Thursday, December 8, 2011

10 Random things about Victor at 21 months



-He 'talks' to himself, babbling something and then saying 'mo' ("no"), as if to correct himself. It's funny.

-He's obsessed with Teletubbies ("beebees" or "eeesss"); his favourites are Poe and Lala.

-His favourite book is "Cats", which is just a flip book with all sorts of pictures of cats, with pull out tabs, 'real' fur to touch, and a squeaky ball. I have to read it (only me, not Dan), in the exact same way, and he says "abatte" to get me to start (no idea what that word means).

-His vocabulary is probably 70/30 French to English, unless you count names.

-He can almost jump, and is learning to run.

-He loves to play with the toilets, and has been caught throwing various things in there (other than entire rolls of toilet paper, which he also does).

-He is a very picker and light eater, but he loves Ketchup and milk.

-He's still snuggly, but will quickly push you away when he's done.

-He wants to do everything by himself; right now he's trying to learn how to put his socks on (this means that he constantly pulls his socks off and is barefoot most of the time).

-He's getting scarily good at using my iPhone; he can unlock it, pick out his App game, play it, and knows how to make folders will all my icons (which means every time I pick up my phone everything is out of order and some Apps are probably deleted).

I love this little guy. He tests my patience more than anything ever has, and I often fail at being patient with him, but when we're both in a good mood, there's nothing better. He's so smart, and funny, and quirky, and sweet, and I'm marvelling at how much he is learning everyday and how much he is growing. Only 3 months 'til he's 2!!

Back with Violet's 4-12 Weeks update soon!

G.

(PS-I'm still planning to do A Week in the Life starting next week, though I'm pretty nervous about it! I bought the papers, so I have no choice now, I spent 13$! haha)

Saturday, November 19, 2011

A Week in the Life/December Daily 2011

week in the life 2011 | completed album

Ok, so maybe I'm insane for trying this, but as I mentioned in my last post, I've been feeling super creative lately (my 'mojo' is back), and I just want to do all sorts of crafty things, so I decided to attempt another A Week in the Life in December, since I enjoyed it so much last year and want to continue doing it.

A couple of reasons I think doing it now is a good time to document our lives:

-It'll be 18 months since I did my last one (I did it in June 2010), and to say the least, A LOT has changed since then!

-It's our first Christmas in the new house, which is a big deal.  Also, it'll give me a chance to document the Christmas-ey things in our lives without having to commit myself to an entire month, like in December Daily (which I totally failed at doing back in 2009).

-Violet will be about the same age as Victor was when I did it the first time (he was a little over 3 months, she'll be a little under 3 months).

-It'll be the beginning of winter, which corresponds well with my wanting to do a Week in each season (I did the beginning of summer last time).

-Work will be slowing down so hopefully I'll have more time to focus on taking photos at home and blogging personally (something I've been terrible at lately).

-I miss scrapbooking!

***

 So, this is my plan (you can read about my preparation for it the first time around here):

-I will be using the same binder as I did last time (the American Crafts D-ring album). I like the 8.5X11 format, it's less space to fill. The cover 'matches' the papers I used in the first Week I did, but that's ok, I'd rather have all my Weeks in the same album than an album for each Week (there's still tons of room in the one I  have now).

-I'll also be doing basically the same format as I did for my first week, since it worked well and should go even smoother this time since I know what I'll be doing.  Here is the basic layout:


So an intro page to the Week with a 5X7 photo (or larger, we'll see), then a Daily Opener page with another 5X7 photo. Then the Divided Page Protectors (I really liked these last time), filled with photos and journaling cards and maybe ephemera of some sort. Then a Long Journaling Card (front and back), and finally a closing page with a collage of photos from the day.

The only thing I think I may do differently is to have a big photo next to the long journaling card (meaning the page protector would be 8.5X11 instead of a cut down 6X11, and I would sew it down the middle instead). On one sewn side would be the 4.5X11 card, and on the other, a 4X11 photo (or more realistically, 2-4X5.5 photos). Just a chance to include more large photos I guess.  I'm also not 100% sure about the photo collage at the end, I think I will wait to see how many photos I have and will decide at that point.

