Wordless Wednesday {Peekaboo}

Twelve Months of Trenton {Eleven}

I am seriously, unforgivably, inexcusably late in writing this update. I only have one more of these to go.. can you believe it? It's a blessing in disguise though, because I don't think we'd be able to continue even if I wanted to.. it has become next to impossible to take a decent picture of you, you are all.over.the.place.
You wiggle and laugh and roll and turn and shoot me this look that says, "Lay still? Mama, you cannot be serious." You don't even look like yourself in these shots!
As hard as it is to take your picture these last few months, I'm so, so happy that we did this little project together.. seeing the changes, watching you grow before my eyes, writing all about your personality and milestones.. it's been a challenge, but one that I can enjoy for the rest of my life.

This month, at the very, very end, you took your first steps. It wasn't even so much that you took the steps that was so emotional, it was how.
Oma and Opa came over for a visit on this day.. but it wasn't the good kind. Oma sat me down on the couch and explained that they wouldn't be joining us for Thanksgiving dinner, as planned.. that she was having surgery on the friday before, and that it was because they were removing a lump from her breast. She was telling me that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
With the blink of an eye our light and airy visit turned heavy, as I harboured and processed the news that the only family we have here is sick. I watched the woman whom I consider to be one of the strongest, break down right there in my living room, telling me that giving me this news is the hardest thing she's ever done.
Soon after, Daddy, Hailey, Kaleb and Opa joined us in the living room, and we went on pretending all was well.. for you and your siblings, of course...
I sat on the floor with you.You stood, using my legs as support, and just like that, took 5 whole steps to Oma. 5 steps that meant the world to us at that moment.

You haven't stopped since. You were cautious at first, as soon as you'd realize there was nobody holding onto you, you'd drop down on your bum. Now, you can stand up, unsupported from sitting, and take brave steps all the time.
You're walking into your second year on this earth, without fear.. because you know that Mama and Daddy and right there behind you, and always will be.

Happy 11 months, baby boy. Thank you for being you.

A little bit of rainy day inspiration.

SOURCE

From Tree to Table {Hello, Autumn}

*Please excuse the horrible quality of the photos in these posts. They were all taken with the iPhone since I am apparantly too scatter-brained to fix the battery situation in my camera.

Autumn is by far my favourite season. Perfect hoodie & jeans weather, cool breezes, beautiful coulours, the crunch of leaves, the smells. Perfection.
Fall is our house means lots of baked good and the smell of cinnamon.. the kids (and husband!) have come to expect the annual trip to the orchard, picking out pumpkins and hot apple cider.
Even our wedding had notes of our family traditions, we were married in October and a few weeks prior, away we went to the orchard, lovingly picked each apple, and then slow-cooked and canned apple butter to give our guests as favors.

This year, we came home with 2 little pumpkins, some cider and 4 bags of apples. Some for eating, some for baking.

Last night I made pie and apple crisp the kitchen was filled with smells of baked apple, cinnamon and love.

What is your favourite season? What are some of your family traditions that bring warmth on cold days?

Happy Autumn .Happy Home.
                 
                                            
  

Home Sweet Home {Part Two - Dining Room}

Welcome to Part 2 of 8 of our little home tour. You can find Part 1 - Kitchen; here.

Our dining room might be one of my least favourite rooms in the house. That's not to say that I don't like it, per se, but it just is not one of my favourites. Mainly because it doesn't really get used more than once or twice a year, and is just a room with things in it that I have to clean. Har, har.
A small corner of the room has been dedicated to being Rob's little office space for about a year and a half. He recently moved his things into it, once we were finished renovating, and since the man is so often strapped to his desk, it's nice having him on the same level as us.
While it isn't my favourite, it is the most rewarding to look at.. Oh man. The dining room was A HOT DAMN MESS when we bought this house. There was old, weird, pasted-on wallpaper, a false brick wall, the stairs were bare cedar, the walls were in dire need of repair, it just was no the prettiest thing you've ever seen. As far as furniture, we didn't buy anything new for this room. There's a table that needs refinishing, an enormous (and heavy) china cabinet that houses a bunch of crap, a beautiful teacher's desk that I picked up at an auction for Rob (which he promptly refinished- and did a beautiful job) some paintings from a local shop that imports from indonesia, an antique record player (again from the auction) which is used for photos and will one day be a liquor cabinet, a cedar chest full of blankets (hello 1700's house with no storage closets..) and my late father's guitar.
In case you can't tell, I have a hard time deviating from brown when it comes to painting.. and as you continue to see into our home, you'll start to notice the trend continuing through much of the house. I'd love to experiment with different colours, but all of our things are so earthy and country, I have a hard time pulling things together without brown walls.
Anyway, without further delay, I present to you Rob's office, part time dining room. I've included a few before pictures of the disaster for your viewing pleasure.
Enjoy!

