nicaragua take two

Oh I have been SO excited to write this post.

Last February Dan and I went to visit our friends in Nicaragua for about 12 days, and we LOVED it !

We were about 10 weeks pregnant with Adele and because they had recently had a baby of their own I wanted all the advice I could get - so they were some of the first people we told the news ! (Also because I was tired and nauseous all the time they were likely to get suspicious anyway.)

Dan and I talked about going back because it was the perfect trip. Sunshine + friends + affordable. We just didn't know when...

Then we found out our friends were pregnant again - and due in February ! Well what better time to go than when I can be useful and help out with her toddler and cooking/cleaning etc. (Especially since having a babe of my own, I know how nice it is to have help !)

The real kicker is... I am taking Adele down ALONE for the first three weeks and Dan will join us for the last week. I know I know I'm crazy hahah, but I really want to take advantage of being on maternity leave ! I've only got 7 months left and back to work I go... so this opportunity is rare and needs to be taken.

I am beside myself with excitement as we leave in just over a month. We got our passport photos taken yesterday and Adele's tufts of hair are standing in full force against that white background. Her cheeks and double chin are in no way being discreet either. I'm glad she's too young to have any self consciousness cause this picture is a doozy.

Now the second kicker is... the fact I'm going alone... with a baby, a stroller, a diaper bag and luggage... and I only have TWO hands (unfortunately)... It meant I really needed to figure out how I was going to do it. So I went on a hunt for luggage that was on wheels, but also able to sit on top of my stroller while I carried Adele in the Ergo Carrier. So here is the only piece of luggage I am taking with us (aside from the diaper bag.)

(I only have the sneaker in the photo to properly

show the size of the bag)

Yes, call me crazy. The bag is tiny. And it is a whole month. And it's me. And my baby. What was I thinking ?

Anyway, PLEASE post any and all tips you have for traveling with a 4 month old. And for traveling light, for a month ?

 

I'm sure you'll see a post within the next month showing how I pulled it off, or how I failed big time !

Stay tuned.

merry christmas

Well I truly hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Ours was great. Christmas Eve was spent with pizza and gifts at the in laws. We were all so blessed and had a great time. Christmas morning was spent at home with Dan exchanging presents and making some dishes for dinner at the in laws in the afternoon. It's hard being away from both of my "homes" for the holidays. I haven't spent Christmas with my parents in years... mostly because traveling to a cold climate location in the winter especially with Christmas & Canadian flight prices doesn't really interest me. And I don't actually have a "home" in Vancouver to go back to for Christmas haha, sooo I suppose Sarnia will have us every year. Here are a few pictures we got of Adele on Christmas (before having an accident up her back in her "First Christmas" outfit !!

Dan has been off work since Christmas Eve at noon, and Adele and I have loved having him home with us. I'll admit it has been the most lazy of days in our house though as we crunched through Prison Break Season 4... I am SO THANKFUL it is over. Never have to watch the show again. I was absolutely hooked when we watched Season 1 last year... but then we recently got Netflix and I saw Prison Break was on there, I thought I should find out what happened after they got out prison... BIG MISTAKE. Season 2 was almost as good as 1, Season 3 was lame and Season 4 was awful. Anyway, it's over and I will never watch another episode again. Thanks for letting me vent. We did get off the couches today for a while to take Adele for a walk to the post office and banks etc. Here she is sporting her snow suit from Nana !

Now the next couple days are going to be spent CLEANING the house as best I can before my beloved house guests arrive ! One of my best friends that I met while living in Vancouver and her husband are spending Christmas in Quebec with his family... and are coming to visit us in Sarnia for a few days next week before they head home to the wild west ! I am beside myself with excitement as its been a year since I saw them both.

Oh wish me luck... I am such a procrastinator when it comes to cleaning. I have made a to-do list to help motivate me though ;)

so fast

In only 2 days my baby girl will be 3 months old !!! How did this happen ? Dan often comments on how it feels like we've had her forever, but sitting here today thinking about it, I cannot believe she is already 3 months old.

