Hoppy Easter

Yeah, Finn will totally kill us when he is older and we drag these photos out to show his significant others. :)

Getting his ears perked up

Yippy! Im a bunny!

Bunny hands- hop hop hop

Beautiful day at the park

We invited some friends to the park near our house for a nice afternoon of blanket laying, soccer ball kicking, basketball playing, and skateboarding (for the boys). It is one of the first beautiful spring days we have had- at least in a while, so it was SO nice to get outside and feel the warm sunshine.

Eating Auntie Sarah's Sunglasses

Yummy Watermelon!

Going on an adventure with Theo

Snuggles with Theo and Auntie Stacey!

Sweet Saturday Mornings...

"When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life." - John Lennon

This Moment - 2011.04.22

{this moment} - a friday ritual. a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. a simple, special, extraordinary moment. a moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Bad blogger

I'm sorry- I know I have been seriously neglecting my blog lately. To be totally honest, i just feel a little overwhelmed these days, and when I get home from a long day at work, or have a few days off with my boys, I just want to be around them- not in front of a computer. (OR if I am in front of a computer, I want to be doing something mindless, like watching America's Next Top Model!) I also have been feeling a little uninspired lately, but I promise there will be some good updates over the weekend- many fun things are on the agenda and I am so excited to have FOUR days off this weekend!

• Tomorrow is Earth Day, so we are planning on digging our the Chariot and heading for a big walk over to my most favourite baker- Sidewalk Citizen Bakery to pick up some scones and other treats - 5% of his sales are being donated to my organization, Green Calgary, for Earth Day!

• Dying Easter Eggs with Finn! Using natural dyes- things like blueberries, beets, coffee and yellow onion skins. My Grandma always makes eggs with yellow onion skins- as a child, she would come over on Easter Sunday with warm, freshly cooked eggs and tell us sweet stories of how the Easter Bunny had just come by and left fresh eggs for us. We always loved that and its something I want to share with Finn. My favourite magazine, Mother Earth News, has some great recipes for dying eggs HERE. Also, one of my favourite blogs, Sappy Apple, also has some beautiful pictures of her adventures with natural egg dying here!

• A wonderful family dinner at my Grandma's on Sunday- Always a delicious meal and a fun opportunity to reconnect with cousins we havent seen for a while.
• Shoe shopping! I have a bit of money that I was sent for my birthday, and really want a new pair of springy shoes! 
• Going to my favourite crystal store. I need a little pick me up, and a new crystal will do just the trick. 
• My sweet friend Lana and her little munchkin, Ivy, are in town from Vancouver so we are hoping for a buddy playdate! I havent seen Lana in far too long and I always have such wonderful and thoughtful conversations with her- it would definitely top off an already awesome weekend! 

That's all for now. More real posts soon! I promise! XO

~ Wonderful Neighbours ~

Our neighbour across the hall has knit Finn some really cute things since he was born- the most recent being this sweet sweater for his birthday. Thank you, Zofia! You are so good to us!

This Moment - 2011.04.15

{this moment} - a friday ritual. a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. a simple, special, extraordinary moment. a moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Finn's Family Party

We had another little  birthday party with Finn's family here in Calgary. Busy weekend, but we had a lot to celebrate!

Lil Cowboy

look at that little face!

Party time with Grandma

Uncle Nathan

Pushing Cousin Ava on the Ice Cream Truck

<3

little family

Opening a few presents

A Football!!

SO TIRED! Almost asleep with Grandpa

Finn's Rocking Chair

Stacey, Mike and Theo gave Finn an AMAZING rocking chair for his birthday (made by Mike himself!)

Finn likes it just a little bit. :)

Finn's Party!

A few pics from Finn's Birthday Party!

Cakes- a mini cake for Finn, and large cake for everyone else. I let Finn pick which flag he wanted on his cake. 

A few decorations and the food table

Happy Birthday!

First Sugar- surprisingly not that interested in it. (Happy about that!)

After the cake was thrown on the floor. High chair (and Finn) COVERED in icing!

Cute as a button!

I'm ONE!

more decorations

Getting ready for a birthday bath! Get that cake out of your hair!

