Friday 29 June 2012

What is that funny flashing light?

Yesterday Noah and I played with the timer on my camera. He loved seeing his mommy hit a button, run across the room to scoop him up and then watch the orange light blink over and over. He thought the whole thing was pretty funny and wasn't too happy when I put the camera away.




I also snapped a few more pictures of him first thing in the morning while he was playing.



Today Noah and I will be laying low and taking it easy. I'm feeling pretty tired and am greatly looking forward to spending a long weekend with my family. Hope you guys have a great weekend too :)

Thursday 28 June 2012

Travel journal

I don't think I have shared with you all the link to my travel journal. It's a place where I have been documenting my travels since before I graduated highschool. I try to keep a bit of a journal wherever I go so that I can reflect on my trips and hopefully not forget what I experienced.

It is only up to date until last February, so I have yet to fill in my Caribbean cruise or our recent trip to Disneyland. Hopefully they will be up to date shortly!

I have posted the web address under My Links on the side of this blog. Or else you can just go here to take a look :)

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Happy Birthday Uncle Mike!

It was my older brother Michaels birthday this past week. We celebrated with the traditional lunch of Mongolie Grill followed by ice cream cake.

Do not be fooled - despite what the candles say, this is not a 9 year old with a beard!

Watching on... soon it will be his turn!

Noah got his first taste of ice cream

He enjoyed the taste but wasnt a fan of the cold.



Happy birthday big brother! I hope its a wonderful year for you. We love you!



Monday 25 June 2012

Super Mom?

Lately I have enjoyed watching the Little House on the Prarie series on DVD. After I watch it I always find myself thinking, 'Wow, that Carolyn Ingles is a super mom! I mean the woman raises multiple children, lives in a tiny cabin with no electricity and wears the same two outfits day in and day out. She cooks, she cleans, she farms, she walks 3 miles just to get groceries; and she's happy doing it!' Yes, I know it's a tv show and not necessarily reality. But back in the olden days that was reality and for the most part I think that is a pretty accurate portrayel.
We live in a very different time. Information on everything is at our fingertips and communication between others is constant. When someone is pregnant or has a baby, you can find out via text, facebook or sent photo how they are raising that child. It's easy to start comparing ourselves to eachother.

So today I want to talk about us moms and the pressure we put on ourselves to be a 'super mom.' What is your definition of a super mom? Is it someone who always has a clean house, clean children and looks as good as she did before she had children? Is it someone who breastfeeds for a year or two years and only feeds her children organic home made baby food? Or maybe someone whose baby is dressed in the latest and greatest, rides around in a $800 stroller and has never had a disposable diaper touch their hiney.

And this pressure doesnt just start when you have a baby, it starts before! What is your nursery going to look like? Are you going to buy all new furniture for baby? Are you going to get an epidural during labor? How many children do you plan to have? Two? Only two? Thats not a family! Or four? You want four children? How on earth will you provide everything your children could possibly want when you have four?

Please dont get me wrong here, I am not saying any of these things are necessarily bad and I have definitely participated in some of these things and conversations. Some, I stress again, some  may be good choices for your family. I think the thing we really need to exam when we make choices about our children is why we are making them in the first place.

Is it to project a certain image? Is it to keep up with a fellow mommy friend? Is it to appear more successful then other moms around us? Because if it is, we are greatly missing the mark.



All of us mothers have had days where we dont feel like weve done our best, and oh boy have I been there. Days where the baby has cried more then usual and I havent had the time or the energy to change out of my pj pants and cook my husband dinner. Days where toys are scattered throughout the house and the dishes are still sitting in the sink at the end of the day. But what I have come to realize is that thats okay! Its okay to not always have it all together or to always know the answer. Some days are just plain hard and we shouldnt shy away from admitting that. A friend once told me that on those days, our goal as a mother is to simply keep everyone alive. Easier said then done, but it does bring into perspective what really matters.

If you are reading this blog... which means you have access to the internet, you are probably in a situation where really you have everything you need to survive. So moms, lets stop comparing and competing please. Lets focus on what really matters, having happy healthy children whom we shower with love - no matter what we look like while doing it or what vehicle they ride in. We are all just doing the best we can.

Saturday 23 June 2012

Noah 10 months pictures

I had some fun taking pictures of Noah yesterday in our living room. I don't know much of anything when it comes to photography, but I do know that we get pretty decent light in there and I enjoy pulling out the camera and snapping away. One of these days Id like to take some kind of course to learn the functions of my camera *cough*Louise??*cough* cause I do not learn well from instruction manuals. I hate reading them and I usually forget within a day or so what it was that I read. I could also use a good portrait/close up lens. I have a nice zoom lens so I use that for just about everything, but my pictures often end up being a bit blurry because I'm not steady enough to zoom in well. Ah well, 3rd world problems eh?

But anyways, rant over, here is our little guy at 10 months old!





Friday 22 June 2012

Summer days at Nanas

Noah and I have spent alot of time in Nanas backyard over the past few sunny days. Thats the big downside of a townhouse, we dont have much of a yard and you can only do so much on a deck. So Noah has been enjoying playing, sitting and crawling around Nanas and smelling all her beautiful flowers!




And I had to throw this picture in... cause he looks so grown up!


Monday 18 June 2012

Fathers Day

Yesterday we celebrated Fathers day. First thing in the morning Noah and I put daddies gifts at his usual spot on the table. He got a new cross necklease and a book to read with Noah all about why dads are just so awesome.



Then off we went to church to remember that we have a father in Heaven who loves us unconditionally! Thanks for the great reminder Joey! Wonderful message!

We spent the afternoon and evening at my parents place and celebrated with a BBQ steak dinner, some gifts for my dad and watching old home movies from Hawaii.