In the beginning I was so scared of forming unbreakable habits, that...

I can count on one hand the amount of times I rocked my girl to sleep/held her while she was sleeping. And while I am so so thankful that she can fall asleep by herself in her crib - I sometimes wish she loved cuddling and would fall asleep while rocking with Dan or I.

I never wanted to use the swing "too often" in case she got dependent on it, so now she can't stand it for more than 5 minutes... which is really unfortunate when I am trying to get dinner on and cannot be in two places at once.

I didn't want to confuse her and give her a bottle before 6 weeks for fear that she wouldn't nurse properly afterwards (thanks for the terrible advice prenatal class)... now my darling won't take a bottle at all. So much for date nights !

Well those are just a few of the things I'll probably try to do differently next time (Lord willing there is a next time).

We are still enjoying the challenges and blessings that come with a little life, and look forward to the months to come and all the "firsts" that come with them !

Here are some photos from the last month.

Our first family swim. Adele loved it!

 

Love these sweet moccasins, even if they are too big in the foot and too small in the calves !

Sweater from aunt amy and uncle tyler - love the elbow patches ! And my special blanket from aunt karo and uncle merv !

Auntie katie got me this sweater for when I'm 6 months ! I'm excited to have it in different sizes for the months to come.

I already love airplane rides !! :)

Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 Box Red Velvet Cake Mix (I used Duncan Hines)

1 tsp Baking Powder

2 Large Eggs

1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Cup White Chocolate Chips

½ Cup Icing Sugar

Yields: Approximately 20 Cookies

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or silicone baking mat)

2.       In a large bowl mix together the cake mix and the baking powder

3.       In a small bowl whisk together the eggs, oil and vanilla

4.       Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and stir to form the dough. You will need to fold the dough with your hands in order to get rid of all the dry “pockets” of cake mix. The dough will be oily

5.       Fold in ¾ cups of the white chocolate chips

6.       Roll into 1 ½” balls and put about 10 on the baking sheet

7.       Put 4-5 chocolate chips on top for looks – if you want. (NOTE – See mine aren’t very "pretty" and have browned tops… I’d suggest waiting until the cookies are half way cooked and then putting the chocolate chips on the top)

8.       Bake each batch for 10-12 minutes

9.       Remove from oven and top with a sprinkle of icing sugar

10.   Allow to cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet and then fully cool on a wire rack

Unfortunately - mine didn't turn out the nice bright red that I've seen on Pinterest... but they tasted great !

ENJOY & let me know if you try them and anything you did differently to make them better !!!

support local

I cannot deceive you all with the title and make it seem like I frequently "support local." Although my heart would love to, my budget and frugal driven mind could not justify it.

I am the person who is always looking for a great deal and does 90% of her shopping at wal mart and the other 10% on amazon. However, if I can support local or at least Canadian vendors, I like to do so.

I was searching Etsy the other day looking for Christmas gift ideas and I happened upon the cutest teether ever for Adele. This little wooden faux iPhone engraved with her name for only $12 !

Pros:
* Easy on the pocket book
* Vendors are from Ontario, Canada (www.3princesses.ca)
* Made with Canadian maple and finished with baby safe unscented beeswax polish (unrefined beeswax, olive oil, carnauba wax)
* Saves my iPhone from any unfortunate biting incidents
* Lasts as long as we don't lose it (& if we do I'm sure I'll buy another one)

Cons:
* Absolutely none come to mind

Here are some pictures of our phone that arrived in the mail today !!!

(I was in no way endorsed to write this blog post - just a very happy customer in love with the product !!)  (Phone purchased from www.3princesses.ca)

pumpkin cheesecake

Well, thanksgiving has long since come and gone - but I'm still thinking about the pumpkin cheesecake I made for dessert. I got the recipe off of pinterest (of course) and here is the link for it : http://www.bestyummyrecipes.com/pumpkin-cheesecake/

I'm usually extremely lazy about recipes and if there are a ton of ingredients or numerous steps I don't even attempt it. However the picture looked so delicious and the thought of two amazing things like cheesecake and pumpkin being mixed into one made me feel obligated to give it a try.

