I know I'm a bit late, but since I spent Father's Day with my husband and baby I don't feel too bad about it. This Father's Day we spent the weekend with family - extended and our own little trio. Saturday we went to the Jays Game with Matt's parents, grandparents, sister and her boyfriend. Fun day outing for sure! Sunday was more relaxed - I made Matt breakfast (buttermilk blueberry pancakes and bacon), we lounged around and tried to distract a fussy baby from her teething pain, opened some gifts (daddy got a new record player among other little things), and relaxed. Once Charlotte was asleep (and well all day really) I made pulled pork and we did wraps with cheese and greens and avocado and sat on the patio outside. I also wrote him a super sappy Father's Day letter that I will not subject you to reading here on the blog. Pretty much said he's the greatest dad ever and that I love him so much, but in a lot more words. So here are just a few pictures of Matt and Charlotte over the past few months: The first time I saw our baby was through this picture Matt sent me while I was in recovery First time he got to hold her, when she was 4 days old (I was only able to hold her at 3 days) This was her first day at her level 2 NICU - one of my favs (she had way more hair then than she does now!) Holding and playing with her in the hospital only after he had to work all day was hard He's in charge of bath time! There was a lot of sleepy cuddles in those first few months A few shots from the newborn shoot Playtime whenever possible Story time before bed Love this one too! Tiny Jays onesie She sure does love him LOVE Happy Father's Day also to my own dad, Matt's dad Pete, my grandpa Charlie (Charlotte's namesake) and Matt's Boppa. Plus all of my uncles and friends with babies of their own, and anyone who is a dad at heart.
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It's been a LONG time since I posted. Well that's because I had a baby 2 months early (surprise!), who was in the hospital for 6 weeks and then home, and pretty much my life has turned upside down (but it's a good way) and blogging definitely took a back seat. I have posts about the floors, her nursery, spring gardening plans, and lots of other baby-related stuff that's coming, but I thought this post was more important. This year is my first Mother's Day. I have been spoiled so far, and my husband is such an amazing guy for making me feel like the best mom in the world despite what I may think of myself day to day. This will be my mom and mother in law's 32nd Mother's Day and I am so grateful to both of them for everything they've done for me. My mom has always been great, even when I was a sullen grumpy whiny teenager, even when I pushed her buttons on purpose, even when I didn't appreciate her. Especially when I had Charlotte. There were days these past 4 months where I didn't think I could do it at all and her words of support and kindness were the exact thing I needed. Matt's mom Lynn is incredible too - she is so thoughtful and considerate and always looking on the bright side of all situations. I've heard MIL horror stories but I'm happy to report that I have none of my own and so happy with the extended family I am now a part of. Happy Mother's Day also to all the grandmothers, great-grandmothers, godmothers, stepmothers, and even mother-figures like aunts and cousins and great friends. Now although I am over the moon in love with my little baby girl, and so happy to become a mom, I know that there are some who may be reading this and having a really hard time. There are so many women who want to be moms who haven't gotten there yet, or maybe have but have experienced loss. I feel your pain - I really do. Matt and I started trying to have a family in December 2011. We actually got pregnant right away but I miscarried at 11 weeks and I was devastated. After a few months of healing, we started trying again, but with no success. After a year we went to see a fertility specialist and for the next year and a half I went through rounds of meds and treatments before we had any success. 3 years later, our little girl was born. Between that time and now, I went through a really rough time. I went through times where I thought I was fine, days where I couldn't stop crying, and bouts of anger where I have no clue how Matt put up with me. It was hard to be around people with kids and seeing all the social media announcements about pregnancy and babies was like a dagger to my heart each time. I even withdrew from two very close friends. They told me they were pregnant shortly after I miscarried and we would have all had our first babies within a month of one another. Then they got pregnant again within those 3 years too. I'm happy to report that we've reconnected and looking back I wish I had done a better job at staying in touch because it turns out there are a lot more people than you think that are going through the same thing. So please stay positive as much as possible, talk about it with others, and know that you are not alone. I hope that one day you will look to this day without pain and anguish. I know my blog isn't usually this intense or personal, but I remember how I felt all those years and thought I would share my story. I hope everyone has a great day celebrating those special women in your life. Newborn photograph (Charlotte at 2 months) by Oak & Myrrh Photography
