I can't believe how long it has been since I posted here. Time sure is going by incredibly fast, November is a blur to me and I am trying to get things in order for the madness that will be December.

I finally have time to breathe and relax after the three trade shows that I did this fall. They where a great deal of work to put together, but I really enjoyed myself at all three of them. I have to say that I really enjoyed the Today's Parent BabyTime Show, I was a little worried about it because I had never done a big trade show before, but it was a great deal of fun and we got to meet really great people. I was fortunate to have Sara Bingham from Wee Hands as my neighbour. She is a really cool person. I also got a chance to stop by my fellow friend exhibitors to say hi and chat a little. A fun and exhausting weekend.

Needless to say my house looked like a toy bomb exploded in it. I had boxes everywhere, it took me an entire Saturday transporting boxes from my place to the storage area and taking stock of things. I was so happy when it was done and the threat of being crushed by toys was gone. To be honest I wanted to cry from the joy of being able to see my floors again.

Isa was amazing through out this time, she spent two whole weekends with my mother and you can well imagine that she had a blast. I was so grateful that she was able to help because we had no one else who could do it.

One very exciting thing that happened at the Healthy Kids Expo is that we discovered this really cool guy named Hans who makes these beautiful wooden blocks. His company is called Ukoonto and he makes the blocks from his home in St. Catharines. You can check out the BabyThoughts.ca blog to read more about them.

We were able to introduce them at the Children's Trunk Show and the BabyTime show and the kids just loved them. To be honest both Frank and I had fun playing with them. Hans was able to stop by on Friday at both shows and be there to promote his toys. We are very excited to finally be able to offer a Canadian Made toy.

Well, enough for today...hopefully I will get myself in order and upload the pictures I took at the shows.

Roughening It in Quebec

Isa and I are in beautiful Wakefield Quebec visiting with the in-laws. We have been here since Saturday morning...1:00 am in the morning to be exact. And thankfully we are going home tomorrow.

I have learned something very very important while spending wayyyy too much time here...don't spend too much time here. Don't get me wrong a get along very well with my MIL and I LOVE her place but there is just so much that one can be away from one's bed, kitchen, routine, and blissfully quiet home. I could go on and on but I think it best to not.

The important thing is that both Isa and her 'Bella" have been having a blast. And she has been able to spend quite a great deal of time outdoors with nature (you should see the bites we have) and bond with her grandparents. As for myself, I have been getting pampered with awesome food, lots of free time to spend on the sunny deck with a book and a cold beer, but more importantly great company.

We have also had the opportunity to go twice to the lake, check out some beautiful horses, eat like it's winter and we don't have to try to look decent in a bathing suit and drink like only people in the country know how.

As soon as I can figure out how to upload the pictures onto our new computer I will post some up.

Well, I am off...there is a nice cold beer waiting for me :)

Back to Normal

I am putting myself and my house back to 'order' after the chaos that was last week. Now that the Children's Trunk Show is behind us (thank you to all that stopped by) I can relax and spend more time playing with my little Isa.

I felt like the world's worst mother last week for not being able to play with her for too long, not being able to go to the park and lets not even talk about the meals that I prepared. And don't get me started on the state of the house....and the laundry.

Well, today we spent some quality time together at the park digging holes and making 'polar bear' mountains (from Dora saves the day) and I am thinking of making some yummy treats for both of to enjoy later (banana bread anyone?) .

Well, till tomorrow...enjoy the gorgeous day.

Oh, and Isa got herself an adorable haircut. Stay tuned for pictures and the drama filled experience.

In the Name of Safety

For some reason I woke up this morning at the beautiful hour of 8:00am (thank you Isa) to the following thought: Safety. I don't really know why I was thinking about this, sure, Isa has had some safety training, but most of the lessons on safety have had to do with potential hazards around the house...you know, the usual ones. Don't jump on the bed. Don't stand on chairs. Be careful with drawers. Don't bother the cat.

When it comes to street safety, the only one she truly grasps is that she must hold my hand or the stroller before she crosses the street. She hates doing it but she has NO choice in the matter and so she has given up fighting with me on it. Well the other day, a good friend told me that she has taught her daughter to only answer to a special name when in public. This means is that she is only allowed to go with people who call her by her special name when in public, a name that only family members and special friends are privy to.

I thought it was a great idea and started thinking of the special name that we could use with Isa. I have come up with many possibilities but they all sound strange when said out loud, specially since I only think of her as Isa or her other cutesy names that I have for her which I cannot ask my family and friends to say in public.

