I am a mess.
My Baby Girl turned 10 on Sunday! 10!
How did that happen? The years are just flying by even though some days feel like they drag by so slowly.
So many memories flood my brain as I lay in bed. This past weekend was a doozy! Date night with our RASBesty and LadyFriend, Saturday was SBean’s VR birthday party and sleepover and Sunday was family brunch at Birthday Girl’s choice, Denny’s 😆, dinner and then presents. Today I rest, recharge and reflect.
10 years. It’s seems like yesterday I was at the midwive’s office discussing a planned C-section. I was terrified of giving birth again. After my emergency C-section 4 years prior with HBear, I was scared to have a similar experience. We decided that we would hope for a VBAC labour, but would schedule a C-section for the day after my due date, we would let nature take its course until I was overdue, and then practicality would step in. My due date was November 26 and Mom started chemo November 27. I needed this pregnancy to be over so that I could get going and help her out! HBear’s 5th birthday was in a week, Christmas was coming and the whole family was coming to visit, and my Mom needed me. We scheduled my C-section for the day after my due date, November 27, 2012.
It was scheduled for 7:30 AM so I had to be at the hospital at 5!
I had so many conflicting emotions. This pregnancy wasn’t at all like my first pregnancy. I didn’t read to SBean in my belly, but I read to HBear all the time, so Baby Park, as HBear liked to call her, got stories, but not specifically for her. I felt impatient with my second pregnancy. And scared. I had had a miscarriage after HBear, and I was terrified about anything happening to this new little baby growing inside of me. I was emotional. Like, really emotional. My Mom was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer when I was 8 months pregnant. My Sister announced her first pregnancy that same week. By the time I was wheeled into the operating room, I was ready to meet my Bean 💛.
The 3 days that we spent in the hospital recuperating after SBean was born felt like a vacation. My in-laws had flown in from Winnipeg to look after HBear and she was enjoying her week at the Lakeside Resort immensely! She felt like Eloise walking into The Hooded Merganser each morning, where the staff jumped at her every whim because they thought she was just so darn cute 😂. I knew the house was quiet at home and my Dad and my Mom could really spend quality time together. I knew he was looking after her as her first round of chemo started. They set up a cot for Ninja in my bedroom at the hospital and for 3 days was just us and SydneyBean. Dad came to visit, my in-laws brought HBear to meet her brand new baby Sister, and although my Mom wasn’t allowed near the maternity ward because she was full of chemo, we talked on the phone for hours every day! Just like when I lived in Winnipeg and she lived here in Penticton. We laughed or I made her laugh so hard she was in tears 😂. I had all of my meals made for me, laid in bed, played with my beautiful newborn, and watched my husband fall completely head over heels in love with the latest addition to our family. Reality was out there, just beyond the doors of the hospital, but inside our little room, for that brief moment in time, everything was going to be all right.
10 years ago 💛.
This year was a big win for SBean!
Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #304: December of Fun HERE! It’s Birthday week, but Christmas is right around the corner. Topics: weird dog, more snow, 10 000 Tonight, drumming, sugar cube house, Guitar Hero, blue hair, Cup update, & #1’s the day they were born.
SBean’s, favourite food is waffles. She calls them wiffles. Whenever she gets to pick dinner, she picks cinnamon waffles with strawberries, whip cream, and real maple syrup! We have a few recipes that we go to every time, Grandma’s waffles are our favourite but this one is a close second! This waffle recipe is crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside with the perfect amount of cinnamon! Perfect for breakfast (I freeze the leftovers in quarters for easy school day breakfasts), lunch or SBean’s, favourite… Dinner!
Cinnamon Waffles
Adapted from One Little Project
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cinnamon until blended. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, vanilla, and eggs.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined (a few small lumps are okay). Let rest five minutes.
While the batter is resting, preheat your waffle iron. Add the batter and cook according to your waffle maker’s directions.
Serve warm, and top with syrup, whipped cream, and fruit.