Happy Birthday, My Dearest Heart!

Today Finn turned one. As I type this, it is almost 8:25pm- the moment Finn was actually born. I remember it like it was yesterday, but thinking back, so much has happened and changed over the last year. My heart aches a little thinking about how fast it all went, but it is so incredible to see how much he has changed and all the things to come in the next year.

Finny, here are a few things I want to remember about our first year together.

• Coming home from the hospital when you were just 3 hours old- it was snowy and Papa had pulled the car around front so we wouldn't have to go too far outside. We drove to Grandma and Grandpa Lenover's house listening to Bob Dylan while you slept. It was by far the craziest feeling in life to just look at you- This perfect little being that we had made. I remember feeling so overwhelmed with feelings of fear and excitement all at the same time. You were now with us- ours to love and care for for the rest of our lives. Incredible.
• Your little donkey cry when you were first born- you had the cutest little squeak (like a donkey) at the end of your cries. You also used to let out the funniest little grunt/yell after your sneezed. 
• Staying in bed all day long watching silly reality tv shows on my laptop- pretty much constantly for the first month of your life- I remember letting you sleep on my stomach all day and looking down at you and realizing I loved you more than anything else in the entire world. 
• When Grandma Lenover brought you over a soother- You took to it instantly, so completely content to be suckling away. Papa and I just looked at each other and agreed this would be a game changer!
• Our big walk down at Sandy Beach when Nana and Grampy were visiting. You were a month old and I remember feeding you at a picnic table- the weather was so beautiful and perfect, and sitting right by the river with you in my arms made me so content. To me, that was the perfect summers day.
• Our trip to the Calgary folk music festival- you were only 3.5 months old, but we had such a nice day under umbrellas and shady trees with auntie Holly. So much fun!
• Our first baby hangout with our friends from the Bradley birth class. I was so nervous about going, but it turned out to be the best day we had had since you were born. The relationships we have developed with this little bunch of friends are so incredible. We are both so very lucky to have each of them in our lives and I cant wait to watch as you all grow up together.
• Our first brunch date out together- We went to FARM with Auntie Stephanie and you slept in your car seat under the table the whole time. I remember when we finished I peeked under the table clothe to see you and your eyes were wide open just staring at me, but being such a sweet little munchkin, happy as can be!
• Your first skateboard competition. We drove out to Cochrane to see Papa at a contest he had put together- I tucked you into your little sling and you slept all snuggled against my chest through the whole thing.
• Taking you for walks at night to get you to fall asleep- you literally spent every night during the fall all bundled up sleeping in your stroller. We would be inside just freezing from the patio door being open so we could hear when you woke up.
• Every night after we check on you when you have fallen asleep, we come out of your room and say to each other "I know I say this every night, but you have to come see how he is sleeping!"
• Our regular visits with Theo and his Mama. They have become such a huge part of our lives. I don't know what we would do without them. I love to see how your face just lights up when you see Theo and how much fun you have playing with him. Its such amazing incite to the fun times ahead for you boys- I will always cherish our sushi (or Peters :) ) lunch dates and gab sessions.
• Our first airplane ride to Ontario to visit Grandpa and Granny- you were so good the entire flight- except when you dumped the glass of ice water on the poor boy sleeping in the seat beside us. :)
• Watching you figure out how to crawl- It was Christmas day and we were in New Brunswick at Nana and Grampys- It was like we could see the gears in your head just turning and you pulled yourself around.
• Watching you pull all the CDs down off the bottom two shelves of the bookcase. We put a little chair in front to stop you, but you just kept growing and now you stand up on the chair and pull all the CDs down of the third and fourth shelves!
• Seeing how excited you get when you see Jose! You smile the biggest grin every time!
• Watching you dance to Lady Gaga- just bopping that little but up and down! Hilarious!
• How we can basically bribe you to be good so long as we have a package of mum mums handy. You are such a sucker for rice crackers!
• That little butt! 
• How much you love drinking from straws- especially my smoothies!
• Watching you share all your snacks with Chapeau. So cute!
• How much you love getting scared! You giggle with delight when we chase you or sneak up on you.
  