And so, I have yet to implement this, though I don't worry too much as my daughter does not even answer to her own name as it is, even from me. Though it does concern me that she will answer to ice scream. Maybe there is another safely lesson that takes priority...don't take candy from strangers. This will be a hard one.

One Month and Counting

Isa has been with me full time now for one month. At this moment she is sitting at the dinning room table singing to her self and breaking up her play dough into little little pieces.

I have to say that the dollar store is a mom's best friend, I have stocked up on construction paper, tissue paper, crayons, glue, stickers, play dough, Popsicle sticks and much much more. Now all I have to do is google for things to do with all the crap.

It looks like I am going to have to keep this post short as Isa is yelling my name over and over again and I can't concentrate.

I have a call at noon and I hope to have her in dreamland by then.

Snowed In

Today, Isa and I will be spending a cozy day at home hiding from the snow. On days that are too cold or when a big snow storm is expected I keep her home.

The funny thing is that she declared after she finished having her morning bottle that "Isa, no school". Lately, she has been saying this quite often, we have had to bribe her with the promise of fun toys and activities at school to get her to head out the door. So every morning it is a small struggle to get her to go and when I pick her up, it is another struggle to get her to leave.

At times when I pick her up from school, I have to use the "I'm leaving now" tactic, many times this has absolutely no success. In fact she actually looks at me, waves goodbye and says "bye mama, see you later". What can you do after this?

So then I have to resort to plan B, which is not very nice...I take Bear and tell her that Bear and I are going home. This usually gets her running fast towards the door. I don't like using this because I find it quite mean but at the end of the day, with the dreaded transit ride home in the cold and darkness, I just don't care. But I should not whine, she is usually really good and is great about putting on her jacket, hat and mittens. Small victories is what being the parent of toddler is all about.

I am off to have another nice cup of coffee and turn up the heating. Let the fun begin.

Cuba, Christmas and Piña Coladas

I have no idea how to start this post, I have had no drive to post anything mostly because things have been pretty quiet and when they have not been I have not been at liberty to discuss.

Well, firstly I would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays or Season's Greetings, Happy Boxing Day and so on. We had a very nice and quiet Christmas over at our place, which is just what I was hopping for.

We were also able to escape to Cuba for a week of sun, booze, food and relaxation. The three of us had a blast and one of us came back with proof of having been outside in 30 degree weather (me). Both the Husband and I cried quiet heavily as we were leaving paradise but all good things must come to an end. If you are ever interested in going to Cuba and would like a recommendation on where to stay send me an email.

I am looking forward to 2008, there are many ideas and schemes swimming in my head at the moment that I hope to put into action. I have to get everything straight in my head and begin planning.

I leave you with pictures from paradise (Cuba) will share my trip in another post.

cheers, K

At the airport, Isa excited to see so many airplanes

Enjoying a drink by the pool. One drink for mama and one for Isa.

Playing, eating, becoming one with the sand.

Not very impressed with having her picture taken.

The Return of the Prodigal Blogger

I can't believe that it has been one month since I last posted. To be honest I have not had the desire to write and have been putting it off. Partly because I was just so exhausted after the shows and had a great deal of work to do for Baby Thoughts and partly because there was not much going on.

I can't believe how much is happening in the blogging world in the time that I was away. Both Kgirl and NoMotherEarth had their babies, Her Bad Mother sold her house and is probably in the mist of packing and getting ready to move and leave Toronto. I on the other hand have very little to report, we are in the mist of doing some work on the site which is causing quite a mixture of emotions from excitement, to apprehension.

Isa as always is doing very well...though lately she has been giving us some awesome tantrums. I am amazed at how much she has grown up, not only is she changing physically but she has also gone through a developmental spurt. We still have not made any progress in the area of potty training, she still has no interest in it and we have not been pushing it.

I am looking forward to the holidays, especially since Isa is older and can appreciate the season much more. I have dreams of taking her to Nathan Phillips Square and seeing the lights and big tree, as well as signing holiday music and maybe if I get creative working on some crafts for her to give as gifts to the family. If I can get one done, I will be proud of myself. Some researching will have to be involved which could be an issue with me.

What else can I say...not much. I hope to be in a better mood and have some interesting things to share or make up next time.

Where Did She Learn That?

