4 Months Bliss?

How have I not posted for an entire month? I promise I had the best of intentions, I even photographed the dairy free gluten free everything free breakfast cookies I made with a plan of raving over their surprising tastiness despite how free they were of anything I once considered delicious. This last month has been busy preparing for the holidays, hosting our annual party and attending several others. I am hoping 2015 and months 4-12 will provide more time for blogging but I am not convinced!

In this busy time our sweet pumpkin has grown to the magical 4 months. We are out of the elusive fourth trimester! Sweet baby girl is growing fast- she's now over 2 ft tall and weighs over 15 pounds!

At four months she likes:

Blowing bubbles and rolling her lips

Sitting on her own with a toy

The jolly jumper!

Her skwish toy

Daddy- her eyes light up and she gives the biggest grin when he walks in the room

She Dislikes:

Napping anywhere except in the car and on mommy

Milestones this month:

Rolling Over

1 6 hr stretch of night sleep

2 plane rides

First Christmas party

Found her feet

Sitting on her own for a few seconds

3 Months- Are we there yet?

Well we made it to three months! While my darling girl has not really lengthend her sleep or feeding schedule (as I was rudely mispromised by so many publications that I am now officially boycotting), she has developed a ton in the last month!

She likes:

Playing with toys (ie holding things long enough to stick them in her mouth). Her favourite is her blue oball.

Sitting on the counter in her bouncy chair watching mom cook.

Splashing in her new bigger bathtub 

Rubbing up to her kitties especially Missy

She dislikes:

Her carseat 

Burping

Sleeping in her crib between the hours of 3am-8pm!!!

3 became 4

My mother and I are very close, I call her almost everyday. Her mother and my grandmother lives 5 minutes up the road. She babysat me growing up and the three of us went shopping together almost every Saturday when I lived at home. 

Two years ago we took this picture:

Last weekend we took this one:

I hope that Charlotte calls me everyday when she grows up. My mom often used to say I told her everything even the stuff she didn't want to know. I wish for that openness between Charlotte and I. I also hope she has a strong bond with her Geandmothers. This was such a special relationship for me growing up. I know it will be harder since neither one is 5 minutes up the road, but definitely will be worth every extra effort.

Halloween 2014

Halloween is a lot different these days. If you think about how the Facebook pics have changed in the last 5 years- it's pretty hilarious. We've gone from women trying to make every cute costume from childhood a little bit sexy to sweet babies in fleece costumes of cute animals. Charlotte had 3 outfit changes on Halloween, and it was definitely fun to dress her up and take her picture. Next year we might actually go out trick or treating!

2 Months

Well, we're two months in, and as you can tell from the photo below, we seem to be starting to get the hang of things! I am still holding out for the miraculous 3 Months I keep hearing so much about, but month 2 was pretty good.

Charlotte is now smiling, and she really wants to laugh (trust me, she has plenty of material to laugh about).

She likes the sounds of our voices, and really likes her woozit toy we affectionately call Mr. Bo Jangles.

She is officially in cloth diapers during the day.

She is outgrowing her 3 month clothes

She slept for 5 hours straight twice now at night 

I have also been keeping up with my weekly photos- here are the first 8 weeks. Funny how much can change in a year- I recall posting weekly photos of my harvest basket last year. This subject is definitely cuter, although produce is definitely quieter and easier to photograph!!!

Fall Family Photo DIY

Fall is a great time to take family photos because the backdrop is beautiful and free! A couple weeks ago we grabbed a quilt, put on a sweater and had my dad take a mini photo shoot under a colourful tree down the road from our house. I am pretty happy with how our first family photo session turned out:)

Ambition or "While Charlotte was Sleeping"

I'm not sure when (or if) I will actually get to this list, but I wanted to write it down, so that it is out there, and I can hold myself to it as best as possible! This is the list of everything I would like to accomplish while Charlotte is sleeping on my maternity leave. I have friends who have said forget it, but I am going to try!

