THE GOODS BLOG: Erika's Precious Little Life - April Edition

Lately I feel as if I’ve been struggling with getting myself to a good place where I feel happy and fulfilled with my life. We’ll dig into that after the March re-cap.

We’ve been full of niece birthdays! It’s pretty nice that we can pop on over to London (a short two hour drive) and are able to take part in the family events. My niece Laura turned two! (She’s only about a month younger than Archie.)

Archie has REALLY been loving all of the quality time that he gets to have with his cousins now. I think that it's been really good for him.

I got to go see the lead singer of one of my favourite bands of all-time; Spacehog. His name is Royston Langdon. I was SO excited to see his show! It was surreal and emotional to hear some of the songs that have been ingrained in my life since I was a teenager. Plus I got to meet him and he was so lovely! He even gave me a free shirt! (He used to be married to Liv Tyler and they have a son together.)

We attended a crazy hot sauce party and it was a ton of fun! We ate ten sauces (on wings) and they got hotter and hotter until we were all crying. Good times!

I had nice hangouts with my Toronto ladies! We’ve decided to start doing a monthly girls night together and had our first one; dinner at Jamie’s Italian (Jamie Oliver’s restaurant).

We also took the kids to the zoo! The Toronto Zoo is amazing and I grew up loving it, so I love being able to share it with Archie now. We got an annual membership so that we can go all the time!!

Archie was stoked to meet this Ball Python!

Here's a 1992 throwback. It's my brother and me and Colen at Zoo Camp. We've been zoo-ing together for a long time.

It’s sugaring off season so we went out to the sugarbush to have sweet, sweet maple adventures! I do love being back in the east where this is a thing!

The Toronto Yoga Conference happened and of course I was all over that! Finally a con just for me! I took a two hour class called Arm Balances, Hip Openers and Inversions that was taught by two of my favourite celebrity yogis; Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman Yee. This is the second time that I’ve gotten to practice with them and it was great.

More niece birthdays! My niece Evelyn turned one and my niece Amelia turned four!

And we got some exciting news!!! Mya and Jeff are expecting a second baby!!! The baby is due in November! This will be my fifth niece or nephew... And now there will be SIX of them. The kids are taking over. We hope that it’ll finally be another boy!

It was actually a fairly low-key month compared to the way that the year started out. This was a relaxing change!

Life with Archie:

Well, we went to Jollibee so that was a win!

Archie’s vocabulary is doing so much better. His progress has really accelerated this past month! He now uses about 25 words and is way more eager to use words and to try using new words. He still isn’t making two word sentences or anything, but I’ve really seen so much progress. It’s a relief and I really do appreciate that he’s got his own little schedule and I feel far less worried about him. He shows me how intelligent he is every day.

He finally started attending Speech Therapy last week and is going to go once a week for six weeks. After that he’ll have another assessment done with a Pathologist and we’ll see where he’s at. I already see improvement since last week’s appointment!

We also finally have a Family Doctor and Archie has an appointment this week. I’ll be relived knowing that he’s being looked after properly again.

Archie has really gotten into Thomas & Friends. He LOVES it. It’s the first show that he gets extremely excited about and will sit through entire episodes, completely enthralled. The zoo had a Thomas event going on which we took him to, of course.

We still take Archie to restaurants every week (which has been the case since he was born) and he still eats everything! Our philosophy is that the more types of foods that he is exposed to on a regular basis, the more likely that he will be to enjoy all foods. We want him to be very used to the fact that ALL FOOD is food that we eat and enjoy! The main rule is that he has to at least try everything. It seems to be going pretty well.

Ethiopian food!

So yes. I’ve been having a challenging time finding myself lately and figuring out my place within our new Toronto life. I often feel that my entire existence is like “groundhog day,” where day in and day out I attend various toddler programs, chase a toddler around, and follow our routine... And there never seems to be much left for me. It’s not that I don’t love parts of it. I do. I love the time that I get to have with Archie because I love him. But it’s difficult for me as a human with my own identity as well. I do think that the CBD oil has been helping me but it’s obviously not a fix-all.

