started to get out more since the weather was better but we both loved rainy days and splashing in puddles.

May

May started off slow. Mother's Day and some more birthdays but at the end of the month came the biggest surprise birthday EVER! B-Man made an early entry! He decided to come 4 weeks early and super quick!

June

June was all about getting used to our new little family of four! Carebear wasn't sure of B-Man at first but soon came to like him, well at least show him indifference! LOL

July

We had fun celebrating Canada Day and watching fireworks! What a great way to celebrate July!

August

Aw, spending good time as a family outside! What a great summer, not too hot, not too cool! It was perfect and what a better way to spend time as a family then being outdoors in the sunshine! Mr. Rooster also got a new job and thus started the whole adventure of us moving!!!

September was a busy month settling into our new home! It was a quick and crazy move, but well worth it! We love our new home! We're close to family, the kids have more space, we have a HUGE backyard, close to schools, tons of parks, shopping and right on a bus route! Perfect!

October

Ah October, another busy month! There were so many things this month that it was hard to pick just one photo! B-Man's Baptism, Thanksgiving, Oktoberfest, Birthdays, and our favourite holiday HALLOWEEN!

Yes, our little family loves Halloween, every scary little bit of it! This year we went as The Addam's family (with help from our dear friend)! We had such a great time. I love decorating the house and going all out on spooky foods and devilish treats! Yes, definitely one of my favourite holidays!

November

November marked B-Man's 6 months birthday! Gosh the time has just flown by! Carebear is such an amazing big sister! She loves to help get his pacifier, give him is bottle, help with bath time, and always finds toys for him to play with! She loves her little brother and he is just in awe of her!

December

December

December will have to share two photos because the month holds the two most important events! Carebear's birthday and Christmas! Both were magical and wonderful times! We were surrounded by all the people we love and got to create some beautiful memories.

It was hard for me to just pick one picture for each month. Anyone who is on my Facebook knows I have over 160 albums of photos (oops) and am adding to it on almost a daily basis! I love taking pictures of my family. Who ever said that the more kids you have the less pictures you take never met me! LOL My poor kids have a permanent flash mark on their eyes from all the pictures I take of them! LOL You think I have a lot of Facebook but I have a thousand more on my computer that never make it to Facebook! LOL What can I say?

Kids grow up so fast I want to try to remember EVERY second of it :) 

It was a good year full of interesting things, some I'd like to forget, some I will treasure for the rest of my life.

Happy New Year everyone, and may 2012 be a wonderful year for you all!

Coming to an end...

We have a tradition in our home that we don't take the Christmas decoration down until the 6th of January. This comes from Mr. Rooster's side of the family and since I love Christmas so much I don't have a problem with it at all! The longer the better!


We still have a week left to enjoy all of our festive decorations and it makes me sad to think about taking them all down. This Christmas has been a special one for me. This is B-Man's first Christmas, something I never got to do with Carebear because she was born a week before Christmas so her first Christmas we were so exhausted we didn't do much to celebrate it.


So this year was our first time celebrating a "first Christmas" with any of our kids! It was magical and wonderful. We did a lot of holiday traditions that I hold so dear!

Paper chains

Decorating the Christmas tree

Making a Gingerbread house (or in our case a Gingerbread Train)

Making hand crafts (this is B-Man's hand)

This is Carebear's hand!

It was also our first Christmas celebrating in our own house on Christmas morning. We got the wonderful job of playing Santa! The excitement of putting all the gifts under the tree, setting up the milk and cookies (eating the milk and cookies) and filling the stockings! It was magical and such an honour!

Cookies and milk that Santa ate!

We all got up and ran past the tree to eat breakfast! A tradition from my childhood. We ate breakfast and read the Nativity story (a first for us) then finally we all got to see the tree together as a family! It was so special! We opened the gifts from Santa and our stockings! The kids had set up a Christmas treasure hunt for Mr. Rooster which was a lot of fun watching him search for gifts and clues :)

Seeing the tree for the first time as a family!
It was a wonderful Christmas with lots of joyful festivities! Seeing family, opening gifts, eating lots of delicious foods! 

So that is why I'm sad to take down the decorations, it will signal the end of a wonderful "first" Christmas!


I'm excited about next Christmas though. Carebear will be 3 and so will have a better understanding and more excitement over all the festivities. B-Man will be 19 months and will be running around (my poor Christmas tree LOL).


There are so many wonderful things to look forward to next year's Christmas, but I will always treasure and remember our first "real" Christmas together as a family!

And finally....

