Yea!

My money has found it's way home today! I am so happy because it really sucks to have no fundage when you are trying to get ready to move. After much arguing with the bank about them not making an effort in returning my money they have learned from a investigation (after me telling them a million times that I wasn't where the money was taken from) that 'yes' it was a scam and 'no' I was not in Quebec last week (which was where the money was taken from). So I am a happy person.

Second week of Sterly beans being watched by my sister and sister-in-law. It is really nice to not have to worry about some stranger looking after your only son! Ang watches Sterling Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Dana watches him Tuesday and Thursday. I thought he was going to throw a huge fit about being left but it has come to my attention that he is too busy causing trouble (in the form of making huge messes) to miss me! Ang has a son that is 9 months older than Sterling and Dana has a son that is 6 months older than Sterling, so I think he has fun being a little hooligan with them!

So I have the pickiest son with food. He will not eat anything I offer to him, unless he decides that it is exactly perfect. He will only eat baby cereal, apple sauce, pudding, yogurt and anything that is a treat. He eats everything when he is being watched! I don't understand why I try to give him a million different things when he is home and NO WAY will he eat it. He was sitting in the playroom at Ang's house when a ladybug was crawling up him arm. He picks up the ladybug and eats it! Unbelievable...the kid will eat a ladybug and not even cringe but NO he won't eat any vegetables or rice or anything else. My little weirdy baby.

Went to Edmonton and visited with my brother and his family this weekend. We stayed at this hotel downtown and I have determined that I am a jinx in Edmonton. The last 3 times we have gone there for different reasons and every single time the hot tub is closed for renovation. This is at three completely different hotels. Not to mention the hotel claimed to be a 4-star hotel and the pictures of it looked amazing. Get into our hotel room and....it is done with rose pink 70's wallpaper, pink drapes, worn out pink chair, old pink blankets and even pink carpet. YUCK!!! One of the most hideous rooms that I have ever seen with midget, really uncomfortable double beds (I sleep on a King so it felt super tiny). Also, I asked about if they charged for parking and they tell me don't worry and just fill out your license plate so you don't get a ticket. When my bill comes in the morning I got charged $15 for parking. Lamecore!

Plus crazy people live in Edmonton. We are going out to dinner with Colin and Stacey and the parking lot is packed. The aisle is empty and we see someone pulling out, so we turn on our blinker and start going when they are out. This crazy little man comes whipping around the corner and jumps out of his car. He stands in front of our car and says 'this is my spot, i wait here long long time'. We are like 'no way little man, you weren't here a second ago'. He says 'You mess with the wrong person' and then proceeds to yell at us. We tell him to 'get out of the way so we can move spots' because obviously he wants this spot really bad and it isn't worth it to us but he won't move for 10 minutes. So Trevor finally just starts inching forward anyway and he finally moves because he doesn't want to get hit. But then he follows us around the parking lot while we look for another space. Why on earth would you yell at someone about a spot, not move when they say they will get a new spot and then not take it when they move for you? So I took down his license plate because I wasn't sure if he was going to kick our door in when we went to eat because he parked beside us. Yeah, weird.

Yup...That is my life...Moving in 2 1/2 weeks!!! Moving is at a standstill....I am not getting anything done. I swear I have the same amount of things packed as I did a week ago.

-Alauna

What a Little Goat Baby!

Sterling's new favourite pastime is to chew on his toes. He managed to get off his shoe and sock while in his car seat and proceeded to eat his little feet, which he has no feeling in his legs. When I went to get him from his car seat he was covered in blood from head to toe. What a little goat! This is after it had healed a few days, so it isn't nearly as bad as when he first did it.

I went to the physical therapist today with Sterly beans. They did the regular hour of torture with various devices but we came home with a new contraption. Sterling got a new standing frame today!!! This is the first time that he has ever stood and I think he looks rather cute doing so. Also, I never knew he was so tall! Yeah, what a little cutie!

On really annoying news. I got a message yesterday from the bank telling me to call a number that they left and change my pin number. I thought that sounded rather fishy to change my pin on the phone. SOOOOO, I headed to BMO to change my pin on the ATM instead. After I changed my pin I decided to look at my account balance and found that it said I had -$400! Yeah, rather pissed off about that one. So I go into the bank to see where all the money went and it turns out that someone drained my account sometime during the weekend. So the bank said that someone must have got my information from a store that I went to. So they told me that the money would be back into my account this morning because the East coast branch was closed yesterday. Of course nothing ever happens when they say it will. It is now 7:20pm and still no money because it is in transit. So I am poor and I really needed to get boxes so I could pack during my days off this week. LUCKY ME, I would get all my money stolen by bank fraud! Hopefully tomorrow is the day that my money returns to me!

Lastly, I gotta say the government is pretty rad. They give me $300 a month to pay for extra costs that having a disabled son incurs. ALso, they started this new RDSP program. WHen I contribute the $1500 a year they will contribute $3500 each year on top of my money that goes to a special account that he can use for anything. We calculated that by the time he is 18 he will be able to buy him and his papa a porsche. No, we are super stoked because life is so much harder for him and he deserves to get something for his troubles. Sterls is cranky so I must go...

-Alauna

We're Moving!!!

Yes, the exciting news is in...We are moving in a month! We are moving to Royal Oak in the NW of Calgary and are super excited. Will post some more pictures after we have moved in and decorated. The location is killer...We are a 5 minute walk from Wal-mart and Sobey's and a 10 minute bus or 20 minute walk to Crowfoot LRT.