Home Sweet Home {Part One- Kitchen}

Welcome to part one of eight of our home tour.
Why am I doing a tour of our home? Well, for a few reasons.

First, I am proud of our home. It is the first house that Rob and I bought, and unless our life takes some kind of unexpected turn, I think we will spend many years in this house, raising our family and creating memories. This house was a hot damn mess when we bought it. Run down, dirty, infested with mice, just to name a few turn offs. It had gone unloved and uncared for, probably for twenty years and we had to work our butts off to get it to a place where we felt comfortable.. and three years later, we are just getting there. We haven't spent mass-amounts of money updating and renovating, nor have we thrown our money at contracters to have them breathe life into the house, but instead we have taken our time and used our own skills and resources to make this house our own. We have learned alot along the way, and most things we did together.
Our home is not the newest (in fact it is over 130 years old..) it doesn't have the latest or the best countertops or floors and it is as crooked as can be, but it is ours.
Secondly, I like peeking into other people's lives.. so here's a little peek into mine.
Part One- Kitchen
The kitchen is the gathering place in our home. Not only is it the first thing you see when you walk in beyond the mud room, it is the largest room in the house (with the most seating). When we were shopping for houses, we had a very small wishlist. One of my hopes for my new kitchen would be at least one window that faced the backyard, so that I could watch the kids play while I did my houeswifely duties (har har). Obviously, this wouldn't make or break the deal for me, but it sure would have been nice. Well, when I walked into this house for the first time, a wall of windows with a walkout patio door right into the backyard stared right back at me. Perfect.This room is always busy. directly off of it are two main entrances, a bathroom and a playroom, and it's also the only way to the rest of the house from the entrance. (Unless you used the front door but who does that?)

Our Beautiful Boy {For your viewing pleasure}

Last weekend, we enjoyed a barbeque with some of Rob's co-workers. During the evening, our good friend Evan took some beautiful photos of the littlest one. Not only did he get some great shots, but he captured the very essence of our baby boy.
I've included some of my favourites to share.

Fortunately for us, Evan will be doing a shoot with us next weekend and I couldn't be more thrilled at the prospect of having a picture (or three!) of ALL FIVE OF US!! It's been 7 months since we've become a family of five and there is yet to be a family picture in existance.

Stay tuned!!


You can find Evan at Evan Holt Photography

Welcoming summer {A trip to the zoo}

 Last friday was a "PA Day", meaning that all three kids were home with me, which, in two weeks is going to be an every day thing for all 71 days of summer vacation. (But who's counting??)
On this particular friday, Kaleb and I had an already-scheduled speech therapy session in town, so all four of us headed out.
Generally, the kids are pretty well-behaved in situations such as this, but I used to opportunity of the whole day spent in town and the nice weather and the PA Day, to promise them a trip to the zoo after the appointment was over, should they be on their best behaviour during Kaleb's therapy session.

I didn't hear a peep!

After Kaleb was finished, I took them out for a special lunch and off to the zoo we went!

Have I mentioned how fantastic our local zoo is? Not only does it have a lovely splash pad for the kids to cool off in, equipped with bathrooms and changerooms and lots of shady places for mom and baby to sit, not only does it have a massive playground (one of the best I've seen) with things like rock climbing, and a huge slide that takes you down to the lower level of the park, but it has 48 species of animals! Now, it's not like a city zoo with elephants and polar bears, mind you.. our zoo is 100% outdoors, in a park-like setting with animals like camels and llamas and monkeys and otters.. but it's also entirely free, funded by the city and the city's electrical company and dependant on volunteers and donations.

The kids had a great time splashing in the water, cooling off in the hot sun while the littlest one and I watched from the sidelines. I put Trenton's feet in a few times but he wasn't a fan of the cold water on his warm skin and was instead quite content to watch the kids dance around from the comfor of his stroller, getting the occasional splash of cool water. When they were done, we walked for hours.. talking about the different animals and watching them. They asked lots of questions, as they always do, and Hailey read the signs to her brothers and did her best to read out the latin names.
Then we sat in the shade and had some ice cream before loading back up in the car and settling in for the drive home, where all three slept soundly in the backseat.

We tend to visit our zoo frequently during the year, especially during the hot summer months.. I'm looking forward to the trips like this.. I'm so grateful to have it at our fingetips.

Good times with friends {& a very happy birthday to a beautiful boy}

Yesterday we spent the afternoon and a good part of the evening celebrating the first birthday of Koen, the son of a good friend of mine from high school. A few years ago he moved to Calgary, met the girl who would become his wife, and had his first child. We've seen them a few times since but this was the first time I got to meet his little son.
We had a great time and when the day was over, we said our goodbyes. I don't know when the time will come when I will see them again... Why does the world have to be so big??


                                                    

Lately, in the gardens.. {A backyard in bloom}