From the Week

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Boom! It’s Friday….ALREADY! Another week in the books 🙂

Monday wasn’t so fun (for me). I woke up feeling super sick, so I headed to the doctor’s to get checked out. They said it was just a cold, but I definitely felt like death warmed over. Not to mention, the coffee pot was backed up when I tried to start it, so it was like a one two punch of crap right to the face. Not too much else happened….we grabbed some Tims (helllllllo caffeine!), some groceries and a couple of beers for Tyler. I was able to snap some pics of Wes in our bedroom!

He was getting super playful once grandma came in the room and all the giggles made me <3.

We had chili and THE BEST CORNBREAD I’VE EVER MADE for dinner. I had to eat it a bit early and super quick because I had to head out to work.

Tuesday was a better day. I still woke up feeling pretty yucky so my mom was able to help out with Wes until my meds kicked in. I have been SO lucky with my mom being here- thanks to FaceTime, Wes recognized her right off the bat and has been stuck to her like glue her whole time here. He wants to be with her no matter what and even though part of me gets jealous about their bond, I am so happy that they have it because they don’t get to see each other often. <– that makes me sad!

We drove down to Ikea in the afternoon and ended up getting all things for Wes. I don’t want to purchase any house items until Tyler is done with the renos..because you just never know how things turn out!

One of the goodies we picked up (rather, my mom bought. She has been on a buying spree while she’s been visiting!) was a tent with an attachable tunnel. Wes got the hang of it right off the bat, but my mom still wanted to demonstrate. Must’ve been the wine 😉

I had to throw together a random dinner of leftovers and again quickly head out the door for work. It was my first ‘real’ day (not training) and it was so nerve wracking! More hints as to my part-time gig: BEER + AMBASSADOR. A dream job for me because not only do I get to work with beer, but I get to do it part-time. So my days are spent with Wes and only a couple evenings a week I am out adulting! It ended up being a great shift.

I also posted about the Grapple Toy Tether. If you haven’t seen that post yet, check it out! I am giving away one Grapple and the giveaway is open until next Tuesday! If you don’t have a kiddo that could use it, it’s also a great gift option 🙂

Wednesday was pretty darn good. Actually, it was great. Wes woke up in a fantastic mood, I had fantastic pancakes for breakfast, and got in my workout while Wes napped. As soon as Wes woke up, we got in the car and headed out! First stop was to pick up some fabric and odds and ends at Walmart. By the time we finished, it was lunch time so we headed to National Westhills. I had never been to that location before, but I knew that it was similar to the other locations in that they offered an outstanding selection of craft beers PLUS it is very family friendly.

As soon as we got there, I was relieved to see that there were actually several other tables of babies there. PHEW! I didn’t want to risk being the annoying table. My mom ordered fish tacos and some wine while I opted for a flight of beers. Just my luck: I chose all new-to-me beers that were DELICIOUS! Wes was a saint the entire time. He was so happy just looking around and schmoozing the women around us. I kept telling my mom that I was so glad we checked the place out because I think Tyler and I (and Wes) will have to frequent it from now on. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

After lunch, we wandered over to the Carter’s that was nearby and my mom went nuts. Carters= grandma crack. We walked out of there with a ton of new clothes for Wes, lucky kid! The afternoon was so stimulating for Wes that he fell asleep in the car on the way home, so I was able to stop and pick up a couple of groceries and WINE before getting to the house.

Wes was a huge snuggle muffin with grandma AGAIN. Seriously, why don’t I get all those awesome snuggles? I need them. We had mucho burrito for dinner because it was quick and easy and paired well with the wine we bought.

Thursday was pretty good too even if it was a little more slow going. We had breakfast then watched Grandma make a cake.

I was so excited when the mail came because my latest order of Bubbles & Balms bar soaps arrived! I ordered a variety of scents and can’t wait to try out a couple of the new ones. I know they’ll be good, because all the ones I’ve tried so far have been THE BEST. Seriously, the scents are so nice. But what wins me over is that the soaps keep my skin soft even throughout the yucky dry winters.

I recently talked about their baby line of products which are equally great. My favorite is the bath and massage oil. It’s very relaxing for Wes AND I can even use it for my baths!