I am writing you this post from my new Sony Vaio laptop, the Husband went to the mall today with Isa of all people while I took at wee nap (about 3 hours long, please try not to hate me) and surprised me with it. It is meant to assist me in my work which means that I can write posts while I watch tv after Isa is in bed and not worry about waking her up with the noisy keyboard that we have. hurray.

Well, now that I have shared my new news, I am going to share a very interesting incident that occurred at day care the other day. One of Isa's day care teachers told a very interesting thing on Friday. It seams that little Miss Isa has learned the art of deception if you will. Listen to this, you all know how she is in LOVE with her 'Bear' and that she takes him everywhere. Well, at school (day care) she is not allowed to take him to the playground because he will get dirty and the other children are also not allowed to take their security objects with them as well. Well, Isa was playing with Bear and her teacher asked her to please put Bear away because they were now going outside.

What does Isa do, you ask? She takes her hat and hides Bear in it and tries to sneak him outside. Can you believe it? Well, her teacher is in awe of her because Isa tells her in a calm voice that Bear is away and that she is now going outside. Meanwhile she is cluthing her hat agaings her chest and trying to sneak him into the playground. The child is something.

Her teacher told me that she was really impressed that she would go to such lengths to take Bear with her. Me, I am trying hard not to laugh, while on the inside I am really worried because it shows just how much she loves the thing. What am I going to do if something happens to him? I am in so much trouble.

Obsevations of a Bored Subway Rider

This post is about random thoughts and opinions...it is not very politically correct so if you are a touchy person you might not want to keep reading.

(first observation has been removed...I really don't want to offend anyone who may be reading the blog)

I start to scan the crowd in the subway car for something else to occupy my time. And there sitting all pretty is this very good looking girl wearing 3 inch stiletto black pumps.

Now, normally this is not a big deal, after all just because I can't wear the things does not mean that I can't appreciate those who can. But on the day that they are predicting 15 cm of snow to fall this afternoon, this might not be the best footwear to have on. I don't get it...is there an underground parking lot attached to a subway station that I don't know about? Because even if you do drive to the station you still have to trek to your car in 15 cm of snow. So what's up?

I was a little jealous because I cannot and will not be able to wear such high and thin heeled shoes. The highest I go is 1.5 inches and this is even a little too high for moi. And now with having to go and pick up Isa and having to lug the stroller down a flight of stairs with baby strapped in I tend to wear flat shoes as it is safer for everyone.

These were my two observations on the way to work, there sure are some very interesting people on the subway every day.

Ooooh Gooody

I have just discovered that I can actually blog at work...I have to tell you that I can barely contain my excitement. You may be wondering what the fudge I am talking about. Well, because my work actually wants us to be productive and stuff like that they will not allow you to sign into Internet based email providers ie. gmail.

Now as we know and complain about, New Blogger now has us signing in using gmail. So I was not able to sign into Blogger to post entries. But somehow, I have no freaking clue how, I am able to log into my account and create this post...Hurray for me.

Now I can actually contribute more to my blog since I have more time at work to take 5 and quickly write something. All I have to do is think of something interesting to write about. I will have to work on that.

Okay I have to go and think hard on what to talk about.

Blah...Blah...Blah (Part II)

I have not been feeling very inspired in the blogging department lately. Things at casa BWM have been very quiet lately, Isa has not done anything out of the ordinary. In fact she has been behaving like a regular 16 month old, you know, the tantrums, the "exploring" of the cupboards and the adorable but unrecognisable speaking. I have to say that I love how she talks to herself when she plays with her toys.

One interesting thing that did happen this weekend was that we went to the Canadian Toy and Hobby Fair at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto. It was a trade only show, where many of the wholesalers and distributors of toys (for both young and old) showcased their products to Retailers. Being brand new to the toy business this show was very important because we got to meet the people whom we would be doing business with. So we got some contacts, spoke with the sales people of various brands and checked out the new toys for 2007...by the end I was exhausted.

Because children were not allowed we asked my brother to baby-sit Isa. In fact it had been the first time that he had taken care of her during the day, he usually baby-sits her at night when she is in bed and never wakes up. For this reason I was curious to see how it would go for him. Needless to say it went great, he gave her lunch, he took her for a walk, changed her diaper, gave her a bottle and was happily playing with her when we go home. When it was time for him to go she went up to him and extended her arms to be picked up. We had to pry her out of his arms. How cute is that!

