Holiday fun in BC

Breastfeeding pit-stop

Traveling with a baby is intimidating for any new parent.  Luckily, Nate and I had the courage to take Scar up to the cabin a few times this summer so we were feeling confident enough to go a little further and do a few nights away in beautiful British Columbia.  I was super nervous about the 4.5 hour drive but we agreed that we would take as many breaks as we needed to - even if it would take us all day to get there.  The ride up turned out to be relatively easy and the ride home was even better because she slept the whole ride back.  It was wonderful.  This was a really great introduction to travel with a third member of the clan and we're looking forward to doing more this coming November!

A few shots of the view from our room

It got a tad cold out there so I was happy I brought a few warm items for our little lovebug. 

Our drive home - Rundle Mountain 

Of course, sunny Canmore/Calgary.  Even though we were somewhat rained out for most of the trip we still enjoyed it and are looking forward to Hawaii next!

Scarlet's five month update

I'm a little late in posting this latest update because our little clan took some time to travel to BC right after the long weekend.  We thought that since all the little kiddies would be back in school, it would be a fantastic time to hit up some of the busier spots like Windermere and Fairmont.  It was really great getting out of the city and Scarlet held up like a true trooper.  She slept the entire 4 hour ride home!  We were really thankful for that and we're now feeling a bit more confident about traveling to Hawaii for a longer period of time this winter.

So now that Scarlet is five months, I have noticed some major changes.  She is much more alert and aware.  In fact, I have to take her to a quiet dark space to breast feed or she'll pull away constantly and look around/smile/laugh/get totally distracted.  It's just easier on her (and on my nipples) if she has as few distractions as possible.

Really holding her head up on her own and occasionally sitting up by herself for a few seconds.  I'm always right near by.

Still excellent tummy time without as much fussing (15-20 minutes per day)

Jolly Jumping everyday for max 15 minutes at a time.  SHE LOVES THIS!

Still nursing 7-8 times a day although she is much more efficient and can get a lot of milk in a short amount of time.

Unfortunately, her sleeping habits have changed a bit.  She will wake up now two times through the night to feed (which is exhausting).  We took her out of her swaddle which is a big change for her, and we tried (unsuccessfully) for about a week to sleep train.  She just wasn't ready for it and caused a huge fuss.  We are taking a break from the sleep training and we'll try again in a few weeks.  Nobody was getting any sleep.

Still sleeping in our bedroom in the basinet and in her crib during the day for naps.  I'm still not ready for her to be away from me during the night.  

Naps two-three times a day 10:00ish, 2:00ish and 5:30ish usually 45 min, 1.5 hours, 1/2hour in the evening.

Smiling and now laughing all the time!  This is so wonderful and makes the hard nights much easier

Loving her Mommy and Daddy the best

Cooing, babbling, 'talking' and 'singing' everyday

Gets startled at loud noises and gets scared at certain new faces

Best demeanor ever.  She definitely gets this from Nate.  She is so chill and easy going.  It's so nice to be able to take her out and live MY life while still enjoying her sweet company.  LOVE!

I'm taking 5 month pictures today (two days late) so stay tuned for more cuteness!  

Sept 3rd

Work?  HA!!!

Major perk of having a baby... MATERNITY LEAVE!

But there are a few things I'm missing as I look at all the sweet kids going back to school.  I'm missing the students and my amazing colleagues.  I'm NOT missing the late late late nights, the marking, the weekend 6 hour rehearsals, the marking, writing IPPs, the marking and the nasty 35 - 45 minute commute.  May summer continue on as scheduled!!!  Hoping for warm weather this week ;)

Busy Summer

Wow - sorry for the delayed posts.  We've been crazy busy in our house.  Everything from travelling, weddings, weekends up at the cabin, baby showers, BBQ's with family and friends and many beach days, this is my favourite time of the year and we want to fit in as much as possible.

