My Amauti

Here is a better look at my amauti. Right now I'm trying to fiddle with making my own ties (the one that was made for me that goes around my waste is a tiny bit too small). I think it would be fun to experiment with adding some kind of personal touch.

Kara had mentioned that her cats were very interested in her seal skin pelts and here you can see Tallinn is investigating my seal skin Kamiks. He wasn't supposed to be in the photo, but I swear every time someone picks up a camera he some how ends up in the shot like a photo HO! The one positive thing about the kamiks needing to be stored in the freezer (they're not tanned) is that they are out of reach of certain wandering puppies and kitties.

Cup of the Cakes

For valentines day this year I made some delicious cupcakes, chocolate with pink cream cheese icing. I had a lot of fun doing them, except for the part where I had to carry Ezri around the entire time. Not that I minded having her "help" me make them, but it's hard to see what your working on when there is a 2 month old hanging off your stomach. She was in a cranky mood, perhaps knowing she couldn't actually eat the cupcakes I made, and would only sleep while being carried.

I'd like to think I'm developing my super mom skills!And if you were wondering about my romantic other half, he said for my Valentines day gift this year he would not hassle me about how much my amauti cost and also he cleaned the litter box. Very well appreciated, practical gifts. All and all a pretty awesome Valentines.

And Now for your entertainment...

When I first got pregnant, my brother Aleks put together this image. He took a photo of a lady in an amauti and photoshoped my face on to it. He also took my baby photo and Nathan's and morphed them together to create the creepy baby in the hood. That is not Ezri. My mom thought it was so cute, she printed it off and stuck it in her wallet. I cringe every time I see this photo...look at my hair.Well I had to take a real life photo and with hair to match. I just got my amauti and check it out how similar it is to Aleks' depiction. He must be able to see into the future. I will get better photos of it soon and with my hair not looking like it's on drugs.

Mini Him

She may not look like it, but in the world of babies, Ezri is an amazon. This 6 week old is fitting into 6 month old clothing. She has her dad to thank for that.

Mom-mobiling

I'd been back all of 1 day and I desperately needed to get out on my snowmobile. I have missed half of the season because I was down south having Ezri. I was also hesitant to snowmobile while 8 months pregnant, but I did manage to get out once, very slowly and also not on the back of Nathan's machine because he can tend to be a bit of a maniac. Generally I like to drive my own machine, I feel completely out of control when I'm riding with someone else and find the experiance way less appealing. I'm a woman in charge, I need to have my own ride.

While I was down south I noticed more snowmobiles driving around the country side and also picked up on tracks in farmers fields. I was clearly sick for my machine and drooled every time I saw someone else riding. I could almost say that I had a little tear in my eye every time I caught someone else on a machine. I knew that I needed to get out as soon as I got back, but didn't know when that would happen with Nathan getting back to work and the baby. Thank goodness I was able to sneak in a small, but tasty trip in yesterday. Thank you handy, diaper changing husband, I think I'll keep you around.

The photo is of my friend Morena and myself out on the frozen inlet, you can see town behind us. We are a couple of Snowmobiling Mammas! Morena also left an infant behind at home while we went out, in fact our kidlets are a mere 12 hours apart in age!

It's good to be back.

Big Stress.

If there is one thing that stresses me out it's packing & flying home after being away from home for a long time. I have been gone for 2 & 1/2 months now (because of the baby). I'm looking forward to returning home, but nothing that falls between getting up tomorrow and 5pm tomorrow. EEEk!

The dog also feels my stress. Although he loves driving in the car, when he sees us packing the suit cases he knows we'll be flying and starts stressing out, panting and drooling. The two of us are a pair really, except I control myself from the drooling.

The worst part is only getting half way home and getting stuck in Iqaluit because of weather, mechanical or mystery reasons (you know like the sky is full of killer bees and we can't see through the cloud so we'll not be making you flight home today, have a nice day). So, tomorrow there is a blizzard in the big I.Q. and I'm almost guaranteeing I'm not going to be sleeping in my own bed tomorrow.

Please everyone in blogdom send your mojo over to the eastern arctic and blow this blizzard outta here!!

