Blessed

Seriously, how were we blessed with such a beautiful, happy little girl? Who's smile can light up our days and turn grey skies into blue??? Thank you Finley for coming into our lives!

I Love Luci

Or at least Finley does!!!

Finley's First Steps

Finley took her first steps today. I should be excited, but I am not. I missed it. I missed my baby's first steps because I was at work. I picked her up today and they were so excited to tell me about it. I acted all happy about but it took everything in me to not cry.

I know it will happen again but it still saddens me that I missed it. Part of trials and tribulations of being a working mom.

Green Is Our Color, Grey Cup Is Our Game!

On Sunday, Finley and I sat down to watch the Western Final between the Calgary Stampeders and Our Saskatchewan Roughriders. We were hoping to find Daddy, Uncle Brad & Frunkl Jack in the stands but we were unsuccessful. Much to our delight, the Riders stomped the Stamps and we are now heading to the GREY CUP! Or is it the GREEN CUP? HAHA!

We are looking forward to painting the town green this week and can't wait for the GREY CUP Parade on Saturday and of course the big game on Sunday! Finley is a little sad she can't go to the game with her mommy and daddy but will be watching it at home with her Great Uncle Doug and Great Aunty Leslie!

Here are some photos of Finley from yesterday:

YAY WE WON!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Daddy

Dear Daddy,

I miss you very much! I hope you had fun in Regina watching the Roughriders advance to the GREY CUP! Mama and I tried to see you on TV but it was not to be. There were lots of topless boys but none were you or Frunkl Jack or Uncle Brad. I had a great time with Mama but look forward to seeing you tomorrow when you get home!!

Drive safely!
xoxoxox
Finley

Finley's Rider Pride

Finley watching her first ever RIDER game when she was 10 days old! They lost.

Finley and I were out and about on this day. Someone told me it was child abuse to have my child dressed with that shirt on. He was obviously a bitter Stamps fan.

This was Finley getting ready to go her first ever CFL game with her daddy & frunkl jack. The Riders weren't even playing, but she didn't care!

This was Finley on Canada Day at the Stamps home opener against Montreal. She had to change of out her Canada Day attire because people might have gotten the wrong idea with her wearing red.

This was Finley getting ready to watch the Labor Day classic on TV between the Riders & the Bluebombers...She wore a bow and pink shoes so people would know she was a she and not a he...

This was the following week at the rematch between the Riders and the Bombers....

Frunkl Jack made Finley her very own watermelon helmet to match the ones he and her daddy wore to the football games. If it were just a tad bigger, she would've loved it!!

Finley watching her Riders play for the first time LIVE!! She & Sophie LOVED IT!!

Watching Andy Fantuz rather intently....We love Andy!!

Finley's Super cool shoes....

Finley Cheering on the Riders against the Stamps on November 7th!

COME ON RIDERS!! YOU CAN DO IT!!!

What's In A Name?

What’s In A Baby Name
One of the most difficult jobs as a parent is naming your child. It is up to you to pick the name your child will answer to for the rest of their life. It’s a huge responsibility that’s given to us. Some say what you name your child will influence the type of person he or she becomes. I grew up with a girl named Brandy. That was the way it was spelt. When we were older, she insisted that her name now be spelt Brandee. She convinced her parents to ok it and had it done legally. I think she was around 16. Soon, after she started hanging with the wrong crowd and got into trouble. Her mom was convinced that it was because she changed the spelling of the name. I am not convinced that is the case.

I was born Rebecca Lynn Norman. I always hated my name, it sounded so boring and unimaginative. I never knew if it was Rebecca I hated or my last name. When I got married, my name became Rebecca Lynn Florizone. I liked the way it sounded, Rebecca wasn’t so vanilla anymore. My biggest problem now is having people pronounce it correctly (exactly how it sounds people!!) or being asked if I am (or Greg) Italian….NO, it’s Belgium!!!

When we found out that I was pregnancy back in March 2008, we immediately began thinking of baby names. Taggart was definitely going to be in the name regardless of the sex. I wanted to be able to honor my mom and my grandparents who I knew would be so proud of their new great grandbaby. We had first thought Taggart would be the first name of our baby but soon decided that it may be the boy’s name but definitely our daughter’s middle name. We then came to the conclusion that it would also be the middle name of our son simply because we hated the idea of them being called Tag. So once that was decided, we needed to find a first name to go with Taggart Florizone.