Lately, Nate and I have been hosting a ton at our pad.  We even have guests over on week nights.  Last night (Monday) my family came over for a massive BBQ.  Even though I taught a BodyStep class from 6-7pm, they still came over food in hand (including dessert) and played with Scarlet until I got home.  She is LUCKY to have such awesome uncles and a wonderful auntie.  She also has some amazing little cousins - Emma and Alex from London England.  Nate's sister Robin came over for 5 weeks with her two adorable little daughters and we just loved every single second with them.  I should say that Scarlet was totally enamored with these two sweeties.  She watched every move that they made and loved all their kisses and cuddles.  It was such a treat having these girls here and we even were lucky enough to get some adorable hand-me-downs in the process.

Emma, Scarlet, Grammy Weiland (Nate's Mom) and Alex.

In other news, Nate has finished building the first level of our patio in the back and it now holds our BBQ and a little bistro set.  I'm going to hold off posting pics of it until we have some nice patio furniture, a few more trees and the weeds wacked in our backyard...so wait fro them to be posted next summer.  haha.  This is just a fun pic with one of the many groups of friends we had over this summer. Note:  Patio not in view until it's done ;)

Laura, Ted, Jack, Dan, Ali, Mark, Nate and I.  (Scarlet was upstairs snoring).

We're loving this hot hot weather and hope that it continues well into September.  I LOVE SUMMER THE BEST!

Scarlet's 4 month update

Holding her head up on her own - still slightly wobbly
Excellent tummy time without as much fussing (15-20 minutes per day)
Still nursing 7-8 times a day
Sleeping through the night with at least one wake-up to feed
Still sleeping in our bedroom in the basinet and in her crib during the day for naps
Naps three times a day 9:00ish, 1:00ish and 4:30ish
Smiling all the time
Loving her Mommy and Daddy the best
Cooing, babbling, 'talking' and 'singing' everyday
Gets startled at loud noises and gets scared at certain new faces
Overall best baby I could ever ask for.  She is our sweet sweet love.

Coke nail

To all the new Moms out there, here is something that I wish someone had told me about a few months back.  Immediately go and find your best nail file, sit down for a solid five minutes and sand yourself a genuine pointy coke nail on your dominant hand.  Trust me.  You will find a ton of uses for the 'CN'.  I myself use it to grab boogies out of Scarlet's nose, (didn't have to buy one of those ridiculous nasal suction things where the parents literally suck the boogers out), I also use it to clear her ear wax out of all the nooks and crannies and I even use it to pick off her cradle crap on her head.  Yes, this nail has been everywhere and the best part is I don't have to search the entire house for it - it's right there all the time.

Back up to the cabin

 Scout and my brother's wet legs

  

I'm so excited that we will be heading to the lake to celebrate my Mother-in-law's 60th bday.  I can't wait to swim, eat and chill with the family.

Nate showing Scarlet around.

July 14th Happy 6th year Wedding Anniversary

Treasure Cay

Who knew it would fly by so quickly?  Probably because we're still so in love with one another.  You are the best husband on this planet for me and I know I'm the best wife on this planet for you. 

XO

July 12th

When seeing Scarlet for the first time, one of my girlfriends said; 'Oh my gosh she has Asian Doe Eyes'.  I felt this was exactly accurate and also a huge compliment considering asians are all so gorgeous and doe eyes are so cartoon like - good mix.  Maybe it was the 90 Chinese herbal pills I was taking daily in trimester one when I was getting acupuncture... hmmmmm.  ;)

Three Months!

If today's photo shoot was any indication of what sort of girl Scarly is going to be, we'll be having a serious girly girl on our hands.

I tried taking her monthly shot in something other than pink and she wouldn't even look at the camera!

Nope not doing it Mom.  

But throw in a little bit of pink and BAM!  Girls got her some serious smiles.

Costume change!  

Big smiles!

I love this!

I'm three months old!!!