This time of year is crazy for most people but in our household it's just a bit extra crazy! Carebear's birthday is one week before Christmas and so it's been a buzz around here with things to do, add NO SLEEP since little B-Man is on a sleep strike, let's just say Mother Hen is about to pass out! Oh and now both chickies are sick with a cold! Yay!
Even now my eyes are glazing as I try to type!
It's been nearly a week since I intended to write this blog post and yet even now the hours are passing and another day may pass before it's actually up and on my blog!


But this blog post has more meaning to me than just a funny story about my little chicks, this one makes me have to think and lately that is something I don't have a lot of time for! :)


Someone that I admire a lot  (fourunder4plustwo) nominated me for the "Tell me about yourself" blog award and I must say that I feel very honoured to be thought of :) so big thanks to her :)

So here it goes! Please keep in mind on a good day I can barely form good sentences so in my sleep deprived, glazed eyed state, here goes nothing! LOL


7 Things You May Want to Know About Me, Mother Hen.....


1) I used to jump from one thing to the next without giving it much thought or realizing the consequences. I now research and make a plan before I start something new, which is a HUGE difference for me. I'm still not perfect but a lot more settled than I ever was before. This is all due to Mr. Rooster, who has helped me calm down a lot. He is my rock and helps to keep me centred. Every once in a while I get him to loosen up and do something spontaneous, but for the most part, he keeps me focused!


2) For the past 4 years I have been on a long and exciting spiritual journey! I was raised in an Agnostic/Atheist house, we were never discouraged but never encouraged to believe anything. My father was an Atheist and believed that when you died, poof that was it, you were just gone. On the night that he passed away I just knew that all the things he believed about death were wrong and thus started my journey to find out what I truly believed. It's been a long, bumpy and very lonely journey but one that has brought me more peace than I ever dreamed and more love then I ever knew possible!


3) I LOVE BEING A MOMMY!!!! Ok, this might not be a shocking secret to some of you, but the level in which I love being a Mommy always seems to shock me! Each day brings new challenges and I feel proud of myself each time I am able to overcome them! I have discovered such strength in myself that I never knew was there, and so much love that I can't stand it sometimes! My children are the most important people in the whole world and I am truly blessed to get to spend each day with them, watching them learn, discover and grow!! I'm not sure what the future holds but I hope to have another little one one day, or as many as God will give me!


4) I use LOL way too much! I use it in e-mails, blog posts, and this year, I even used it in a Christmas card! I don't know why I use it as much as I do, but I use it all the time! LOL see there ya go!


5) I have recently started a Pet Portrait business. I drew some portraits a few years ago as Christmas gifts and as much as I really loved doing them I never had the courage or the confidence to do anything else. This year I have had to face a lot of demons in my life and one was to get enough courage to start this business. So I did! This has been one of my proudest moments. I've had a few clients so far and I'm really enjoying it. As much as this will probably never be a "full time" career, I am proud to call myself an artist, that has been a  life long dream of mine! :)


6) I have an amazing and fantastic husband! If you've ever met Mr. Rooster, you know that he is kind, funny, smart, patient and caring, but what you might not know is that I know this too! :) and tell him every day! He has sacrificed a lot for me and I don't think he'll ever know how truly grateful I am. He always surprises me with how sweet and sensitive he is. He is an amazing father. He's so loving and caring with the kids! He works hard all day and still comes home ready to play and help with the kids! He loves to get on the ground and play with the toys, I mean, kids :) He loves to read stories, play games, help feed them, bathe them and changes his fair share of dirty diapers! He is an amazing father and our kids are so lucky to have a Dad like him!


7) I sometimes surprise myself with how much I've changed in the past few years since I've met Mr. Rooster, and although some may disagree, I think it's all been for the better. I have come to see some people for who they really are and have had to make changes to my relationships with them. I wear my heart on my sleeve and am such a guilt ridden person that I tend to get hurt all the time. :( I care way too much about people and what they think that I would rather put myself out than to disappoint or hurt them in any way.
I've had to "grow a back bone" as some would call it and start to stick up for myself. This has been scary but at the same time refreshing. I hope to I continue to see more of these good changes in myself.


So there are 7 things you may or may not know about me :)
Part of this award is to nominate 15 other people but shamefully with being as busy as I am, I don't have the time to read as many blogs as I wish I could!
When I have the time to start I will find some to add to this and award them all! :)

The Kitchen Sink

The new flavour of the month is the kitchen sink! Or as Carebear calls it, "Hand, hand". She loves to play in the kitchen sink, washing her hands and would play there for hours if it weren't for me having to do other things and my concern for water conservation.
Carebear on the other hand, has no concern for water conservation and would prefer it if the tap ran full blast all day! LOL
Thankfully I've been able to convince her that a cup filled with water and a spoon is all she needs for a bit of kitchen sink fun! LOL
Both my chicks are water fowl! To say they love the water is an understatement! If they didn't have to live out of water they wouldn't.
Summer is their favourite time of year and I know next summer when we get the pool I will be in it all the time with the kids.
They come by it naturally, both Mr. Rooster and I love the water as well!
But for now the kitchen sink is were it's at, that and the bath tub! :)

