Kate Weiland : July 2015

Jul 31, 2015

Staying strong for this special little nugget

I hate to end the week off with a bit of a downer but I’m going to do my very best to be brave and courageous for my son in the next few months. This week, after a followup x-ray exam on Will’s hips (because he was a breech baby for most of the time in the uterus), we found out that he has mild hip dysplasia. His left hip is slightly separated from the socket so he’s going to need to wear a brace full time (23/24 hours of the day) for a minimum of three months. Then if things look ‘good’ he can graduate to wearing the brace for the next three months only at naps and through the night. So truthfully, six months with this thing that we've nicknamed 'Betty'.

Cut to momma crying.

Actually, cut to momma sobbing.

Initially, I was totally fine with the news until we took him to the children’s hospital and we all saw the bloody thing. No lie - it’s a monster. I’m planning on taking some pictures of it, but imagine a torture device used in the late 1800’s complete with tight bandages and metal and hard nuts and bolds all over the place. Yah - totally uncomfortable I can only imagine. The poor sweetheart is basically sitting in the side splits all day long so that his hip bone will begin to grow appropriately, but man, I used to be a dancer and asking one of us to sit in the splits for any longer than an hour and we would have been complaining like nothing else.

So, major tears from me. I said to Nate that he’ll either be a hockey goalie, an Olympic gymnast or a sumo wrestler with this soon-to-be-found flexibility, but until then, we’re all going to be stuck with a pretty fussy little man wearing this awful contraption, and his trying to put on a brave face mommy. I guess as one of my girlfriends mentioned - better now than later. And I agree, it’s for his future health. If anyone has any tips, tricks, words of encouragement or suggestions, I'm all ears. Would love to hear of anything that can help this baby's discomfort.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

LUVS!

Kate

xoxo

Jul 30, 2015

Field Favourites

It’s a beautiful drive up to Stettler Alberta and one that you can probably make in around two hours, but add a toddler and an infant to the mix and it can take around four and a half to five hours with all the stops and feedings and diaper changes along the way. Thankfully, if you’re caring around your trusty camera, you can snap a few field beauts along the way making those stops not sooooo painful. Here are a few out in the fields of Alberta. Gosh what a gorgeous country we live in.

It's still pretty rare that I can capture this cutie's face as she is ALWAYS running, but when I do - it's a keeper.

These blonde locks. SWOON!

And here is the ride home at the end of the weekend:

Unfortunately, Will wasn't able to join in the fun, he was either being fed solids from Daddy or getting his diaper changed, plus he's just getting the hang of sitting in grass. However, when the two kiddos can walk and run and skip through these fields you can be sure that this momma will have way too many pictures to count.

Have a fab Thursday

Kate

Jul 29, 2015

Disney favourites

Hi my name is Kate and I can't stop buying girly Disney princess stuff for myself my daughter. Scarlet might just love this princess paraphernalia as much if not more than me so I feel totally justified in going 'there'. It's colour free lipgloss so no makeup is involved (that stage isn't coming for a long lonnnnnng time).

But how cute are these little tubes of lip smacker?!?! Ok. I'll stop now...

In other news:

The irony of this picture is not lost on me. One of Scarlet’s favourite disney movies right now (that ISN’T princess oriented) is 101 Dalmatians. She asks for it at least three times a week and watches so intently that I feel she zombies out and completely forgets to blink.

I’m currently of the mindset that while William is in his second nap of the day, to keep Scarlet quiet I’ll happily turn on a show or a movie downstairs in the basement. These days it’s been little 30-45 minute snips of this sweet puppy story.

My favourite Disney movie was The Little Mermaid which we haven’t introduced the kids to yet. Nate’s favourite disney movie is Aladdin which the kids also haven’t seen so I’m looking forward to those family popcorn nights together.

What is your favourite disney movie of all time? I’d LOVE to hear from you guys in the comment section below.

Have a lovely Wednesday friends. More posts to come this week.

Kate

#101dalmatians

#thelittlemermaid

#aladdin

Jul 28, 2015

Cutest little cuties

Thank HEAVENS for little girls.

These three blew the cute standard off the charts. We had some great friend over for dinner and they brought their two little ones - Emmie and Layla to our pad. Scarlet was in her glory since it's really rare that we get to play with any other females her age. As you can see, she worshiped the ground older Layla walked on and was immediate best buddies with sweet Emmie (who sports purple frames like a rockstar)! Even Will was smitten with these two girls. We're lucky to have this great family as

friends.

Happy Tuesday Friends!

Jul 27, 2015

Awesome...

What do you get when you mix white jeans, red wine and a teething infant?

This…

Dear lordy...

