This is my life now. I feel like this thing is always attached to me, and to escape it means my daughter might go hungry. My breastfeeding journey has been easy for me (minus a few minor issues along the way) so I had no idea that pumping would be this hard.
View Full Post “Pumping Is A Whole New Ballgame”
You probably read the recent blog post about how I got my husband to let me post all the things on the internet, so it may come as a surprise that we decided NOT to share our daughter’s name on the internet at all. There is a rather simple explanation for our choice, but seeing as it seems to conflict against our share-everything policy, I wanted to share that reason with you.
View Full Post “Why We Chose NOT To Publish Our Daughter’s Name On The Internet”
Marriage is hard. Marriage after having a baby is harder. Marriage when that baby is cranky, won’t sleep, learns to scream on purpose to get your attention, and you’re living off little sleep and lots of caffeine…feels impossible.
View Full Post “Marriage After Baby Is Hard”
It’s been a while since I have posted #babyfoodsadultsactuallywanttoeat recipes because we have been dealt the added challenge of little miss being allergic to dairy. Yeah–anyone who knows me knows that dairy is like 80% of what I consume.
View Full Post “The Food Allergies Begin”
When our daughter started crawling, it became evident that our space was not exactly child-friendly. Baby-safe, sure! But not so much for little movers. We needed to find a solution that kept baby safe, still looked pretty for my home-based business, and could be easily removed when outgrown.
Other than the obvious of baby gates and plug covers, I didn’t really know what else I needed. I could have crawled around the house myself to find the problems—as if I have time for that while keeping up with my little girl!?—so I brought in the big guns. Yup, the first thing they said was to lower that crib…
View Full Post “Babyproofing Can Be Simple!”
Sweater weather is here! and the outdoors is still a great place to be with all the fall colours and warmer days. BUT since our weather in Ottawa is usually super cold during the winter, as beautiful as it sometimes can be, it keeps us cooped up at home and we can tend to get stir crazy. I have compiled a list of the top 10 kid-friendly indoor things to do in Ottawa during the winter so we can adventure out into the wild without worrying about the frigid Canadian cold. I’ve also got a bunch of honourable mentions that are great for date-night or out with friends sans-children.
View Full Post “Top 10 Kid-Friendly Indoor Activities To Do In Ottawa During The Winter”
Nope. Never thought I’d be thaaaat mom. You know, the one who makes her newborn take a sh*t over the toilet. Hell, I would’ve bet money against it! But lo and behold we found ourselves with a six-month-old who happily takes dumps on the toilet like an adult–in more ways than one!
View Full Post “How I Potty Trained My 6-Months-Old”
For as long as I can remember, books were a chore because they often led to an evaluation of some sort. The problem with this is that I love to learn new things, and most of the time knowledge comes from a book. So, I have decided to try and incorporate reading back into my life, and take back the task as a privilege.
View Full Post “Summer Reading: Chore or Privilege”
In your past life, you probably would look forward to the treat of a blowout because it was often accompanied by a night out enjoying yourself and looking fine. Now that you’re a mom, that term probably scares the crap out of you (pun intended!). Have faith, I’ve got a great easy and cheap solution for you.
View Full Post “Mom Hack: Preventing Diaper Blowouts”If you’ve known me for long enough, you knoooow that I don’t hide the fact that I buy almost everything used (I do draw the line at underwear), and I happily share my finds with the world.
Back in the day, thrifting was out of necessity because as a broke-ass student I refused to choose between a new outfit or groceries. This way I got to sport a new-to-me item AND afford the real cheese for my (homemade) mac&cheese dinner.
View Full Post “The Thrill Of The Thrift”
If you know my husband, you would say that he is a relatively private person, and that his existence on social media is solely published by other people. So how is it that I am able to share so much about our life with the world..? I asked permission.
View Full Post “How I Got My Husband To Let Me Share All-The-Things On The Internet”
The white peach ricotta medley is a great way to experiment with new textures, and to incorporate dairy into baby’s diet.