Easier said then done. We had some conditions (well, mostly Greg) that the name had to follow: it couldn’t be in the top 200 most popular names, it had to have the ability to be shortened, and it had to have less than 10 babies named that according to the Service Alberta website that provided this information (http://www.servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/807.cfm)

There were a lot of girls names that we had put on our “list”. Finley was always on the top of my list. I had loved this name for years. Where did I get it you ask? About 5 or 6 years ago, Angie Harmon, who was a lawyer on Law & Order, had a baby girl named Finley Faith. I LOVED it. I loved that it was unique and old school and rare all at the same time. In 2007, only 4 girl babies had the name Finley and in 2008 (the year Finley was born) there were 8. On the list we also had Apple, January, Ellery, Elliot, Embry, Emersyn, Emery (which Angie Harmon just named her 3rd baby – too funny) and of course XXXXXXX which we will name our next daughter should we have another girl and the last name on the list was Apple.

I really liked the names Apple & January. I had Greg sold on the idea of naming Finley Apple. I even had pajama’s and tshirts that I had found at Superstore with apples on them – so I bought them. But I backed out not because I thought she would be hippy or a tree hugger as Greg calls them, but because I was afraid of the reaction from our friends and family. Some of my family had enough time dealing with Finley, I can’t imagine how they would’ve dealt with Apple or the mystery girl name for that matter…. Celebrities can name their babies Pistol or Pirate or Zuma or Heavenly TigerLily because we expect them too and because they don’t care what we think. Besides if they named them Rebecca or Kristy then what we would we have to talk about when a celeb baby is born??


In the end, I am glad we picked Finley Taggart Florizone for our baby girl. I love the way Finley Florizone name sounded. I thought by sound of her name alone, she would be a fashion designer or a lawyer. It has a really nice ring to it. The only thing that bothers me is that she is constantly referred to as a boy whenever I say her name. Finley sounds much more feminine to me then masculine but what do I know?

With my generation becoming parents and choosing names such as Finley or Oliver or Addison or Kaleigh or Ashton or Grady or Koen or Carys or Ayva or Ava will they be any different from our generation because they don’t have names like Rebecca or Gregory or Bradley or Kristy or Heather or Jennifer and so on? If what we name our children influences them for the rest of their lives then the answer would be yes. But I am not so sure that Finley would be any different a person if her name was Apple or January or Amanda or Kathryn.

What do you think??

Are Your Ready For Some Football

I have changed the background again for the blog and now have a football theme. This is in referance to:

1) The upcoming Western Final in Regina between the Stampeders & the ROUGHRIDERS!!

2) Canada's Game, Calgary's Party...........AKA The Grey Cup!

The Grey Cup has already taken over the City of Calgary and I am looking forward to partaking in the Grey Cup Festivities!

We have tickets to the Grey Cup and I am looking forward to taking Finley to the Grey Cup Parade!!

Stay tuned for another post of Finley's Tribute To Her Roughriders!

Hurricane Finley

Everyday, Hurricane Finley seems to hit our bonus room. Sometimes once a day, sometimes 3 times a day. Whether she is in the room for an hour or five, the end result is always the same! When I was on maternity leave, I used to clean this room up to 5x a day, now that I am back at work, I'm lucky if it's done once a day! Sometimes I really don't see the point of cleaning it is...Anyways, here are some before and after photos of Hurricane Finley. The first 4 are before she comes through, the last 5 are photos of her mass destruction!

Finley is so happy being a hurricane!!

Manic Mondays

Is having one of those days where I should've just stayed in bed!!

Finley's New Floor

When Finley was starting to "move around" and play alot of the floor, we purchased the 4 square mats from Canadian Tire - you know the red, blue, green, yellow foam mats that EVERYBODY has. When she got alot more mobile, we needed to buy more. But instead of buying the same mats that we already had, I insisted we buy the mats above - the cool ones with letters and numbers and that were twice as expensive as the other mats we had. So we laid them out in our bonus room and put all the letters in her name n order. These mats were great - at least until Finley figured out how to pull them all apart. I was literally putting this mat back together on average 3x a day. I was beyond annoyed and was almost ready to glue them together. A few weeks ago, I noticed Finley had the triangle part of the A in her mouth. I was not impressed. These are supposed to be for babies and toddlers and here it is having parts of the mat very accessible to choke on. So I headed back to Canadian Tire and bought the following:
That's right, I went and bought 2 more sets of the same squares everybody else has. No more cute little letters and numbers and most importantly no more putting them back together and choking hazards!! I am much happier with these foam mats then the other ones and highly recommend that future buyers buy these only and skip the cute lettered ones, you will save your self alot of money in the long run.

