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.

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!)

Instagrams and Point Form Lists.

Yeah, that's all you're going to get right now. I've been meaning to do an update post for weeks now, but of course with work, house, baby, all that fun stuff, this little blog is falling to the wayside. Perhaps once the kids (!) are a bit older I can get back to blogging regularly, but for now, you get Instagram photos and point form lists.

Victor (aka bébé):

*Has gone through a crazy amount of changes in the past 4-5 months (since I last did a proper update on him)

*Is 17 months old

*Weighs about 25 pounds and is over 30 inches tall

*Walks everwhere and has mastered climbing onto chairs, coffee tables, beds, etc

*Is in the process of learning to jump

*Can say Mama, Daddy, Cheese, What, Bye Bye, Wow, and some other babbly/half words, but isn't 'talking' yet

*Has his top 4 teeth, bottom 4 teeth, and 4 molars

*STILL drools like crazy

*Likes to watch Thomas the Tank Engine and Caillou

*Is annoyingly obsessed with our smartphones

*Has recently enjoyed 'helping' us do dishes

*Is kind of a scare-di cat (afraid of the vacuum, dogs, etc)

*Sleeps through the night every night no problem, and is SUPER easy to put down for naps and bedtime (we're very lucky!)

*Can do 'head and shoulders' (points to his body parts)

*Has been having 1 crazy long nap in the afternoons (3 hours)

*Loves going in the car and being in his carseat

*Still enjoys his books and likes one with actions 

*Knows actions for giraffe, elephant, monkey, crocodile and a few others

*Called cats (chats) 'yyyyyya's

*Says 'WOW' everytime someone turns on a light or ceiling fan (and loooves turning lightswitches)

*Is still a picky eater but has a decent appetite

*Is pretty whiney sometimes (well, a lot of times)

*Copies us doing things that I didn't know he noticed (like putting on deoderant or putting dishsoap under the tap)

*Still likes to be (and gets) picked up more than he should

*Understands when I ask him to put his dirty clothes in his laundry basket

*Still cries whenever I leave him at Sara's

*Has a 'mortal enemy' (Eli); pushes him whenever I'm around

*Has a mop of thin hair that blows in the wind and makes him look bald, it's so cute

*LOVES my mom (grand mama) more than anyone else in the world, though my dad (grand papa) is coming into close second these days

*Still fairly shy in public places and with new people, tends to cling to me

*Gives the biggest, drooliest kisses ever

*Likes to 'pat' (aka smack) Félix and Shimi

*Puffs his chest out when he walks, not sure why

*Likes to 'sweep' with the broom

*Can play well by himself but most of the time wants us involved

*Is a full blown toddler, no more baby at all :(

Shimi (aka 'yyyyya', 'jerk', 'kitty'):

*Has been outside most of the summer

*Probably has fleas

*Is losing weight and looking kind of mangy

*Is about to get a younger brother soon (my sister's cat had kittens and we're taking one of them)

*Still annoys me but Dan loves her

Dan (aka 'Daddy'):

*Has been working more hours at work and taking on more responsibility since becoming the main installer

*Takes care of and plays with Victor without ever complaining

*Has been very patient with me and my preggo moods

*Bought a 12-string guitar and loves to play it

*Is obsessed with UFC/MMA

*Is excited for all the work he has to do at the house (well, maybe not excited, but ready for it anyway) 

*Is as steady and calm as she goes (he's like my north star, wherever I am I can always find my way with him)

Kid A-2 (aka 'baba', aka 'bébé', aka 'ta p'tite soeur', aka '_________'):

*Is 32 weeks grown and taking up a lot of room in my belly

*Is a GIRL!

*Has a first name, but we're still unsure about the middle one

*Likes to kick a lot but luckily stays away from my ribs most of the time

*Is about 3 and a half pounds

*Is most likely already used to Victor's voice/crying

*Is healthy and happy as far as we can tell

Me (aka 'Mama', aka 'Geneviève', aka 'Geneviève Flynn Photography'):

*Is getting REALLY busy at work and feels quite behind at the moment, but is also thankful for the chance to see her business flourish a little bit before going on a short Mat Leave

*Wants to see her business grow and expand, but worries how she will do next year

*Has been packing up boxes in between editing, parenting, and cleaning

*CAN NOT WAIT until she gets a dishwasher!