As for the Divided Page Protectors, I have several journaling cards I want to include, so I may not end up with many photos in them at all, which is fine. Some of the cards include:

-Violet's eating and sleeping schedule (I had these with Victor and think it would be fun to compare)
-The weather (because I'm a nerd an am interested in those kinds of things)
-What we watched on TV (might not include everyday)
-What we ate (might not include everyday...only the days I actually cook!)
-My Tweets and Facebook Status for the day

I also want to reserve several spots for Instagram photos (which will be mounted on special 'Instagram photo cards' with room for a caption at the bottom), since in all likelihood I'll be using my phone to take some of the pictures, especially when we are out of the house.  I also want to include my to-do list (I had it on my long journaling card last time but I might move it elsewhere), as well as special spot to record any Christmas activities we do. And, like last time, I will include a self portrait with my outfit for the day.  I want to keep the format somewhat consistent throughout all the Weeks I do, so apart from a few minor changes here and there, the 'bones' will be the same.

-As far as patterned papers and card stock, I'm still deciding what I want to use. Again, in order to stay consistent I think I will choose a Basic Grey line. I was thinking of using some of their old Christmas papers (if I can find them!), since they don't necessarily scream Christmas, but will obviously go well with any Christmas photos I include.  I will use white card stock as my base for the intro, daily opener, and collage pages, but will choose a coordinating card stock colour for the small and long journaling cards. I won't be using any embellishments, same as last time, since I'm fine with the 'clean' look.

-I will be documenting everything on my blog again, since it worked so well last time (I was able to just grab the text and print it out for my long journaling card). It will probably be harder this time to jot down random thoughts and observations in my book like I did last time though, so I'll be using my phone to write notes (or even voice recordings) to help me document what I want.

-One thing I want to try and do this year though is to have the album 'bones' built before I start the week. This includes having all the small journaling cards created in Photoshop and ready to go (I won't print them until after though since I don't want to include any of my handwriting this time), and having my intro page and daily opener pages built with the patterned paper, that way I can just stick on the photo when I'm ready. This is kind of the same approach as the December Daily, and will hopefully help me stay motivated to finish quickly after the documentation process is done.

Well, I think that's everything. I'm excited and nervous about it, I worry that my life is too busy already to be adding something like this onto my plate. But it's exactly that, documenting us and the busyness of our days at this point in our lives, that I feel the need to do for some reason...I know it will be worth all the effort.

So, this is my official statement: December 11th to December 17th, I will be document the lives of the Flynn family of four.  Wish me luck!

G.

I actually did something I saw on Pinterest...

And my version:
An 18X24 poster printed at Staples for 15$, put in an old Ikea frame I've had forever.

Not bad.

Working on more projects (too many actually, I'm feeling super creative lately! Just wish I had the time and energy to match my ideas...)

Be back to share more (I'm planning to do another A Week in the Life project next month, so I'll be back to share my plan of attack for that huge project).

Have you created anything lately?

G.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Violet's first month (in Instagrams)


(Oh yes, she is most definitely a second child.  While I have taken a few 'real' photos of her with my camera, there are faaar fewer than I took of Victor. Things are so much different now, so much busier, that snapping quick iPhone photos is all I have time and energy for most days.  I did get out and do an outdoor newborn session with her a few weekends ago, and I keep meaning to do an indoor session too, but she's now past the newborn stage so I'm not sure if it'll happen or if I'll just wait until her 3 month session. I just keep telling myself that any form of documentation is better than none, so even if it's just iPhone pics, it's still something.)

Well, here we are, time is flying and little Miss Violet is 4 weeks old already. Since I don't have a baby book for her (I'm looking to get the 'girl' version of the one Victor has but I can't find it in town), I better blog what I can remember now so that I can put it in later, or else I will forget for good, I know it.

So here we go, in random point thought form, the only way I can write these days:

*One thing for sure about Miss Violet is that she's going to be bigger than her brother was. When we took her for her doctor's appointment she weighed 8lbs 10oz, and I'm sure she must weight more now since that was over a week ago.  She was 8lbs 5 oz at birth, so quite a bit bigger than Victor, and longer too (21.5 inches versus 20).  Not sure if that will carry on throughout their lives, we'll see I guess.

