Where can you get passport photos for babies in Guelph?

You're excited about a big trip you're going to take with your new little one!  Oh wait...she needs a passport!  It's one thing to find a place that does passport photos, but it's another to find a place that does passport photos for infants!

Passport photos get rejected when they don't follow the required criteria (such as looking straight at the camera, no teeth showing, no shadows, etc).

LOCATIONS THAT DO INFANT PASSPORT PHOTOS (as of fall 2015)
- Zehrs (Imperial and Paisley location)
- Walmart (on Woodlawn)
- Ponds (located downtown)
* Costco and Shoppers Drug Mart have sent some parents away when their babies were really young (some 3 months and younger).  Others have said that they were able to get photos done at these two places
* try calling any of these places before you go to save yourselves from having to find another store to take your photos

NOTES:
You need the long form birth certificate when you go to apply for the passport.
You can print an application online, or get one from the post office to fill out.
$55 an application
You can pay extra to get them faster but can generally get your passports in 2 weeks.
The closest passport office to drop off your application is in Kitchener.
The post office in Downtown Guelph (on Wyndham) also processes passport applications for an additional fee ($20 - $30) which might be worthwhile so you don't have to spend the time and gas going to the Kitchener office.

Quest for FREE Parking at Guelph General Hospital

Okay, who doesn't hate paying loads of money for parking at the hospital.  It always seems to cost so much, and really when you are sick do you really want to park far far away?

So I looked around for free, or cheaper alternatives to parking in the hospital parking lot (by the way, I am not opposed to paying for parking at the hospital since it is one stream of income...it's just difficult to always have to fork out for hospital parking especially if you have to come back many times)

The cheap and / or free alternatives I found (as of Fall 2015) were:

1) FREE option - park down the street and walk.  If you turn onto Delhi Street from Speedvale, there is free parking along the street.  Then you will see the parking meters pop up.  I parked the closest you could possibly get to the hospital before having to pay for parking.  This resulted in an 8 minute walk to the hospital (pregnant woman waddle pace).  Now, this may not be a practical option if you can't walk that far or that long.
PRO: Free, get in some exercise
CON: walk is 8 minutes at the very least

2) Another FREE option - parking along Havelock Street.  The disadvantage is that you cannot park there Monday to Friday, 8AM - 6PM
PRO: Free, close to hospital emergency entrance
CON: only free at certain times / days (like free on weekends, and not allowed to park most of the weekdays during day)

3) Free option after 9PM - right across from emergency entrance on Delhi Street, subject to overnight parking bylaws
PRO: Free, close to entrance
CON: time is restricted to 9pm - 8am

Note that parking on the street means that you are subject to Guelph parking bylaws (time duration, etc)

PAY options:

1) right across the street from the emergency room entrance, there is metered street parking.  There is 2 hour maximum and the cost is $2 / hour, I believe.

2) Hospital parking: price ranges from $2.50 per half hour, to $12 for a full day ($14 for full day with multiple entry / exit).  More information is found on the Guelph General Hospital website (http://www.gghorg.ca/index.php/patient-visitor, parking section)

Guelph General Hospital's packing list!

And low and behold...after compiling my list, I have stumbled upon Guelph General Hospital's list of what to pack for labour and deliver.  The quantity of some items seems excessive (8-10 blankets? 4 hats?) ...but perhaps it's if you lose some or get them dirty?

http://www.gghorg.ca/images/GGH_PDFs/What%20to%20bring%20to%20the%20hospital%202012.pdf

What to bring when having your baby at Guelph General Hospital

For mom:
• Ontario Health Card and other insurance information
• Medications you take regularly in labeled pharmacy containers
• Large sanitary pads; enough for three days and nights
• Clothing for self (i.e. slippers, socks, nightgowns, pyjamas, underwear and bra)
• Nursing pads for breastfeeding mom (optional)
• Personal care items (i.e. toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, soap, shampoo, conditioner, lip balm etc.)
• Pens to fill out forms
• If you bring food to place in the pantry located across the nursing station, please label with your name
• Anyone who has already delivered at the Guelph General Hospital will tell you about the wonderful pair of underwear we give to you after you have your baby; unfortunately we are able to only give you one pair

For baby:
• Newborn size diapers (approx. 25)
• Wipes
• Vaseline
• 8-12 receiving blankets
• Several pairs of sleepers
• 2-4 hats
• Safety approved infant car seat (please familiarize yourself with the car seat prior to discharge; your nurse is unable to help because every car seat is so different)

Other:
• Extra pillows (there is never enough!)
• Pyjamas, extra blanket and/or sleeping bag for partner
• Breastfeeding pillow (optional)
• Pen for keeping track of when baby feeds
• Kleenex
• Camera, personal mp3/iPod
• Snacks for partner
• Please DO NOT bring perfumes, latex and lilies as some people have severe sensitivities or allergies

What to pack in your hospital bag

So I had better start gathering stuff for my hospital bag.  Here are some things on my to pack list:

• chapstick
• nipple cream (like Lansinoh)
• pads / Depends or Always underwear
• Clothes for mom:
• socks
• underwear
• clothes to wear home
• birthing clothes
• toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, hand lotion, vaseline, shampoo, soap, etc)
• flip flops / crocs
• hair ties
• Clothes for newborn baby:
• sleeper / onesie
• socks
• hat
• mittens
• receiving blanket
• a few diapers and wipes
• snacks
• water bottle / liquids
• cell phone / cell phone charger
• camera
• light entertainment (e.g. book, magazines, iphone)

I have heard that Guelph General Hospital sometimes provides the following, but to be on the safe side I might bring a few of my own:

• diapers
• wash clothes instead of wipes
• receiving blanket
• pads / mesh underwear
• formula if you are not breastfeeding (I won't be bringing any formula with me, in case I don't need it)

Items I would strongly consider but might not pack if there is no room

• robe
• nursing pillow
• own pillow
• toilet paper (stuff that is softer than the kind at the hospital!)

