Sunday, November 30, 2014

10 month / 40 month update

I am sad to say the photos will be at a minimum this time around, for a few reasons. First of all, between unpacking the house, decorating it for the holidays, Oliver having a bad accident involving much blood, and me going back to work, the number of non-Gorey photos is quite low. The main reason though is that I had to have Apple replace my phone and any photos I would like to post are in my backup, which I am too lazy to access. Also we have a big day planned with our friends Jordan and Jill including a Marlies game and tacos at a restaurant that I'm hoping to spot Drake at, so I have limited time to post this!

The update is: all is well. The kids are growing and eating and having a blast. Dakota can crawl and is working on tooth #4, 5 and 6. Ollie is healing his face gash and working on his invention and talking about Santa a lot. We are going to record a house tour soon and I can post it here.

So all I have to leave you with is this:

Instagram: @@amyjoyharrison 

Come back soon for a better update. 

And I will post about returning to work also. 

Thanks!


Saturday, November 22, 2014

Christmas tea


For my birthday, which was a couple weeks ago (27! What!) my husband decided to go the Victoria Secret route in the present department. Which I was so hoping for. Because of this, he felt the kids should buy me something separate. You know just in case someone asked Ollie what he bought his mommy and he said lingerie? Ha ha. So they the kids got me...

12 TEAS OF CHRISTMAS by DavidsTea. 

It's a tree shaped package of holiday inspired teas and it is amazing so far!

I have tried:
Organic super ginger. This one stood out to me right away from the smell. It really is SUPER ginger and your nose will agree. It contains green roiboos (caffeine free) as well as black, white and pink peppercorns for spice and stevia for sweetness. Great for when you're under the weathe r 

Eggnog. This one is also green roiboos which is great because it's more of an evening tea. It contains white chocolate and meringues as well as the yummy taste of nutmeg. At first I thought it was not very strongly flavoured but by the end of my mug I was like: wow is this tea or real eggnog? Yum. 


And lastly, sleigh ride. It's a blend of apple, hibiscus, pineapple, papaya, beers, cinnamon, raisin, almond, coconut, almonds and popped rice. I brewed a pot and my entire house smelled like the world's best cinnamon apple cider. Sleigh ride is currently in the lead for best holiday tea but I'm only a quarter way through. 

Friday, November 21, 2014

Fun questions for a day off

I've worked 21 hours in 2 days so having today off is a big pile of I WANNA DO THIIIIIS! Laundry. Hugging my children. Not wearing a bra. Breakfast over the course of 25 minutes. Yes, I said laundry. But also: social media! Today is a delicate balance between I wanna eat my little children right up (and my husband too) aaaand, I gotta read all the blogs! Here's some fun questions going around the blogosphere. (And PS after the kids went to bed and Cal was out with friends [recovering from being a stay at home dad? ha ha] I was totally on Reddit for like 2 hours: so relaxing.)

Four names that people call me other than my real name:

  1. James
  2. Bugsie
  3. Haimer haimer
  4. Soy duck

Four jobs I’ve had:

  1. Christmas wrapper
  2. Barista
  3. Freelance writer 
  4. Food service technician 

Four movies you’ve watched more than once:

  1. Fletch
  2. Bruce Almighty
  3. A Walk to Remember
  4. Into the Wild
(Most other movies I have fallen asleep before they ended.)

Four books I’d recommend:

  1. How to Raise a Spirited Child
  2. Sacred Marriage 
  3. Haunted 
  4. How to be Parisian Anywhere
This is just what I'm reading now; they're all quite good. 

Four places I’ve lived

  1. Pond Mills backing on to the Environmentally Sensitive Area
  2. The Harriston downtown
  3. Marigold St
  4. Now, Cedar Hollow

Four Places you have visited:

  1. Curitiba, Brazil
  2. Riviera Maya, Mexico
  3. Chicago, US
  4. Huntsville, Canada

Four places I’d rather be right now:

  1. So
  2. Happy
  3. At
  4. Home

Four things I don’t eat:

  1. Gummy candy
  2. Coke
  3. Overly dry desserts 
  4. Poor cut/improperly cooked beef steak that's super chewy and I'm scared I'll choke on it

Four of my favorite foods:

  1. Black cod, rare
  2. Buttered toast
  3. Instant mashed potatoes
  4. Costco's quinoa salad

Four TV shows I watch:

  1. Survivor
  2. 19 kids and counting
  3. Saturday Night Live
  4. Brooklyn Nine Nine

Four things I’m looking forward to this year:

  1. Family vacation
  2. Ballet class
  3. Making friends in our new neighbourhood
  4. Ollie starting JK

Four things I'm always saying:

  1. Is there coffee on?
  2. Have you seen Dakota's soother?
  3. Don't unplug that, the battery is almost dead.
  4. Go back to bed: It's still sleeping time. 