When planning the nursery, the first thing we wanted to do was rip up the parquet floors and replace them with hardwood. Why ONE room in our house had parquet is beyond me, but it had it, it was in bad shape, it looked gross, and it needed to go. We were debating on getting floors that matched our current old pine hardwood, or go more in a direction that would eventually match what we wanted all the floors to look like. A trip to a flooring store went as expected - we decided to do the ENTIRE upstairs flooring in a new wood, colour and finish. We had this in mind and I knew I would be convinced, even with the price. We'll eventually do the main floor as well, but not for a few years. First step was to do the demolition - we did this ourselves (we meaning Matt, his brother, and my dad) to save a full day of work, cleaning, and labour costs. This post will cover that, and the next will show you the new floors! YAY! Nursery Floor Demo This happened a few weeks before we planned to do all the floors. Matt's brother Jamie came over and with some crowbars and hammers they went to town. Took about 4 hours to get this section done, because the parquet is hard to remove from the plywood, then that needed to be unscrewed and pried up too. Matt got some really bad blisters (I told him to wear gloves...) The second day Matt rented a compact floor stripper which saved so much time with the parquet. Wasn't needed for the hardwood but glued down wood is a pain and this made it a lot easier. Those leaf bags are full of bits of floor...wow. Also, if you don't own a shop vac, you really should. All clean and ready to go! Notice the old angled floorboards - they don't make them like that anymore! How We Lived For 2 Weeks Both our families came to help move things downstairs the day before we pulled up the rest of the floors Where I got ready for work each morning - 2 weeks because we could only do the floors a week before the flooring guys were scheduled, and a week after by the time Matt got back from Nevada to move stuff back upstairs Where I slept - it's a double from the guest room as our queen did not fit down the stairs, and since I am getting bigger by the minute I slept up here and Matt slept on the couch. It was actually nice to have such a dark place to sleep, haha. Guest Room Demo Guest room floors before - all our upstairs floors were 1 and 3/4 inch pine. Nothing like a little health and safety on this cute guy ...and now the goggles are on top of his head with a saw nearby...great... Quarter round needed to be pulled up first. Won't stay this tidy for long! Away they go! They cut perpendicular to the wood and then knocked it a bit with the crowbar to pull it up. Matt saved a few sections for a nice wall DIY project for the future. Yeah it got really dusty and dirty up there! All done! There was a lot of gaps at the corners, but the new plywood and floors will even it all out. Master Bedroom Demo Master bedroom before Close up of the original floors Found this below the floorboards - from 1920 - the year out house was built! My dad just destroying those floors - he seriously worked so fast! He finished the entire room and picked out all the nails in the time Matt and Jamie did half a room together All finished! We left the PAX wardrobes in the room, but unbolted them from one another - they worked around them. Hallway & Closet Demo Hallway view before Remember the stair guard project from 2 years ago...yeah that's gotta go now... I cannot stress enough the amount of dirt and grime and dust that will migrate downstairs during this demo Matt left the guard up until he left for Nevada about 2 days before the guys came to do the floors - we were still using the bathroom the whole time and it was just a little extra precaution Floor view during Floor view after Now the guard is removed Wow that wall looks terrible Let's look at that closer - this is what happens when you tear things from lathe & plaster walls... This took about 3 coats of filling and sanding to fix... (a similar thing just happened in the nursery closet...more on that later) This means "step on this and you are likely to go right through...okay?" They also had to tear up floor in the 3 upstairs closets - a tight space, but they did a great job! Next post will be on choosing floors, and the installation (of which I have very few pictures - they did the entire project in 1.5 days, so I just got pictures at the end of each day). I still have to take pictures of the floors with all our furniture back in for that post as well - should get to it I suppose - it is my Christmas break!
Christmas decorating happened late this year - with Matt travelling and the new floors being put in (!!!!! - post to come), we didn't get a tree until Friday the 19th and decorating didn't happen until Saturday. Now it's Monday and I'm starting to put stuff away (I like a fresh house for New Years). So here are a few little things we did this year: Guest Bedroom Nursery Front Entryway Kitchen & Stairs to Basement Dining Room Living Room Ornaments Christmas Eve & Morning
This past weekend we hosted a brunch for friends of ours. They got to see our house and we got to meet their adorable 5 month old baby girl. We had good conversation and food, and I took a few pictures of the table beforehand. I used the florals I did for my grandpa's 90th birthday (post HERE) to complete the decor. Here's just a bit of Saturday morning pretty: Note to self - use tripod to avoid crazy angled photos...I can't take a straight picture freehand if my life depends on it!
