Weekend

I know I'm late with the blogging. Get off my case I just had a baby! You will all be happy to know that Madigan has now been added to our answering machine message. I had to do it to get everyone off my back! Jeez, can't anyone give poor ole vashti a break??
Anyhoo, this weekend we spent the day in Halfmoon Bay celebrating Deb and Kev's girls Abby and Emma. They turned a whopping 3! There was a great spread, as you can see a Dora pinata and not one, not two but three cakes. Llucky us Maeve had no idea what to do with the candy. She figured it out really quick tho. At one point she had a sucker in each hand. She eats suckers like her Daddy drinks beer!
We got to meet Deb and Kev's newest addition Maggie who is 2 weeks older than Madigan. She is adorable. Not to mention fashionable! We go to the midwives tomorrow morning so I'll update you on which baby is bigger. Maggie or Madigan! Poor Auntie Erin can't keep up with all the M names!
Well, I have to get to bed early tonight as I'm certain my littlest one isn't going to let me sleep for long! Hope you enjoyed the pics!

Friday

Hello Gang, sorry I've missed a few days in here. I'm quite busy you know! Ha! More like i'm being quickly driven crazy! The girls are great. We hung out with Milo, Theo and Angela yesterday. That was lots of fun! Theo is giant adorable baby! We had steam roller wraps for lunch. They were fantastic FYI! No nap Maeve struck again yesterday until I put her in the car and we all went for a drive. We went to Roan& Hilary's house and hung out with them before picking up Daddy at work! Phew... what a day. Today Auntie Erin is coming over and we are going to go shopping for some birthday presents! Then its girls night out for dinner. I so will be having a margarita! Have a great weekend!

2, 2, 2 pictures for the price of one

Ok so I can't get the both of them in one pic so I doubled up and sent you two pics! We are well. Maeve is praying while she sleeps and Madigan is standing up to have her bath! Good lord my girls are growing fast! Hope you are all doing well. Sorry this edition is so cheap! At least you got two pics!!

ZZzzzzzZZ

There were three in the bed and the little one said, "roll over, I'm crowded!" So they all rolled over and Daddy was kicked out! So this weekend was rather uneventful! We had a bunch of stuff that we could have and should have done but didn't! We tried a new restaurant with Auntie Erin and it was yummy! The waitress gave Maeve a GIANT chocolate dipped rice crispie square! Yum! Oh ya, we let her have a bit. Mostly it went to Mommy tho! Oh how mean we are to our children! Today we went to the dentist. Michael got a wisdom tooth out and one filling while I got one filling as well. The girls were great. Madigan slept the whole time and Maeve forced Michael to read the cat in the hat to her over and over! We hit Riley park on the way home and now we've put both our girls down for a nap. ahh, if this works i'm going to reward myself with something great... i don't know what but it'll be great!

hangover

Ok, well sorry it is a little dark but I'm certain Michael preferred it that way! You see, Michael went out to celebrate that damned Earl Fast's birthday. I'm just going to go out for a couple hours he says to me. Ya right! Don't worry, I managed to get the girls off to bed by my little old self. I even managed to watch Sin Cities! Michael phoned around 10 and said he'd be about an hour longer since the hockey game just let out and there is no way to wedge oneself on the skytrain with all those people! Sooo.. I went to bed. At 2:50 some drunk bum comes bumbling his way in the door. Good lord how time flies when you are Karaoking your whiteness off! Michael's went with his work friends to a karaoke bar and proceeded to drink many rounds of rye coke! I wonder at what point Michael realized he hasn't "tied one on" like that since Cousin Palooza last year? Well, today we shall punish the wicked... yes yes, we will take awful pictures and make him hold our crying/whining children. Yes.. we will encourage Maeve to ask for many horsey rides and hope and pray Madigan poops up a storm.. Yes.. then perhaps I'll be less jealous that he can go out and drink and party and I can't! I had to relight the pictures so you could see better. Sorry for the double pic post. They are exactly the same one is just more visible! If I were more savvy I'd figure out how to remove the dark one.. but suck it up kids.. I'm not!

bonus

you lucky buggers! here is Miss Madigan!!!!!!!

Jazz hands

Today was Maeve's first day at "School". She informed Michael and I the other day that she would like to go to school. This "school" is actually our Riley Park community center music drop in class for 0-5 kids! There were a bunch of girls there that I assumed were much younger than Maeve but turned out they were all within a week or two! Yay, that means Maeve is no longer a shrimp! Must be all those giant boys we play withthat make me feel like Maeve is tiny! Anyway, I digress. Maeve LOVED school. For the first part of the class the kids could choose any musical instrument. Maeve seemed to like the egg shakers the best. Must be because she is allergic! Maeve also liked the drums and the beat 'em sticks. I call them that because generally thats what the kids did with them! We escaped major injury and the class went on! I tried to get Maeve to nap on the way home from class but she was having NONE of it! Bugger. Michael is going out after work to a party so I'm on my own. Sure wish this child would nap! Oh well, perhaps we'll hit another park and I'll just get her good and tired! Wish me luck!

Heads Up!

