At just over 2 and a half I would have thought I’d still be picking out the clothes to buy at the store and the clothes she would wear each day.  I thought I’d still be having fun each morning selecting just the perfect outfit, matching hair clippies and shoes to the ensemble.  I had no idea that some where around the 2 and a half mark a little switch would go off in her head and suddenly her dormant fashionista would come shining through.  Looking back I should have known when she started commenting on other people’s outfits.  Gone are the days of me picking out the clothes she wheres in the morning, she HAS to do it for herself.  She has even started being rather opinionated while we are out shopping for new clothes for her.  At least she has good taste…most of the time.

Lately, she has been obsessed with dresses.  Which, since it is rather hot outside every single day, makes sense.  There are about 2 or 3 dresses that she has decided are the best and I can’t get her to wear anything else unless all of them are in the wash at the same time So, our attention every morning is focused on this small section of her closet.

Most of the time Maya does a pretty good job choosing cute things to wear.  She has pretty good taste.

However, sometimes, like yesterday, she selects something that is pretty far out there.  Yesterday morning she decided to wanted to wear her Elmo t-shirt and a pair of bumble bee pajama pants.  No amount of reasoning changed her mind.  So, I gave in.  Maybe she is super fashion forward and this will be the trend on the runway next season.

Luckily I forced convinced her to change into a more reasonable pair of pants before we headed out the door to run errands.  Of course, as soon as we got home those bumble bee pants were back on.  Who am I to argue with such a little fashionista.

Don’t forget you can still enter my $100 pre-paid Visa giveaway.  Head on over to my Lilith Fair review post  to read all about my awesome Momma’s Night Out at Lilith Fair and leave me a comment telling me about your ideal mom’s night out for your chance to win.  The drawing will take place on Aug. 4th.

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and by the makers of ob tampons, CAREFREE Pantiliners and STAYFREE pads.

When I was first presented with the opportunity* to attend Lilith Fair I knew I couldn’t turn it down, I knew I had to make it work.  Not only am I an incredibly huge Sarah McLachlan fan but I was also in desperate need of a little momma’s night out.  So, I graciously accepted the offer to attend, invited my dear friend Heather and looked forward to what I hoped would be a wonderful evening.

The idea of Lilith Fair, a whole festival put on by women, for women, is very inspiring.  Women have come a long way in the ranks over the years and I think this festival highlights those achievements.  It gives women, from all walks of life, an opportunity to see some amazing female musicians together on one stage.  It gives women a chance to celebrate being women, celebrate where we’ve come from, and where we’re going, all to a soundtrack of really good music.

Friday night, dressed in something other than my typical mom attire, I picked up my friend Heather and headed to the concert. We weren’t able to make it to the show to see the earlier acts because of other responsibilities and childcare issues, but got there in time to see some incredible performances from the likes of Court Yard Hounds, Emmylou Harris, Mary J Blige and, of course, the amazing Sarah McLachlan. Not a single performance disappointed.

After listening to the incredible musical talent of Court Yard Hounds (who I am now a new huge fan of) and the awe-inspiring Emmylou Harris we decided to check out what the sponsor that had brought us to the event, the makers of STAYFREE® pads, CAREFREE® liners and o.b.® tampons, had to offer.

Our first stop was the Lilipad Bathroom. We all know how hard it can be to find a nice, clean women’s bathroom at concert venues. The Lilipad Bathroom was touted as a relaxing, cool women’s bathroom that was complete with an attendant and lots of free samples. The Lilipad Bathroom was huge, nice and clean and had really pretty decor, including pink lighting!  Unfortunately, I don’t think the venue was equipped for a particularly cool bathroom.  The area where the stalls were was almost as hot as it was outside, but there was a giant fan in the area where the sinks were so that was nice and refreshing.  And, true to their word there were a ton of free samples.  I don’t think I saw a single woman leaving the bathroom without something in her hands.  Everyone seemed really impressed with the free samples.  When we were standing in line for drinks later in the evening two girls behind us started raving about the free tampon carry case they got at the Lilipad Bathroom.  Our next stop was the Lilipad Lounge equipped to be a bit of a cooling station, lots of free samples and swag, and a opportunity to get your picture taken to look like you’re on stage. I’m pretty sure the best swag they had at the Lilipad Lounge was the cooling cloths, little wet and chilled wash cloths. Everywhere I turned I saw women and men with the cloths wrapped around their necks, tucked in the backs of their t-shirts, or just rubbing down their faces with it.  The  cooling cloth was definitely a huge hit. By the time we hit the tent, at about 8pm they were out of swag and closing up shop so I wasn’t able to get a cooling cloth of my own. The Lilipad Lounge and Bathroom seemed like great additions to Lilith Fair and seemed to be huge hits with the crowd.