*She's a great eater (although messy, like Victor was), and even though I'm using a nipple shield again, it's going well.  I don't love breastfeeding anymore this time than I did with Victor (which means I don't like it at all, haha), but I'm still determined to do it as long as possible because honestly, we can't afford for me not to!  She's eating about every 3 hours during the day but will go longer at night, usually 4-5 hours, which is nice.

*Speaking of nights and sleeping, that's one area I'd like to try to fix a bit. She's great during the day, sleeps for long stretches with a few awake times in between, but it's her 'witching hour' that I have an issue with, because it usually falls right around when I want to go to sleep and hit my limit of tolerance (from around 10:30-11:00 to 12:30-1:00am). And because Dan is working this time around (he was unemployed for 6 months when Victor was born) it means that I can't rely on him to stay up with her like he used to do with him. Also, I can't sleep in because Victor has been getting up earlier and earlier these days, so all around I'd say I'm more tired than I was when Victor was a newborn, but of course I knew that would be the case.  Anyway, Violet usually goes down between 10:00-1:00, and then wakes up for the day at around 8:30am or so.

*She's into looking at things when she can, but most the time just snoozes and sleeps.  She likes to be held but is definitely ok with being put down on the couch, which is nice because her brother still requires quite a bit of attention! She doesn't cry much, and I try to respond to her as soon as I can so that we can keep her calm for the most part (Victor was never much of a crier either, I've been lucky with my babies.)

*Speaking of her brother, for the most part he wants nothing to do with her and still gets a bit jealous if he sees me holding her when he wants me to do something with/for him. He won't go near her and refuses to touch her.  He has occasionally pointed at her and said "baba" (bébé/baby"), so at least he understands what she is, but he's still too young to really 'get it'. I think he knows she's here to stay though, so we'll see what happens as they both get older.

*I'm not sure if it's because this is my second baby or if it's because it's Violet in particular, but I find that she's quite amusing, and I find myself smiling and laughing with her more than I did with Victor. It's probably because I'm less nervous/worried than I was the first time around, so now I'm more observant of just how pleasant a newborn can be. Her little faces and expressions are so cute (she has really deep set eyes so her brow furrows out quite a bit, resulting in grimaces and little funny frowns), and everything she does is just funny to me.

*She looks very different than her brother (I know I keep comparing them and that I should stop, hopefully I will when it starts to matter!) She has blue-ish grey eyes that aren't as big, and almost no hair (except for a little bit in the back), no eyelashes, and a bit of millia on her chin. I'm not saying that she isn't cute, it's just that Victor was so 'pretty' when he was young, that her look is totally apart from that.  We have no idea who she looks like (she sometimes looks to have Dan's mouth, but it's hard to tell), and a different temperament too.  I'm very curious to see who this little lady will become in the next year and beyond.

Well that's it I suppose, considering I started this post 3 weeks ago (she's actually 7 weeks old now) I better just write what I can and call it a day!  I want to try and update every month like I did with Victor, so hopefully I'll be back in a couple of weeks to write about Weeks 4-8 (she smiles now!), but I'm learning not to promise anything because it's rare that I can meet a deadline or goal these days.  That's just life with two little ones I guess!

I miss blogging, but it's just a phase in my life where there's not much room for it...but that will change in time too.

Be back, not sure when, don't wait up,
G.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

What should I put on my walls?







Source: None via Geneviève on Pinterest


Source: None via Geneviève on Pinterest






Source: None via Geneviève on Pinterest


Source: None via Geneviève on Pinterest


Source: None via Geneviève on Pinterest


Apparently, photo collages and large quotes on wood/canvas/whatever.  Looking through my 'Decor' board on Pinterest tonight and I noticed this pattern right away.  All of the walls in my house right now are pretty much blank, so I guess I better get to work!

Happy Saturday night, I'm going to go see if my daughter is finally asleep (the crying has stopped...)