Well, it looks like our little stunner will be advancing faster than we thought! Just like her big sister, Madigan has been forced to hold her own head up early on! Poor honey!
Yesterday Michael came home from work sick. Having children sure robs a guy of his sick time. Last week he was home a day because I was sick. Hilary mentioned that she and fam were all going to go get the flu shot. I'm more than a little leary of it. For some reason the flu shot scares me more than the flu itself! I'll just have to make sure we wash hands more often, get more sleep and eat well!
Yesterday we also picked Madigan up a bouncy seat. I priced out 6 of the stupid things and it worked out that the cheapest one was at the first frigging place I checked. Arrrgh! She seems to like the chair. It has a vibrating base and some dangling toys to look at. Really, its just a safe haven from Maeve! Maeve seems to love her sister more and more everyday and tries to "help" me with Madigan. So now I put Madigan up on the table in her bouncy chair while Maeve "helps" me with dishes or dinner. This way both my girls are safe! Right now Maeve is watching Dora and Madigan is snoozing.
Speaking of torrential downpours.. ok we haven't been but holy hell is it raining. We wont be going outside today! Unless it is just to the car and then we can go pick up Daddy. It'll be a treat for him not to walk several blocks in this crap! I just need to think up something to cook for dinner that can sit and wait for us to run errands! Thank goodness Auntie Erin lent us her crock pot! Happy Thursday everyone!

Thanksaweenie

Hi everyone! Boy what a weekend! It was "Thanksaweenie" at my brother's Jason and his wife Barb's house in Victoria. Since it is so difficult to get all the family together at the same time in the same place, we sometimes have to combine holidays. We had a fantastic 3 day eat fest let me tell you. I'm not going anywhere near my scale until Madigan is at least 6 weeks when I can start going to the gym!! My family was wonderful as always. We played an awesome game of Cranium. I'd love to say Michael and I were the winners but sadly we tied for last place! Maeve got to play with her Cousins Makenna Dawn and Siobhan. Oh the things she learned this weekend! Maeve learned how to be spooky and coincidentally spooked. The girls taught her how to run like hell when one of them holds up a spooky skeleton mask! Maeve did manage to take a little time out and give some love to Rascal the Finnerty bird slayer. We got to see Emily poo poo and Auntie Caca who keeps getting better looking. How rude, what is it that I'm doing wrong? Oh yea, having kids ruins ya! Gramma and Crappa were great. My Mom did very well sharing Madigan. Infact, I think we can officially retire calling her "baby hogger" until we see how she does with the next one. Next time we play Cranium I want Big Robin on my team and Sean if we have to do alot of spelling backwards!!! Little Robin made an awesome hallowe'en treat spread. Martha Stewart look out! I want to go out this week and make caramel apples but I know that wont end well!! As you can see by the photo we carved an obscene amout of pumpkins. Ok, you can only see three but trust me there were many pumpkins carved that day! I did the ghost one, Michael did the Dora one for the girls and then the cute punkin face one with Maeve. We missed Tig and Rowena at this one but hopefully they will be back soon! I had a really good time and I'm glad we made it over for this ostentious holiday! Go to this link www.poopeople.com/hallowgiving/ to see more of the fam's pics. Figure out who is who, Danica, Brodie, Jason, Barb, Robin, Sean, Makenna, Siobhan and Crappa

Young love

Lovers, in a dangerous time.....

Again I quote '80s songs for you all! Yesterday we went to science world. We met up with Angela, Milo, Theo, Hilary and Roan! It was a grand ole time! We also ran into another veteran mainframer wife Jen! She was there with her daughter Ava. Jen is due in 2 weeks and looks fanfrickingtastic! The bitch! I bet you are all guessing who Maeve is holding hands with. Is it Milo? Is it Roan? Nope, you are wrong. It is random cute kid at science world! Maeve befriended him and he seemed to love her instantly! It was really cute. Later his Mom came and told me that he kept saying, "pretty, pretty" to Maeve in Korean. If she is this sought after now Michael and I are going to have a hell of a time in the teen years! So, Michael went to work today and my day went straight down the toilet. Every time I got Madigan to sleep Maeve "loved" her awake. Kisses, hugs but mostly squishes tend to wake up newborns! Today Maeve and I are having a rather difficult time. I realize that there will be boundary testing and limit testing but with a lack of sleep I have to admit to having a short fuse and lack of patience. So after a tearful call to Michael and a few frustrating hours later I finally got both girls to sleep. I think part of the problem is I don't want to plop Maeve down infront of the TV to keep her occupied while I get stuff around here done. I try to reserve TV time for when i really need it. Like, for instance the shower that I never got today! Oh boo hoo, I'm sure comparitively speaking I don't have much to complain about.. but I did get a wonderful treat. Michael came home to my rescue an hour early AND took care of the dinner dishes. As shitty as today was I think Michael and I can manage it together but not on our own! That is why I will try very hard to never have 3! Right now we are even steven! 2 vs 2. Throw another one in the mix and I'll drown!

Stanley Park

We want you, we want you, we want you as a new recruit! Well, since we were in Stanley Park I thought quoting the Village People would get a chuckle out of at least one of you!
This weekend we hit good ole Stanley Park hard. We kicked up alot of leaves and we played on the awesome playground. We met a friend for Maeve her name is Greer. Yes, I thought the name odd too but, who am I to cast stones! Madigan managed to stay out of all of this weekends photos due to the extreme cold that is Vancouver! Actually, it was surprisingly nice weather at first then became very cold. I don't resemble the michelin man so much when I'm not trying to keep myself warm! I will try and get a good picture of our baby girl for you soon.
Tomorrow we are hoping for some nice'ish weather so that Daddy can take some nice pictures before fall takes all of our sunshine away. Oh to be living in California right now! Tomorrow we are going to take the girls to science world and hopefully meet up with Lisa, Ronan and Liam. For now, I am off to bed. It would be nice to get to bed before 11 once this week!