Perfect way to spend the weekend in my opinion!

Matt - thanks for being such a wonderful father to our son. We are so blessed to have you!


Saturday 16 June 2012

Rainy Saturday update

What a wet day outside! Can you believe its June!? The only real positive I see to this weather is that it means we will probably have another gorgeous August and September like we did last year. Which means, our camping trip will probably hopefully be awesome!

Noah is feeling back to his old self. He is crawling and walking (with help) like crazy right now and doesnt want to sit still. He is loving that its the weekend and daddy is around fulltime to play with him.


And on another happy note - my dear friend Ally down in Nicaragua had her baby yesterday! A little girl who they have named Annaleise Engelina, weighing in at 5 pounds 4 ounces. I got to see a picture of her a few hours after she was born and my goodness she is the sweetest thing!!! Its torture not being able to simply drive over and see my friend and have some snuggles with little Annaleise. But I know they are in good hands down there. Congratulations Kyle & Ally! I know you will be amazing parents!

Monday 11 June 2012

Noah visits the doctor

Noah went in to see our family doctor today after Matt and I became increasingly concerned about him yesterday. His 'bug' seemed to be getting worse and for the past 24 hours he has eaten barely anything. What he did eat, he threw up. From yesterday afternoon onwards he has wanted nothing more then to sit on my lap and sleep. Last night he wanted to sleep so badly but couldn't and I admit, I cried with him. Its awful not being able to take away your child's pain.



So this morning he visited our doctor and it turns out he has an ear infection, which is why he has been vomiting and crying so much. The doctor is was also worried about him developing a chest infection because of all his mucus so hes been given 10 days of antibiotics. Hopefully they will kick in fast and he'll be back to his playful self in no time. I cant stand to see him this unwell. It breaks my mommy heart!

Babies who dont feel well deserve Mickey Mouse balloons!


Saturday 9 June 2012

Poor sick monkey

Our poor little guy has come down with a nasty cold bug! Lots of coughing, throat clearing, dribbling noses with a round of vomiting thrown in. It hasnt been a fun two days.



Last night and this morning he has managed to hold down his formula and a smaller amount of food, so I think we are on the mend.



The saddest part is that today is our church picnic and I was really looking forward to taking Noah. It would have been his first picnic ever. I was also looking forward to going myself. But ah well, what can you do. The most important thing is that our little monkey starts to feel better.

Monday 4 June 2012

Little Miracles

I had the sweetest moment with my 'little love' today.

Noah was tired, so I took him upstairs to feed him a bottle and sit down in our rocking chair. While he was drinking his bottle, he gazed up at me and starting to get seriously dopey. His eyes slowly closed and opened over and over until he couldnt keep them open any longer and he fell asleep. I put the bottle down and he replaced it straight away by sticking his thumb in his mouth.
Usually I would then place him in his crib and get to some kind of housework or what not, but I couldnt put him down. He rarely will fall asleep in my arms now and I was just enjoying it too much to end it.

I just continued to rock and stare down at him and my mind began to drift back to those first few months when he would nurse and then pass out in my arms. I was thinking about how fast time has gone and how much I miss those days, but at the same time love where he is at right now.
Then my mind wandered into the future where he would no longer be small enough to sit in my lap. The days when he will want to be with his friends, maybe going to college, getting a job or getting married.

It was like God was telling me right there to worry less about things like housework and what I was going to make for dinner. This was more important. He was telling me to sit back, appreciate and marvel at the little miracle he has given me. What a blessing Noah is to us!

So for all you mommies and mommies to be out there - appreciate your little miracles. They are only 'little' for so long.





We have a crawler!

Happy Monday morning to you all!

It hurt getting up this morning. Funny how Mondays still feel like Mondays even when you are a stay at home and never get to sleep in anyways. But I had my coffee, listened to an uplifting podcast on my apple TV from Focus on the Family and already got some cleaning done. Great start to the day!

I totally forgot to mention a milestone in our little Noah's life last week. He is crawling! My parents were babysitting him last Tuesday and when we came to pick him up they said, 'So hes crawling eh?' and we were a bit surprised. Sure enough, next morning he was all over the place. Its nice having him able to get to all his toys on his own but oh man is the word 'no' being used alot! He is into everything now and although our house is fairly baby proofed we still have some things to secure better.

Here's a little video of some of his first crawling moments.

Friday 1 June 2012

Saying Goodbye to cable

After my last post my hubby and I got to talking about our current TV situation and have decided to cut our cable. There are several factors that went into this decision.

1. Cable is expensive. We really only watch about 5 stations but are paying for way more thanks to the wonderful bundle systems that all the cable companies do now. If we could pick and pay for exactly what we want only, then we would probably keep it.

2. Were paying for alot of junk! There are some really inappropriate and just plain stupid things on TV these days.

3. Having cable makes it really easy to just turn on the TV and watch things that I ordinarily wouldn't bother with. How many times have you said, "There is nothing on TV..." and yet it stays on and you watch something that totally bores you anyway.

I know that I am going to go through a major adjustment period with this. I have always had cable and I am pretty use to just flicking it on our of habit. It'll be much easier for my husband, who grew up without it.

Before you think we are being all crazy drastic... I will tell you what our new plan is.
After much research and suggestions from other friends we have decided to buy the Apple TV this weekend. This way, our absolute favourite shows can still be watched via Itunes (there is only 3 shows we regularly watch and they are all availible this way.) Thanks to my ipad we would have the option of also streaming anything onto our TV through station apps such as CBC and Global. We are also planning to subscribe to NetFlix mostly because of the large amount of family content that is available on it.

Going this route will be saving us almost $60 a month... pretty substantial in our books!