What I'm Passionate about ~ part two ~ Creativity

Another thing that I am passionate about is being creative! I love to create and make things. Either for the holidays, or for fun, I love to paint, draw, and craft!
I don't get to do it as often as I used to but it's still one of my favourite things!
I usually get totally emersed in my art when I get the chance to do it! Hours can drift by without notice as I paint or draw!
It has always been a huge part of my life. Being creative!!
I love to come up with neat things for the holidays! Halloween being my favourite! Interesting costumes or things to hang on the walls!
Doing craft time with the kids, even if they are too young to really enjoy them yet!

What I'm Passionate About ~ Part One ~ My Kids

I have a few things that I am passionate in life and the first would be my kids! I just love them so much! I love spending each day with them, watching them learn and grow! Watching the awesome little things they do. I enjoy every aspect of parenting, even the gross and frustrating parts (dealing with those moments help to make me a more patient and loving Mother).
I have always dreamed of being a Mommy and I can't even express how happy I am to have two little amazing kids!
They make me laugh so hard each day, with their strange little ways of doing things, their HUGE smiles and their kooky sense of humour (wonder where they get that from?).
Carebear has been a happy kid since she was born. She's always been super content no matter what. At playgroups she would sit and wait till a toy came rolling by, pick it up and play with it till another kid walked by and took it. This wouldn't upset her, she'd just wait for the next toy to come along.
She is always surprising me with the new things she has learned that day and always makes me laugh out loud with the way she goofs around.
B-Man is another happy one! Always full of smiles, enough to share with everyone. He only cries when he's hungry, other than that it's all smiles from him.
He loves his big sister so much! He watches her play and laughs at all the things she does. He admires her so much! Watching the two of them interact makes my day makes it all worth while.

I am blessed to spend each day with them. I love colouring pictures with Carebear and giving B-Man big cuddles and making them both laugh! Teaching them their colours, numbers, shapes and a bit of Spanish (not as much as I'd like but I'm working on it). Watching the light bulb go on over their heads when they figure out something new!

The funny part about being a Mom is how much I really didn't know before becoming one!

There's a quote I love, "I was a really good Mom before I had kids," I love that because it's so true! I had a lot of ideas of what being a Mom would be like, but it wasn't until I first held Carebear in my arms that I realized I really didn't know anything.

I call Carebear my "Trial Child" since we've gotten the chance to try things out with her and now know what we like and don't like so we can do that with B-Man. LOL poor kid.

I don't do things like "others" do, but I feel I have two, well behaved, cute, smart, funny, loving children so I guess I must be doing something right :)

I can't imagine my life without my children! They are my everything and I love them so much!

Why do my cats hate me?

Every night, without fail my cats will do things to ruin my night.
We finally get both kids asleep and the house is peaceful at last! Sheer bliss! Then Tybo will come out of no where and start meowing his head off!
After a nasty shushing from me, his brother Tucker will start clawing the carpet and I'll have to find him and give him a stern warning (usually a shout of his name followed by an evil glare).
The evening continues with small annoyances. Meowing, knocking things over, running around the house like maniacs chasing each other, growling and hissing when one cat over steps the line and has gone too far!
I find most  nights I'm running around telling one to 'shh' and another to 'get down'!

I've tried cat toys, cat nip, exercising them, it's no good. I swear they plan it out! The worst is when they'll walk slowly up to the baby peacefully sleeping in his bouncy chair and meow REALLY loud at him!

Our cats have always tried to kill us. Just like a typical cat, they get under your feet at the worst times (especially on the stairs) and zip in front of you (always when you're in a hurry).
Our fuzzy one (Tybo) has more fur than brains! I think he's fallen down the stairs one too many times. In our old place we had open concept stairs. He would sit at the top of the upstairs steps and goof around. He often misjudged his step and would fall through straight to the basement! Poor guy!

Tucker is a big cat, scratch that (pardon the pun) he is a HUGE cat! Not that he's ever let his size slow him down! He is a glutton when it comes to food and will meow and meow if his dish isn't 100% full.
He used to meow so much that we contemplated giving him up for adoption! He has this long meow that never stops! When he starts you seriously stop and wait for him to take a breath! It's funny. He got a lot better the day we brought Tybo home.

They are great cats and are awesome with the kids! They do get in the way and drive me nuts but lets just say, thank God they're cute or we'd probably have two nice cat rugs somewhere in this house by now! LOL