Visits

Well, the Grammas have been and gone in a whirlwind! Gramma Susie stayed for almost a week and we got to celebrate her birthday at Great Gramma Mimi's. As you can see by the lovely cake! My Mom was just here for one day but, hopefully she'll be back soon! I know she can't go too long without squeezing and loving the stuffing out of at least one of my children!
Poor Auntie Sara has left us to go back to Connetticut. I probably didn't spell that right but I'm not going to fix it. I bet Uncle Brad missed her and is very glad to have her back! I can't believe she is going to have her baby in january! It sure doesn't seem far away! Oh, and speaking of far away, we are NOT going to leave you all and move to Singapore. Unfortunately it just wasn't financially possible for us. I think we will be staying in Vancouver for another year and then who knows where the wind will take us! Well, I best go and make sure Maeve isn't pushing Madigan in the swing again. Thank goodness for safety harnesses!

QT

OK, so turn your head to the side and get a load of all that is cuteness! Granpa Georgie or "PaPa" as Maeve calls him picked up this sweet soft snuggly jacket for Madigan. I love it! Our good friends Lisa, Ronan and Liam got Madigan the boots! How cute! If I had more time on my hands I'd have rotated the picture for you. Since I am now the busy mother of two, tilt your dang heads! This weekend was busy busy! Gramma Susie, Granpa Georgie, Great Granparents on both sides and the Aunties all hung out to say goodbye to Auntie Sara and her belly bean. Hopefully it wont be too long before we see them again, who knows when Sara will make it back to Canada! All in all it was a very nice weekend. Monday Gramma Susie is coming to spend the day with us and we are celebrating her birthday with dinner at Great Gramma Mimi's.
My mom is coming back from and incredibly long vacation in Montreal. I think she is coming back on wednesday so hopefully she'll want to stop by and give some love to my girls! Crappa hasn't met Madigan yet so maybe we can guilt them into visiting us! Well, thats it for me for now. Must go feed my baby!

Two for one

Here she is in the swing. Not an exciting or particularily flattering pic but you all have to take what you can get! Madigan is sleeping pretty well. She goes to sleep at 9/10 and is up for a feed at 3am, then down again until 6/7am and up every hour after that! Sheesh, the trade off for that first big lump of sleep is a big one! Michael, Maeve and I prefer to sleep in but stay up all night! Weird! Second babies seem to be opposite of firsties! We are all doing well here, oh, except Madigan and I who have thrush! Gross. Anyhoo, we will be seeing all the family this weekend and we are really looking forward to it! I'll try to sneak another picture on here but if I'm not successful I don't want to read anything about it in the comment section! Take care and happy weekend to everyone!

Where is Maeve?

So basically my mother has pointed out that there have been no pictures of Maeve. Well, here is one! It is of course up to you to find her! Ha ha. Here I thought everyone was sick of seeing photos of Maeve and was anxious to see photos of Madigan! I also didn't want all the pictures up here to be Maeve holding Madigan! I thought Madigan should have her debut and then start doubling up on the cute for everyone! Apparently you can all handle it so I will endeavor to put more photos of my precious girls together! It does give my heart a workout to have Maeve hold Madigan. Sometimes the best handhold is an ear. More often and more frightening the handhold is an eye. Since Maeve loves her sister so much I'll try to capture some new pics of the two for everyone to enjoy! Ta!!

Whew, what a weekend and it isn't even over yet! Yesterday Aunties Erin and Sara came over with a giant turkey. Uncle Jaycie and Auntie Barbie came over with an adorable outfit and tonnes of energy! The outfit lasted much longer than Uncle Jaycie's energy! Saturday was pretty much an evening eat fest then a triptophan snooze off! Sunday we spent all day at IKEA! Maeve got to play in the blueberries again. Fortunately for everyone she didn't have a pee accident! Madigan was great and snoozed while Daddy carried her. Now resting is in order! Sorry you have to suffer through my terrible profile shot but I thought she looked terribly cute in this one! Hope you all have a great Turkey weekend. Tomorrow we are off to see Great Granny Grace!

Is it mean to say that your child is a little funny looking? I'm not sure what she is thinking but I think it is, "Why must my Mommy kiss me soooo much?" Madigan is doing really well. She slept from 12ish until 5am. I don't even want to get my hopes up with her because Maeve slept so poorly! I don't want to jinx this sleep pattern! Today we are going out to buy Maeve new jeans. As it turns out Maeve has outgrown every pair of jeans/pants she owns in the last week and a bit! Tomorrow Uncle Jaycie and Auntie Barbie are coming over and we are very excited! Aunties Erin and Sara are coming over too and we are all going to have Thanksgiving dinner! Wish us luck though, Auntie Sara is doing most of the cooking! On Monday we are heading over to Great Granny Grace's for swedish pancakes. I have no idea what they are but I presume there will be some sort of whipped cream action so I'm there with bells on! Hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday weekend!