We hung around the house for a bit after Wes’s nap. His favorite activity these days is to crawl into his room and toss every diaper across the room. I know I could totally prevent this by putting the diapers elsewhere, but I actually don’t mind because it’s so darn cute.

I put him in the crocheted jacket my mom’s friend had made for him while he was in his room and it was just so funny. I can’t tell if it looks more like a bolero or a pimp jacket. Too cute 🙂

We headed up to Airdrie for the afternoon for something to do. Mostly, it was to drive around but we did end up at Bulk Barn and picked up some goodies. Then Superstore on the way back because the kiddo needed more snacks for his snack drawer!

He was happy to just go up and down the aisles and have mama bounce him around.

We had meatloaf for dinner and Wes fell asleep insanely early due to no afternoon nap. This made for a nice evening of adulting. Not productive, but adulting nonetheless.

Have a great weekend!

Week + Weekender

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Whoa..talk about a wonderful and crazy week! The amazing weather hardly makes it feel like the weekend is winding down and having my mom here with us makes it even better! I didn’t get to do a recap of the week on Friday because I posted Wes’s first birthday (which I think is way more important) so let’s see what I can remember. Apologies in advance for the excessive photos 😉

Monday: From all that I can remember (eek) I got my workout done in the morning and we walked the neighborhood in the afternoon- making sure to hit the playground before returning home. Chicken caesar salads for dinner!

PS: No joke, I was doing the second week of 22 Minute Hard Corps this week and could already see the changes! My core is much stronger and my arms and butt are getting more definition! (I think I might chat about this later this week since it might also be due to some hormonal changes…man, you just never know! But these workouts feel GOOD!)

Tuesday: My mom flew in! We haven’t seen her (or my dad…but he stayed home. boo) in just over 6 months. It really is 100% no fun to live so far away from family. I crave moments where I can just have mom and dad come over for dinner or to watch Wes for an afternoon. But…it is what it is right now.

We headed straight to Costco from the airport to stock up on essentials, made homemade chicken tenders for dinner, then called it an early night. Not without a glass of wine first!

Wednesday: We considered Wednesday our ‘transition’ day. It was nice for just the three of us (me, my mom and Wes) to hang out and get into the rhythm of a slightly different weekday now that grandma was in town! We did manage to get out of the house and run a couple of errands which was nice. Lots of snacks and maybe even a couple of presents for Wes!

We had pulled pork sandwiches for dinner and hit the hay. Wes really took to grandma so fast and has been super bubbly which has been great!

Thursday: Wes has his one year appointment at 10am, but woke up so early in the morning that he was already down for a nap by 9am and I had to wake him to put him in the car to go. I hate doing that, but I knew that it was still early enough in the day that he would get a good afternoon nap in anyways.

He wasn’t too happy at the appointment and wanted me to hold him the whole time. I didn’t mind at all since I rarely get those good cuddles, but I didn’t like seeing him saddish.

We headed to the Tim Horton’s drive through on the way home for a couple of coffees and picked up a timbit for Wes since it was his birthday eve. No shocker- he gobbled it in two bites!

He was still pretty clingy the rest of the day and snuggled with grandma throughout the afternoon. Heart=melted.

Tyler picked up a pizza on the way home from work for him and my mom and I was out the door by 5:30 to attend a winemaker’s dinner at Pampas Brazilian Steakhouse (more on that later this week!)

Friday: My baby turned ONE! We celebrated just as the sun came up with balloons in his crib and he LOVED them. Poor Tyler’s alarm still hadn’t gone off yet and we were making so much noise. Whoops!

We had pancakes for his birthday breakfast (my idea, obviously) and Wes hung out with grandma to play. They even facetimed grandpa for the Happy Birthday song!

I think we walked over to the shopping center to pick up a couple of things too. It must’ve happened, because there’s photo evidence!

After his morning nap, I attempted to take his one year photos and was so excited for him to wear some new garb! Luckily, I have come across so many great small shops lately that I was able to assemble something rather last minute. I absolutely loved each piece 🙂

wesleyarlo12months

The leggings are from Baby H Designs (she made the leggings/hat Wes wore when he came home from the hospital), moccs from Posh Panda, and bow tie from Will & Co

After a somewhat successful photo session, all clothing was removed so he could enjoy his very first cupcake! I would have preferred it to be something I made myself (I am anti-any-baked-good-from-a-store-since-homemade-is-better) but I thought this was too cute to pass up when I stopped by Crave.

