Welcome to the Peanut Gallery

This is an introduction to the bag of nuts that is my family! There is never a dull moment in this house-hold and a day doesn’t go by that we don’t all share a good laugh (usually brought on by my husband).

Tyler
The true yang to my yin, he keeps me grounded and in balance. I could never imagine being married to someone who is the same as me! I could very easily daydream my life away and that is definitely not Tyler’s thing (thank goodness)!! He is hard-working, risk-taking, a true rebel at heart, yet thoughtful and the greatest friend anyone could have.

Ty is somewhat of a savant when it comes to constructing things. There is nothing in this world that he cannot build and that is no lie! This talent combined with his dare-devil nature has led him to his passion and career of constructing communication towers. On an average work day you can find him at the top of a 350 ft tower. And if he’s not at the top of a tower (or with us) he’s most definitely on his Harley.

Needless to say, his job is not a 9 to 5‘er. The work days are long and he’ll sometimes have to go “on the road” in a day’s notice (like right now, he's all of a sudden in Daughin. Who knows how long). Luckily he hasn’t had too many long trips since Hayden’s been born, but it’s not uncommon for him to be gone for a week here or there. For this reason, I am a stay-at-home mom. I can’t imagine the day-care drop-off, pick-up, working full-time, making healthy meals, staying on top of laundry, etc all by myself. I know some mom’s do it and I am truly in awe!

Hayden Mary
My sweet little baby/toddler is almost 22 months old! Time goes by too fast. I wish I could press pause on every giggle and attempted jump (she can‘t quite get both feet off the ground) and savor the moments a little longer! Her personality evolves every day! She is becoming more and more animated as her communication skills grow.  She is very gentle and compassionate and never hesitates to share her toys or snacks.

Her current favourites include: Cats - pictures of cats, pretending to be a cat, her cat stuffies … I wish we actually had a cat! Elmo - no explanation required. Caillou - I think Caillou is actually the Bart Simpson of the toddler world and I sometimes wonder if she should watch his antics. Books, books, books. She is obsessed with our dog, Rocky. She also loves all of her grandparents whom she refers to as “Bapa” and “Bama“.

Rocky
Of course our dear friend and companion, Rocky, is part of our family! Tyler brought him home out of the blue one day 7 years ago and he’s been here through thick and thin ever since! When he was a baby, Ty would bring him to work and Rocky would run around the job site or sleep in the work truck. When Ty went on the road, he would come stay with me at the farm. He’s had a very wonderful life and I’m certain he would agree.

Although he probably wonders what he did to deserve being harassed by a miniature human on a daily basis. Poor Rocky. Hayden loves him so darn much she just can’t control it! She wants to hug him and lie on top of him, cover him with blankets and give him all her toys. She feeds him her snacks and dinner (probably the reason he tolerates her). She gets so excited, she chases him, waving her arms and squealing! All of this is rather disturbing to old Rocky. But he is the gentlest of dogs and has never so much as raised a lip at her. I still monitor their interactions closely.

Number Two
Yes, I literally refer to my unborn child as “Number Two”. Let’s hope I can come up with a more suitable name before October or it might stick. (“Numero Dos” does have a ring to it!). Honestly, I do have a couple names in mind but I’ll wait until Two is born to put anything in stone.

Number Two is a peaceful little fetus. He/she is much less aggressive with the kicks and somersaults than Hayden was at this stage in pregnancy. When Two is born, he/she will likely be a sweet little baby, who just eats and sleeps and won’t cause too many disturbances. How can I assume this, you wonder? Because I’ve already done my fussy baby time with colicky Hayden. I feel like I knew Hayden was going to be a handful before she was born. A little known side-story on how she got her name:

Before I had Hayden, I literally knew nothing about babies. But I wasn’t worried, because I trusted Nature to instill the knowledge in me to instinctually know how to care for my infant. That, and I read The Baby Book by good ol’ Dr. Sears pretty much cover to cover. In the chapter on fussy and colicky babies, Dr. Sears tells the story of how out of his own 8 babies, one of them was particularly demanding. This was his daughter, Hayden. The name stuck with me! But I obviously jinxed myself. However, I wouldn’t change anything about Hayden’s newborn period. I am grateful for the experience! A little crying? No problem!

And that, is my little family of 4, soon to be 5!

Liza xoxo

　

　

Peace, Love & Peanuts :)

Hello and welcome to my blog!! If you don’t already know me, my name is Liza and I am the happy mom of 1 happy kid (.5 if you count our pup, Rocky; .5 if you count the little one currently in utero ETA mid-October).

Yes, life with a toddler is busy and you may be wondering how I possibly have time to write a blog?! Time will magically produce itself for the things we really want to do. I’ve been back and forth about starting a blog for a while and today I decided to just do it! I feel like I need an outlet to share ideas and revelations about being a stay-at-home mom, and I just love discussing all kinds of stuff with anyone who will listen!

The title of this blog has been inspired by a few of my life rules:

Peace: “First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.” Thomas A Kempis (1380 - 1471).

I would consider myself to be a peaceful person by nature. Of course that is not always true (and my husband will agree). Sometimes life can get a little hectic and “Peace” is no more than a silly ideal better left for the hippies. It’s easy, being a mom, to fall into the roll of “family dictator”. “Do this!” “Don’t do that!” “Come here!” “NOW!”. How am I supposed to be peaceful when toddlers are the farthest thing from it? They resist almost everything, do the opposite of what you ever want, and are so demanding! Since I am not equipped for the roll of “Power Mom”, I’ve found a niche that more suits my personality: “Peaceful Mom”. So when Hayden’s temper is flaring, I make sure to check my own and appreciate these little heated moments because they’re all part of her growing and its all positive.

Love: “All You Need is Love” - John Lennon.

It’s true! If you don’t agree with this then you probably just think its cheesy or your logic is telling you “Of course you need a lot more than just love!!” No, you really don’t, because as long as you have love in your heart, it will lead you to everything else you need. (that’s just what I think).

I also strongly believe that if you love something, or doing something, you should share it with the world if only to inspire others to do the same. Only good can come out of it!

Peanuts: Have you ever wondered why the Charlie Brown comic was titled “Peanuts” when there were never any references made to the shelled legume? (Similarly, this blog has nothing to do with my dad’s favourite snack.) It was called “Peanuts” after the peanut gallery, which is generally just a term to describe a silly bunch of people. So in this case, “Peanuts” represents all the ridiculousness in my life.

I’m so excited to share my thoughts and stories with you! I hope you enjoy reading about my insanity as much as I enjoy living it! Definitely comment if you have anything to share!

Xo Liza