We wrapped the night up by being completely wowed by the music of Mary J Blige and Sarah McLachlan.  When Mary J Blige took to the stage everyone was on their feet.  We danced and danced (who knew I was going to get a bit of a workout in on my night out!).  By the time Sarah took to the stage the crowd was in high spirits and ready to end the night on a high note.  It was an amazing show.  I never get tired of seeing Sarah perform.

One of the things I loved was listening to all the inspirational things each performer had to say about women. These ladies have all come a long way in their field and have seen things that female musicians a few decades ago could only dream about.  Each of them was aware of that and happy to be part of something as special and inspiring as Lilith Fair.  They each spoke to the beauty and strength of women and that every woman, no matter what she does or where she comes from has something to offer.

My favorite thing about music festivals, like Lilith Fair, is the opportunity they bring to see musicians from so many different genres.  The ladies of Court Yard Hounds said it best when they commented on the fact that only at Lilith Fair could you find Mary J Blige following Emmylou Harris.  Not only does the festival bring women together and break down the barriers that sometimes separate us but they bring together genres of music, and fans of those many different genres for an evening of us all rock out together, an evening where you are introduced to artists you may not have even heard of before but end up loving.

I had a fabulous time on my Momma’s night out at Lilith Fair and would like to thank the makers of STAYFREE®, CAREFREE® and o.b.® for this wonderful opportunity and for sponsoring an event that celebrates and empowers women.

And now for the best part, I’m happy to be able to offer each of you a chance to win a $100 Visa Gift Card thanks to the lovely people at BlogHer and Lilipad.  There are three easy ways to enter (official rules) for your chance to win.  The first is to leave a comment here telling me what your ideal Momma’s night out would be.  Or, you can simply tweet about this post or blog about this post.  If you do tweet or blog about this post please come back and leave me a comment with a link to the tweet or post so I can be sure you get credit for your entry.  Each person can have up to two entries.  The contest is open until 5pm EST on August 4th.  The winner will be drawn using random.org.  Good luck everyone!.

*I was commissioned to write this post by the makers of o.b.® tampons, CAREFREE® pantiliners and STAYFREE® pads and I received monetary compensation, as well as concert tickets and transportation to and from the concert.

She delights in those times when Lorne is tackling a project that she can help with.  Just before we moved out of our condo he was doing a few Mr. Fix-it jobs around the condo to get it ready for the new owners.  One day after work he was painting the door frame of the back door.  Immediately, upon seeing that Daddy was doing some work and clearly needed help, Maya offered up her assistance.  Lorne gave her a paint brush and let her have at it.  She did a pretty good job helping him paint the door frame.  And boy was she proud of herself for being such a good daddy’s little helper.

Excuse the no shirt but children and non-washable paint do not make a great match

So many cute, funny, memory-making things happen while we are out running errands together.  Things that I would love to have on video or have pictures of so, one day, when I can’t quite conjure up the image in my mind I would have something to spark my memory.  Sometimes the best moments happen when you don’t have your camera.

Today was a perfect example of just such a moment.

Today was grocery shopping day.  So, after eating breakfast and getting ready to face the day we got ready to head out the door.  Before we could leave, of course, Maya had to pack a little bag of goodies to bring along with her.  She used an old mini diaper bag that she has claimed as her purse and filled it with my little ponies, some necklaces and a “cellphone”.  With her bag suitably packed we headed out the door.

We got to the grocery store and had to spend about 5 minutes or so deciding which fun vehicle shaped cart we were going to ride in today.  The winner was the black spaceship!  While I was busy pushing the spaceship around the store, picking out food, Maya was busy perusing the contents of her bag and playing with each little toy as she came across it.  After a while of playing with the 5 my little ponies that were stuffed in the bag she decided it was time to give Daddy a call on her “cellphone”.   She flipped the cellphone open, dialed Daddy’s “number” and began what would become a very in depth, rather long conversation with Daddy through the next 3 aisles of the grocery store.