• A few days ago you were playing alone in the living room- standing up at the coffee table. For some reason, Papa and I looked over at you at the same time to see you weren't holding on to anything- just standing there with a huge grin on your face. You quickly grabbed back on, but we have been talking about how funny that was all week! like you were secretly learning to walk behind our backs or something. 
• The face you made the first time we gave you a french fry- you were not impressed! and then again today with your birthday cake... just not super keen on junk food, which is perfectly wonderful in our books!

I feel like everyday something incredible happens- This passed year has been the best year of my life, and I wouldn't have traded it or changed a single thing. You are the most perfect, sweet, beautiful little boy and we are SO fortunate to call you ours! I cant wait to celebrate a zillion more birthdays with you, my darling. You are my world, Finn- so very very precious. Happy Birthday! XO

My sweetest heart

Pasta with Baked Tomato Sauce

We had a major snow storm blow in last night so today became a day for serious cleaning, purging and reorganizing of the house. It also allowed the perfect opportunity to try a delicious recipe I found on my favourite food blog, smitten kitchen! Something about a cold snowy day just begs for a huge bowl of pasta filled with tomatoes, garlic, parmigiana cheese and basil. The perfect snow day lunch! Finn has also taken a recent liking (loving) to garlic, so we were able to give him a few noodles to play around with and entertain us while he smiled and licked off the garlic.

Pasta with Baked Tomato Sauce
3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound very ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup plain dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino cheese (* I just used what I had, which in this case was a little bit of Dubliner- A strong, old white cheddar)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 pound dried pasta
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, torn

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the oil.
Place the tomatoes cut side up in the dish.
In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, cheeses, and garlic and toss with a fork to mix well. Sprinkle the bread-crumb mixture over the tomatoes, making sure that each cut side is well covered with the crumb mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and then the final tablespoon of olive oil. Bake until the tomatoes are cooked through and starting to brown on top, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente. Time the pasta so it finishes cooking about the time the tomatoes are ready to come out of the oven.

Enjoy! XO

The (not so) good little (working) life

Today was my first day back at work after being home for over a year, most of which with my sweet little Finn. It has been an emotional couple of weeks (months) leading up to this day, and today was no exception. Many many tears have been shed lately (poor Jeff) but I did manage to make it through the workday without crying, which was an accomplishment as for most of it, I felt as though I could burst into tears at any moment. I feel not like myself- somewhat off. Actually, thinking back, I have felt like this since I started counting down the days until I had to go back. My heart just isn't in it like it used to be. Or maybe that just takes time. I spent the entire day hoping I would get to go home early so I could rush home and see Finn. He is all that matters to me right now, so being someplace else that needs so much of my heart, patience, energy and genuine commitment seems impossible. I have promised myself I will give it one full month of true trying and see where we are at come May.  I'm hoping I can pull myself together and make it work- for all of us. I think I need to genuinely understand that this (as with all things in life) is not permanent. Jeff has been so wonderful in reassuring me that if I am not 100% happy or think I cant be away from Finn that we can reevaluate things and find a new solution. I cant explain how grateful I am for that kind of unconditional love and support. For now, I just need to focus on the time I do get with Finn and look forward to a bit of sunshine. Its funny how a sunny day can make everything just a little bit better. The snow storm we are getting tonight on the other hand...

On a positive note, our new office in Kensington is absolutely beautiful! I am in love with the loads of natural light, the fresh paint colours, dark wood fixtures, running water in the kitchen (long story, but our last office didn't have running water in the kitchen- we had to fill camping style water storage containers with water from the bathroom sink- and then boil it in the kettle to wash the dishes! such a mess!) oh, and my fantastic workspace! I am actually really excited to finish organizing it next week- and of course, add a few pictures of my sweet boys. We are going to make some verticle window gardens (like these!) and grow herbs in my office which I think will be totally amazing! So, I guess there is a little silver lining to my somewhat sad day.
This helped too.

This Moment - 2011.04.01

{this moment} - a friday ritual. a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. a simple, special, extraordinary moment. a moment I want to pause, savor and remember.