In other exciting news....Trevor got an auto-body apprenticeship. He starts on Monday and is super excited about it. On Monday of this week he got called for 2 interviews, one in the SE and one in the NW. Went to both and got both jobs so he was able to pick the shop of his choice. He choose Concours auto-body in Crowfoot. It is so close to where we are moving which is a super good benefit and they are a really great company. His manager is super nice and said that they make sure that everyone gets the schooling part of the apprenticeship done, which isn't always the case. Most shops don't want to let their employee's go because they are always so busy and don't have time. We have had a really really good week in terms of getting where we want to be.

Sterly beans is going to have to start being watched full time now. Kinda sad because when Trevor has been watching him I was able to talk to Sterling all day long. This will be better for Trevor and I though. First, it is more money and second, Trevor was working 5 nights a week so we had very little time together.

Trevor, Sterling and myself have had a devil cold all week long. I haven't been able to go into work because I was so freakin' sick. It wouldn't have been so bad if I was actually able to enjoy myself while off. So finally coming off the endtail. Still sick but not sick enough that I am unfunctional.

-Alauna

So this is my new favourite picture! Here is Sterling's new free wheelchair that he received from my Mother's pharmacist in Utah! We are so grateful and lucky to have people willing to help us out. We put him in it, even though it is a little big and he started wheeling around the house. I am so lucky to have such a smart and happy little boy. He is always in a happy mood and even tempered.

This year I got into refinishing old furniture and repurposing it into new furniture. I think it probably had something to do with the funds issue and then after my first project, it turned out that I really actually liked to do it. I am one of those people that hates to just sit around but I need new projects because I can't just paint a painting twice in a row. I have to paint a canvas, make a necklace, take some photos, paint a dresser, make a scrapbook page, paint a rocking horse into a zebra, make Sterling a star car and so on....so this turned out to be good for me. My first project this summer, I took an old antique door that I got for $40 into a kitchen table. I am not 100% done but the won't happen until I am moved. This table weighs a ton and I don't want to set the tiles until it has been moved to cut down on the weight. Here is the before picture of my antique door:Here is my table after I completely took the door apart, sanded and refinished it. Wow that was a freakin' task and a half. Here is the almost finished product. Still need to set in one of the board and set the tiles.My favourite part of this table is the key hole. I don't know why, but it makes me happy!

Than we bought a new king bed and I decided since I needed to buy a new bed-frame that I would just do a whole new set. I bought this door from Home Depot for super cheap and painted it black and then sanded around the edges and lines so that the white primer showed through. Used it as a headboard and it was super cheap compared to the $500 I was looking for similar ones.

Took these boring Ikea lamps we had and painted them with a design similar to our bedspread.

Lastly took this $15 sitting stool and painted them the same way as the headboard for a side table. Pretty stoked that you can actually do a bedroom set for almost nothing. I still need to find an old dresser big enough for the two of us to refinish and a bench or trunk for the end of our bed. Will post when I actually find what I am looking for and for a good price.

Now I just need to find a place to live so that my furniture actually matches my walls and curtains in our bedroom. I still have 3 side tables that will match the kitchen table to do for the living room. Just got burnt out after all this, so it will have to wait. I bought some antique cupboard doors for those side tables. Pretty excited for those because they will be tiled and I won't have to worry about ruining the wood. Anyways, if anyone has any other great ideas, I am all ears. I love to do anything that is creative and work with my hands. I told Trevor that I eventually want to open a small store to do things like this...We will have to see.

-Alauna

Yesterday we went to Alberta Children's Hospital for Sterling AFO (Ankle Foot Orthotic) appointment. They spent three hours forming this aquaplast perfectly to his feet and ankles to make sure his foot was at the proper angle. They said he was the only person in Calgary with green boots because they are supposed to use white because it is cheaper, but Sterly beans is a pimp baby so they splurged on him. At first he wears these little 'boots' for 40 minutes a day. But we have to slowly work him up to wearing these all day long. They help to make sure that his feet do not grow improperly and deform. They also help that while he is in his standing frame and other things that he does not break or jam his little ankles. He is kind of harsh on his legs because he doesn't have feeling in them. When I do not pay close enough attention to him, he will bite his toes so hard that they get huge bruises or even bleed. It is hard because he absolutely loves biting his toes for some weird reason. At any rate, he got really mad by the end of this 3 hour fitting session because they kept making him go in weird positions and take them on and off on and off. I think they are super cute though! How many little babies have super cool 'moon boots'. Here the sweet boots are:
He can still wear normal shoes but he has to wear them a size too big. Which isn't really an issue because he was still in newborn size shoes at a year old. Now I have to go find socks that fit perfectly and go up to his knees. If the socks have wrinkles in them, he will get pressure sores on his legs and feet. I love his chucks with his AFO's!

When Sterling turns two they are going to make him these sweet new AFO's. They cast his foot and then make these custom afo's that fit perfectly. They cost the $1000 to make and he has to have them made frequently because he is constantly growing. Luckily, we only have to pay the first $500 a year and the government takes care of the rest (this is for all his equipment that he uses).

I will eventually get to taking pictures of the table, headboard and side tables I made. I just do all the work and then don't feel like making an effort to take the photo.

-Alauna