G.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Birth Story of Violet Marie Flynn (or, How I had My Baby in the Driveway)



[I already posted this on my Facebook profile but I thought I would share it here as well...]

DISCLAIMER: This is a birth story, which means I'll be sharing some body and birth related details which may not appeal to everyone.  Don't read ahead if the idea of a woman giving birth freaks you out or if you don't like the word "placenta", etc etc.  Thank you.  Also, I apologize for my gross overuse of parentheses, it's a writing sickness that I have and cannot cure.

It's hard to know where to begin with this story…if I were to read what I'm about to write on someone else's blog I'm sure I would scoff at it and say 'no way, that's crazy!', and think that it was something that could only happen to someone else and NEVER to me.  It's too extraordinary for my very ordinary life, but I guess sometimes the Universe surprises you to keep you on your toes, and that's definitely what happened when my daughter, Violet Marie Flynn, decided to enter the world.

I'll start by saying that I had a very uncomplicated, uneventful pregnancy. It was about as normal as normal could be. The only thing that was strange about it was that it lasted so long! With Victor (and yes, I will be comparing this story to Victor's, which you can read about here), he came 1.5 weeks early after stripping my membranes, so being 40 weeks pregnant was a new thing for me. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for about 4 weeks (although looking back they may very well have been my version of early labour!), and for the last week or so of my pregnancy, I was slowly 'unplugging' (people who have given birth know what this means), but it seemed like no matter what I did, she was not budging. I gardened, picked Victor up, painted, washed floors, lifted boxes, and went about my life, which was a stark contrast to my 8.5 weeks of bed-rest, don't-do-too-much-or-your-heart-will-explode pregnancy with Victor.  Besides a few aches and pains, and the inability to get comfortable when sleeping, I felt fine.  

I did manage to get to sleep on Thursday, September 22nd, but at around 2:30am I woke up to the familiar feeling of a contraction.  It was like a Braxton Hicks but a bit stronger and after having 2 or 3 in a row, I woke Dan up.  We laid in bed and timed a few more, then decided that we should get up and get going, since we didn't want to risk not getting to the hospital in time (ha!) Dan was in a bit more of a rush than I was, and he even said to me "you're probably further along than you think you are", and I said "well I'm sure that we have at least an hour!" (again…ha!) Anyway, the contractions were definitely stronger than the ones I had in the early hours with Victor; it was different too because my water hadn't broken (with Victor it did before the contractions started, like on TV).  But, like with Victor's labour, I found that the most comfortable position for me was to be sitting in the bathroom, on the toilet (classy, I know).  So I was in the bathroom most of the time while Dan packed and got Victor ready, and I was already not looking forward to the drive, even just to my parents' place.  I was trying to breathe through the contractions and for the most part I managed, but it was definitely more painful than with Victor, which made me a bit anxious and tense (though I tried to appear calm).

Once we got Victor all packed up (poor baby, I always feel so bad when we have to take him anywhere late at night in his PJs), we headed out for Sussex.  On the way I had a few more contractions that were definitely getting stronger and stronger, and as I squirmed around in my seat, I thought 'oh god this drive is going to be torturous'.  I swore a lot and tried to breathe through it but I don't think I was masking my pain all that well, because Dan was very quiet and getting more and more nervous with every contraction.  About 5 minutes outside of town, I felt a weird little popping feeling and my water broke (but it wasn't a huge gush like with Victor). Immediately after that I had a few more contractions but they had changed to something completely different; instead of a pain in my lower abdomen (where the baby was), this was more of a burning feeling 'down below'. It was weird and I didn't know what to make of it.  I even said to Dan 'it's burning and I don't know why', but I figured it was just a different kind of contraction that I didn't have with Victor.  Anyway, it was unpleasant and it made my dread over the drive to Moncton even worse.