Out to Wash

I think any new mom is freaked out about most things. Everything is new and it doesn't matter how much advise you get the first time you do anything it's frightening. It's no different for the first bath. I recently bought a Baby Spa bath, it's basically an over glorified, expensive plastic bucket (except all the celebrities have one). I tried her in the bathtub and also the sink, involving me using the counter and my chin to squeeze out the shampoo, because I couldn't remove either of my hands for that task. I had to hold her up, if that meant getting soaked & covered in shampoo. The Baby Spa is supposed to help the infant sit up while you wash. However she kept sliding to the side and wanting to take a little dip, of course I didn't let her go under, but sit up by herself she didn't. I'm thinking I will get better use out of it when she is a little larger. The other problem is that I can't take it back to Nunavut. She'll probably be big enough the next time we are down and hopefully baby number 2 will get a lot more use out of it.
Calling all moms: Anyone had to deal with Baby Acne? Do you have any super tips?

Fat Bottom Girl, You Make My Rockin' World Go 'Round!

I know you're all eager to see more baby photos (not). Nathan reminded me the other day, after telling everyone about something cute Ezri did, that not everyone wants to hear about baby stories. And then I realized oh gawd I'm a mom. So I guess this is going to be another mommy blog, too bad for you.

Aleks (my brother) made up this Warhol-esk photo of shots of Ezri. He had made a movie of her the other night and we are probably going to play at her wedding (because we are evil). Of course I think every face is freaking hilarious, but is that just my mom eyes?

My little Jabba The Hut was weighed a few days ago at the doctors office and she is 11lbs 5ozs! Up 3lbs from her birth weight. I guess that puts her above 95% of the babies in her age/height group. This of course meant that I had to go get her a couple more, larger footie PJammas to last us when we head back north. Oh, Children's Place and Baby Gap, how you give me a shot of sweet adrenaline. The one thing I have learned as a new mommy thus far is that pants look ridiculous and footie Pjammas are really the only way to go in terms of convenience and comfort. I only wish that A) they made them in adult sizes and B) it would be socially acceptable for me to wear them everyday.

*I know I changed my header a few days early, but I didn't want to forget with my lack of brain.

She who occupies my time

This is my excuse for being a bad blogger. And I don't mind one bit.


We return to the north in a week and I can't wait to get back home. Hopefully my posting will pick up a little when I'm back.

Baby Dr. Evil Demands...

...that you take part and vote for this years "Nunies" awards for Best Nunavut Blog, Best New Nunavut Blog and Best Post from a Nunavut Blog here.

My Reign of Power is Coming to an End

Well I've spent one glorious year as Queen of Nunavut...ha ha ahhh I mean champion of Nunavut... I guess that's not right either. My blog won some awesome awards last year called "Nunies" and their time of power is coming to a close. It's a whole new year and a whole lot of other wonderful blogs contending for the awards.

The Nunies blogging awards are the baby of Clare from The House and Other Arctic Musings and although most of us in the Nunavut blogging community agree Clare should take all these titles, he has graciously opted out of being nominated so the rest of us have a chance.

I have left this a little late as this is the last day to submit nominations, but I have good excuses! You can check out how to nominate your favourite Nunavut Blog over here. You can also check out a whack load of fantastic Northern Blogs on my side bar. Don't be fooled they aren't all from the Superior Nunavut community, you'll have to check where they are writing from before you submit a nomination. (I'm just kidding, you know I love all my Northern blogs just the same!)

Someone ate my Cadbury Creme Eggs!

The only evidence was the nicely emptied box of one of the 3 packs of Creme Eggs, with a few teeth marks. All egg and egg wrapping was nonexistent. I asked Nathan if he had consumed the eggs, because he has been known to gobble them down so fast he has left teeth marks in the box as well. When he denied this accusation, we immediately knew who done it!
Don't worry he is still alive. This is just how Tallinn likes to sleep. The Creme Eggs only gave them some obnoxious gas and no other lasting effects. Just like the Nerds and Sweetarts he was into over Christmas! He didn't like those as much, only spending the time to taste the flavor before spitting them back out onto the carpet. We don't just leave these things out for him, he snipes them and then unwraps them carefully. Sometimes he tries to hide the packaging and it doesn't turn up until days later. We try our best to keep these things away and out of reach and then again sometimes I'll come out and find him standing on his hind legs scoping out things on the kitchen counter. Meanwhile he knows he isn't even allowed in the Kitchen, but that's only a rule to be obeyed under a watchful eye. At least he is enjoying his vacation down south.