Scarlet is currently in the 75 percentile for both weight and height.  This means that out of 100 babies her age she is bigger than 74 of them.  HAHA!  Talk about one proud momma!  We left Scarlet's doc appointment feeling really confident and pleased with her development thus far.  Even though I had a bit of concern that I might be feeding her too much, we continue to be told that you can't overfeed a baby.  She fits well in 0-3 month old clothing and can get into a few 6 month items from places like Carter's and Zara.  I'm so in love this babe.  I literally smother her in kisses all day long.  

Some of our best friends

One of the greatest things about being married is that you inherit your spouse's amazing friends.  Matt and Nate have been best buds for years.  After Nate and I got together I was introduced to Matty and  I liked him immediately.  I wanted to set him up with one of my single girlfriends so that we could all double date; but alas, Matt just wasn't feeling it with any of my lady friends. Eventually, Matt was introduced to Nicole through his Mom and it's a good thing he did because we all fell in love with her immediately!  These two are both so much fun!  They're caring, they're thoughtful, they're outgoing and as you can see, they're drop dead gorgeous.

The Weirs

They have a little son named Jaeger who is about 7 months older than Scarlet.  We already have high hopes that they'll marry one another just so the four of us can hang out more often.

The four of us were lucky enough to go to Hawaii together last year and we hope to travel to many more hot spots with them.  This past Canada day weekend, the Weirs came up to the family cabin and spent three days with us.  It was such a blast and just such a wonderful reminder of the joy you can have with such close and wonderful friends.

Nate and Matt going for a late night swim

A few pics from Hawaii

The beautiful Bride and I.  They surprised us by disclosing that they would be getting married on the beach on Friday!  It was so special and just absolutely magical.  Also, you wouldn't even know it, but Nicole is 6 months pregnant here!!!  She looked AMAZING!

Walking the beach to go get married!

After party!

Hanalei Bay

The boys pretending to be manly even though they arranged the flowers and made the bouquets.  

This pic cracks me up every time because the men look so happy.  

THE GANG! XOX

June 26th Scarlet's Garden Party

On Wednesday, my dear friend Jason hosted a Garden Party for baby Scarlet.  The weather was just beyond beautiful and his backyard looked like it was straight out of the pages of a mag.  It was so wonderful to get out of the house and visit with great friends.  I even had a little afternoon delight in the form of a alcoholic beverage with a hibiscus in it!  It really was a fantastic way to spend the day.

Scarlet and Christie

      

Jason's roses

Delicious Flan

Tasty AND beautiful!  Check out the flower at the bottom of the glass.

Yum!

 

Jason and Scar

(To see Scarlet's full outfit, check out the W Style page)

June 17th '13

Top three weirdest places that I've breast fed:

3. The disabled stall in the women's washroom at the Glencoe Club.

2. In the back seat of my SUV parked in a back alley.

1. Locked in the drama prop and storage room sitting on a styrofoam fake fountain at Central Memorial High School.  UNCOMFORTABLE!


But she's worth it...

For some reason, even though I pump and save a ton of milk, Scarlet doesn't always want to take a bottle when we're out.  So, I've got to improvise.  I'm not totally comfortable just whipping the twins out (especially when I'm visiting at the school, or my parents house with all my bros, or the mall for that matter), so I either have to stake out a private quiet area to feed her or just go home with a screaming/starving baby in the backseat.  I would rather stay.  But a huge kudos to the mommies out there that have the courage to feed without hiding away in a drama storage room somewhere.  I'm working on it.

Daddy love

June 15th 

Thank GOD for good husbands

Nate has been absolutely incredible throughout this entire experience.  I can't praise him enough for his thoughtful and considerate acts, from getting up with me every single night during feedings, to vacuuming the entire house in under 20 minutes - heck as I'm writing this post, he's rocking Scarlet in his arms, calming her down so that she can just relax.  I think this is hour three...

For all those ladies out there that know what I'm talking about, good work in picking this type of guy.  Because as amazing and loving and caring and loyal that I know they all are, they are also extremely rare.  Thank goodness I got one of these seemingly extinct breeds.