*Has been finding it hot so far this summer even though it's not

*Is incredibly annoyed with the lack of pants in her wardrobe

*Prefers to live in leggings and tight shirts

*Has been eating way too much junk food lately

*Has the WORST legcramps every morning and can't figure out how to stop them

*Is spoiled sooo much by Dan

*Wishes she could finish reading the 2nd Hunger Games book but has no time/patience for it right now

*Fears going into early labour, even though the doctors told her she's fine

*Misses her far away friends

*Appreciates having her friend Sara and her parents nearby

*Is incredibly excited about moving and decorating the new house, but also daunted by the task

*Feels like she has a million things on her to-do list all the time

*Enjoys her new bangs but kind of wants to go back to dark hair

*Is seriously considering switching from a PC to a Mac

*Struggles with being patient with Victor-the-toddler

*Has been tricking herself lately into thinking it's Fall, even though it's still far away (boo)

*Is really excited for the Flea Market this year (it's the weekend of our move, so perfect timing!)

*Loves Pinterest but wonders if she'll ever do any of the things she pins on there

*Needs to get back into the habit of taking photos at home

*Misses scrapbooking (and debates doing A Week in the Life this Fall)

*Is throwing out/giving away lots of things that she thought had value to her but in reality don't

*Longs for a trip away with just Dan

*Is anxious to meet her daughter

Well, that's about all for now, off to watch some TV with the hubs! Be back eventually with some photos of the move and hopefully some more belly shots (only 3 more shoots left if I keep scheduling them 3 weeks apart!)

Until then,

G.

Quick House Update

So if you're following me on Facebook or Twitter you may have seen me mention a few things about a house...if you don't, I thought I'd quickly update you on what's going on. It's been exciting and stressful at the same time!

About a month ago we went to the bank to see if we could get a mortgage on our own, with help from my parents, since we had settled on a house (the one above, mentioned in this post here). At first it looked pretty promising, but we then found out that we couldn't get enough because my income couldn't be counted and our debt to income ratios didn't work out. So we were pretty bummed for awhile, and even debated buying a mini-home instead, but then decided to try with a mortgage broker, just to see if our odds were better that way. Well it went really well with the broker, and with a few minor adjustments (Dan is applying alone, so technically I'm not on the mortgage), we were able to get pre-approved for the house we wanted, yay!

So a couple of days ago we put in an offer and yesterday we settled on a price (with some perks, like them leaving behind all the appliances, including a deep freeze and dishwasher, woohoo!). We signed the papers, and now we're in the process of waiting for the lenders to actually approve us for the sale price (and maybe a bit more for some repairs). Once that's done we need to get the house inspected (a very important step since we need to know if there are any major issues in this old house besides the ones we already know about), do the water test, line up some insurance, and if everything is ok, then we can close!

We have until July 8th to meet all the conditions (what I just said above); that kind of stresses me out since I'll be the one doing most of the arranging and logistical stuff, but our real estate agent is really good so he'll be helping me out every step of the way. The closing date isn't until August 22nd, but I wish it could be sooner, I don't know if I can wait that long! haha.

So that's about it...still quite a few steps to go before we can actually say that the house is ours, but we're well on our way, and I can't believe that we might actually be homeowners before the age of 30!

I'll be sure to update again with the results (after this crazy 2 weeks is up most likely). If you could, cross your fingers and send good house vibes our way, we could use them!

Be back soon with some photos of my new hair (see, all kinds of stuff going on around here! haha)

G.

Happy Father's Day!

 

[Dan with Victor at 4-5 days old, and Dan with Victor at 15 months]

I'm sure if Victor could talk, he would say "Thank you Daddy..."

...for feeding me bottles of Mama's milk late at night when I was very small;

...for staying home and building a bond with me in my early days;

...for holding me and letting me sleep on your chest more times than I can remember;

...for letting Mama take a million pictures of us together because she loves them so much;

...for playing "Rocket Baby" with me;

...for staying up late with me on nights when I wouldn't go to sleep;

...for waking up early with me even though you love to sleep in;

...for reading me my favourite books over and over again;

...for letting me touch your guitars even when you are trying to play;

...for greeting me with a big smile every day when you come home from work;

...for carrying me on your shoulders when I'm too tired to walk;

...for holding my hand and helping me down the stairs and on the street;

...for playing peek a boo and chase games and being 'the energetic one';

...for giving my friends Bill and Duckie and Lovey silly voices;

...for playing with me at the park;

...for spending time alone with me so Mama can work;

...for taking me to the store when I'm feeling restless and bored;

...for giving me my baths and playing with me;

...for listening to my 'baby' music even though you don't like it;

...for being PATIENT (oh so patient) with me;

...for being my "Didi" (and for being the best one ever).