Twenty Two Pounds & Dropping (hopefully)

A Baby Story

Well it's been just over a week....and I still can't believe I'm responsible for a little person. As you can imagine I haven't had much sleep and although she is just one tiny jelly bean, she has occupied most of my waking hours, which has been pretty much most of the 24 out of a day.

I was still not experiencing any real contractions when we finally arrived at the hospital. We got checked in and you can imagine how busy it was at 5am on Christmas Eve... I felt like we were in some resident Evil video game, no one around and your just waiting for zombies to come out of the rooms and start chasing you. Of course because I wasn't experiencing any kind of discomfort the nurses had us walk around the halls... the empty halls, the ones with possible zombies, to see if that would bring on some contractions. Since that didn't happen and the zombies kept to themselves we took entertainment from an abandoned wheel chair. My sister-in-law Jen raced down the hallway to see how fast she could go, then Nathan and of course then I had to try as well. When we finally got into the delivery room the nurse said I was too jolly to be in labor. Clearly I was having WAY too much of a good time, so they put me on Oxytocin, allowing me to have more consistent and real contractions. At this point I was on my way into a world of pain. A world that I would be rescued from by Captain Epidural.
I had waited a while to see how bad the contractions actually were and finally decided after Nathan was trying to use tickling as pain control that I finally was ready for the Epidural. I recommend it for anyone who is interested. I had a fantastic experience. I was so pain free and in such a calm state that we all stopped to watch Extreme House Makeover in between pushing when it was finally time. Here I am after the epidural, and boy did it feel good.
The whole thing from start to finish took about 12 hours and it felt like it just flew by. I didn't think I'd actually want to see it happening, but finally broke down and asked for a mirror and watched the entire thing, it was incredible (especially because I couldn't feel a thing). It's not anything I could possibly describe... I was one person before and a completely different person the moment the kid popped out.
I have never felt such passionate emotion and love for one tiny little thing. Of course I've spent the last week completely jacked on hormones and can start balling at the drop of a hat. I'm freaked out about everything, is she too hot, too cold, what are the spots on her face, is she eating enough? I have also never felt so content.

Introducing Ezri Eve .E.
Triple E
E Cubed
Tallinn's Sister

We settled on the middle name Eve because she was born on Christmas Eve. It was my sister Jen's suggestion and it jived well, especially because we pretty much didn't have a name up until the point I was in the middle of labor.

Merry Christmas Baby!

Well that was slightly unexpected.... What an incredible experience! Ezri arrived at 4:50 pm on Christmas Eve, weighing in at a hardy 8lbs 5oz. She decided to wait for her daddy to arrive, my water broke only 2 hours after Nathan arrived from Nunavut at 4am, Christmas Eve. She also decided it was a good time to come, in the middle of a huge snowstorm. My sister in law was the one taking me to the hospital and we couldn't even make it out the drive way there was so much snow. When she tried to open her door, it was stopped by the massive snow accumulation and she ended up first calling my brother in law on her cell phone "Yeah, we haven't even made it out of the driveway!", and then did some crazy acrobats, climbing out the car window! All I could think about was what a birth story this was going to make! After Nathan, my father-in-law and brother-in-law shoveled us out, we promptly got ourselves stuck again 5 ft back on the road. Luckily with the good excuse of labor, a neighbour nudged us out with his massive monster truck. This is all after we watched the plow drive down the road, with it's shovel high in the air...that didn't quite make any sense. I'm assuming the plow was just on an early morning joy ride? Here is Nathan trying to dig us out. More photos & story to come...

37 & half weeks

These will be some of the last pregnancy belly shots I'm going to get in before the big day comes. I was lucky enough to get my great friend Julie (you all remember the super fantastic photographer) to take some shots. We kept trying to get out and take these photos but Ontario weather is quite schizophrenic and were delayed 3 times. The day previous to these photos the 4 feet of snow was washed away with rain and plus 8 degrees C. Then the day we shot, it was a snap freeze of minus 8 degrees C! All within 24 hours... it started snowing again that evening so it's back to winter wonderland. These photos might look like fall, but let me assure you I was freezing my pregnant belly off. Not to mention the ill effects it had on my boobs. We would stop periodically so I could warm up in my coat and Julie could melt her fingers. I even had to keep her battery warming up against my back in the elastic part of my maternity pants. Yeah, yeah it doesn't compare to Nunavut. But cold is cold! Minus 8 is darn cold on the boobs be you in Nunavut or the southern tropics of Ontario. The shots turned out amazing, displaying a very glamorous side of pregnancy. Tomorrow I might just show you some stretch marks so we don't stray too far away from reality.