Chunky Monkey

Today Beth and Nicole our midwives dropped by for a check up. Maeve and Michael are still in love with Beth so nothing much changed on that front! Madigan is gaining weight well and actually weighs 9lbs 2oz. So, she lost some weight which is normal, then gained it back so thats great! Don't be fooled by the weight on the scale this time. There are lots of blankets and a fully clothed baby. It was staged for your viewing pleasure! Madigan continues to be adorable, as does Maeve. Great Gramma Mimi came by today and brought both girls a lovely gift. Maeve got a wonderful book and Madigan got a sterling silver music box carousel. Great Gramma Mimi had given one very similar to Maeve when she was born. It was very lovely of Great Gramma Mimi and we love her very much! I am going to go and feed Madigan who I now refer to as "boobie monster". Does she ever love to eat!

Madigan day 5

Please note that Madigan is wearing blue! She is of course wearing pink underneath it though! Today our Midwife Beth came by to check us out. Madigan is fantastic of course. I am recovering nicely too! Maeve and Michael are just in love with Beth so they are more than happy when she comes over!
Madigan managed to sleep for 4 hours in a row last night. I was ecstatic! She did it twice for me. What a good girl! I was feeling much more rested today than yesterday let me tell you. Maeve is a busy little bee keeping Daddy busy all day. She keeps me on my toes too. I swear she is 2 going on 15! She loves to argue! Even when we are saying the same thing she corrects me and tells me how it is. Jeez, wonder where she gets that from! Well thats it for me. This was a late posting so off I go to bed. I know at least one of my two gorgeous daughters will be up before I know it!

Mannies and Pedies!

maeve&daddy
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Well, things around the Mussellam home are busy busy. Between feedings, poopings and booking appointments for mannies and pedies I am just grasping how much our lives have changed! Michael is busy taking care of Maeve while Madigan and I work on learning how to nurse! Michael takes Maeve out for walks and I get to steal a shower even too! Last night was a tough night. Madigan was up every hour to nurse. Maeve surprised us both by sleeping in her bed all night! Yahoo! Maeve looks to have grown about 2 inches in the last week. I know I know, you think that because we have Madigan now it makes Maeve look bigger but, I am referring to her capri pants that now resemble bermuda shorts! Hope you all have a great day and hopefully I'll post up some more pictures of our lovely Madigan!

nursing

nursing
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Hi! We are home safe and sound! The Mussellams are now a force to be reckoned with! Its 4 of us against the world!!

We had a happy, healthy delivery of Madigan Mussellam. Born September 29, 2005 at 5:05pm. She had a great apgar and as soon as they put her up on my tummy I knew she was a biggun! Our tiny little bundle of pink love weighed in at 9lbs 4.5 ounces! What is with giant second babies? She is great, we are great and I'm going to catch some zzzzzz's! As you can see in the picture big sister Maeve is thrilled and quite clever! She loves Madigan and Madigan loves her!

ZZzzzzzZZZzz

Well, since all I have to remember Maeve's napping are photos I've decided to share with you! Because we sleep in a little bit, Maeve no longer naps! How rude! I'm sure things will change when the new baby joins us in february! haha I figure thats when she'll be joining us these days! I look at this picture of Maeve and see how much of a baby she still is. Only two and already being forced to be a big sister. Poor honey! My friend Deb says that once the new baby comes Maeve will look giant. I can't quite believe it but I'm not calling her a liar either! The difference in diaper sizes is comical. It is difficult to believe we'll have a baby with such a tiny bum again! Looks like we are the last ones to have a baby. My friend Lisa had her "little" boy last night. 8lbs 14 ounces hardly qualifies as little but I'll throw her a bone! So, lets recap... Joanne had a 9lb'er, Angela had a 8lb 6'er, Deb had a 8lb 4 ouncer and Lisa had an 8lb 14ouncer.. GOOD LORD! The longer this baby stays in the bigger she'll get! Hopefully she a good healthy 7! Ha! Not that you can bank on it but the midwives have already told me this one will be bigger than Maeve was... waaaaaaaaaah!

bath time!

bathcensored copy
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Look who got new bath toys from her Gramma? Its our very own little slippery fish Maeve! Normally we shower with Maeve but looks like she might just turn into a tub time girl!
Things are good here, we spent sunday with Aunties Erin, Sara and zilla. Nothing too exciting going on. We are still patiently awaiting the arrival of baby #2. This time we are waiting without egging her on! I think baby #2 is going to rock our world! Thank goodness Michael will be home with me for the first bit! My girlfriend Deb just added adorable Maggie to her collection of girls and now there are 3. I don't think I could manage it personally! I'm glad we are stopping at 2! Hope you all have a great Monday!

Couple weeks left

Couple weeks left
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

As you all can see s/he is still in there! I now refuse to acknowledge a gender in this child since everyone that accosts me tells me the child is a boy! I chuckle really because thats what they said about Maeve too! I think I just carry right out front so I hit you like a mack truck!
We are all well and good here. Both Mommy and Baby putting on a few last minute pounds! Maeve is recovering from the cold she so graciously gave her father. Michael is home sick from work and I have tonnes to do so really he isn't going to get much of a break! I deposited my Mom at the ferry terminal yesterday so that she could get back to work and get off baby watch. I doubt she'll get off baby watch anyway, she'll call me a thousand times today! Its nice to be coddled! I have a midwife appt. tomorrow and I'll have to eat a nice slice of crow so wish me luck! Ta!

family

family
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Ok, admittedly not the best photo of myself. But these pics where it is all 3 of us are rare! As you can see, baby #2 still being shielded from the outside world by a thick layer of fat! As of tuesday sept 20 @ 9pm no baby and no murmurings of baby! I have just over a week and a bit to go. Then of course I'll be overdue and then everyone can start pestering me with phone calls that start out with, "have you had the baby yet?" I am going to try my best to enjoy these last few days/weeks of pregnancy the best I can. I'm going to go for a pedicure sometime this week. Really just to check and see if I still even really have toes!

