averie's nursery

happy thursday!  finally going to start our house tour today.  but it's only one room.  does that still count?  i've been waiting because i wanted to get some things done before i shared photos.  but if i do that then it would never happen.  there's just so much that i'd like to do with our home i often get overwhelmed.  i've been trying to keep in mind that it took seven years to "complete" our last home.  i say "complete" because really it was just that incarnation of our home.  i'm sure that if we had stayed there the house would've evolved into something completely different then the way it was when we left.  is a home ever really done?

going to start with averie's nursery because i'm in love with her room and i tend to spend quite a bit of time in there with her ... late night feedings and all.  when we found out that we were having a girl i was so excited about decorating a girly nursery.  when i was pregnant with liam we didn't find out the sex of the baby so the nursery was painted green, acid green to be exact.  and then decorated with jungle animals.  green is my favourite colour and i love it with purple.  these were the same colours for our wedding.  i just couldn't see a pink nursery for averie.  not that i have anything against pink, just prefer other colours before it.

i'm going to have to post some more nursery photos because since these ones were taken i've already changed some things.  created a piece of art for her wall and added some more photos, all black and white.  i thought her room was done but then remembered that nothing will never be "done" just a various stage of evolution.  i'm fairly certain that we'll see many evolutions while we are living here.  

up next, liam's room.  sometime early next week.

life {lately} according to iphone ~ v.8

some snaps from the last couple weeks.

chillin' on the chair // brother sister love
four month old lady baby

circle of neglect // playing trains // grocery shopping with mommy

much needed glass of vino // mister sad panda waiting for story time at the library

time to "make messy" with paints

naps with bunny slippers and valentines

liam and his dino all buckled in for a trip to chapters

four months old

first i'd like to start this post with a thank you to everyone who reads and comments on this little blog.  just want to let you know that you all rock and your words brighten my day.  i rarely, if ever respond to comments posted, but i just wanna let you know they are not going unnoticed.  basically this is my way of responding to all past and future comments.  ha.

moving on.  the little miss turned four months old ... so what if it happened a week and a half a go.  she's four months!  how did that happen, and since when did she start looking like this baby and not a new born?  think i said the same thing last month too.  seriously i feel like she just came out of me and that she's been with us always ... all at the same time.  i can't imagine life before her and life with her sometimes feels like a blur.  one diaper filled, pukey, breastfeeding, tummy time, laundry filled blur.  and i wouldn't have it any other way.  unless someone was offering me a full uninterrupted night of sleep.  that would be awesome.  awesome.

to say there's been some tiredness around here this month would be a slight understatement.  between christmas, new year's, ski adventures and tons of family time, sleep was not a high priority.  i was sort of happy to see december end.  and averie started teething.  so much earlier than when liam started.  he was eight months old before he really started teething.  thank god for camilia and tylenol ... the combination seems to work for her.  she also enjoys a good chew on a chilled teething ring.  wish i could make the hurt not hurt so much.  poor baby girl.  damn you teeth.  damn you.

in other monthly updates, averie is finally starting to go longer between feeds on a more regular basis.  we've now graduated to feedings every four hours consistently during the day and she's been going five and even sometimes six hours at night.  this would be a great amount of time for me to get some sleep if i went to be when she did, at 7 pm.  but i'd much rather be tired and do other things, like watch downton abby or blog or read a book or spend time with that guy i married.

little miss is wearing a combination of 0-3 months and 3-6 months clothing.  and man did she get spoiled in the clothing department at christmas.  there are some very cute outfits coming in her future.  she just needs to grow so she can wear them.  this girl has a wardrobe that i even envy.

she's rolling again.  we had a couple rolls from front to back earlier but then never again.  this month she's started up again and is now trying her skills going from back to front.  i can see the days of her being stationary dwindling.  we've also brought up 'the circle of neglect' otherwise know as an exersaucer to most people.  so far she's enjoying it.  averie will grab at the animals and make attempts to spin around.  liam likes to help her out when she's doing this and gets a kick of it.   really i think averie just wants is to grab everything or anything so she can shove it into her mouth and chew on it.

baby girl is a laugher.  she loves to laugh and the littlest things will get her going.  when she's not teething or spitting up on me she giggles and giggles and giggles.  it's adorable and makes my heart melt every time.  every. single. time.  i've even caught myself tearing up listen to her.  perhaps it's the hormones.  perhaps it's a mom thing.  perhaps it's both.

other four month highlights:
~ current weight: 12.5 lbs.
~ current height: 21 inches
~ celebrated her first christmas and new years
~ met her uncle pete
~ went on her first family ski day to lake louise.  no snowboarding for her yet, just a day in the lodge.
~ is "playing" more with liam
~ exploring everything with her hands and then her mouth
~ is finding her voice, this involves screeching at 4:30 in the morning or 3:30 in the afternoon for no apparent reason.  she also like to yell at her toys.  its pretty cute, except the 4:30 in the morning part.
~ averie has her dad's smirk and uses it all the time.  she going to be trouble this one.

