Loic

Friday, November 30, 2012

Such a good baby

Today I took Maelle for her 6 month vaccine (late, I know). She didn't even cry! She was sitting there smiling at the nurse and while she did stop smiling, she didn't cry when she got her shot. What a good baby.

The nurse said she was lovely (I knew that already).

Today is the last study day for my exam. Rob finished the floor project last night so tonight he gets to....quiz me on my exam material! Fun times on a Friday night! It reminds me of the days where I would be studying for exams and he would help me by quizzing me on the material.

-E

Thursday, November 29, 2012

It is a big difference

Studying before kids and after kids are two very, very different things.

Before kids I would set aside giant chunks of time to study and while I was distracted (mostly by my dogs, laundry, cooking) I was free to study as I wished. And eat when I was hungry. Now? Totally different ball game! A much better ball game mind you but harder to study :)

Oh my gosh I have no free time to study. And when I do, I am tired. Like, really tired. Today I managed an hour when baby napped this morning and Loic was at preschool, an hour before dinner when Jody watched the kids (Rob was knee deep in flooring) and an hour after the kids went to bed. I am done.

All of this aside, I feel mostly prepared for my exam on Saturday morning. I want to do well and feel like I am prepared so I am hoping it all pays off for me.

Wish me luck. Think good tree/knot/biology/rope/safety/soil/water/species/planting/pruning/assessment/fertilizer/random vocabulary thoughts for me on Saturday morning please!!

-E

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

A fun Day

Today the kids and I went to the Aquarium to visit Jody on her last day there. We had a really fun time and we were invited to her lunch, which was nice to be a part of :)

While Loic can be trying at times, mainly when he is tired, he is a total joy to have out and about. He was happy as a clam at the aquarium and we took in a show and did some crafts and had a fun lunch. Baby didn't take her morning nap and instead just hung out in the Ergo, taking in all the fish. She didn't make a fuss at all though, such a good girl!

Our new tenant moves in on Saturday so naturally Rob has ripped out the flooring he recently put in down there. Aghrhhhh! I know it has to be done but it is stressing me out. Speaking of stress...my ISA exam is on Saturday. Oh fun times. I am going to finish this post and hit the books.

I shall leave off with a great photo of baby that my Dad took. She seems quite skeptical of Grandpa these days but at least she didn't burst into tears when she saw him last! She just gives him quite the look:

"I am keeping an eye on you Grandpa!"

(She is so frigging cute)

She was sitting on the bed and she alternated between staring at my Dad and staring at his reflection in the mirror :)

-E

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Slow Cooker dinner

Erin, did you get yourself a slow cooker yet? You will need one for when baby comes!

I had a few packages of beef short ribs in my freezer and didn't know what to do with them. I am busy studying today while baby naps (I can hear her now...she is teething so naps are a bit short for my liking this week) and Loic is spending the afternoon with my mom so I decided to put some short ribs in my slow cooker for dinner.

I had a small package so I put them in the slow cooker with:

- half an onion, sliced
- about 1.5 cups of beef stock (just used the powdered stuff with hot water)
- a few generous splashes of Worchestier sauce
- a splash of ketchup
- salt and pepper on the meat (I was generous)
- some garlic powder
- a few spoonfuls of brown sugar

***Edited - these were tastier than I thought they would be!! And were really good served with brown rice and a green salad**

We shall see what they taste like! They smell pretty good already. I will serve them with brown rice or potatoes and a salad. Loic is eating at my parents house, he isn't a fan of beef yet but likes all other meats. Funny kid.

-E

Monday, November 26, 2012

A big thank you

To: Jody and Jess, who walked both Tyler AND Loic at the park this morning and who brought me home a much needed study coffee :)

To: Baby Maelle for being a rock star at napping yesterday when I had a study date with Jen, she slept for the whole thing! Good baby. Today she took a great morning nap and a shorter than normal afternoon nap but I can't complain, she is great at napping this girl.

To: My folks (mainly my mom :)) for taking Loic for the whole afternoon and for tiring him out! He could barely eat dinner and was fast asleep at 7:00 tonight. AND for taking him again tomorrow afternoon, he sure loves those outings.

To Loic: This no nap time is taking some adjusting for all of us - we do like the flexibility during the day and the early bed time, but the random end of the day freak outs are not quite as awesome. However, he is still generally very funny and easy going so we can't really complain! And the early bed time is good for studying this week.

To: Rob - even though you are out all night tonight :) you are a very big help when I have to study and are a very, very awesome Dad. And you helped me study last night without saying "I don't understand why you don't get this" which (ahem, Organic Chem) does not tend to go well for you.

I leave you with a picture of Loic and Lucy. Lucy is Jody's parents dog (another LA rescue dog from the same shelter as Paco) and she feels that laps are always for sitting on, even when said lap is a 3 year old chatty little boy, and even when said little boy happens to push you off of his lap!

Lucy says "Any lap will do!!"

:) (Jody took the photo)

-E

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Tired tonight (and a Dino)

I am studying for my arborist exam - it is on Dec. 1st at 9:00 am. There are 16 parts (chapters) to know and while I really enjoy some of them, like the plant biology and construction chapters, I am not a fan of ch.16 which is titled "Climbing and Working in Trees". This chapter requires you to know about all of the knots and climbing equipment and how to cut and lower limbs out of trees; not my forte. I have to pass each section and need 72% overall to get my ticket. I think you can repeat sections if you fail specific ones (here is looking at you ch.16!) but that is not what I want to do.

Loic is tired today too - he had a really fun day and then had a fit and dinner and fell asleep before 7:00. I think the week without napping has caught up with him!

I am off to study "Rigging" and found an online tutorial which should help.

I shall leave you all with a photo of Loic's favorite dinosaur, the Ankylosaurus. We have one named "Hank":

I will be a better blogger tomorrow but for now, if anyone has any arborist exam words of wisdom please let me know!!

-E

Saturday, November 24, 2012

The best tenant ever

Jody has moved out :(

She has lived with us since September of 2010 and her living in our basement suite has been hands down the best experience for our family and her too (I hope!).

I know I have written about it before, but we are going to miss all of the dinners upstairs, the breakfasts, the back yard play dates, the dog walks, the coffee shared on the couch or in the yard and the other fun times. We have loved having Abby and Ryan live downstairs too, they are great dogs. Loic *loves* Abby which makes us laugh because there is a very clear don't pet Abby rule in place! I think living with a baby and toddler has taught Ryan that kids drop a lot of food :)

Jody loves my kids like they are part of her own family and I will always be grateful for her friendship. I love how Loic asks her to come up "just for a little visit" or says "Can I go downstairs to say Hi to Aunty Jody?" I know she isn't leaving us for good but it the end of an awesome chapter in our lives and it is hard.

We wish you good luck on your next endeavor and you had better spend a heck of a lot of time over here now that you don't live one flight of stairs away!! Remember, no need to call, just come on over - your place at our dinner table is always waiting for you.