Not yet

Just wanted to let everyone know that we haven't had the baby yet. There are no pictures today or yesterday because I'm too fat to get anything done. Not to mention scatterbrained! Today my Mom, Maeve and I went to Metrotown to go shopping. My Mom got new shoes, Maeve got some tub toys and I got nothing. How rude! I guess being this pregnant pretty much rules out buying new clothes and since being pregnant rules out buying shoes because our feet spread I was left with bags and accessories. I'm not into bags like Auntie Erin and Maeve are so I was left with accessories. Now, when one has a giant basketball sticking out in front of her what could compete I ask you? Nothing. So, empty handed I left the mall.
On a side note we met a very nice man who told me I was having a son. I have had several dreams that I am having a boy. Contact a member of the Mussellam fam and lay your bets. I'm taking the money either way but I'll need it more if it turns out to be a boy!

Hi gang!

Well, the full moon has come and NO baby! Damn chart readers. My mother has provided an exit clause and that is, the full moon will "start" baby evacuation! She says it may take 2 days. So, fingers crossed for all of us as we have quite a week or two or three but hopefully not four ahead of us! We are all well and good, celebrating Maeve and Auntie Sara's birthday. No baby but lots of early labor! I'm holding out for the "good" rooms at the hospital anyway! No one can force a baby out no matter how much castor oil one drinks! I'll tell that tale another day! Just wanted to update you all that we are fine and well and anxiously awaiting the birth of baby #2 whenever she is ready!

dorakitchen

dorakitchen
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Well, I apologize for becoming blog lazy. This is a picture from last weekend! Hey, you are lucky you are getting anything at all! You should see what poor Michael has to deal with. No hot meals, he has to wash all the dishes and sweep the floor. Now now, before you call him cinderella I do manage to get some stuff done! Maeve is doing good, seems to understand that there will be a baby sister coming her way soon. Hopefully this weekend but it is understood that the latest stubborn Mussellam will make her way into the world on her own timetable not mine! My mother is going to be coming over this weekend on the hopes that this IS the weekend. If not this weekend then we shall convert the shed into some sort of Granny shack! My friend Lisa who is due 2 days before me said she thought she was going to have her baby last night! It is so much harder the second time around if you ask me! I wish I could be blissfully ignorant the second time around! Hey, Big congratulations to Angela, Milo and Casey. They welcomed little (big) brother Theo Saturday Sept 10. Also I'm throwing out big congratulations to an equally big new addition to the Shorthouse family. Deb gave birth to a beautiful baby girl at 1:30 this morning. They don't have a name just yet but she's going to have lots of fun with her twin big sisters Abby and Emma! So, whenever our little bundle of pink decides to join us will be great, there are plenty of new babies she can scream with once she is out!

cake

cake
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Another birthday weekend down. Hopefully next weekend we'll be celebrating a birth "day" for baby #2. Who knows right, she'll be here when she arrives! So, this is a picture of Maeve's 2nd birthday party celebrating her 2nd birthday! Thank goodness she isn't spoiled or anything! I put the cake right infront of her and encouraged her to dive in face first. Would she? Hardly! My dainty little girl took a tiny bite then tested the icing with her fingers. She doesn't get that from my side of the family, must be Michaels! You'll notet that there is no "evidence" of there even being a cake. That is because in all the excitement I failed to snap a photo of it! We do have video of her blowing out the candles and biting the cake but no stills of it. We'll have to call on Auntie Sara and her awesome new birthday present camera to see if she got a picture of the actual cake! Let me tell you, it was no Dora cake but the fam seemed to like it!

I had an absolutely great weekend. 2 Bdays on saturday and a day of shopping at Metrotown with the Aunties on sunday. Ahhh this is the life!

makeup

makeup
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Hi kids. Last night Maeve discovered make up. Thanks go a little bit to Auntie Caca who showed Maeve blue makeup when we were in Victoria. Sorry, I digress a little bit to point the finger. If you look at this picture closely you'll see that Maeve has selected a lovely shade of silver. Her eyeliner of choice is a silver sharpie marker. Yes, thats right I said silver sharpie marker. You know, the permanent ones. She thought she looked great and who am I to disagree! I had Daddy take the picture while I ran to the computer to google sharpie removal. Fortunately all it took was a little bit of toothpaste on a diaperwipe! My god this girl is going to give us a run for our money! I for one wouldn't have it any other way!

teaparty

teaparty
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Tea for two, and two for tea!