View Full Post “White Peach Ricotta Medley”
Introducing new foods to baby can be a daunting task, or a fun challenge depending on how you choose to look at it. We really didn’t want to do the boring purée thing, especially since we wanted to give her homemade food, so the challenge we decided to embark on is to create baby foods adults actually want to eat.
View Full Post “Baby Foods Adults Actually Want To Eat”
With all of the ever-changing guidelines and recommendations and fads out there, it can be super daunting to try and figure out what is best for your baby. While I am no expert, I have spoken with a Registered Dietitian and the additional information I was given was astounding, and reassured me over so many fears that I had from reading all the things on the internet. So I figured I would share a few tidbits along with our journey through food with little miss.
The thing about postpartum that most don’t understand is that it isn’t always depression at all, and that there is a spectrum of each of the emotions involved.
One of the most common ones is anger. Not necessarily angry at your baby, but BIG anger at the smallest things–like when your husband throws out the rest of your coffee when you were busy in the next room feeding your baby, or when he is snoring obnoxiously next to you while you are awake at the crack of dawn for the third time to feed your little monster, or when your baby’s noises just annoy the f*ck out you in that very moment, or when the mailman doesn’t read the sign and rings the damn doorbell that one time your kid actually decided to nap. Patience wears thin, and not just because the sheer lack of sleep… Sometimes one good scream in the next room is all you need to regain your composure and deal with your screaming newborn for another hour before they decide to settle on a whim. Because you have tried everything several times to soothe them. Every. Damn. Thing. More than once. View Full Post “Postpartum Comes In All Shapes And Sizes”
She’s here! She is beautiful and strong and growing so fast. If you want, you can read all about our birth story but for now, a big thank you to our photographer, Lisa Johnson, for these amazing keepsakes from our first family portrait session. They are the perfect pair with the gorgeous barnwood frame we got our hands on for our home, and I love walking by and smiling at it every day.
Holiday traditions are always a fun thing to hear what other families do differently than yours, to hear about similarities, and to get great inspiration from completely out-of-the box ideas. When it comes to Christmas, I have got a boatload of traditions that I want to keep going, but this year felt like the perfect year to get a little crazy and do all the hosting before baby arrives. And of course, we kept our little ornament tradition alive!
View Full Post “Christmas 2018 – Keeping Up With The Holiday Traditions”
For those of you who know me well, you are aware of my weird allergy to water and cold (yeah, good luck living in Canada right!?). So you can imagine the sheer determination it took to go out into the snowy woods to get our maternity portraits captured. Where there is a will (and photoshop), there is a way! Our photographer Emma Haider did such a fabulous job at capturing our excitement and love for each other.
Looking back, this post is actually a pregnancy reveal to for many of you, since the majority of our parenting adventures have been posted on my belly and baby blog …oops. Surprise! We’re expecting a little one in the new year and we’ve been busy getting everything ready.
We hosted our baby shower this month to celebrate with close friends and family, and I must say that it was such a fun event regardless of why we all got together. Anyone who knows me personally knows just how much I love family–it helps that I have an awesome one!–so this was no different.
Good food, good company, and an extra bonus that this one also came with gifts 😉 View Full Post “Baby Shower & Gender Reveal Party”
With the recent mass power outage in Ottawa, there are a ton of stories being passed around, recounts of adventures, and despite all the negative things that have happened, there is still so much positivity in the air. I am so proud to be a part of a community that lives that way. And, of course, I’ve got my own story to tell–but it isn’t about ME, it’s about YOUR business.
I was lucky enough to be able to photograph all of my clients over the weekend with natural light, and that my studio was at an acceptable temperature throughout the day (thankfully no newborn sessions, just older babies and expecting mamas). I had all forms printed out beforehand, and batteries charged, so I was well prepared. See mom; my Murphy’s law mentality DOES come in handy! Had I not previously practiced with natural light instead of my strobes, I do not think the days would have gone so smoothly.
My husband on the other hand, was not so lucky with his work… View Full Post “Are You Focusing On The Right Things In Your Business?”