We were at a our friend's lovely BBQ last night and I was talking with someone I had literally just met and holding Will at the same time, and he whacked my drink right out of my hand. As you can see, all down the front of my shirt and white jeans. Yah. Just like he sacked Nate in the face a post back - this kid has a rough right hook.

Thanks William (you little slugger).

Stay tuned - my goal for the week is to post every single day. Have a great Monday guys!

Kate

Jul 22, 2015

Real life...

My photography obsession. It’s starting to interrupt my daily thoughts because I’m now thinking ‘oh that would be a gorgeous shot’, or ‘ooo, that’s a cool idea for a pic’ or ‘I need that capture, ASAP!’ So I had this ~~amazing~~ laughable idea after we bought the kids a little pool for the backyard this summer. I fabricated a visual in my head of all of us in the pool splashing, having fun and just messing around. Well, this is how it turned out…

Real life friends…real life.

BAHAHA! Hope it gives you a little laugh today. I think Nate looks like such a big baby crying his eyes out but the truth is he got walloped HARD a split second before the timer went off by his son right in the mouth. I know it's mean, but I literally can't stop laughing when I see this pic.

Then there’s this one where nobody is looking at the camera. Win.

We gave up on the family shot and tried to get one of me and the kids. This is how THAT turned out. Scarlet literally just turned her back right on the camera as soon as she saw it. So we tried to get just Will and I.

Here's how that went.

pulling my hair...

biting my shoulder...

french kissing my bicep. Yah. I'm sure you can now understand why we have so few pics of the four of us. HA!

HAPPY WEDNESDAY FRIENDS!

Kate

Jul 15, 2015

Tribute to my Grandpa Enns

This was the tribute that I gave to my 90 year old Grandfather on his birthday about a week ago written and delivered by yours truly on his special day.

90th Birthday Tribute to Grandpa Fred Enns

Well first, I’d just like to say what a gift it was to be asked to deliver this very special birthday tribute today to my Grandfather - Fred Enns. I was excited to have the opportunity to share with you all some facts, some memories and was especially thrilled to be the one to honour him on such a huge birthday milestone. However, I must also disclose that almost immediately upon accepting the request, I began to feel a beaded sweat on my face. I noticed my heart rate was rising, and the initial nervous butterflies in my stomach were now turning into full blown angry bats looping and twirling around in my abdomen. Yes - I was panicked. How on EARTH was I going to pay homage (ah-madge) to such a legendary man and his 90 epic years? How was I going to compose something about someone so incredible into a birthday tribute? Well, I don’t know that we can totally capture such greatness into a five minute speech, but I guess that because I revere my grandfather who has personally affected my life on many occasions I’ll say now that I only want to be able to acknowledge his greatness and maybe make him smile during this tribute.

So, where do I start? Well, let’s think about how old this distinguished gentleman actually is… 90 (PAUSE) 90 guys! Just to give you an idea of how ‘ripe’ 90 years really is, I did a little research and came across this wild fact:

In July of the year my Grandpa was born (1925) a high school biology teacher was found guilty of teaching evolution to his students, and was fined $100 for it. Can you imagine? Wow how times have changed. I as a teacher thought that was an interesting segway to the fact that I have always been so proud that my grandpa was a school teacher and then a principal and then a University Professor and then the Dean of the Faculty of Education at the U of A. Both he and my mother Laurie had a huge influence on the profession that I chose. I would state that I couldn’t have loved my job as an educator anymore than I have and I can thank my Grandfather for inspiring me to become one.

I’m also always so proud to say (and brag about the fact) that I still have a lively, healthy Grandfather. His toast to the bride on my wedding day will forever be such a highlight and special memory for me. Every year, it has been such a joy to share my birthday with Grandpa Enns in the same month and to give him a birthday phone call on his day and happy to get one back a few days later on mine.

I actually have a picture of us sharing the experience of eating my first ice cream cone in his back yard in Edmonton on my first birthday.

It’s still astounding (considering the fact that he’s now 90 years old) that getting a huge Grandpa Enns bear hug after family sunday night meals almost hurts because those hugs are still filled with such strength and vigour even to this day. I received one of those hugs the day that he attended my university convocation where both he and my Grandmother Nettie came to the graduation ceremonies. I felt so proud that my grandparents - especially my grandfather, took the time to celebrate my educational successes.

But this is the type of man I have always known Grandfather Enns to be. A man that we all know as kind, thoughtful, faithful, extremely wise but never presumptuous. Much smarter than anyone in the room but who is smart enough to sit back and just listen. A man who I find more and more relatable and easy to talk to as the years go by. The perfect mix of leader, advisor and friend blended with a dash of quick-wit - but just enough - never too much. Kind of like a fine wine…only getting better with age. Please raise your glass with me and let’s toast to this amazing man! Happy 90th Birthday Grandpa Enns! Here here!