IMG_4688 from Jen Linton on Vimeo.

We had to take a quick bath after that because it was a bit messy and Reggie was losing his mind over all the potential frosting to lick. We opted to all stay shirtless after the fact (plus, it was warm out) and I whipped up these amazingly delicious baked chimichangas for dinner. Best part? We had leftovers which were easily wrapped up and thrown in the freezer! Edited to add: I just remembered that Wes ZONKED for nearly three hours after noshing on the cupcake. It was a great little break for me and my mom, but it made for a less fun night of trying to get him to bed…almost 9pm!

Saturday: Even though Wes went to bed so late on Friday night, he was up at 6am on Saturday. No fun for this mama because my eyes just felt heavy as bricks! I made sure to get both our breakfasts ready before getting him from his room and we hung out in the living room for a while. On one hand, early mornings are no fun because who wants to get out of bed, but on the other hand, I absolutely love those quiet morning hours with Wes when it’s just me and him….and maybe one or two of the doggies who make it out of the bedroom.

The little guy is getting more adventurous in his eating and was asking for a lot of my mom’s cereal. So cereal he got! Afterwards, he was back to sleep for almost another 3 hours! Although I didn’t want him to miss out on the gorgeous weather, I knew he needed the sleep and it was nice for us all to be able to do our own thing for a little bit.

After his nap, we spent a long time hanging out on the patio! When it’s this nice out, it’s a sin not to sit outside and enjoy it! He really loved the fresh air and looking out 🙂

Once Tyler got to a point in his renovations where he could take a break, we had cake! Well, technically only Wes had the cake. No party this year for the birthday boy (1. Because he won’t remember it, 2. Because we have no family around to come and my girlfriends all live so FAR AWAY, and 3. Because umm…isn’t cake enough??!) I sort of feel bad about it, but so long as he’s happy that’s all that matters. He really enjoyed the cake even though he really didn’t understand the concept 😉

Also, I really need to dress nice for some photos, but can’t see the point when we’re just in the house! Besides, DOG. HAIR.

Timing worked in our favor this time and he was in bed at a relatively normal time! We had lasagna for dinner and watched Ride Along 2 before getting in bed.

Sunday: I heard Wes stirring in his crib at 6am and of course he went back to sleep but I couldn’t. I laid in bed for a few minutes before getting up to start coffee, make waffles for everyone, and fix my BAE breakfast.

At 8:30 I decided to put Wes in the stroller and walk to the library to return some books and maybe stroll around the neighborhood for a bit. I was walking one of our usual loops and just before we got back to the house, he had fallen asleep. Since Layla is a barking beast when we get to the front door, I opted to keep walking throughout the neighborhood until Wes woke up. Cut to one hour later and I finally decided to just throw in the towel because my fitbit died haha.

I had him bundled in the stroller because there was still a tiny nip in the air, but by the time we were back at the house it was practically HOT out. I changed Wes and we hung out on the patio for a couple of hours..and even managed to have a picnic lunch.

I even braved to snag a few photos in our backyard. It worked out pretty decent- the grass is (dead) nice and dry from the warm weather, and there was no dog poo! I should probably mow it sometime soon, but we’re never back there. Oops.

Layla is such a great pup with Wes. He loves her so much and is always grabbing for her and hugging her and even just laying on her and she takes it all like a champ.

We came inside for a bit because it was getting a bit too warm and I took the dogs for a long walk. After coming home, Wes went down for a nap, I worked out, and finished up the laundry.

Then it was a nice naked afternoon of crawling, climbing, babbling, and giggling.

Tyler made burgers on the BBQ for dinner and we all got to sleep pretty early after all that sun, exercise, and renovations (for Tyler).

It looks like there is still more sunny weather ahead this week, so we will be having many more outdoor adventures. I can’t wait!