Love the teaparty set that Auntie Caca got for Maeve. She likes to entertain her kitties! So far this morning we have been to Douglas park to hang out with Roan and Ronan. We had tentative lunch plans but they were a no go. So poor Maeve gets noodle soup with veggies! Poor me too, I really wanted De Dutch Pannekoeken! Another day perhaps! Tomorrow is midwife appt. NOT today. My bad, sorry Mom! Hope everyone is having a great day!

doracake

doracake
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

We celebrated Maeve's birthday just a bit early this year! If the stars and the planets all line up as my charts predict we will be having baby #2 on Maeve's actual birthday and we don't want to rip her off! I'm so sure she'd notice though!! I had alot of fun this weekend. I'm tired and was very cranky but I'm a-ok now! Maeve seemed to have an absolutely fantastic time playing with her cousins Siobhan and Makenna. As the two older girls ran infront of her, Maeve has heard to yell, "C'mon buddies" as she waved her arms. No one had the heart to tell her that she was the last one and that the big girls were waiting for her! It was too cute anyway you slice it! We also celebrated Maeve's friend Logan's birthday. Very fun, Maeve got to play with a balloon for the first time in her life (mean mother) After Logan's bday we came home and maeve had teaparties with her two kittens and baby doll. Auntie Caca got her a porcelain tea set and boy does Maeve love it! My girl is such a girly girl! And I love that! I'm really happy I have such a wonderful family. Everyone helped make Maeve's victoria bday a smash and I'd just like to say I love you all and thank you very much! Can't wait until you are forced to do it twice a year! ha ha

Labour Day Weekend

Well kids, how rude. No picture today. Hopefully we'll have tonnes after this weekend. The Mussellam Clan is heading over to Vancouver Island to celebrate Maeve's 2nd birthday. Can you believe we've had her for 2 whole years? Time has flown let me tell you! Maeve's Uncle Jaycie has been kind enough to host this family bbq/birthday party. Maeve's Auntie Robyn is making Maeve the cake of all cakes! A Dora birthday cake. I'm pretty excited! Siobhan and Makenna (Maeve's cousins) will be there along with their parents. Its quite a small shindig but it sure will be nice to see my whole family! We are coming back sunday morning to attend a little friend named Logan's 2nd birthday party. After those festivities we have one more party to celebrate. Thats right, it is Michael's birthday on the 5th. Hopefully Aunties Erin and Sara can come over have dinner and some cake! Well, enough blabbing with no photos. I hope everyone has a safe and happy Labour/or day weekend!

treehugger

treehugger
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Tree hugger and gigantic mother! This weekend past we went to granville island to watch the kites, kick around the ole soccer ball and climb some trees! Michael calls this Maeve's "Jesus" pose. I say she is cute as pie. Even though she is a total brat! Ok, not a total brat she does have redeeming qualities! Yesterday she woke up making kissy noises! Ok, ok, she isn't a brat at all but the most perfect little girl Michael and I have made yet! We'll see if baby #2 can keep up!

Fancy Pants

IMGP3762
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Well, I should have called this one "I DID IT". Yes, Maeve put her pants on all by herself! She was very proud. They are of course on backwards but with today's fashion, who would notice? Unfortunately she hasn't figured out which item goes on first so she is commando. I must run now to go correct the situation before she pees on my rug! Happy tuesday everyone. Sorry for the lack of blogging!

sweet

sweet
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Could she be any sweeter?
Today we dropped Auntie Caca off and hit lougheed mall. Well, mostly we hit walmart after Maeve woke up! As I was pushing Maeve in her stroller I had a particularily nasty bout with Braxton Hicks and some nice lady stopped to ask me if I needed help. It was really nice of her to ask but boy was I embarassed!
I picked up some tres cute jammies for our hospital stay. The midwife suggested I pack my baby having bag sooner as opposed to later. Little Miss baby #2 is very low and almost engaged. I'm hoping she is comfy because I'm not ready to have her out just yet!
Anyway, tonight is my party with the girls and I'm very excited. I'm extra excited that Danica will be coming with me! My midwife also gave me the all clear for a beer! Woohooo! Hope everyone has a great thursday!

ringaround

ringaround
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

My girl sure likes old skool fisher price toys. Each of the little people you see before her has a name and they enjoy playing ring around the rosie! To some of my family members that may notice Maeve is wearing pants her cousin gave her. They are for ages 6 -12 months! Since Maeve doesn't wear a diaper anymore she can stay in clothes for alot longer!
Today we have a Midwife appt. Its just a short and sweet one so I'm not expecting anything exciting. I will tell them to make sure to clear Sept 17 as this is when my Mom feels certain baby #2 will make her appearance! After midwifing I hope to hit the farmers market for the last of the blueberries! Hope you all have a very lovely day!

Shoes glorious shoes!

IMGP3702
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Hot or Not? I bought these shoes when I went to Bellingham this past weekend. I think they are totally cute. Sadly, Michael, Erin and Sara alll hate them! Let me know where you weigh in on the matter. I'm sure someone out there has to like them!!
Today we had a rough start. After not napping yesterday, Maeve went to bed quite early and as a result was UP quite early! Maeve and I drove Michael to work and then continued on to see our pals Angela and Milo. Angela is doing good despite her rapidly approaching due date. Milo was as adorable as ever. Maeve of course paid neither of them any mind and went straight for the cats. Poor cats were hugged and tea'd to death! Thank goodness they put up with all the Maeve love!