i love you my sweet girl.

for like ever.

saw it. pinned it. did it. ~ stairway to heaven

so the way i figure, if i do a pinterest project, recipe or outfit once a week then it would take me a million years to do everything that i've been pinning.  i think i might have a pinterest problem.  the first step is admitting you have a problem right?  i just keep telling myself "pin it anyways.  who knows ... you could live to be a million."  pinterest did provide the inspiration for our stairway to heaven the second floor, so it can't be all bad.  found this pin awhile ago and had been dying to get it done.

                                                                             Source: mochatini.org via MJ on Pinterest

i absolutely love how the photos are placed closely to the baseboard.  unfortunately this is not very toddler friendly.  and we also have a partial railing (may be taken out later) that prevents doing that anyway.  when we started building our current home i wanted to make sure that we had a place to put family photos.  and the stairway seemed perfect.  the plan is to up date the photos at least once a year with family pictures, vacations, whatever.  but they'll always be of something related to us.  as a family.

here's what the space looked like before.  an empty blank canvas.

i used these frames from ikea.  we originally had three of them in our living room of the old house.  but this space needed more than three.  so we got six more, had six new photos printed, kept the original three of liam when he was six weeks old, a hammer, nails, said a few f-bombs because of inaccurate measuring and volia.

i love how it turned out. amazing what a few photos and frames can do.

i smile every time i come up the stairs ... even if i am carting a laundry basket.

2013 and a few random thoughts

first random thought:  been a little m.i.a for the last week or so.  apparently i have the worst immune system.  i've been hit with two colds in less than two weeks.  so has liam and unfortunately the little miss got a bout of this round.  and to top it all off rob has been gone on a ski trip for the last four days.  thank you world.  i am in complete awe of all those single parents out there.  you.  are.  amazing.

second random thought:  as a new year begins i always try to set resolutions.  ultimately failing at them miserably by the end of january.  this year i've decided that instead of setting resolutions, i would like to set some goals for this year.  (i am aware that these are remarkably similar ... meh just semantics) over the course of the last three years i have been pregnant or nursing.  i have, for the most part, loved the journey i've been on during this time.  now i feel like i can focus a little more on things that i want/need in my life.  instead of housing, growing and sustaining another human being with my body.  and while i'll still be nursing averie for at least half of this year, i know that soon my body will be my own again.  and will stay that way for the remainder of time.  that's right.  there are no more children planned for this family.  baby factory is now closed.  moving on here are ...

the goals of 2013:

these are in no particular order, just things that i'd like to accomplish at some point this year.

~ run 5 km race

~ run 10 km race

~ back to school to start interior design certificate program (part-time) in september

~ read at least six books

~ meal plan on a regular basis

~ create and use home organization/planning binder

~ complete the following diy projects: drying rack for laundry room, potting bench, giant ruler, and i'm sure many many more courtesy of pintrest

~ get a massage once every three months (i'd like to go more, but often lack the time)

~ don't feel guilty wanting/getting 'me time' (we'll see about this one, been on going since liam was born)
~ go on our first family of four vacation to hawaii (does this count as a goal if we booked it last year?)

~ go to the gym at least three times every week (exceptions: vacations and being sick ... or if the littles are really sick, sometimes the mama is the only cure)

~ sew cushion cover for mudroom bench

~ sew roman blinds for kitchen windows
~ complete feature wall in our bedroom with this wallpaper
~ finish some important blog posts ... er averie's birth story.  started and has sat unfinished for the last four months
~ take a ton of photos, but remember to get out from behind the camera and be present and in the moment
~ learn more patience, with my children, with my husband and with myself

that's it for now.  i'm sure that i'll come up with more as these ones get checked off

third random thought:  been doing some thinking about what i write on this blog.  for the most part it's about our littles and will continue to be.  but i would like to also chronicle the evolution of our new house into our family home.  in the past i've tried to include fashion, which i also love, as a part of the blog.  but i am by no means a fashion blogger, far from it.  so i'll save the fashion posts for the professionals and keep it as a something i do in real life but don't document.  decorating and creating for my home.  that's another story.  i've always loved interior design, one of the best parts of building our two houses.  and i see myself eventually leaving my teaching job to pursue this full time.  some day.  so look for some more 'our home' content.  been working on our house tour and that'll be coming soon.

so there it is.  randomness and all.

happy hump day.

life {lately} according to iphone ~ v.7

it's been a little while since i did my last iphone dump.  when i went to put them on the computer there were over seventy photos.  guess i've been using the phone camera more than the slr.  

here's the best of 'em.  more christmas i'm afraid.  

happy new year!