A new video...

Reuben likes to be in the jolly jumper...

The promised pictures...

For those of you who may not have checked back here in a while, you will probably need to scroll down to catch up on all the updating I've been doing...believe it or not I've posted quite a bit in the last two days...







If you look closely, you can see the teeth in the bottom of his mouth in this one:


Uncle Jonny is not teaching Reuben good behaviour, but I will admit it'd kind of a cute picture:

I have a caffeine addiction

In a sort of random and inexplicable way, I am feeling particularly good about life this morning. I'm not sure why. There isn't anything particularly special about this morning. We slept a little later than normal (read that: Reuben slept a little later than normal so the rest of us got to sleep in too.) The extra sleep was greatly appreciated, but meant that we kinda missed church.

So I think both of those things, the sleeping in and missing church, cancel each other out as far as making this a good morning. I like sleeping in, but I don't like missing church. I did have my morning coffee earlier than usual...perhaps this is the cause of my elevated mood. Or maybe I'm just really enjoying the fact that it's a beautiful day outside, I'm home with my husband and infant son, and I don't have to grumble about the fact that tomorrow is Monday and the work week will be starting all over again. I really don't miss having to go to work every day. Occasionally I miss the contact with people, but then I just call up a friend, or remind myself that Coffee Break is on Tuesday, and Wing's Night with our friends is on Wednesday, and then it's only two more days till the weekend when my husband is home all day from work anyway.

My life is weird.

...and I think it's a fairly safe bet to say that it's the caffeine causing my good spirits...I'm starting to feel somewhat jittery, and my fingers are typing faster and faster...

I have to admit I probably spend way too much of my time at home online, and not enough cleaning house and doing laundry. I'm part of a message board with women who all had babies at the same time as me, and I enjoy sharing stories with them about baby milestones and frustrations. I can be proud of myself this week though: we got ground beef on sale at the grocery store, a whole 10lbs worth, so I fried up a whole pile of it, and made enough meat loaf to last for a month! Yay me! Yet another step into housewife-hood. I really felt like my mother when I was separating the beef into little baggies to put into the freezer. I remember her doing the same thing when I was a kid. All in the name of savings...

anyway, I've been rambling on for long enough, and clearly need to find an outlet for this caffeine energy. Maybe I'll do dishes or something...yeah...right... Oh, and I will get on those pictures yet sometime soon...

He has a tooth!

Yes, you read that right, Reuben has his first tooth! My parents came down for Reuben's baptism that was yesterday, and when my dad was playing with him he found it. Of course, then the rest of us all came running and had to put our fingers in Reuben's mouth to feel it too... And there it was, a sharp little tooth poking through on the bottom. You can see that there's another one next to it that will come soon as well. My little boy is growing so fast...

We had his baptism yesterday in the evening service at Mountainview CRC. A fair number of family and friends were able to come and celebrate with us, and we enjoyed the opportunity to see everyone again. Reuben did very well for the service; he didn't even cry when he got sprinkled. I think he actually smiled at the pastor for that part. I'll post pictures later when I get them off the camera.

Other than that news, things are going well here at home. I've settled well into a routine of things finally, and I'm enjoying my new role as a mother and housewife. Coffee is an essential part of my morning, and I am ever so grateful that Facebook has a Scrabulous application. I've been once again conscripted to assist with sponsorship for this year's All Ontario Youth Convention. Thankfully I am no longer the leader of the team, and only have to worry about contacting the universities and a few other long-standing supporters. I may need to invest in a printer...

Well, I will head off for now. Pictures to come later...

He's rolling!

Well, Reuben hit another milestone today. He rolled from his stomach onto his back! He did it several times in a row, so we know it's not a fluke. A couple of times he got stuck on his arm and needed a bit of help, but the rest was all him. We've also gotten a couple of good pictures of him smiling, as you can see:

Christmas Greetings!

I figured this is probably the only time I'm going to have to put in a Christmas update as the next fews days look to be rather busy. Tim is working for the day and then this evening we're heading to his parents place to open presents. Tomorrow morning we'll have our first Christmas together as a family with Reuben, and in the afternoon we'll be heading to Chatham to celebrate with my parents and siblings for a few days. Much to do...

Christmas this year seems different for some reason. I think that reason is called Reuben. There are so many times when I look at him and I can't believe that I have a son, and he is it. Yet every time I go to pick him up from his crib and he smiles at me, I love him a little more. I've discovered there is a bitter-sweetness to being a mother. You love them when they're small, and part of you wishes they would always be small, but another part of you is so excited to see them grow up, and you can't help wondering what they will be like when they're older. And you know that deep in your heart, some day you'll have to let them go.