Don't forget to vote hot or not in the comment section! I wont be offended if they are overwhelmingly NOT, I will still wear them even so!

daddynpizza

daddynpizza
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Talk about a fantastic day! Erin, Sara and I drove to Bellingham to shop til we dropped at Target. Wow, how much I miss that store! It was great! We shopped, ate, and shopped some more! Auntie Sara bought Maeve a new orange kitten and some sweet Dora big girl panties! I bought Maeve a fantastic Dora placemat and some other Dora related materials that will be given out at a later date! Yes thats right, Maeve has a big big birthday coming up! Michael and I are still in negotiations on how to celebrate such a fantastic event. My mother seems to thinks that baby #2 will be making her appearance Sept 17 so we just may push back Maeve's party until we have the baby. Who knows, I'm sure one of you will tell her how we fanangled her 2birthday to best suit our needs, I'll send you her therapist bill then!
Maeve and Michael seemed to have had a great day without me. boo! Michael documented their day so I didn't miss out too much though! They hit false creek, the planetarium and some sort of pizza place! Maeve had no accidents, napped well and was just sitting down to a delicious dinner Daddy had cooked when I got back from Bellingham. I think Daddy and Maeve are a pretty good team!
Well thats it for me today. I think my friend Angela may just be having her baby today. I talked to her last night and she sounded great. We had promised to speak today but I called her an no answer. I assume that she was *just* a little busy to come to the phone! Hopefully I'm right! I hope she has a safe and speedy delivery of her baby boy! I have my fingers crossed for her! ** Update** Angela has not had the baby nor is she anytime soon. boo... but she is doing great and we shall visit her tomorrow! I'll try to get you all a picture so you can see how well this woman is functioning with a big giant belly and a active two 1/2 year old!

34weeks#2

34weeks#2
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Well kids this is what 34 weeks pregnant looks like. Well, for me anyway!
Sorry I haven't kept up the blog for a couple of days. I've been hot and cranky! Also, sorry no picture of her highness, you'll have to wait until tomorrow! Today is all about me!!!
Today I went to my girlfriend Lisa's baby shower. It was really nice. Adam Wood was our servant for the day as his wife Joanne was a very lovely hostess! I am most excited about tomorrow tho! Erin, Sara and I are all going to drive to Bellingham to hit Target! I'm pretty stoked, I do like the Target baby stuffs! Hope you all have a great weekend!

chillin

chillin
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Hi kids!
I have to recycle a picture from the weekend because I didn't get any yesterday and hopefully Maeve and I will be on our way early today. Not really sure where we are going, but we are going somewhere! I called Maeve's buddy Milo's Mommy to see what she was up to and at 37plus weeks the poor honey can't be up to too much! At least the weather has cooled down a bit! Milo and fam are busy preparing for the home birth of Milo's little brother.
I was thinking today might be a good day to hit the vancouver aquarium. I'm going to wait a bit and give Hilary and Roan a call before heading out. I know its something they like to do. Otherwise I can always fall back on wednesday farmer's market day! I think I'll save that for this afternoon tho!
So Maeve the little bugger didn't have a nap yesterday, went to bed at 8:30 and slept all the way through til 7:30. Maybe we'll try no nap today! I doubt that will work tho since she was up so early! Maybe we might have to move to napping every second day! Nothing more exciting so I'm going to go pack our lunches! Have a good wednesday!

angelbaby

angelbaby
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Don't let her angelic appearance fool you. That is the face of a child who has NOT napped and has peed on the floor I can't count how many times! Little bugger! Currently her hair is so floppy, but so adorable it can only be contained with ribbons, braids or pony tails! She doesn't seem to be doing worse for wear with no nap, its just me who is frazzled! At least the heat has let up a bit here! Today I think we are pretty much home bound. We had a pretty bumpy ride this morning and I've been advised to take it easy. Soo, no park for Maeve just our beautiful backyard!

braids

braids
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Ok, any men that read this will be bored crosseyed today, for them I've included a photo of pregnant Auntie Sara.
Today I french braided a bit of Maeve's hair. It might be hard to see in the picture but what a milestone for me. When my sister Danica and I were little my Mom always french braided our hair. I honestly couldn't wait until Maeve's hair was french braid-able! Technically it isn't complete but it keeps the frothy bits of long curly hair out of her eyes! Maeve of course looks gorgeous even with the frothiest of hair but this made her look just a little bit more grown up to me. Wahhh my baby isn't going to be a baby much longer!!
Ok, enough about hair! On sunday we went to Granville Island water park with Aunties Erin and Sara. Maeve being the "kitten" she is didn't seem to enjoy the waterpark at all. Well, she did like the puddles until she got a full on face splash. She didn't mind the sprinklers if I was holding her. She did draw offense at running through the sprinkler with an Auntie and crashing into an unsuspecting toddler. Great, years of therapy to repair that one! haha just teasing! After the waterpark we had lunch and then took Maeve home to nap. I napped more than Maeve but no biggy! After nap Daddy filled up the pool and we all played in the pool until dinner! What a weekend! I can't believe that soon we'll have 2 girls to have all this fun with!

swim

swim
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

As per usual Maeve has no shortage of potential boyfriends. This is Logan McDougall, he is 2 days older than Maeve. Maeve and Logan first became pals in California. They had lots of fun learning how to walk together and playing at Northgate Mall! Logan will be a big brother soon too. Gen, his Mommy, is due in January. Just like Auntie Sara!
Yesterday the BBQ was great fun. There were 3 boys from the Fast family, 3 boys from the Pelle family, 1 boy of the McDougalls, Maeve and 1 Pelle girl Emily. It was really nice to hang out with everyone this weekend. I hadn't seen the Pelle's in almost a year.While in sunny CA the Pelle brood and I had a standing weekly date, then nothing for a year! Thankfully the Pelle's have moved closer to civilization and we'll be able to rope Leslie in for some wild and crazy ladies nights! Crazy Craig McEwen has invited us to a waterpark this am so we might just do that. It was 34degrees yesterday 93degrees to any american's reading this! It was hot!!