[Click to see larger; photos from March 2010 to June 2011]

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Love, Victor

Victor's birthday

Finally getting around to blogging about this!

So Victor's birthday wasn't anything fancy or complicated, but this year I think that simple and easy was all that we could handle.  We decided to go swimming at the Aquatic centre in Saint John and then head back home for cake and pizza.  The day before his party and the morning of, it stormed really bad so I was worried that we wouldn't be able to go, but luckily my parents were able to drive us (our car was buried under 2 feet of snow!), and a few people were able to make it, so all in all it turned out.  He LOVED swimming and didn't cry once the entire time (even when we went into the 'cold' pools), his little lips were quivering but he didn't want to get out! Unfortunately you aren't allowed to take pictures in there, but I think that next time I may sneak in my phone to snap a quick photo of him swimming, it's so cute!  We then went out for lunch (won't mention where, let's just say a popular fast food chain where Victor may have had his first fast food fry *cough cough* McDonald's, don't judge *cough cough*), and then we headed home for the afternoon to rest (all the kids slept sooo well). 

I got things ready and picked up Victor's cake, which my friend Vanessa made for us.  I wanted to make a cake based on his favourite book, "Squishy Turtle and Friends", but I knew that I would never be able to make anything as nice as I wanted, so I hired her to do it for us since she makes such cute fondant cakes.  It turned out great!

At around 5 oclock everyone (my parents, my sister and her husband, and my friend Sara and her family) met up at our place and we had pizza, snacks and then some cake.  Victor opened his presents (spoiled again!) and then he 'blew' out his candle.  I think that he was pretty overwhelmed/junk food'ed out by that point, because he really wasn't feeling the whole cake thing, which is too bad, but it was a long and tiring day for him so I'll remember that for next time.  The photo below pretty much sums up how he felt that night I think, haha.



It's kind of a bummer to have a 'winter baby' because around here it means being stuck inside and not having a whole lot of options for activities (not to mention natural light for photos, ack!), but I'm hoping that next year I can come up with more of a fun 'theme' and make it a bit more of a special affair.  For now though, my bébé is 1 year old and that's all that matters.

(Félix partied well into the night, as you can see.)

I still plan on doing a 12-month update for Victor, if I can ever get my act together, so that will be next, and then some non-Victor related stuff, I promise!

Thanks for sticking around this desolate little place,
G.

Compare...

January 1st, 2009

January 1st, 2011

*Longer hair for me, shorter hair for Dan

*Contacts versus glasses

*Better beard for Dan

*Fluffier, older, and bigger Shimi

*Halifax apartment, Sussex apartment

*A baby!

The difference 2 years can make :)

G. 

Christmas with the Flynns

Another Christmas has come and gone, and it was just as lovely as ever.  We spent it with family, watched the babies play, ate lots of yummy food (too much in fact), relaxed and did all the wonderful things you are supposed to do at Christmastime. 

On Christmas Eve we went to Dan's dad's place for our yearly seafood casserole and opened presents.  Victor did pretty well with the whole situation (meaning he didn't cry or freak out, haha)  He's obviously still too young to understand or open the gifts himself, but he was more than happy to play with what he was given.  We then headed back to McAdam for the night, and had Christmas morning there.  Seeing my little nephews (who are old enough to understand) go crazy on Christmas morning was really fun.  Victor was actually asleep for both of the gift opening sessions that morning, but I enjoyed opening the gifts for him!  We then had a big breakfast and hung out for a bit before heading back to Sussex to have turkey supper and more gift opening at my parents' place.  We spent Boxing Day at home, recovering, and surrounded by boxes and new toys (I'll probably do a separate mini post on what Victor got, since I'll want to remember for his baby book or something...)

Anyway, here are some photos from the day (I'm trying to use storyboards to cut down on the post size, click on the image to see them larger.)

Babies' first Christmas together, so fun.  Also, Skyping with our California family is always a special part (even though we need better webcams for the future!)