So we arrived to my parents' place and I told Dan that I wanted to go inside to change my pants (and to go sit on the toilet a little bit, to be honest), while he went across the street to get gas (we should have been more organized, but of course we weren't…actually I had just packed my bag for the hospital the day before and had put it in the car 'just in case'). We brought Victor inside and my parents were there waiting for us.  I went upstairs to the bathroom and sat for a bit through a few more contractions, but after about 2 or 3 of the burning ones, it got MUCH worse. I happened so, so fast (looking back, it was probably transition). At this point it was about 3:10am or so. I could barely move and actually had to get on my knees for one of them. It didn't feel like a contraction at all, it was just a crazy feeling of burning and PRESSURE. The pressure was so strong, I felt like I was going to break in half and was actually using my hands to hold 'myself' in (again, looking back, I was actually holding her head in). My mom came upstairs to try and help me through the pain (she thought that maybe it was in my back but it wasn't), and Dan got back shortly after and came up to see what was going on.  At this point the pain was pretty overwhelming and I told my mom that I didn't think I was going to make it to Moncton and asked her if we should go to the Sussex hospital instead.  She said that they couldn't do anything for me and would probably just put me in an ambulance to bring me to Moncton.  All of a sudden I felt really panicky and scared because with the pain I was having, I couldn't imagine being stuck in a car for 45 mins.  Dan saw how bad it had gotten while he was gone and he started to get panicky too, so he was trying to rush me, saying 'come on, come on'.  So he went down to the car to get it started and I tried to make my way downstairs, but it was just so bad at this point.  I tried to suck it up and I tried to be brave but inside I was all nerves.  

And this is where it gets a bit crazy…

I got outside onto my parents' deck and walked down the stairs onto their driveway (which, by the way, is paved and actually cobblestoned in one section, so it's not like it was on a dirt patch or anything). Dan was in the car waiting for me, so he saw when I stopped and leaned over onto my mom's car. He got out to come help me, and saw right away that something intense was going on. I don't exactly remember how it happened, but all I know is that I stopped, leaned, and this huge rush just overtook me; I think that I pushed, because I just couldn't stop it at that point, but it could be that I didn't push either, I don't know. I felt something come out between my legs and knew right away what it was.  I yelled "the head is out!". Dan came around the side of the car and saw this round shape in my pants and started saying "Oh my God" over and over again.  My mom was up on the deck (not sure if she came out before or after her head came out) and Dan yelled at her to call the ambulance.  He grabbed onto me and got me down on the ground (I don't really remember how), and pulled off my pants/underwear and saw what had happened. Her head and her shoulder (at least one, maybe both) were out and she was on her way. He held her head and for a few moments, we just kind of laid/sat there…which sounds weird.  I had to wait for another contraction to come though, so in the meantime we just kind of checked to make sure her mouth/nose wasn't blocked and that she seemed ok.  At this point I felt much better but still had the urge to push.  Dan wanted to pull her out because she wasn't making any noise, and I said to go ahead and try, but after a little tug I kind of cried for him to stop (it hurt!) and we waited for the next contraction. It came, I pushed, he pulled, and with that, Violet was born. Dan took her and brought her up onto my chest. By this point my mom was outside with us on the phone with the ambulance and was describing what was going on.  They told us to make sure she was breathing and that the cord wasn't around her neck and to cover her up to keep her warm (my mom had brought out some blankets and towels for me). They also told us to tie off her cord with a piece of string until the ambulance got there and was able to cut it.  We knew that she was ok though because as soon as she came out, she started to cry.  Her mouth and nose were clear, she was a good colour, everything was ok. 

About 5-10 mins later the ambulance arrived and they took us into the vehicle, where they cleaned off the baby and Dan cut the cord.  The crazy thing was that after it happened, I felt so much better…abnormally so.  I was a little shaky trying to get up, but overall I just had a huge feeling of relief (both physical and mental).  After a few minutes in the ambulance, we took off to the Sussex Hospital where the ER team was waiting for me.  They haven't delivered or dealt with babies there since the early 90s, so to say it was a surprise/new experience for them was an understatement.  They took great care of me though and helped me deliver the placenta (which took almost as long as it did to deliver her!)  They cleaned me up and checked her, and we just kind of relaxed for about an hour or so.  We had to wait for my dad to bring us the car seat from home (we TOTALLY forgot to bring the carseat, haha!), but once he arrived, we loaded her up and took the ambulance ride to Moncton (Dan followed).  I tried to get some rest (by this point it was going on 6am and I was pretty tired), and tried to recover from the whole experience.