One recommendation is to also pack it all in a rolling suitcase so that you can roll it out as opposed to having to carry the bag when you leave the hospital.

Also make sure to have that car seat installed!

Free Fun in Guelph - August 22, 2015

I think my little one is still a bit young to watch movies...but this is an awesome opportunity to do something fun and free with the family!  Someone please check it out and tell me how good (and hopefully not bad) it is.

It says you need to go to the box office for tickets, which I presume means you cannot order them online ahead of time.  If someone goes, please feel free to tell me how exactly it works!

The movie that has a free screening is "Maya the Bee Movie"
Details:

Galaxy Cinemas Guelph

485 Woodlawn Road West, Guelph, ON, N1K 1E9

Saturday August 22, 2015

11AM

(519) 763-3935

http://www.cineplex.com/Showtimes/any-movie/galaxy-cinemas-guelph?Date=8/22/2015
http://www.cineplex.com/Movie/maya-the-bee-movie-a-family-favourites-presentation

What are some stores I can purchase an infant car seat from in Canada?

If you buy a car seat to be used in Canada, it must be approved for Canadian Safety Standards.  The easiest way to achieve this is to buy from a vendor that sells car seats specifically for the Canadian market.  These include:

BRICKS AND MORTAR STORES - for those that like to go into a store and talk to someone and see a product

Ontario Wide (stores and online):
- Toys R Us
- Walmart (walmart.ca)
- Sears
- Canadian Tire

Guelph (physical store)
- Diaper Dayz

Toronto (physical stores and online)
- Dear Born Baby
- Canabee Baby

ONLINE:
Amazon.ca
Shop.ca
Costco.ca
Bestbuy.ca

The Search For An Infant Car Seat

I'm in the market for getting a new infant car seat.  These seats are also known as "infant capsules," "bucket seats," and stage 1 car seats.

It feels a bit daunting to shop for a seat at first glance.  There are so many things to consider which include:
- budget
- safety

The other factors for me are:
- sold in Canada in order to meet Canadian Safety requirements
- can I get it easily (shipping costs, available at a retail store)
- available in 2015

any other factors:
- weight of car seat
- suitability to my vehicle
- comfort

Any other things to consider?
I will be looking at reviews of course, and will be trying to come up with a table with all my pros and cons and deciding factors in the weeks to come!

So you're moving to Guelph, Ontario

We had a couple of months to move to Guelph.  It's a huge pain-in-the-you-know-what to look for a place to live in a city you barely know.  I only knew a few vague things about Guelph:

- There is a university there, The University of Guelph
- it's about an hour to an hour and a half west of Toronto
- it's about 30 minutes away from Kitchener-Waterloo
- people say it's a nice place to live

But big question marks in my head remained:

- What neighbourhood should we live in?
- Should we rent or buy a place?
- Will I find a job?
- Will I find child care?
- Is Guelph a good city to live in?

In the end, the neighbourhood we decided upon was based on the rentals available.  Since Guelph is a university town, many of the rentals were geared towards students.  We are a young family.  Sharing rooms with students was not in the cards for us.

My two main sources of rental property searches were:
1) MLS (realtor.ca)
2) Kijiji (kijiji.ca, a classified site)

I also tried Craigslist, but I found that not that many rentals were listed there...not that there were many to begin with!

BUT I WANT TO BUY A HOUSE IN GUELPH!

You want to buy a property right away?  Okay, that works too.  It didn't for us, just because of the short time line.  It was better not to rush into such a big purchase.

If you are looking to buy, it is probably best to get yourself lined up with a realtor.  I don't have any personal recommendations, but if you google "Guelph Realtor" you will find plenty of choices.  I would recommend contacting them by email and phone.  Get a feel for them, see if you click, and see how responsive they are to your requests and needs.

A realtor will help because they often see the listings first before they go onto MLS (realtor.ca).  You can always look at these listings too, but the realtors often have tools where they can enter filters based on your criteria.  These tailored filters result in daily emails to you with listings that may better fit your needs.

You can also try looking at propertyguys.com

That's it for this post for now.  Next post, I hope to get into some of the deciding factors for where exactly in Guelph you might want to choose to live.

Heeding the Lyme Disease Alerts

Is it me, or does it seem like Lyme disease has become quite the hot topic?

Here is Health Canada's public health reminder:

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/phn-asp/2015/lyme-eng.php

I think the first time I paid attention to Lyme disease was when a story came out about Avril Lavigne.   She was diagnosed with Lyme disease, and she had said she was bedridden for 5 months.  Sadly, it took a celebrity story to highlight to me how serious this disease could be.  What is scary is the number of cases where the disease remained undiagnosed for months.  Doctors had told her she was dehydrated and exhausted.

Lately, I have seen posts in some local mom forums about some bite marks that their kids are getting.  Some of these moms believe the marks to be mosquito bites, but when pictures of the bites are posted other moms let them know that they look like tick bites!

What does a tick bite look like?

The classic tell tale sign is that of a "bulls eye" rash as shown in the picture above.

So now whenever we're out for walks I'll check my child to see if I notice any rashes or any bugs.  I try to keep her in long sleeves, and long pants.  Not all tick bites will result in Lyme disease, but it is good to get familiar with preventative measures as well as symptoms because you just never know!

First Post!

As a mom that is relatively new to the city of Guelph in the province of Ontario (in Canada), I found there were things I had to learn about the city that were probably straightforward or well known to 'the locals.'  I hope to share with you some of my findings that were relevant to me!

Were there things you wish you had known or could find out easily when you moved to Guelph?