Although, Finley is not impressed by her inability to destroy the mats. Slowly Hurricane Finley will be no more!!

The C of Pink

Healthy Beauty Pledge For Mothers & Mothers To Be

I Promise To…..

Acknowledge that there is no such thing as the “perfect” body – or the “perfect” mommy

Never define my self worth according to the number on the scale or the size of my clothes

Make decisions that are right for me. They don’t have to be right for everybody else

Ask for help when I need it. I’ll make a phone call, write an email or send a text – whatever it takes to reach out for support

Take care of myself and take time for myself, even if some days I can only manage one minute increments

Separate the retouched, make up beauty fantasies in the media from what matters most to me in reality

Work on developing a relationship with food that is about health, nourishment, and enjoyment, not deprivation, indulging, and punishment

Stop all body bashing talk with my friends, my colleagues, my partner, my family and myself

Give up the mission to get my “pre-baby body” back and start focusing my energy on moving forward in my new life

Remember that, one person at a time, healthy beauty is a revolution – for ourselves and for our children.

Signed..__________________________________

LEST WE FORGET

LEST WE FORGET

When you think of Remembrance Day, you think of the poppy, the war, the loss, the heroes. You think of Flanders Fields, Wreaths on Graves and the Last Post. At least, that is what I think. You may think of something completely different.

My Grandpa Taggart was in the war. World War II to be exact. I don’t know much about his time in the war, other than he was on his way back to Canada when he found out he became a dad again. He never spoke about the war to my knowledge and I never asked. I never had the opportunity to do so. He died when I was 12, before I fully understood all that he had sacrificed for the freedoms that we have today. I remember him proudly wearing his poppy, selling poppies at the Co-op, wearing his Legion Jacket with all the pins and medals hung so proudly.

I remember in the 6th grade I wrote a poem for Remembrance Day and it was selected by the PA Daily Herald to be printed in their Remembrance Day special. I was so excited and couldn’t wait for my Grandfather to see it. I remember it being stuck to the fridge and being so proud to see it. Although he never expressed it, I knew it made him proud!

I always thought that the Last Post was the saddest song in the world. This even further enriched when it was played at my grandfather’s funeral. To this day, it still makes me cry. At the Flames game on Saturday night, they had a remembrance day tribute before they started the game. We also had a moment of silence for the young soldier from Calgary who was killed 6 days in to his mission in Afghanistan. They played the Last Post and again I cried.

I miss my Grandfather very much. So much has happened in the nearly 19 years that he has been gone. I think he would be so proud of how we all turned out and all the great grandchildren he now has. I wonder what he would think of the wars in Afghanistan & Iraq and the soldiers being detained in Guatamino Bay. I wonder how he would deal with all those young soldiers coming home in body bags. I wonder if would make a difference to him in that he was drafted to go to war, he had no choice and these soldiers today are making that choice to fight for our country. I wonder if he still would not talk about it.

On this Remembrance Day, I remember those who fought and still are fighting – not just for our freedoms and safety but for those in other countries who have nothing. But most importantly, I remember my Grandfather, the hero – even though I know he probably wouldn’t like me saying that.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae MD
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Field

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields

It's Remembrance Day....

For our king and our country and the promise of glory
We came from Kingston & Brighton to fight on the front line

Just lads from the farms and boys from the cities
Not meant to be soldiers we lay in the trenches

We'd face the fighting with a smile - or so we said
If only we had known what danger lay ahead

The sky turned to grey as we went into battle
On the fields of Europe young men were fallin'

I'll be back for you someday - it won't be long
If I can just hold on 'til this bloody war is over

The guns will be silent on Remembrance Day
There'll be no more fighting on Remembrance Day

By October of 18 Cambrai had fallen
Soon the war would be over and we be returnin'

Don't forget me when I'm far away
Well it won't be long 'till I'm back there in your arms again

One day soon - I don't know when
You know we'll all be free and the bells of peace will ring again

The time will come for you and me
We'll be goin' home when this bloody war is ended

The guns will be silent on Remembrance Day
We'll all say a prayer on Remembrance Day

On Remembrance Day - say a little prayer
On Remembrance Day

Well the guns will be silent
oh There'll be no more fighting
We'll lay daown our weapons
On Remembrance Day

Bryan Adams

Poppy Campaign

Every year on October 27th, the Royal Canadian Legion conducts their Poppy Campaign. The campaign is designed to raise funds for needy Canadian ex-service members and their dependants as well as commonwealth veterans of World War II who may be eligible for assistance.