The four of us

These are my parents, Little Girl will be their first grandchild, so they are pretty excited. Arguably the most excited grandparents in history. I figure it's because this time around they are going to get all the fun and excitement of a child, minus all the poop and sass talk they got from their own kids...oh and I made sure they got their full dose of that while I was growing up. I'm in for some real karma pay back.There are only 3 weeks left until my little human addition will be here. Things are starting to become a little uncomfortable, but I still don't have too much to complain about. Everything seems to be pretty normal and on track, except that I don't feel terribly comfortable unless I'm in a completely straight position, bending in any way is hard work. Even sitting in a chair can be a challenge, depending on how the little pretzel inside of me is sitting. So that leaves standing and laying down. Standing is hard, my feet are swollen. Laying down also a challenge, I have horrendous pain if I lay on my back(which your not supposed to do anyways at this point) or side pain laying on my side. Yeah, of course it's all worth it, especially when I get to finally put her in those cup cake patterned, footsie pajamas I bought today. Yep, it's all worth it, until she learns how to back talk.

Meanwhile, I'm still down south patiently waiting for the day when Nathan is supposed to come down. My family has done a wonderful job of keeping me entertained and distracted, but I am still counting every second until he comes down. Mainly because I really need a good foot rub!

Christmas Shopping: Shopping in a store vs. Online

Now that I'm down south, one advantage to Christmas shopping is the instant gratification you get in a store making a purchase, not like having to wait 10,000 years for it to show up in the mail, the way it shows up north, when ordered online. It takes a little adjustment period for me switching from online to in store shopping... even though I regard myself as an high level experiance shopper (Nathan is nodding his head in agreement right now, whilst crying silently into his wallet). I am a shopping Ninja...but not in the find the deal kind of way. No, more in the stamina, can shop till I drop kind of way. I usually know what to get and where.

Except recently I have been finding it hard in some stores. I have become a little jaded shopping online. If I need a book, I go to amazon, pump in the title of the book and BAM it pops up. In a store...I acutally have to go and look for that book... peruse the isles. I recently became frustrated in Futureshop because I knew the title of the movie I wanted but could not for the life of me find it. I also couldn't find a sales person to help me either. I felt so helpless needing the help of another person to shop, like my ego was taking some kind of hit. All I wanted was for some magical "search box" to appear in front of me so I could type in the movie I wanted and click purchase. Traditional shopping, in a sense is becoming too slow and inconvenient for me.

Did you know that when your in the south things show up in the mail really, REALLY fast? It's kind of weird for me to think that I could be in the south, but prefer to some extent to continue shopping online. Shopping online also adds some sanity into your life after you've spent a Saturday afternoon at Walmart during their extended holiday hours. No one should go to Walmart on a Saturday, let alone during the Christmas season. That is one way to throw a laid back Nunavummiut into an anxiety attack.

You want Photography, I'll give you Photography!

My friend Julie, who I met spending two amazing, but long years in photography with has started her own blog. This blog demonstrates her incredible talent and bug for traveling, mixed in with some random photos of her cats and daily life. I urge you all to go over and have a look at some of her gorgeous work. You can also read what she has to say, but I guaruntee you'll stick around for the photos! Check it out here "Insert Witty Blog Name Here"

These photos stolen directly from Julie's site. Photo Credit Miss Ju-lie.

Showered With Gifts

One benefit of being down south is getting lavished with my mothers party throwing talents. She went over the top for her first Granddaughter today, we had about 30 guests at the shower. she made many delectable snacks such as gourmet carrot cake cupcakes, with baby blue birds made of icing on the top. I figure this child won't need a single thing for the entire first year of her life.

Now I almost feel prepared for this little one coming along, we even have the first name, Ezri (ez-Ree), but are still missing a middle name. Nathan thinks he is picking, but perhaps I can give him some ideas. Anyone have any suggestions on a normal middle name that would go well with Ezri?