Maternity Leave To-Do List
- Paint the hallway
- Paint the master bath and update the lighting and vanity
- Refinish the shelf that's in the shed
- Host a yard sale
- Add shelving to the sitting room and spare bedroom

- Strip the wallpaper in the spare bathroom and paint or update wallpaper

- Master white bread making

- Attempt sourdough bread making

One Month In

Well, we're officially one month in last weekend, and I can say that this has probably been the most challenging month of my life. I think Charlotte's expression in the picture below sums it up pretty well- we're all learning. She's learning how to be a human outside of the womb, and we're learning how to be parents.

Here are some of my key learnings:
- Everyone has an opinion, and the more you read, the more confused you will be. I actually ordered two books from Amazon last week on sleep, and they are literally polar opposite and contradictory in terms of their advice!
- Everyday is different...every baby is also different, so feel free to nod and smile when someone tells you their child was on a schedule at 4 weeks, and then disregard.
-Pack an extra shirt for yourself in the diaper bag when you go out
-Get out- for me, getting out helps me to maintain some sense of normal
-Things will never go back to what they were, so embrace the change and create a new normal, and then get ready for it to change again just when you're getting comfortable.

And just when you think you can't take it anymore- they do something like this, and it brightens your entire day!

Charlotte at 1 Month Old
- She is very strong, can hold her head up and move it from side to side
- Likes her play-gym, although doesn't really play at this point
- Likes eating on one side per feeding
- Likes fighting sleep in case she's going to miss something
- Likes open air time and her bath
- Dislikes being put down
- Dislikes every apparatus we have bought with the exception of the Mammaroo (thank you Kijiji)!

Nursery Update

The nursery had a bit of a do-over once the crib arrived as it didn't quite fit where I thought it would. We moved the change table to the other wall, and it seems to be working quite well.

Funny story about the crib- it's not the one I thought we were getting, but I am so happy it turned out this way. I was expecting a white crib , and when it arrived it was grey. I love how it fits in the room and pulls grey from the polka dots and stars. I still have to add the yellow chevron crib skirt I made.

Chris gifted me the balloon print that says The Best Is Yet To Come for our first anniversary . The nursery chair was a Kijiji find.

The reading nook got a brand new pink colourful clock and a repurposed red side table.

All in all I am pretty happy with how this space turned out for our little girl .

Life Lately

Lately sweet Baby C has been having a hard time sleeping during the day unless she's in someone's arms. I know it's a slippery slope, but I've also heard you can't spoil a newborn, so I've decided for now it's ok.  

PS- Look at those sweet curls, I hope they stay forever!

Small Victories

I mentioned in my last post, that certain everyday tasks become accomplishments when parenting a newborn. While I have found getting out of the house to be the best remedy for feeling human again, today I stayed in and had two small victories- I made a soup from scratch (granted I roasted the vegetables yesterday) and baked homemade cookies. We have been blessed by great friends bringing food by and a freezer full of meals we prepared ahead of time, but sometimes it's nice to have fresh food you cooked yourself!

The soup is super easy- just roast a squash, an onion, two cloves of garlic and an apple together for an hour. I like to add a couple tablespoons of brown sugar or maple syrup to the squash hollows.  Then add a quart of chicken stock, the roasted vegetables and salt and pepper to taste in a pot to simmer before pureeing. It's one of our fall favourites!

The recipe for these Best Ever Oatmeal Raisin cookies can be found in this post

Baby C Week 2

Baby C turned 2 weeks old on Thursday. I took two photos because I couldn't decide which I liked better.

I do plan to document her birth story in a few weeks when I can dedicate some time to it.

In the meantime- here's what I've noted about parenting a two week old:

- It is by far the hardest thing I have ever done

- I read that you're going to be tired, and you have a choice to either be tired and angry or just tired. I have decided to just be tired.