As we turned the corner on the last aisle the conversation was in full swing.  She was busy telling Daddy all about the contents of our cart, what items she was seeing on the shelves that she wanted, and dutifully laughing at the apparently funny responses that “Daddy” was making on the other end.  There was another woman entering the aisle at the other end.  I saw her look up and smile in Maya’s direction.  I saw the smile turn to a full on grin and then a full on belly laugh.  By the time we reached the other end of aisle where this lady was standing she was practically in hysterics.  Maya saw the lady and proceeded to end her conversation, turn to the lady and say “Hi!” with a huge goofy grin on her face.  The lady was delighted with Maya and thanked her for the best laugh she had had in ages.   Maya shot her another adorable little grin before picking up her phone to make another call.

It was quite possibly the cutest, funniest moment we have had of late and will probably have me giggling for a while.  I wish I had it on video.  Maybe I need to start bringing my camera to the grocery store with me

Then I had a baby, I became a mom, and I instantly got it.  A mom can tell her child’s cry apart from all other cries because she hears it with more than just her ears, she hears it with her heart.

I remember the first night home from the hospital after Maya was born and worrying that I wouldn’t wake up to her cries in the middle of the night.  I went to sleep very nervous about it only to be woken not by the actual sound of her cries but by my heart racing.  It was like my heart heard her cries and woke me up in that split second before my ears registered the sound.  I felt more like a real mom in that instant than I had before.  My body, my heart, was wired to hear my child’s cries.  I was now equipped with the power to decipher my child’s cry from any other child’s cry, that is magical.

I can remember late nights in the early months when Maya was still waking in the night to eat waking to my racing heart but not yet registering the actual sound of the cry and hoping that my heart was playing tricks on me and she was not awake and ready to eat yet, that I could get just a few more minutes sleep first.  Always, every single time, my racing heart was right and I’d hear her cries coming over the monitor loud and clear.

There have been days when I’m sitting on the couch and my heart will jump at the faintest of sounds and I know it is Maya.  I don’t question my heart anymore.  If my heart jumps or races I know without a doubt that the faintest sound I hear is Maya and I go to her.  I know it is her because I hear it with my heart.

It is a beautiful window seat with a large area to sit and a large window to look out.  It is a comfortable little nook all her own.  As I was daydreaming about what it would be like when we moved in, one of the things I often daydreamed about was that little nook.  I imagined us sitting there reading books before bedtime.  I imagine Maya curled up with her “guys” reading her books.  I imagined how perfect and how loved that little space would become.

Already those daydreams have become reality.  Just as I expected that little nook is where we sit to read stories before bed.  It is the perfect size for the two of us to curl up together and read.  I often find Maya sitting there with her blankie and a few “guys” reading stories.  Plus, Maya has figured out that if she piles all her “guys” in there it makes a very cozy little nest

Maya loves it (as you can tell).  I love it.  That little window seat, that little nook, has become one of my favorite spots in the house.  Now I just need to find the perfect cushion and pillows for it.

From a very young age, we’re talking before she could even really form the words, Maya learned how to negotiate for more time.  Through reading many parenting books I learned that transitions go a lot smoother when you give your child warns, saying things like “It is time to get ready for bed in 5 more minutes” or “You have 2 more minutes to play at the park”, etc.  So, I began using these little tricks with Maya at a very young age, and often I would hold up my fingers to indicate how many minutes I was talking about.

Maya, the smarty pants that she is, picked up on that and when I would say “Okay, Maya it’s time to get ready for bed” she would start holding up her hand showing me that she wanted 5 more minutes, keep in mind she was barely over a year when she started doing this.  Eventually, as she gained more words, she started saying “five” while holding up her hand, and then eventually “five (or two or one) minute”.  It was adorable and she was smart, she knew that there was no way I could resist such cuteness and I would inevitably agree to her request for more time.