All in all a busy weekend, The Husband and I have a lot to do in order to get the store on-line and I worry that he is working himself sick. We could both use a vacation were all we do is stay home and get the things done but not worry about going to our day jobs. How sad is this.

Hopefully I will have more interesting and exciting things to talk about later in the week.

Let The Fun Begin

I AM ON VACATION!!!!

As you can imagine I am very excited to be on vacation for the next 3 weeks. The last time I had this much time off during Christmas was when I was in grade school ( I don't count my mat leave because I had a new baby to take care off).

So as you can imagine I am very excited and look forward to doing some work for the business (Baby Thoughts) and to get caught up with some house work (the never ending laundry and dishes)

I also have doctor and dentist appointments lined up for both Isa and I and I hope to get together with some friends for lunch.

I also hope to be able to get together with my moms group and the kids over the break, I was really worried that we would loose contact but we have been making a real effort to get together and now we see each other once a month. Being in this group has been my lifeline...I loved getting together with other women and just having a fun chat over decaf coffee (at the beginning and the real stuff later on). I loved that Isa had little friends to learn from and interact with. I just plain loved having the support and adult conversation.

Just this week we received news that the mother of one of the moms in the group passed away really unexpectedly. I really feel for my friend and her family...I really don't know how to best help her because I have never been through such a terrible loss. I am really afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing and hurting her. I know that I am probably being really dramatic but that is how I feel. I don't always know how to act or what to say to someone who is going through a lot of pain. Does this make me seem uncaring? I'm really not...I care a great deal about her and just hope to be able to communicate this.

Sorry for just rambling on and on about this but it has been on my mind.

So have you gone to check out her Bad Mother Auction? If you have not the bidding will close tomorrow so go and check it out and see if you would like to win something.

I am off to tackle the never ending laundry and messy kitchen...wish me luck.

ciao

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

With the mornings getting cooler I have decided to wear a hat. The reason for wearing one is that I always wash my hair in the mornings because I am too damn lazy to wash it the night before and blow dry it. So, I have this nice black hat that makes me look like I am Carmen Sandiego . I felt very self-conscious walking to work today because everyone kept staring at me...I like to think that maybe they thought that I was a celebrity trying to hide my identity but since I was riding the subway at 7:30 in the morning this could not possible be the case. Which means that I probably looked like a freak. I like my original thought, it makes me feel better.

I have to confess that I have been doing nothing at work this morning since I came in at 8am...I was catching up on my mommy blogs and trying to not laugh out loud at the funny stuff posted. Sadly many of the moms who write these blogs have been feeling down and have thought of even stopping their blogs, I really hope that they don't because they really gave me a great deal of support in the first few months after Preciosa was born. They wrote about the struggles that they experienced and how they were up at 4 am every morning feeding their little ones...it made me think every morning when I fed Preciosa that in another house in Toronto another mama was also up feeding their little one. There are many times when you feel very alone as a mother...it is good to know that you are not...that is why I love the blogs and it is one of the reasons why I started mine.

I am going to cut this blog short because I have to get back to looking productive....just kidding.

I have other things to talk about but don't have time right now...stay tuned...

cheers everyone!

Blah...Blah...Blah

The title really describes how I feel today...I had two cool topics to talk about on the blog on Sunday at 4 am but I can't remember either of them.

So this will be a very boring blog because after work I have no creative juice left in me. Its incredible just how freaking tired and BLAH I am afterwork. After I come home with Preciosa and we spend our time together and I put her to bed, I am totally done. The small brust of energy that I get while we are together is gone as soon as I put her to bed. I hope that things will improve...because if I want to get the business going I will have to do work after she is in bed.

I have been thinking about organizing my blog but I have yet to figure out how I will do this. In other blogs that I read there are certain headings used for certain days, for example every wednesday has a certain title. The one day that I think I know what I will call it is Friday. From now on, if I post a blog on Friday it shall be called TGIF (Thank Goodness Its Friday...not an original name but it truelly is how I feel every friday). I will try to come up with another title for the posts at a later date.

Since I have just started I don't really need to have things fully figured out yet.

I am going to be going now because the little one will not go to sleep...she can probably hear the keboard as I type.

L8R

Hello Everyone...I am back!

Sorry for the long absence, I have been very busy at work lately and have not had time to blog.

To get you up to date:

La Preciosa had her birthday on September 16 and being the star that she is she pulled a Paris Hilton and had 3 days of partying.