So that's about it…everyone who heard about the story kept saying how afraid they would have been and how they could have never done it, and while I would have agreed with them before, having gone through it, it really wasn't that bad.  Sure there were moments where I was scared, and yeah, it hurt like hell for a little while there, but at the same time, I didn't have a chance to let the fear take over, because a) I was in labour and the pain was taking over, and b) it happened so fast that my brain didn't have a chance to properly understand what was going on and imagine all the terrible scenarios that could have happened.  The same thing happened with Dan I think; when he saw the head come out I think that he just kind of went into auto-survival mode.  He didn't have a chance to think about it, he just did it (and let me just say how proud I am of him for how he handled the whole situation…I'm not sure that many guys would have handled it as well as he did.)  It was only after the fact that it kind of hit us what had happened, but at that point it was over and we were just grateful that it went as well as it did.

And now, 2.5 weeks later, I feel fabulous (I only needed one or 2 stitches, was up and about almost immediately, and had no post birth hormone dump like I had with Victor), Violet is doing great (we were out of the hospital the next day, another stark contrast to the hellish one-week stay with Victor), and everything is falling into place.  She has assimilated into the family fairly easily, and despite a few jealous outbursts from her older brother, it's going well.  Her birth story is one that we'll always remember and one that I'm sure will be told over and over again throughout the years.  

It's my last birth story, but it's one helluva one!  


(Be back soon, I feel a 'random thoughts' post coming on, just need to find the time to type it all out...)


G.       

Saturday, October 1, 2011

A little late, of course...


Welcome Violet Marie Flynn
Born on Friday, September 23rd, 2011 at 3:30am
8 pounds, 5 ounces and 21.5 inches long
Mama and baby are doing great!

One week old already...be back soon with her birth story (it's quite the tale!) and more pics, of course.

G.

PS-We're kinda famous...see story here.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Yet more blog filler...

This time the Pinterest kind :)

I usually am on Pinterest everyday, and now that the holidays are here (meaning September to December, the most awesome time of year), I'm getting really inspired by all the Fall-goodness (and Halloween-goodness) that I'm finding on there lately.  Here are some of my most recent pins:


Source: None via Geneviève on Pinterest


I CANNOT WAIT to fit back into normal clothes, and just in time for Fall's awesome and comfy fashions! This look would be flattering post baby (anything with leggings, haha)




These look really yummy, and are relatively healthy!




Craving apple crisp like nothing else lately.




I've decided that although I like white walls IN THEORY, in real life, I need colour in my home/rooms (with lots of white accents instead). We just painted the mudroom a bright yellow, and I'm seriously debating painting the den a dark autumn orange...I may hold off though until Fall is over to make sure it's not just a seasonal thing.  LOVE this bedroom though.




Oh I could go for this right about now (reminds me of where we went for our first wedding anniversary).




I need a good wreath for our front door, and if I had the time/patience, I would attempt this because I love it.




Pretty and simple Fall decor (planning on getting some pumpkins this week!)




And just because they're cute :) (I'm hoping that one lives nearby in the fields...)

Well, those are just a few of my fav pins right now, I plan on doing another post just for Halloween pins, because I have a ton, and will be collecting them like mad from now 'til then (only 6 weeks 'til Halloween, yay!!)

Also, I've seen lots of other bloggers writing posts about things that they actually DO with their pins (meaning they don't just pin and forget them, they attempt the recipe/craft/photo idea/decor), so I plan on doing that as well (I already have one done, just need to take a pic).

Ok, blog filler over, next post may very well be an introduction of our little girl!

Until then,
G.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Warning: blog filler 'til I can properly update...