   
 

 Victor loved watching Dan play with Hayden's trains, I know what Victor will be getting next year for Christmas (or his birthday in a couple of months, eek!)

I feel like I have so much blogging to do this week, I have some personal posts I want to share (which will be nice for a change!), so hopefully I'll be back soon.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and enjoy the New Year (we have no plans, of course.)

Until then,

G.

Popping in to say...

Just wanted to pop in quick and say a big Merry Christmas/Joyeux Noël to everyone in blog land!  We had a lovely Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, spending it with family, eating lots of yummy food, watching our little nephews go crazy and enjoying Victor's first Christmas experience.  We're now back home, amongst the boxes, bags and toys, relaxing.  The dishes, cleaning, and regular life can resume tomorrow; for now, I'm going to get into my new fuzzy pajamas, put the bébé to bed and snuggle with my main man :)

Back soon with Victor's 10-month update.  I hope you all had a safe, wonderful and peaceful holiday season.

G.

PS-These are the photos I sent out with our Christmas cards this year.  

Couple of birthdays...

(Daphné and I, circa 1988, at her birthday party)

(Daphné, Fall 2009)

Just wanted to pop in real quick to say happy birthday to my sister Daphné, who is somehow 26 years old (that seems too old for her for some reason!)  One the best things about living back at home is being able to hang out with her more. She's a great wife and dog-mom, an aspiring hobby farmer and she always inspires me to live a simple, country life, like the one she is making for herself.  I can't wait 'til she has some little bébés of her own so that we can hang out even more with our kiddos.  Happy Birthday Daf!

Also, my sister in law Selena finally had her baby on Monday evening (1 week late), and to no one's surprise, it was another boy (that's 7 boys ladies and gents, from 3 different brothers, for a total of 11 Flynn boys all in a row...) This little guy's name is Lucas Thomas (love it!), and  he actually wasn't so little, he was 10lbs and 2oz!  Selena and Tom are back at home now with their sons Noah and Jonas (and the baby of course), and I wish them all the best in these next few weeks as they get used to being a family of 5.  I'm not sure when I'll get to meet this little nephew (I've only met Jonas once), but I look forward to seeing more pics and hearing more about him as he gets older.

Still working on Victor's baby update post, hope to have it up later this week. 

Off to clean. Happy normal weekday to you,

G.

Slow down September (aka photo dump)

Is it honestly and truly September 24th already?!  This makes me more than just a little sad.  Fall is always so fleeting around here, the last thing I need is for it to rush by.  I feel like I haven't truly starting enjoying the season as much as I should be, and I really have no excuse, I'm home all day! I should be outside more at the very least (I do go for a walk everyday at 3pm but just around the block to break the monotony of being in the house.)  Anyway, there are only about 8 weeks left of Fall and I plan on savouring them.

[ARGH!! I just wrote out the rest of this post, didn't notice that it wasn't autosaving AGAIN and lost everything I had just spent the last hour writing.  OMG I hate Blogger sometimes!!!  And myself for not writing out my posts in Word first and then transferring them over, bah.  So instead of re-writing everything-I just don't the time or energy-I'll just post a bunch random pics with 1-liners.  Sooo frustrating.  Typepad in 2011?] 

I'm doing sessions again after nearly a month off. This is from a maternity session I did on Monday.  Love maternity sessions!

Been taking silly self portraits again.  Wanted to show off my new haircut but it's hard to get a good shot of it.  You can see my bangs though!  Love them so far!

My JoTotes camera bag.  Perfect size for my Canon and a few cloth diapers :)

Fall goodness. I can't wait to go apple picking, make apple sauce and pies, and all the other yummy Fall comfort foods that come with the season.

My mantle, all decorated.  Loving the red/orange/black/white combo. And white mini pumpkins are the best.

I've decided that for Halloween this year I want us to dress as characters from Little Red Riding Hood. I'll be miss Hood (obviously), Victor will be the Big Bad Wolf and Fan will be the Handsome Woodsman who saves the day at the end.  I want to make our costumes, so I'm on the lookout for what I need (black hoodies for babies? Not that easy to find...) Side note: Even though I've been thinking about Halloween, I'm actually much more anxious for Christmas this year, which is sooo odd.

