A Preview

Here's a sneak peak of the pictures that were taken during our Christmas card photo shoot last weekend. I love all the ones of Brianna, the photographer did an amazing job! I'm not a big fan of the ones where it is all 3 of us, I seem to have some pretty big bags under my eyes, good thing she offers airbrushing/retouching of the prints when you order.

I've already ordered about 15 prints to include in gifts for Christmas for our family. I am so excited to get them. The one of all of us that I posted will be used done up in canvas and put over our fireplace in our living room. I hope to do the same with the one where she is holding the rattle in black and white for in her room.

Enjoy!

Christmas Cards and Shutterfly

So I heard through the grapevine that the awesome people over at Shutterfly were giving away 50 holiday cards for blogging about them- how could I resist? I have personally never used their site, but my MIL is obsessed with them. She has a ton on albums of all her grandchildren that she shares with family and friends and orders prints from them, too. She has some pretty high standards when it comes to her pictures, so if she says she trusts Shutterfly with her photos, I believe her.

With the Christmas season fast approaching, being a new mother means sending out holiday cards to all our family. Who would say no to a cute card with an adorable baby on the front?? Not me! So while browsing their site to find one I would like, I came across a bunch of contenders. Here they are...




And my personal favourite


I suggest that all of you holiday card senders head over to Shutterfly and take a look at their cards. They also do online photo storing, printing, and other things like calendars and gifts- they are awesome!!!!

Shutterfly website

And here are a few of my favourite links on their site!

Photo Christmas Cards - http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards
Holiday Invitations - http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-invitations
New Year's Cards - http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/new-years-cards

Wordless Wednesday - Video Edition

Look who can pull herself up onto furniture now!!

*Please ignore my screeching :P

My 1st Award!!

The wonderful Sammie over at The Lamay Bakery awarded me with my first award.



Thanks so much girl!

To accept this award, there are a few rules that must be followed:

1) Thank the person that gave you the award:

Thanks for reading and enjoying my blog, Sammie! I'm so happy that you enjoy reading my blog!

2) Share 7 things about yourself:

-I am so scared of spiders, that even the mention on one gives me the total creeps!
- When I was younger, I was known as a hypochondriac, I was sure I had any and every illness known to man. Thankfully, I grew out of that, eventually :P
-As hard as pregnancy was for me with Brianna, I really hope that I get to experience it all again someday
-My wedding band and engagement ring don't match, like at all. I hate my set so much that we have been shopping for a new matching set for over a year. I'm so picky that I haven't found anything I am in love with yet.
-I love to drive. I know some people hate being in a car, but for me, it calms me. I used to live out in the country and have to drive over 90 minutes to work every day, I loved it. Hated paying for gas, but enjoyed that time in the car alone with my music and coffee.
-Love, love, love watching trash TV. I'm like a teenager in that respect.
-I need to start a diet and work out like last week. Enough of carrying this extra weight. I feel gross all the time.

3) Pass on to some bloggers you think are fantastic!!

Exploits of a Military Mama
Very Vera
History of the Harveys
Live, laugh, love and more
Our Silly Rodriguez Family
The Adventures of Two Under Two
The Little Things
The Power of The Pink Lines
The Thomas and Ben Chronicles
As The Foreste Grows

4) Contact the bloggers and let them know about award

Congrats, everyone!!

The Festival Of Trees

Each year, our town puts on something called the Festival of Trees as a fundraiser for our hospital. Each year we go to see the beautifully decorated trees, wreaths, and to shop a little at the gift shop. This year, we bid on a really nice wreath that we were eventually outbid on, so sad, but I think I will get over it. It was great that this year we had Brianna to enjoy it with. She was asleep for most of the time we were there but woke up for the last 15 minutes or so, so we were able to get some pictures of her.

This Wednesday, they do the tree light up at the civic centre. Santa will be there and we will get her picture taken with him for the first time ever. I am so excited for her to be placed on his lap and to see what kind of reaction she has. I already have a bet going with Clint that she will be in tears when they take the picture. Either way, I will be happy to be able to get her up there with Santa.

This week should be pretty busy for us, but I will try to blog a little more now that our routine is coming back a little. I'll leave you with some pictures from the Festival of Trees.





*On a side note, I'm pretty sure I will be burning this shirt now that I have seen these pictures. Not flattering AT ALL!!!

My Mom Left

She was here for just over a week, and now she has gone back home. It went by so quickly, I couldn't believe it was time for her to leave already!