Today we had a great celebration of my grandpa Charlie's 90th birthday (his actual birthday is in a few weeks). Here are a few pictures from the day: Beautiful argyle birthday cake made by Kat Makes Cakes (delicious too!) If her website doesn't work, you can find her on Facebook under katrina Salvador Florals (my brother Adam took this one!) Family photo This one is better. Typical Andrew. Mom and grandpa Grandpa and his 3 kids - his fav team is the Roughriders The grandchildren (Wow my dress is inappropriate short with a bump) Aunt Andrea with grandpa and dad His first born The second And the baby giving a great speech My grandpa spoke so well! I love his stories. Mom's cousin John (grandpa's nephew on the paternal side) spoke about his dad and grandpa Mom's cousin Marian (grandpa's niece on the maternal side) Family photos and albums from so many family members Grandpa with his cake Now for some randoms... Movember growth...halfway done (Matt can't do it this year because he has to wear a respirator at work in certain areas when he travels and you need to be clean shaven to get a complete seal) Andrew, just because he likes to be on the blog.
This year, my brother Adam and his wife Jessica threw another Halloween Party. Jess' birthday is on the 30th (Happy 29th sister in law!), and so they've had many celebrations in the past few years, like this one from two years ago. I honestly didn't take many pictures of the party, since I left at 11 p.m. My feet were actually killing me, it wasn't the exhaustion, but my drive home I felt it kick in so I'm glad I left when I did. If people have pictures, send them to me and I'll add them here! I love all the juxtaposiiton of their decor - beautiful straws and gory eyeballs Blood and spiders and Kate Spade coasters (which I think I gave her) Tiny skulls and glowing West Elm tree laterns A gorgeous mirror in a sitting room with bloody hand prints Lacey black making the front hallway eerie - see? Halloween doesn't have to be tacky! Birthday Monster cupcakes I made for Jessica - Devil's Food cupcakes with buttercream I used the Wilton grass tip for the hairy effect My brother, the zombie. (Jess was Katniss but I didn't get a picture) I also got to dress up my bump a bit - nothing crazy, but here it is: Daytime - Skeleton baby (a girl!) Mummy
Last year a few girls from work, Marta, Dawn and I, headed to Marta's family cottage in Barrys Bay. I woke up one morning to a beautiful sunrise and spent an hour capturing these photos. We went back this year, and while it was much more dreary and cloudy, I still took a little time to take a few pictures in the evening before the sun went down. Here's what I got (excuse the number of pics, I was just playing around with camera settings!): Kit Lens Pics 50 mm Lens Pics
This year Thanksgiving was split between the farm in the afternoon with my family and the evening with Matt's family. Matt went to Indiana to see a Notre Dame game with his brother, dad, and uncle, so I met him at his families in the evening. Ahh the farm - nice big open space in the country. Aunt Yvonne with the newest addition, little Blake, my cousin's son. Nice enough to stand around outside. Everyone pay attention to Jessica, haha. Mom and I in navy (OMG I look huge here!) Adam and mom He's so photogenic. Mom and Ashlin (aka my cousin Melissa's clone # 1) Now to Oakville - teeny tiny Notre Dame jersey for little baby boy or girl. PS - Matt and I match, haha, not planned. Beautiful table setting and yummy 3-squash soup! 20 weeks - half way done! A few pictures from the boys weekend in Indiana Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I know that I had so much to be thankful for. The weekend before Thanksgiving Meg and I went over to Matt's grandma's house (Momma) to learn how to make pie crust and pies, in general. I know I could have just googled it, but she's been making pies for a long time and it was a nice afternoon to spend together. 32 apples. I still have some in the freezer to use. Pie recipe (crust is on another page I think) Momma mixed the dough while we peeled a sliced apples. That's a lot of McIntosh apple slices! Rolling out the dough as thin as possible Getting thin dough into the pie plate without tearing is a two-person job! Cutting off the extra edges I'm sorry do you think pies are healthy? Crisco/lard/butter crust, sugar and more butter on top? Mmm delicious though. Cinnamon and drops of butter cover the sugar before the top crust gets done. Meg is creasing the edges to make it all pretty The finished (uncooked) product! Pie # 2 is underway (we were pros by then) Decided to try a basket weave top this time. Baking is messy. First pie (right) cooked, second pie ready to go (though I cooked it at home later in the week - left it frozen in my fridge until Thanksgiving, along with 2 other apple pies). We also did pumpkin with ready-made crust. And pumpkin tarts - so cute! And even more adorable with some whipped cream on top (at Thanksgiving dinner). Oh yeah and I "outed" myself by posting this picture on IG and FB, not realizing how "bump obvious" I was looking.
Yep, we're expecting! Due at the end of February - pretty excited!!! |
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