Miss Adele, who was 3 weeks old at the time, blessed me by napping for the evening while I made this. :)

Already looking forward to next fall so I can make this again !!!

the recipe says to soak the pumpkin in paper towels to remove excess water - the puree I bought didn't need it, so check out your puree and decide if you need to do that step or not.

pressing down the crust mixture... not sure if my finger should be bending like that or not ?

using the mixer my mother-in-law bought me last Christmas

mmm first part out of the oven

second level of deliciousness

yummy topping = crushed ginger snap cookies and caramel sauce

all done.

(Also note - not the best idea to take home the leftovers when you are trying to lose baby weight and your husband doesn't eat anything with pumpkin in it... or cheesecake for that matter. Oops haha.

push presents

I was reading Today's Parent the other day and they had an article on "Push Presents."

Definition: A present your husband is supposed to give you because you just pushed out his child.

While the thought of getting a gift is nice - and when I first read it I started thinking of all the things I wanted and could ask Dan to buy me as a belated "push present" I realized that ADELE was my push present. She was the gift I was given after I worked so hard to push her out. Why should I expect some material thing to be given to me when I have been given the gift of a newborn life? Any material thing I could want would never make the pain of childbirth any less, or take my mind off the repercussions my body was going through. BUT the little one I held in my arms - she took my mind off of those things and she made it all worth it.

And it seems that is exactly how God intended it to be.

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. (Psalm 127:3)

Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. (John 16:21)

I love you darling Adele. Best push present ever.

Adele Norah

Well it's been two weeks since we welcomed this little beauty into the world.

 (Photo credit: Alana Atyeo)

There have been ups and downs, crazy emotions flying about, and some 6 hour straight sleep nights and some 4 hour straight awake nights.

I still have no idea how people successfully make plans and schedule their baby, as it seems I always have somewhere to be right around the next feeding time and am unable to feed. I also have no idea how people successfully make plans and DON'T schedule their baby - as it seems I make plans and then she wants to feed just before I leave the house. Not only feed - but also projectile spit up all over my duvet cover ? Haha. I guess for now I'll just plan on not making plans and sit at home enjoying my little one :)

I couldn't have asked for a better man to go through this whole thing then the one God gave me... Dan has been amazing (as always.) But I've especially noticed it when it's been a terrible night and he'll come down to the living room just to sit with me and give me some support while I'm feeding for what seems like 3 hours straight and all I want to do is sleep. I usually send him back to bed because I feel bad that he has to go to work the next day... But those few minutes are so thoughtful and so precious.. I don't know what I'd do without him.

So here is to another two weeks... Of what I can only imagine will be more craziness. Bring it on. 

the good & the bad

Well let's be optimistic and start with the good... 

Dan and I had applied to the town for a minor variance so we could build an addition onto our house (giving us three more bedrooms and a basement) and also build a nice sized garage for Dan to work on his beloved vw bus. Well tonight we had our town council meeting - and unless someone appeals the motion - we've been APPROVED ! :) let more renos begin !

Now for the bad... Try not to laugh too hard... But seriously - check out these cankles. 

Thank you baby Chisholm for those beauties.

4 weeks

Congrats to my "new momma" friend Katie who gave birth to a beautiful healthy baby boy on Monday night ! 

Only 4 weeks until our own precious bundle is due to arrive - so seeing her and her hubby Shawn at the hospital with baby Quinn got us all the more excited and anxious for it to be our turn. Looking forward to play dates with our babes in the near future.

This was just one week before she had her little man and she was already five days over at this point... Doesn't she look fabulous ?! I blame my hugeness on my multi-layered shirt, super arched back, shorter torso and not so flattering angle haha. (Bunch of excuses I know :P)