It was so wonderful having her here. Not only did I get to have my mom and my daughter spend some much needed time together getting to know each other, I got to have someone cook me all my favorite meals and let me take naps when I needed them :) It was glorious!

She taught me how to cook a bunch of my favorites, she fed and put the baby to sleep each and every night, was constantly cleaning (not that my house is a mess, she is just a compulsive cleaner and nothing is ever clean enough according to her), and always thinking of ways to spoil her girls. She must have spent a fortune on Brianna, but it was worth it to her, she loved being around her petite cocotte and watching her smile. I really wish we lived closer to family, it sucks being a 6 hour flight away from everyone.

And on top of all this, Clint finally started his new job, so he was hardly home the entire visit. I'm glad he's back at work, things were starting to get tight, and now that he's back at work, I am finally able to breathe a little.

Here are a couple pictures of Brianna and her grand maman!

Things That I Am Loving Right Now

Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Lattes - this always gets me into the cold weather spirit

Big and chunky knit sweaters for both me and Brianna

Spending time with my mom cooking and eating - Will regret this when I can no longer button my pants!

Community craft fairs with amazing Christmas tree ornaments, baked goods and homemade candles

Sleeping with a great big comforter and the fire place going - Crackling puts me right to sleep

Watching movies that make me laugh so hard my cheeks and sides hurt

Taking long afternoon walks with friends while Brianna is all bundled up in her stroller, sipping on a Pumpkin Spice Latte - yum!

Taking down the warm weather decorations and putting up a nice big Christmas wreath on the front door

These are just a few of the things I am currently enjoying! What are some things you are enjoying right now?

7 Months!

How is it possible that my little Bri is already 7 months old?? Whenever I think back on the last 7 months, I feel as if they have both dragged and flown by at the same time. It is sad to think that she is closer to being a toddler than a newborn :( And lets not forget about party planning her first birthday. I am no where near where I want to be in the preparations! I know I have lots and lots of time, but honestly, it will be here before you know it, and I want to have everything ready and decided before the time comes in case I do end up going back to work (but that will be a post all in its own!)

So without further ado, here are her stats for this month.

• is a crawling monster, still preferring to do the army crawl, but getting better and better at regular crawling each and every day
• can pull herself up on almost anything from lying/sitting position! Craziness!! This one scares me
  
• can say baba, dada, wawa, yaya sounds
  
• has developed quite the personality already. If she doesn't like what is going on, or if she is happy about something, she lets you know
• will sleep anywhere from 7:30-9:30 at night to 8-10am depending on how well she naps during the day
• will only take 2 naps a day, sometimes only 1 if she is in a particularly unhappy mood, and will only sleep for about 30 minutes most of the time
• loves to fake cough and have you fake cough back at her, this to her is HILARIOUS!
• has moved out of her hammock baby bath and now takes baths in the tub like a big girl
  
• wears only 6-9 or 6-12 month clothing, with pants needing to be 12 months as her legs are so long
• is still not a fan of solids at all! It's a struggle but we are working on it. Breast feeding on the other hand is still going marvelously
  
• and last but not least, she is still a toothless babe!

I still need to take some pictures, but with my mom here, we have been doing other things and haven't been home much. This afternoon we have our first family photo session with an actual photographer, so excited! I will post her 7 month pictures when I take them, which will most likely be sometime tomorrow :)

*And here are her 7 month pictures!

Wordless Wednesday

My baby now takes her baths in the tub like a big girl.

My Mom Is Coming To Visit!

My mom has never been out here to visit us since we moved out West almost 3 years ago. She has never met Brianna, other than me sending her pictures and videos, and talking on the phone. I am so excited that she will be here in less that 24 hours! We pick her up at the airport tonight at 11:30, so so so excited!

I have some posts that I wrote up ahead of time so all I have to do is add some pictures and then they will be ready to go for while she is here. I want to spend as much time with her as possible :) We have so many activities planned for while she is here, it's going to be great!

I believe...

in a great book, a big glass of wine, and a nice hot bubble bath. The moments where you can relax and enjoy some alone time are amazing!

in friends calling just to see how you are doing.

in baby smiles and giggles.

in a stranger telling you how nice you look when you feel like you have never looked worse.

in taking long walks followed by a long nap cuddling with your baby.

Wordless Wednesday

Love her more than words can express.

Halloween

We went with a monkey costume for our own little monkey. I wanted so badly to dress her up as a little bumblebee, but the reality of it was that with where we live, the weather would have been too cold for that. We think she made an absolutely adorable monkey! And best of all, she was warm then entire night handing out candy to all the trick or treaters. Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!