From the Week

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Hey friends! Happy Friday! It’s gonna be another gorgeous one over here, and I can’t wait to spend as much time as possible outside to soak it all up! Got a few things on the agenda this weekend, so it should go by in a flash. Bummer. Backing it up…

Monday: Right after breakfast, Wes and I walked to Safeway to pick up groceries for the week. I actually made a meal plan and lucked out that all of our dinners only required minimal additional ingredients.

The rest of our day was pretty laid back (from what I remember). I did day two of 22 Minute Hard Corps and we played in the basement for a while before Tyler got home.

Dinner was zucchini ‘meatballs’. They were pretty good taste-wise, but still a bit mushy. I’l have to simmer the heck out of the zucchini next time! Wes played with one for a while, but didn’t manage to get any pieces in his mouth.

Tuesday: Man, I need to up my picture game so I can remember what the heck we did! The usual morning hang outs..oh right! I actually got up early to do my workout while Wes was still sleeping! I even got in a shower too (perks of being able to shower in 60 seconds).

I had an interview that afternoon and ended up landing the position on the spot! Keeping it on the down-low, so don’t ask! I’ll share eventually 🙂

As soon as I got home, it was time to head out again to attend the media launch for the 2016 beer for Alberta Beer Festivals! I was really grateful to be able to attend AND bring Susie along. We chatted at Pig & Duke downtown until I ran out of time on my parking spot then we headed over to Last Best for another beer. If you haven’t been there yet I HIGHLY recommend checking them out!

I was home in time for dinner- which was Pickle Brined Baked Chicken Tenders then put Wes down and walked the doggies. I even squeezed in a second workout that evening since I had some extra energy.

Wednesday: The best part of waking up at butt crack? Being able to make a pancake breakfast. Only thing that would make it better would be if a handful of bacon was on the plate and a splash of Baileys was in my coffee 😉

While Wes was down for his morning nap (I’ve been lucking out all week with him taking 2 naps a day) I had a quick Skype meeting for a freelance job. Timing worked beautifully and Wes woke up just as the call ended so we had lunch and headed out for a walk and to cross a couple of errands off the list.

In case you didn’t see on my Instagram or Facebook pages, there is a limited time sale on a few of the Focus T25 programs and they are REALLY good prices. The sale started on April 5th, but we don’t know how long it will last. SO….if you’ve been thinking about biting the bullet, now’s the time! It’s my favorite program 🙂

For dinner we had BBQ pork tenderloin which was out of this world delicious. I rounded the day out with a long bath and simultaneously completed some online certifications I need for my job.

Thursday: Man oh man was Thursday a beautiful day. It seems that our ‘day’ doesn’t really start until after breakfast/workout/morning hang outs/nap/lunch and I’m pretty a-OK with that. I love my morning routine with Wes. But after all that stuff was done, we hung out on the patio for a good long while. It seems our patio absorbs the sun’s heat so much that the temperature was a bit warm out there, but none of us were complaining.

After sufficient patio time, I put Wes in the Bob and we walked to the liquor store. You know, as you do with an 11 month old while you’re still on mat leave. In the middle of the day. BUT- it was National Beer Day! And I celebrated by wearing my newest favorite shirt.

We walked back home so I could put the beer in the fridge then headed back out to the park to take advantage the last few weeks we have left with our playground. Apparently the city deems it too dangerous and since our part of the neighborhood doesn’t have enough appropriately aged children to use the area, it’s getting demolished. Wah.

We had Korean Grilled Chicken Breasts for dinner and paired it with a new Wild Rose beer. (Native to Alberta…or should I say, Albeerta?! ha I’m so funny)

Tyler has been full speed ahead on some home improvement projects, so my weeknights usually consist of me managing Wes while he work work work work works. Sorry, that Rihanna song has been stuck in my head all week.

So that’s our week in a nutshell..now on to the weekend!!

From the Week

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Hey friends! Happy Friday 🙂 I am SO glad the week is over and we now have a couple of days to spend with Tyler home…makes it so much more enjoyable. Not that hanging out with Wes during the week isn’t a buttload of fun, but you know what I mean. Nothing super exciting happened for us this week and I am totally ok with that! We were able to get outside a lot before of the warmer temps, and that’s really all that matters. Backing it up…

Monday: My little crawler was up to no good and trying to go up the step into the rest of the house (our living room is lowered). We still need to buy a baby gate this weekend for the top of the stairs, so I have been on high alert baby-movement duty.