- Having your own child is nothing like babysitting, no matter how much of a "natural" you're told you are 

- I think babies absorb your energy, so I feel it's very important to stay as positive as possible no matter how frustrated you might be on the inside

- Probiotics are a good thing- for everyone

- You will always want your own mom when you have your own child

- Having a shower, brushing and flossing your teeth are definitely accomplishments

- It's true what they say- the love for your child is overwhelming and unlike anything you've ever felt before- even when she gets her white socks in her poopy diaper or throws up on you!

Introducing Baby C

Apologies for the radio silence folks, but we have been enamoured with our sweet addition who was born last Thursday evening. Baby C came pretty quickly one day after her due date. We were surprised she was a girl given how sure almost everyone was that we were expecting a boy. This blog will be a bit slow for a while as we adjust to being a family of 3.

A smiley shot from the hospital.

I will be completing a weekly photo project of Baby C- here is week one!

Waiting for Peanut

Well, we officially made it to 40 weeks. I haven't shared many pictures of my pregnancy on the blog, and while I have been informally documenting my progress in bathroom mirror selfies and sending them to my parents, I asked Chris to take a couple of pictures of me and our peanut last night.

I truly feel blessed at how good of a pregnancy I have had, and I secretly hope this is a testament to the temperament of our sweet baby and what I can expect in labour (wishful thinking I know). We cannot wait to meet our little one, and are just so thrilled we're almost there!

Fab Find Friday: What's in my Workshop

I have to admit, this blog has seen better days, but to be honest our mind is on other things...namely waiting for Baby Madia to show up! Today was my last day of work, so I am now officially on maternity leave. I celebrated with pedicure- classic OPI Red.

On to Fab Find Friday! My workshop has started to collect a number of items that I can't really do much with until I am without child and able to use my furniture stripper and paint products again. I probably have half a dozen projects waiting for a little TLC.

On the left is an industrial stool Chris and I picked up for $5 at a garage sale last weekend. I'm not sure where it will end up (Kitchen Island is currently in the lead), but it was too good of a deal to pass on. The item on the right was also a yardsale find. It's a wooden suitcase. I have never seen one before, not even at the antique shows. It has leather straps, and I have no idea what I will do with it, but that's half the fun right?

Raspberry Crumb Muffins

My mom is in town this weekend and she brought a few pints of Raspberries from my grammy's garden with her. They have gone a little mushy, so we needed to do something with them this morning. I found this recipe, and it looked delicious. They turned out really well, although I would highly recommend not using paper liners as they stuck to the paper a little bit. Later today I am going to attempt some frozen yogurt!

Hope you're all having a nice long weekend. Baby Madia is due in two weeks, so we're all getting a little bit anxious and excited for the upcoming arrival!

DIY Nursery Art for Under $3

I wanted to create some colourful art for our white walled nursery, so I took to Pinterest to see what free printables I could find. If you check out my Nursery board, you'll see I managed to find a few!

Instead of paying a fortune for new frames, I hit up goodwill on a day they had 50% off their frames and scored  six for $8!!! I then enlisted help to paint them (using spray paint I had on hand) to give new life to the frames!

I love how this guy turned out, and plan to do a couple more soon!

Fab Find Friday: Chris' Nursery Update

Have I told you lately that I have the best husband in the world. I know I am pretty biased, and probably don't say it enough, but when I came home on Tuesday night this week- the man was a hero! He told me that he had a big surprise for me, and then proceeded to tell me that he really liked what he did, so if I didn't like it- I should use my best poker face and let him down gently! When I got home, he led me upstairs, I closed my eyes and he showed me that he had selected and installed a lighting fixture in the nursery!

The nursery room didn't have any overhead lighting, and Chris was able to purchase a fixture that we could plug in (thanks to the random outlet in the closet, and run the line around the frame and hook it with a ceiling hook. It looks great and I absolutely love the fixture...that man has good taste! It comes with a handy on/off switch that Chris will mount on the wall for me and then cover the cord with cable cover.