As time went on her technique has changed.  She started to realize she could change the amount of time she asked for.  She would start with 5 more minutes, then ask for 1 more minute and eventually 30 more seconds.  The first time she asked for 30 more seconds I about fell over.  Here was this little 2 year old, sassy pants, requesting 30 more seconds to play before she got ready for bed.   The request for 30 more seconds is the one that has stuck.  If I tell her it is time for anything, bed, bath, time to leave the park, etc, she will always ask for 30 more seconds.

I know all about her little trick now so I begin my negotiation earlier than I would if I knew she wasn’t going to ask for more time.  I’m sure she’ll figure out that I’m on to her and will change up her technique.  Afterall, I’m dealing with an expert negotiator

Within minutes I could tell that lazing around in the backyard, while Maya splashed around in her pool, was going to make braving the sweat inducing temperature well worth it.  Any day, no matter how stinkin’ hot it is outside, I would take this over the comfort of my air conditioning, any day.

Days like this, moments like this, make me happy.  They make me grateful for the time I get to spend with this awesome little girl.  They make me grateful that life has dealt me such a good hand.

Growing up I fondly remember walking with my Mum everywhere.  We walked to the park, we walked to the library, we walked to the grocery store or the drug store if she only needed to pick up a few things.  I loved that.  In our condo we were smack dab in the middle of the action, there were stores, restaurants, parks, cultural activities all around us, all within walking distance.  I loved that.  So, it only made sense that we would look for some of the same things in our new neighborhood.

But, not only did I want to be able to walk places, I wanted to be part of a neighborhood, a town that had a good sense of community.  A place where people wanted to participate to make it a better, more fun place to live.  A place where neighbors said hello to each other and offered to help each other out when needed.  When we choose our house we knew we were going to be able to walk to all the things we wanted to be able to walk to but we were only pretty sure we were getting that sense of community, because really there is  no way to know for sure until you move in.

We’ve lived here just over a week and I can say for absolute certain that this neighborhood and this town offer just that.  Our neighbors have all been wonderful, taking time to stop by and say hello and introduce themselves.  Offering their phone numbers in case of emergency or if we just need someone to watch Maya.  Maya and I spent the afternoon Saturday at a lovely little gathering in honor of the lady who used to own this house and to help welcome us to the neighborhood.  I’ve never felt so welcome some where as I do here.

On Friday night the park across the street was the site of a community event and our chance to see if this community would live up to our hopes.  There was a free concert in the park going on.   In our old neighborhood events like that drew a huge crowd and I was hoping to see more of the same.  I was not disappointed.  The park was filled with families relaxing on picnic blankets or in lawn chairs under the shade of huge trees listening to the sound of Beatles tunes coming from the live band.  Kids filled the playground and danced in the grass near their parents.  It was so much fun.

Maya had a blast partaking in two of her most favorite activities, swinging and dancing

I’m glad we made the choice we did.  I’m glad we put heavy weight on the neighborhood and community so that we could end up where we are in a house we love, in a neighborhood that is really making us feel welcome, in a community that is living up to my very high expectations.

Home Sweet Home

The move last week was, let’s just say, interesting.  The moving company we hired wasn’t exactly on the ball.  They gave us a 1-3pm window but didn’t show up until after 3:30pm.  It took them forever to get the stuff out of our condo and into the moving truck.  Lorne had to help them A LOT (which, hello we hired movers so we wouldn’t have to do all the work).   When they finally got here it was so late and we were so ready to be done with it that we just told them to put everything into two rooms and we’d sort it out later.  Needless to say we weren’t exactly impressed.

We spent a day or so unpacking and organizing before Lorne’s parents came into town for a visit.  It was nice having them here as it gave us an excuse to forget about the move for a while and ignore some of the boxes.  Plus, they helped with a few little projects, like cutting the grass

It has been a week since we moved in.  Sometimes it feels like just yesterday we were pulling in the driveway for the first time and other times it feels like we’ve lived here for a lot longer than a week.  All the rooms are mostly set up, with the exception of hanging our artwork and pictures, we still have to do that.  This weekend we’ll probably go through each room and make a list of things we want to do like paint, add a few decorating touches, change out carpets, etc and then begin to tackle the list that will slowly make this house all our own.

We love it so far.  I can’t wait to see how it takes shape as we add our own little touches.

The back of the house

Love, love, love the backyard