Party #1- We had friends over on Saturday to celebrate...had LOTS of fun, with good friends, little ones, good food, and birthday cake (made by Spandex Woman...Yummy)

Party #2- Went over to in-laws and celebrated with them by having a bar-b-q and sitting outside with La Preciosa playing on the grass. She helped her grandfather by pulling out as much grass as her little hands could grasp.

Party #3- Had the moms and tots from my mom group over to our place to celebrate...it was very nice to see them and for La Preciosa to hang out with her friends.

By the end I was exhausted and now I have training all week and lots of work to catch up.

I would like to say here on the blog..Thank you to all who came to celebrate La Preciosa's first Birthday with us.

Break is over and have to get back to my training, I will post some more stuff later on.

ciao everyone

These boots ain't meant for walking

So yesterday I wore my high heel boots for the first time since January 2005...and let me tell you people that it FREAKING hurt!

If you know me you know that I cannot walk in high heeled anything, I am disgrace to my latina heritage because latinas are supposed to be able to run in high heels caring their babies.

So I think that I will have to take things easy and build up my tolerance of high heel shoes, how pathetic does that sound. You should have seen me yesterday...I felt like I was walking like a freaking giraffe, but I snuck a look in a mirror as I was walking and I did not look like a giraffe...this made me feel better.

So on to another topic...I have changed my user name on the blog...from now on I will be going by the very unimaginative name of Bloor West Mama (BWM). I was thinking of copying the BMW logo and changing the lettering but since I am not computer wiz this will take some time.

This saturday we will be celebrating la Preciosa's first birthday. I can't believe that it has been one year. Time really flies, next thing I know she will be going to school and then university...part of me doesn't want her to grow up so quickly but another part is looking forward to the wonderful things that are still to come. Another big part is not looking forward to the growing pains that we will experience, but oh well that's life.

What's in a Name?

Hurray, I got my first comment...how exciting for me. The comment came from my good friend who wishes to be called Spunky on the blog. Now, she thought that I had called her a "goof friend" but that was a typo and I was not referring to her(sorry about that Spunky).

But this comment got me thinking about names and the name that we want to be called on-line. I wanted to have a really cool name for my blog but frankly I lack the imagination to come up with one. So if any of my friends would like to make suggestions please leave me a comment and I will pick the one that I like the most.

Names can also really hurt us and choosing the right name is very important. I don't want to call anyone by something that they find offensive because that is not my intention (unless I don't like you, in that case you are out of luck). So I vow to come up with a cool name but I do apologize in advance if what I think is cool is so not what you think is cool.

Now I will tell you all what I did this weekend (because you obviously care, and if you don't...well too bad):

1) I took care of two sick babies...The Sexy and La Preciosa were sick over the weekend. My poor husband had to work sick all weekend and I was a single mother this weekend because he had to work on something that is very important for us. This means that I can't bitch about the fact that he was not able to help me that much.

2) I had a very nice get together with Spandex Woman and Spunky on Sunday and we got caught up on our lives and had great pizza made by the husband. (the pizza was awesome with homemade dough)

3) Spend most of the weekend doing laundry and cleaning the kitchen and chasing a snotty, crawling little one around.

So that ladies and gentlemen is my weekend in a nut shell.

Today I am meeting up with my mom friends for drinks and sugar(aka dessert), I am so looking forward to it.

ciao ciao

Under Construction

If anyone knows me, they know that I am not computer savy at all. Which means that it will take me a long time to get this blog to look quite decent. So for the time being if you do visit my site I apologize for the way that it looks.

The Sexy is an IT consultant and a wizz with all things techy but this blog is my baby and I feel like I should learn how to make it my own by myself. That is all that I have to say on the issue of the crappy looking blog that I currently have at the moment.

Yesterday I went in search of the perfect umbrella stroller and I think that I found it. I have high demands when it comes to the umbrella stroller which could be were the problems lies but it is what it is. I needed one that was light so that I could pick up the stroller with baby in it and go down subway stairs. It had to be compact because I have storage issues and if possilbe it should have a basket because I live in a neighborhood where you walk to the grocery store, the butcher etc.

Those where my demands and I tell you there is slim picking out there people. At least if you are not willing to spend over $200 for a freaking umbrella stroller. So I think I found it, The Maclaren Volo. Not the cheaperst thing but not the most expensive and it meets my three criteria. I found it at Toys so I will head out later today to pick it up.

ciao