Here's a glimpse of what it looks like lit up!

While he was out, he also managed to find me a very cute fan for the nursery as well. I love the style and its playful colour!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. Chris' mom is hosting a baby shower this weekend. We're less than 6 weeks away now and sh*t is definitely getting real!

Weekend Find

I stopped by a garage sale on the weekend and found this really cute metal rack/planter/stand/I really don't have any idea what it is. When I asked the hosts how much, they said "10 cents, actually we'll give you a bag of cookies if you take it away." The garage sale was for charity, so I offered them a dollar and they gave me a bag of cookies and this lovely item. I don't know exactly what I am going to use it for, I think it would be a great stand for cupcakes if I had a bakery, but I do think a coat of bright spray paint is int its future! Right now I am thinking red or yellow, but we'll see!

Does this item look familiar to anyone? Anyone have any idea what it may have been used for in the past? Happy Wednesday!

Tall Poppy

We had a bit of a mini vacation last weekend, starting in one of my favourite places in Ontario; Prince Edward County and then making our way up North to spend the weekend at a cottage with friends. We had a wonderful time, and it was so nice to getaway before the baby arrives!

We ate very well while in Prince Edward County, but my favourite dining experience was definitely our visit to the Tall Poppy Cafe each morning. It was conveniently across the street from our little hotel, and it had such a great vibe! The food was amazing and the decor was awesome. This is the kind of cafe that everyone wants in their home town. It has a serve yourself coffee station, which just makes you feel at home. All in all it was a fabulous little place that I fell in love with, and I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting the County!

My delicious breakfast on day one!

Nursery Progress

This weekend we made significant progress on the nursery. Chris installed the crates for shelving in the closet. We moved the newly painted dresser to its spot, lined the dresser with fun paper and added colourful polka-dot decals to create an accent wall.

Close up of the dresser/change table

Cute anchor wall paper- a great value village find!

Crates bought at Michaels for 50% off installed for organization

We still have lots to do including adding shelves for books, hanging pictures and bunting, putting the crates and closet to use, filling the dresser drawers, setting up our crib when it arrives and figuring out a lighting solution (this is winning at the moment)

Breakfast in a Bite

Last weekend a few of my friends and I headed to the first annual Craft Beer and Food Trick Festival in our township. It was a great event. 

The drink of choice for the non-pregnant participants

My drink of choice

We tasted a lot of yummy food including fries and gravy, poutine, tacos, nachos, pizza, etc, but probably the best thing we tasted all day were deep friend cookies from the Wickedly Sinful food truck. We tried both flavours: red velvet deep fried oreos with cream cheese frosting and deep fried maple cookies with salted bacon topping. 

I thought for sure the Oreos would be by favourite since I don't really like maple cookies, but the maple cookie came out on top. It was amazing, and tasted exactly like breakfast in a bite. It was absolutely delicious. 

Handling the Dresser

When I last left you, this was the state of the dresser that we purchased for the Nursery. After testing to make sure it didn't have lead paint in it- which it didn't- yay; I then had to decide what we were going to do with it, and specifically if I was going to do it myself. Although I feel my pregnancy has been fairly easy (knock on wood) all things concerned, the one struggle that I have consistently had to deal with is not being able to do everything I want to do independently. Asking for help is hard, especially when you are used to doing things on your own and you enjoy doing those things.

That said, my super friend Dixie Anne agreed to paint the dresser for me, and I couldn't be happier. She has been keeping me updated by texting photos of her progress:

1. Here are the drawers all primed (love your thumb DA)!!!

2. Here is the frame primed and ready for paint!

3. And here is the finished product she texted me last night- so exciting:)

The next step for this project, will be to replace the handles for an updated look. My dream handles are little white anchors from Anthropologie, but for $10 a pop, i'm not sure they're worth it. Here are some of the ones I have liked so far.

What do you think? Any that stand out as favourites in your mind?