slurp

slurp
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Mmmmm tasty pool water. Delicious! After a massive naptime war Maeve woke up a happy little pink kitten. I am a little worse for wear but happy the weather is so nice! Today we filled up Maeve's pool and splashed around before she decided drinking the pool water was a good idea. Gross. As I watch her drink it I can't get rid of the memory of what garden hose water tastes like! Thankfully we know now what we didn't know then and bought the hose that is safe to drink from. Blech.. think of all that lead that was leached into our hose water back in the good ole days! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Sorry my blogging has been lacking lately. I've been lazy! I'll try to keep up! I will point out that you all are lazy in the posting a comment department so there! Anyway, have fun these last few weekends of summer!

Hi gang,

Hope everyone is well. No picture today though, sorry! Wednesday was a bit of a bust as far as blogging goes too!
Wednesday we had a midwife appt. Baby #2 is doing well. Good heartbeat and very reactive (read this to mean she kicked our midwife). The midwife says that the baby is very low, although not engaged in my pelvis it is a good sign for us because Maeve very stubbornly refused to drop! After midwifing we hit the farmer's market and Riley park with Roan and Hilary.
Thursday we drove Daddy to work and then headed over to play with Milo and Angela. Poor Angela looks about ready to burst! She is 37 and a bit weeks and looks fantastic, but ready to pop! I bet Angela will have her second baby boy sooner rather than later. Maeve played with Milo and made sure that Milo's kitty cats had enough mustard sandwiches and coffee! Go figure, what a little nut she is! Now we are home and Maeve is napping. I'm going to attempt to make blueberry muffins. I know, I'm amazing! I'll try to get pictures tomorrow! This weekend we are hitting a BBQ out in Mission. I'm sure we'll be able to get one or two interesting shots! ta everyone! Happy thursday!!

shoes

shoes
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Thems some big shoes to fill! Bad news, it turns out Maeve will most likely share the same shoe/bag fetish that affects her poor Auntie Erin. Maeve enjoys wearing everyone's shoes. She particularily likes flip flops. She wedges the toe part between her fat little piggies and basically skiis in them.. too funny.

run

run
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Run run run just as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread... er.. man?

Ha ha, we had a lovely weekend. Pretty low key to say the least. Sunday we got lots of cleanup done in the am, napped and then went to Douglas park where Michael and I took turns chasing our pretty pink princess. Auntie Erin came to our house for dinner and I certainly made her work for it! Since I cracked out all Maeve's "baby" stuff saturday night, I needed a place to put it all. Enter poor Auntie and Daddy. Dressers were moved, furniture was shuffled, change tables were rearranged and shelves were put up. We are gearing up for this baby's arrival whenever she chooses to arrive that is! Today we are going to attempt a schedule change. Maeve has been napping from 3 - 6 and its throwing my game way off! Not to mention that she isn't tired for 9pm bedtime if she is up at 6! So, today Daddy woke up with Maeve at7:30 and let Mommy sleep until 8:30. Today we WILL nap earlier than 3! Have a great Monday, wish me luck on the scheduling plans!

splash

splash
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

What nice weather we are having here in sunny Vancouver! This picture is actually from last weekend when we went to visit Great Granny Grace in Richmond. They have a really great park that is split up in two. There is a super cool big kid park and an even cooler toddler park!
Today we hit Trout Lake Farmer's Market for some much needed blueberries, nectarines and some delicious coho salmon! Michael is filling up Maeve's pool and I think they are going to sit in there and splash for the rest of the day. As for me, I'm aiming to nap at some point. I'll let you know if it actually happens or not! I also have to pull out all Maeve's old baby stuff and make a list to see what we need! I can't believe there are only 7 weeks left! Time flies when you are making a baby! I guess we'll have to see if I feel the same way in 5 weeks!

owie

owie
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

Owie! Last night Maeve was out burning off some energy and it looks like she burnt out a little too much. Crash bang boom my poor little baby's head hit the sidewalk. Wahhhhhhh said Maeve, Wahhhhh said Mommy! So, we cleaned her up, iced her up, applied polysporin and Daddy whipped up this amazing bandaid! Sorry for no bloggin this week, my Mom and best friend Jacqui were here for the week! It was great!

MaeveKenny

MaeveKenny
Originally uploaded by Clan Mussellam.

What a fantastic day! Yesterday we were invited out to good 'ole Kenny's place to hang out for the afternoon! We had a great time! Maeve met up with some cool kids, TJ (9) and Trent (11?). Maeve of course immediately fell in love with TJ who very obligingly played soccer with her. Maeve, Michael, TJ and Trent played hide and seek in the very tall grass. Michael of course nearly scared the crap out of poor TJ!! Maeve loved everything about Kenny and Shannon's place; the dogs (not at first but at the end), the cat, the fish.. the dirt.. the lawnchairs.. she pretty much had a blast! Kenny made a delicious dinner and then took Maeve over to see the horses. I don't think there was anything that Kenny could have done to impress Maeve more! She loved the horses and apparently even got to see a cow too!! Today we were supposed to have Auntie CaCa over but instead she'll come tomorrow with my Mom and Granny Jack. Instead we will be heading out to Richmond to surprise Grandpa and see Great Granny Grace! Happy long weekend!