Four people I tag to answer these questions:

  1. Bethany
  2. Britt
  3. Kelly
  4. Steph
Off the top of my head some folks who blog or keep group pages. Cheers!

Friday, November 7, 2014

Oh, You should see MY diaper bag

I just read an adorable post by my friends over at threelittlecrowns highlighting what's in Britt's toddler diaper bag. As with everything they do, I loved it. And what's more, despite all of the over-stylized, picture perfect bloggers out there who try to make their life seem one way when really it's another, I actually believe Britt. On every item. Those two at threelittlecrowns are a rare combo of beautiful and honest.

But I had to laugh. Because my current "diaper bag" is not even worthy of being seen by me.

I mean if you could only see what's insi....

YOU CAN.

Here's the really-not-beautiful truth of my mother-of-two diaper bag:

- The bag: a black "I don't know what this style is called, you could cart a bowling ball around in it?" purse that I bought at Forever 21 with a giftcard from my brother Curt, who I've recently just started calling "my brother" instead of "my brother in law" because he gave me work out tips (he's a body builder type) on how to make my butt bigger and I feel like that makes us close. The bag is both a diaper bag and a purse because my kids are pretty important to me, but not important enough to make me carry two bags.

- The wallet: it came inside of a Nine West purse that my best friend (in Amsterdam!) bought me years ago and despite the fact that it was free inside, I still feel like an elitist designer snob when I pull it out (to get my coupon for a free coffee at Tim Horton's)

- Diapers, on diapers, on diapers: the thing is, days when we leave the house at 7am and return at midnight happen more often than I'd care to admit. Like, my best friend on my street thought we had already moved away because our car is never home. So when I have a little lady who still pees in her pants, the purse is getting filled to the brim with diapers.

- A broken travel wipes dispenser: which I have notified Huggies about because things I paid $2 for should not break.

- A pair of sunglasses but only one eye has a lens and I'm unsure why I haven't thrown them away. Like maybe if I really need them I could just squint one eye closed and give up depth perception while I'm driving for a minute?

- Usually my phone, well like 75% of the time, the other 25% it's still on the charger or laying on the kitchen table (Crap!)

- Usually my keys, well like 98% of the time, there was that time last week that I drove 40 minutes home then realized I left them with Calvin, so I drove all the way back to where he was got them and drove home. Just kidding I stopped at Starbucks midway through and poured hot espresso in my mouth to make the situation bearable

- Between 1 and 28 socks that don't belong to me, same goes for mittens and hats

- Enough wrappers from straws, Halloween candy and granola bars, coupled with receipts I don't need and parking tickets (like the kind you pay for, not the kind a cop gives you), to fuel a small fire for 24 hours

- A panic button for my job because I work in high security, I have never pushed it in jest, but I have accidentally broken it by storing it in the fridge with my lunch

- Eco-friendly organic alcohol-free hand sanitizer in "grapefruit & oil of oregano", for the kids; Bath & Body Works all-in alcohol-bonanza hand sanitizer in "harvest peach" for me

- 1 sole packet of stevia in case I become a diabetic who likes sweetened coffee one day soon

- A diva cup, because we all know lightening doesn't strike twice and my first round of motherhood I was blessed with a break from lady-cycles from October 2010 to Spring 2013. It's only fair that this time around, despite my passion for extended breastfeeding freakshow, my shark week's a-coming.

- A handful of stale granola, I've had plenty of opportunity to dispose of it but you never know when you'll be stuck in the car for a few hours.

- A few lip colours that don't look good on me, but never a plain lip balm when I need it

- Enough loose change to buy a muffin, minus ten cents usually, when I'm in the drive thru with 8 cars behind me

- Enough restaurants crayons to keep Oliver busy for 90 seconds

- 3 travel sunscreens that surely expired in 2001, why I'm unable to finish a 0.75 ounce sunscreen is beyond me


So there you have it! I think you can gather why this post hasn't been enhanced with photos. I need not prove this information. This information is real as it gets.

What do you keep in your bag of tricks?

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