All of his antics have really been wiping him out, and most of his naps this week have been prompted by his exhaustion. AKA: This mama didn’t have to calm a baby down to sleep AT ALL this whole week. That’s like….a miracle.

Before Wes was born, Tyler’s mom had sent us some clothes that his Grandmother had knit. They were all much larger than newborn size, so I tucked them away in the closet. And then in true mom fashion, I forgot about them. I tried to pull out a couple more pieces (he wore the bloomers here in some Easter pics) and this was the best I got. (After chasing around a naked crawler for a while).

Tuesday: Every morning after breakfast, Wes rides around the house in his car. Normally, I’d take him out for a walk but the early spring mornings are still too cool for my liking so I usually wait until later in the day.

After lunch, we did head out and walked to the post office so I could mail my US taxes (I’m so cool I get to do taxes TWICE!). Rather than heading straight home, we walked up to the library where I found a couple of books to read next. We stopped by on Monday to return some of Wes’s books, but I didn’t find anything I wanted in my quick lap around the shelves.

It was so sunny out that we continued on a walk around the neighborhood and stopped to check out the swings before heading back to the house.

Tyler made burgers for dinner and we paired it with some leftover potato salad I made on Easter. YUM

And then an evening car ride.

Wednesday: It’s a good day when I can do a few loads of laundry, make myself coffee and breakfast and then EAT said breakfast before Wes wakes up. I was even tempted to try to head downstairs and do my workout before he got up, but that was pushing it.

We had our usual FaceTime with my mom and dad before I headed downstairs (with Wes in tow) to workout. Now I know why I wait until he naps to fit in my workout- it’s no fun trying to plank with a baby crawling on you. Or always trying to untie your shoes! He was pretty good and was mostly distracted by some snacks and the dogs, though.

(PS: I am generally left staring at the ceiling of various rooms in my parents house when we FaceTime with them..)

I swear I change my kid’s clothes. We just so happened to get a lot of pictures with this particular set of jammies on!

We had a quick chicken dinner.

Thursday: I was actually able to complete my workout for the day before Wes got up, so that immediately put me in a good mood. Especially since I was a bit grumpy from having such a terrible sleep. I hate nights that I just lay in bed with my eyes closed….and nothing happens. The worst! Once Wes got up, we watched his favorite show (Jimmy Fallon. With Wheel of Fortune & Jeopardy being a close second and third) and he is completely in a trance when watching the monologue.

Wes took a long midday nap and we headed off to the mall afterwards to basically just get out of the house and pick up some stuff for dinner. And of course, Wes came out winning since I managed to buy him a couple of Old Navy shirts as well. That kid, I tell ya. Gets all of my money.

Dinner was a favorite hodge podge bowl of gnocchi + broccoli + mushrooms + chicken sausage + marinara. Hits the spot every time. And Wes has some pasta with marinara which he loved…and made him very dirty. Bath time for that boy!

Ugh, and the kiddo started pulling himself up to his feet! I was able to catch a few videos of it and it totally looks like he’s twerking. If he ever reads this 20 years from now, it’ll be like “um, mom…..what is ‘twerking’?’ haha, oof.

And that brings us to Friday. YAY!

I’m so glad to be finishing up my last week of Beta T25 because that means next week I start the brand new 22 Minute Hard Corps program! It’s done by Tony Horton, the same guy who does all the P90X videos. I am super excited about it and hope the results are just as great as the programs I’ve completed in the past (I totally know they will be).

PS: If you’re interested in trying out any of the programs, shoot me an email and I’d love to help you out 😉 jennifer(dot)L(dot)Linton(at)gmail(dot)com.

From the Week

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Happy Friday, everyone! Tyler has the day off because of Easter (already?!!) so we’ll be doing some familyish things 🙂 This past week seems a blur- lots of ups and downs, ins and outs. Backtracking..

Monday: Wes slept in longer than I anticipated, so I started the day by baking a cake! More specifically, a cereal bowl cake. Of course if I placed the photo of mine next to the one from the site I followed it from, then it would look like a total Pinterest fail. The good news? It still tasted fantastic. (even if it was loaded with way too much shortening and butter for my liking and I have been bloaty as hell all week from eating it!)