It is also there so that always remember those who sacrificed their lives and continue to do so for our freedoms

Poppies are distributed for donations. This money is needed to assist our veterans and to provide them with things they cannot afford or insurance does not cover. Equipment is donated to hospitals and homes where veterans live. Every little bit helps.

So needless to say, stories like this make me very angry:

On Sunday, a man walked into the Westbrook Walmart here in Calgary and stole the money from a little old lady selling poppy’s in the entry. The Walmart Greeter saw what happened, chased after the creep and held him there until the cops came. I was full of disgust, anger & sadness for this individual who stole this money. The sad thing is, this happens all the time both with the poppy fund and the Salvation Army Kettles at Christmas time. This money goes to those who DESERVE this money, to steal it so cold heartedly makes me ashamed for this individual.

So buy your poppies and wear them proudly!!!

PAINT MIX UP FROM RONA

A few weeks ago we were at RONA buying paint for our basement. I convinced Greg that Finley needed a fun colored play room down there instead of the boring colors already there. So we ended up at Rona only because they had a buy 2, get the 3 one free event for paint. We picked out the insane colors and while we were waiting for the paint to be mixed, we perused through their color guide books. We found a cool color scheme if we are ever blessed with another girl and found this cool color called "mansion". Greg immediately called me over and told me he really liked this color. I, of course, jumped on the opportunity to paint our bonus room, stair case & hallway. He was hesitant of course but the following weekend, he again stressed how much he liked it. I knew I had him convinced!

So at the Rona in the NE, we purchased 2 gallons of "Mansion". I was so excited and couldn't wait for Greg to start painting this past Friday. The 2 gallons weren't going to be enough to finish our hallway and the one high wall going down the stairs, so we stopped at Rona on Macleod to buy one more gallon of paint. They were pretty backed up so they didn't do the usual blow dry of the paint on the lid - just a brief flash and off we went. We kinda thought it was off but needed something to compare it to.

Greg came home and opened the can and again, we thought it was incorrect. So inorder to find out for sure, we painted one wall and a patch on another. It was way off. Like not even close. So we waited for it to dry and indeed we were right. It was AWFUL!! So Greg took the new can of paint and the one we bought last week and went back to the Rona on Macleod. He explained to her what happened and she couldn't figure it out either. She said sometimes the 2 stores are different but not enough to notice. This was definitely a problem she said. She spent the next 60 minutes trying to fix the existing gallon of paint plus 2 others. She could not get to the shade that it should be despite adding the exact colors as the first 2. Finally, she gave Greg our money back (something that is a big no-no for tinted paints) and told him to go back to the NE Rona and get it there. So off he went. There they matched it exactly to the color card.

It looked right but of course, we both were skeptical. He repainted the areas that we painted in the wrong color and the hallways and with much thanks to the painting Gods, it was great!! Our upstairs now looks fabulous and can't wait to add our artwork and the new canvas of Finley we are getting from Vee!! I promise to post photos when it is all done and put back together!

This leaves 2 rooms left in our house that are that ugly beige: our office & main bathroom. The office will get painted if baby #2 ever comes along and I think I may have Greg convinced to paint the bathroom. He realized that I was right all along: the beige is UGLY!!!!!!

Things To Do While Waiting For The Dr...

The other day, I took Finley to see Dr. Bernhardt (Greatest DR EVER!!) for her 12 month check up. We were a bit early due to the fact I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get from my office to her daycare to the dr's office.

Thankfully, Finley found numerous ways to entertain herself (& I):

She read the newspaper....

She crawled thru a obstacle course made by the chairs...

She did some people watching when they walked by....

She made some fun music on the stepping stool with her fingers...

You can look at all the cool "gadgets" once you are in the office...

And finally, you can practice your pose for the camera...