A. Age: 28
B. Bed size: Double, wishing for a Queen.
C. Chore that you hate: Dishes, especially cutlery.
D. Dogs:
 Yep, love 'em! Hoping to maybe get one next Summer (maybe a greyhound).
E. Essential start to your day: Not much, checking Facebook I suppose (ack, embarrassing!)
F. Favorite color: Hmm, probably yellow or brown (earth/Fall tones).
G. Gold or Silver:  Silver all the way!
H. Height: 5"6
I. Instruments you play: I used to play the flute and tenor saxaphone, not sure I could play them now though...
J. Job title: Photographer, business owner, mama :)
K. Kids: Almost 2! Victor, 18.5 months and soon to be _______, 1 day old.
L. Live: Norton, New Brunswick, Canada (yay country living!)
M. Mother’s name: Jacynthe (hard to describe how to pronounce it, it's super French, haha)
N. Nicknames: G., Vev
O. Overnight hospital stays:  Just when I had Victor, 5 miserable nights.
P. Pet peeves: People who drive slow, especially when they drive under the speed limit!
Q. Quote from a movie: It's been sooo long since I've watched movies...umm, how about "Save me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope."
R. Right or left handed: Right
S. Siblings:
 Younger sister, 1.                                                                                                                                    T. Tea or Coffee: Usually coffee, but I drink tea with lots of milk and sugar as well.
U. Underwear: I can't see them past my belly :S
V. Vegetable you hate: Not a fan of lots of them, sadly, but I'll say tomatoes.
W. What makes you run late:  Victor!
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Teeth, arm when I broke it in Grade 4-5, I think that's it...
Y. Yummy food that you make: I make Martha Stewart's spice cake once a year and it's delish! I also make a really good quinoa/hamburger meatloaf.
Z. Zoo animal: Any big cat, or the monkeys.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Before...

 Before there was her (only 1 week to go!)...

Before there was him (at the Balloon Fiesta fair)...

Before there was her (and soon to be another little kitten)...

There was just us.

5 years ago today I married a young man who wasn't sure what he was doing with his life (who am I kidding though, neither did I!). We were young, but already had 3 years together under our belts, and were ready for the next step. We had no idea what would happen in the following 5 years, but several moves, career changes, and now 2 kids, 2 cats and 1 house later, here we are, still happy and building this life of ours.  I feel like we're at the point where we have the major building blocks 'done' (kids, house, jobs, settled in NB, etc), but I'm sure that there will be lots of changes to come in the next 5, 10, and 15 years. It's no longer just the two of us, but at the end of it all, we'll be the ones left...together.

Happy Anniversary babe, I love you.

(Ps-I've been meaning to blog (oh my have I ever), but I just haven't had any photos to share...awesome photographer I am, I know, ha!  Soon though, we're starting to paint this weekend so I'll try to snap a few before and after shots...and update on the rest of this crazy busy life we have at the moment.  Back soon!)

Friday, August 26, 2011

Quick and dirty tour of the {empty} house

(All shots taken on my blurry iPhone, better 'before' pics to come soon! These aren't in any sort of order, I'll just describe each one underneath the shot...)

The family room/den/TV room, between the laundry/mudroom and kitchen

The family room/den/TV room, looking at the entrace to the mudroom/laundry room from the kitchen

Kitchen, looking into the den/family room/TV room and mudroom entrance

The dining room, off the kitchen

Built in in the dining room, looking into the kitchen

'Formal living room', which will act as my office/studio, off the dining room

My office

Front foyer/entrace, looking into the dining room (from my office)

Back room, behind my office, which will be Dan's music room for now

Downstairs main bath, right off the front foyer

Bathroom

Looking out to the front door from the bathroom

Kitchen, looking in from the den

Staircase

Stairs and bathroom (Dan's room off to the right)

Victor's room

Looking into the foyer and my office from the dining room

Victor's room

Landing at top of stairs/closets

Nursery

Nursery

Our room

Our room

Landing, looking from the 1/2 bath

Eventual guest room (needs lots of work!)

Eventual guest room

1/2 bath upstairs

1/2 bath upstairs

Mudroom/Laundry room (the first room to be getting a makeover!)

Back entrace into the mudroom (the main door we'll be using)

So there you have it! Lots of work to be done, but tomorrow is the 'big move', and we'll be spending the night there, very exciting!

Be back with the mudroom makeover (for some reason I'm the most excited about this one!)

Enjoy the end of summer, I can't wait to see it go.
G.