Afterwards, I made my To Do list for the day. And almost immediately, one of them was crossed off: quitting my job.

I was scheduled to return to work on April 17th but submitted my resignation letter making it final! I could make this a really long story, but to cut it down: I had been in talks with HR about possibly working part time and/or from home…blah blah blah…since I was the best performer in my position that my head boss had seen in 16 years it might be an option…blah blah blah….a quick (and less than friendly) phonecall later, I was told no.

That’s all I needed to really solidify my decision to stay home, so I quickly typed up the letter and POOF I’m a SAHM. I’m still looking for part-time work, but I’m finding that to be a bit more difficult than I anticipated. I know everything will work out in the end, but it’s still giving me lots of wishy-washy feelings. And lots of sleepless nights.

Back on the happy track..

We got a package delivered that happened to be some goodies I won for Wes. Yay!

Later in the afternoon, we headed out to Chestermere to pick up a Bob stroller. We already have one, but this one is a bit newer and was a steal! Now if only I can sell our existing, it’ll be a wash.

The trip there and back took longer than expected and Wes turned into a Grump McDump in the car. Once we were home, a bottle and lots of snacks did the trick. And by the time dinner came around, I was able to enjoy chicken fajitas while Wes was a happy baby in the tub.

Tuesday: Wes is getting a lot more mobile and loves to hoist himself up on the couches. Especially when Reggie is napping. So far, Reggie doesn’t seem to mind, but I don’t trust that beagle at all! I make sure to be close by whenever Wes tried to get playful. And we’re also very interested in taking all the workout videos off the shelf.

We bundled up and headed out for our inaugural ride in the new (to us) Bob. So nice! Wes loves sitting more upright, so it was a pleasant walk.

Eats for the day included cake (duh) and BBQ pulled pork quesadillas for dinner. Wes is slowly starting to love squishing bananas rather than eating them. Good thing for us: he’ll actually eat the then squished banana.

I wish I remember more from Tuesday. But……nope.

Wednesday: I always wait for Wes to go down for his morning nap before diving into my workout for the day, but I’m thinking that might have to change. He’s been protesting naps which has been keeping us in the house longer than I’d like to be. And then I don’t get my workouts done until later in the day when he finally does go down. Maybe *that’s* why I’ve been in a funk all week? I’d like to think so. I’m going to change up the ‘schedule’ next week and see if that helps!

Once the nap was had and lunch was eaten, we got dressed and ran a couple of errands before heading down the street to the park. PS: Apparently our community is getting rid of this one park and replacing it with a sport court. (Yes, it’s as dumb as it sounds). I got pretty ticked when I heard about it, so I wrote a VERY opinionated letter to the board. Fingers crossed the park stays as is! I remember living across the street from a park growing up and I would go there every evening after dinner with my parents. I want to be able to do the same with Wes!

Poor boy was crawling up into his bin of toys the night before and fell face first into the TV console. I am DYING over the gash on his lip and have been putting cream on it in hopes it’ll heal ASAP.

Once Tyler got home, I ran out real quick to drop resumes off at some local businesses. I got quickly rejected so THAT was a huge kick in the face.

We had leftover pork for dinner. Nothing fancy!

Thursday: I wish I could say Thursday started off nice, but it didn’t. I didn’t sleep a wink the night before and was in the worst fog. I think it’s the combination of my hormones levelling out + anxiety from quitting my job (aka no more money coming from me) + feeling dejected from applying to other part time opportunities. Grrr.

The good news is that after a good cry and a quick soak in the tub, I was able to take Wes out for a nice long walk. I knew the fresh air and stretching my legs would help me get a different perspective. And it did.

Until the babe decided to fight his nap again. Then I felt let down again. (Maybe it’s too much one on one time with Wes and I need more adult interaction? Probably. But that requires pants. Too hard.)

Once he passed out, I got my workout done and BOOM the better mood returned!

He’s so sweet I can’t even stand it.

The nap didn’t last long, and fortunately for me, neither did the rest of the afternoon. We headed out to get an Easter outfit for him, came home for tacos, then he was out! I took the evening to enjoy a LONG bath.