Anyway, as a completely random aside, I'm currently on my third load of laundry, with at least one more yet to do. Strange how even though I now have my own washer and dryer I still put off doing it until the pile overflows the basket and I no longer have socks in my drawer. I'm a procrastinator at heart, what can I say? I always intend to get better at doing things in a timely fashion, (like Christmas shopping), but for some reason I'm always waiting till the last minute. Maybe someday I will learn, but I doubt it.

Here's some pics of Reuben to end off. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and the very best of New Year's.

Forgotten titles

So I forgot to put a title on my last post...go figure...apparently pregnancy brain doesn't go away once the baby shows up. I'm in trouble.

Well, Christmas is almost here, and I've finally today gotten around to starting my Christmas shopping. Good thing the mall is in walking distance so I can go during the day. Even then the stores are crowded...but then they've been crowded for the last month, so unless you do your Christmas shopping in October, you're going to have to deal with them sooner or later. I got about halfway done, so I'll have to head out again at some point. Maybe I'll find a 24 hour Walmart and head out after Reuben's night time feeding...haha...right like I feel like getting up at that time of day. I don't think so... So braving the crowds again it is. Joy to the world.

I have discovered one problem though. Our cat has decided that she enjoys chewing on the Christmas presents once they're wrapped and under the tree. If anyone has any advice on how to deter her from this, please let me know. Otherwise I think I will have to go out and purchase some anti-chew spray ASAP.

Reuben is continuing to grow. He has discovered his voice and will babble and coo at his toys randomly. He also giggles on occasion which is really cute to hear. He's starting to be able to push himself up when I lay him on his tummy, and we have a great toy that I put infront of him that he likes to look at. I'll see if I can get some pictures of it up here. He's gaining more control over his head as well, and will soon be able to sit up on his own. He currently has some difficulty coordinating the sitting up and the holding head up at the same time, so will often fall over if you try to leave him on his own...I stick with propping him up for now. :)

So here's the latest pics:

My brilliant plan to update more hasn't really happened. It's amazing how fast your days fill up with feeding a baby, changing a baby, and putting a baby to sleep. Then to try to keep the house clean and supper on the table at the same time, well, blogging ends up on the back burner. But my dear sister has requested an update with pictures, so here we are.

My parents have just left after spending last night and today. They brought my new washer and dryer and bookshelf with them. I was expecting the bookshelf, but not the washer and dryer. Can you believe I'm actually excited to do laundry tomorrow?! I don't even have to rustle up enough loonies to do my many loads! The new bookshelf looks great in our living room, and I especially like that the cd player is now also set up so I don't have to listen to music off of the computer anymore. It may be somewhat old-fashioned, but there's something kind of nice about being able to put a cd into the machine instead of having to pick out a playlist.

Reuben continues to do well. We went for his two month appointment at the doctor this week. He weighs 13lb 2oz and had his first immunizations. He was very brave and only cried for a little bit. He smiles all the time now and is even beginning to laugh for us on occasion. I am really beginning to enjoy being a mother now that we've got a regular routine down. I will be even more thrilled when he learns to sleep through the night, but one thing at a time. Frankly I would kill for a solid 8 hours of sleep at this point...eventually it will come...

Anyway, not much else for news...so here's some pictures:

Moved and settled in

I know it's been a while since I've updated, but in all fairness, I did just have a baby, and we moved to a new place at the beginning of November. Life is busy, that's all there is to it. We've settled in quite nicely to our new home. It's a townhouse style place this time, and we quite like having our own separate unit instead of being in an apartment. It really makes a place feel like your own when you have to pay your own utility bills. I've become obsessed with turning off lights... There are some little things that still need to be done, like hanging up curtains, buying blinds for the bedrooms, picking up a garbage pail and recycling bings for outside so our house won't constantly smell like refuse, those sorts of things. But in general all the essential boxes are unpacked, and the place is really starting to feel like home.

Reuben is growing like a weed. He is now 6 1/2 weeks old and weighs 10lbs 12oz. We had our final appointment with the midwives this week, so we are no longer under their care and have to deal with the family doc from now on...we'll have to see how that transition goes. Not having a whole lot of faith in the conventional health care system I'm not particularly looking forward to it, but oh well. I've really enjoyed having someone on call that I can contact 24-7. Anyway, here's some pics...sorry they're not more up to date, but they're still cute.