I've been wanting wall decals for the living room for awhile now, and the other day while out with my sister at the Dollarama I saw these for 2$! Which is perfect, since we're renting and I didn't want to spend a ton of money anyway.  Are they still design-cool?  I dunno, but I like 'em :)

Photo of my friend Sara's little guy, Eli. He's getting so big, you can really see it in this photo, our babies are getting older!

And speaking of babies, I couldn't really post without some photos of little V. himself. Here are a few peeks of the main man himself:

We're doing well in our solid food adventures.  I won't get into the details too much since I still need to write out his 6-7 month post (since I skipped 6, oops!), but he's tried a lot, responds well to it, and we're moving ahead.

Those eyes, they're almost black sometimes.  He's a looker for sure!

I'm obsessed with black and white photos of Dan and Victor lately.  I have so many good ones, I think that maybe after Victor's first year is up I'll blow up a series of B&W shots of them for a wall display in our bedroom or something. Lovely.

This little guy is on the move! Last week he started commando crawling and now he's all over the place! Which is good because he can entertain himself much better now, but bad because my floors and carpets really need to be cleaned!

I attempted an impromptu family shoot last weekend in our backyard. Let's just say that a tired hubby + a shaky tripod + a wiggly baby did not equal very many good shots, but we got a few, which is all I can ask for. I would love to have professional family shots done at some point, while it's still just the three of us.

Ok, well that was a very abridged version of my original post, but these snippets show what's been going on around here in the past month.  I'll try to be back soon, I have a layout that's thiiis close to being done, and since it will most likely be my last scrap layout for awhile, I will give it proper exposure.

Until then!

G.

4 years ago today...

This classy girl (ha!) married this cool guy (ha!).

Since then they've moved 4 times, had a baby, gone through several jobs, got a cat, went on a few trips, fought, laughed, shared everything, saved money, spent money, learned to live with a new name (well, I did), had roommates, divided labour, drove a lot, made some good (and bad) marriage habits, kissed, transitioned, grown and loved a whole lot.  And they're only just beginning.

Happy Anniversary babe, can't wait to get away with you this weekend!   

Be back soon,

G.

Vive l'Acadie!

Last week I went up to Bathurst (about 3 hours north where my family is from) to visit my French grandmother, aunts and cousins. Victor and I spent 5 days with family and it was a really nice change of pace for us (the pace being much faster that is!) My aunt from Toronto and her girls were there and it was actually the first time in a long time where all the grandchildren were together in the same place. My mom and sister also came up for a few days with the dogs, so it was a busy place! Victor, of course, was the main focus (my aunts love babies and hadn't seen him before), so he was plenty spoiled while there :)

Anyway, on the second day there my sister, grandmother, Victor and I went to the Village historique acadien, about 45 mins down the shore on the Acadian coast. It's a really interesting place where they re-create acadian homes and farms from the 1700s, 1800s and 1900s. There were people in each house, in character, ready to talk to you about life as it was back then, using the tools and actually working as if they were back in the old days. The characters speak in old acadian french (which is the french I speak mostly), there was a tavern, school, church, several different kinds of houses, farm animals everywhere, it was just a really cool place. My grandmother is acadian (she actually grew up about 10 mins away from where the village was located), so it's also part of my culture and heritage, so I was really happy to go.

Here are a few pictures from the trip (I just love old stuff like this, so much of it I would have in my house today!)  [You can see the rest of the pics on my Flickr.]

         

On the way out I was telling my sister Daphné how that, despite the hardships these people must have gone through, in a way their lives were better than ours, because they had to work for their own survival; they made their own food, clothing, housing, everything, and because of that, they didn't have time to be bored or depressed or restless or any of the other issues people face today. They have a program at the village where kids can go and spend a day in traditional dress, working and pretending to be living in those times, I wish I had gone when I was a kid! (My cousins have gone 3 or 4 times and they love it.)  Visiting there inspired me to try and live more simply (but it's hard!)

It was also really nice because I used to spend a lot of time 'downshore' at my nanny's cottage, playing on the beach, so it made me all nostalgic to drive along the shore again, it's so beautiful there!

I'm still working on my friggin' A Week in the Life post (Blogger has been pissing me off to no end lately), so I'll try to get it up later this week, I'm about 4-5 posts behind, hopefully this week I'll be able to get them all up!

Until then,

G.

PS-If you want to know more about the Acadians and their Deportation from the Maritimes (I assume most Americans don't know much about them; they are the original  'Cajuns' from Louisiana), you can find more information here.