I’ve been having a tough time finding a yoga studio that I like that is a reasonable distance from my house. The studios that I’ve been to have been nice, but in many cases the teachers aren’t up to the caliber that I’m used to, and there aren’t classes that I enjoy offered frequently enough each week. It’s becoming apparent to me that I was very spoiled by my yoga situations in Montreal and Vancouver. I miss living right in the core of the best neighbourhoods like Mile End and Kitsilano. My studios were always a short walk away. Now I definitely have to drive to get there. The entire situation is completely different and it makes me a bit sad.

All in all, I feel like I’m in a bit of a funk. And that I’m a bit lost. And that I’m not enough of me...

So we’re thinking of totally changing things. Because that’s what you do when things aren’t working; you try something else.

I might be coming out of retirement!

Tim’s video game studio Ubisoft is looking to hire a new receptionist... And the job description is pretty much exactly the same as the job that I had (and loved) at SONiC. I laughed when I read it because it’s the same job. So I’ve applied... And I have a phone call with them on Wednesday.

Believe me, I never thought that I’d want to do this either. When I was unemployed, living in Montreal, and Archie wasn’t born yet I was LIVING THE DREAM. I was free! I slept in if I wanted to, I attended five yoga classes a week, I could leave town for weeks at a time, and I generally did whatever I wanted to. It was glorious! I think back to those years as some of the best in my life. However, I knew all along that it wasn’t sustainable and that we were going to have a child soon. I obviously cannot live this same life now that Archie is here and I don’t know if momming 24/7 is what makes me happiest. I think I’d be happier if I could go to work and be an “adult” again. I’d have more quiet time to write my food blogs (I always did this at work) and I’d feel like I’m doing more for myself. And Tim and I would be co-workers and could go out to lunch together and things! And we’d get to drive to and from work together!

And of course... WE’D HAVE MORE MONEY!

Of course Archie would have to go to daycare and we’ve already found a great one located “on our way to work.” We’re going to tour it next week. I actually think that this would be really beneficial to him and he’d probably get to do a whole lot more interesting things than what he does all week with me.

So that’s what might be happening! I’ll obviously let you know what happens!

April has some stuff and things going on.

Archie is starting his swimming lessons this month!

I’m going on a pastry food crawl on Queen West!

We’re finally throwing our Housewarming Party!

We have a cottage weekend in Muskoka at the end of the month!

We’ll see where I am in terms of life fulfillment this time next month.

THIS MONTH’S SHOUT-OUTS!:

April 2nd is Jaelyn Leonard’s 37th birthday!

I hope that you have a wonderfully special day and that the kids let you relax! I hope to see you soon because it would be great to be able to make some new memories with you. I hope that Joe spoils you on your day! Love you!! ♥

April 7th is Melanie Santiago’s 38th birthday!

What an exciting birthday this is! It’s your first married birthday and the best part is that I’ll get to celebrate this one with you!! See you at your house on Saturday! I hope that Ron super spoils you on your day because you definitely deserve it! Love you!! ♥

April 10th is Amy Bull’s 34th birthday!

Remember when we just used to hang out whenever we wanted to? I miss you so much Ames! You are always in my heart. No matter what happens in life, it’s us forever (with those other two). I’m sure that Ray and the kids are going to make you feel like a queen on your day! Love you!! ♥

April 18th is Colen Quinn’s 37th birthday!

I’m so happy that I get to celebrate your birthday with you this year!! We need to sync our siamese brain powers a whole lot more often. You’ve always been one of the most special people in my life. I can’t wait to hear about how Jeff and the boys are going to spoil you! So looking forward to the pastry crawl! Love you!! ♥

April 18th is Nadine Ottenbreit’s 37th birthday!

I am so thrilled that you get to spend this birthday PREGGO! I love the closeness that we have shared these past few years. No one deserves to be spoiled more than you and I hope that Kyle and the kids do just that! Love you!! ♥

April 18th is Lacey Suttie’s 39th birthday!

You are my favourite magical mountain goddess! I love the times that we’ve gotten to share recently and I always laugh when I think of horse juice. Dallas and the kids will obviously spoil you plenty! Love you!! ♥