chase fun. choose time. cherish family.

Summer Live List

7/30/2018

Today I’m sharing our summer live list. Lots of things we plan (or have already checked off) to do around Calgary. Plus seasonal things you could do anywhere!

This summer has been much different than 2017. Last year brought us tons of adventure. We camped nearly every weekend Matthew was home plus some longer trips and a vacation home to Newfoundland. Weekends were all the sweeter for exploring our city with the girls because I was working full time. My dayhome was more fun during summer too because of all our extra outdoor time.

This year we haven’t done any camping and I’m really missing it. With Jordan born the end of May and nothing in the books we just haven’t gotten our trailer out this season. Instead we are back to days filled with outside time and going places to keep out of the house (read: for me to stay sane.) And of course to make wonderful memories.

Here’s a peek in to our adventures!

X As many beach days at the lake as we can get :)
Lake events:
- Stampede Breakfast
- Duck Race (Funny or not so funny story... I mixed up the dates/times for both those events #momfail)
- Movie in the Park
X Canada Day at Spruce Meadows
Inglewood Night Market (July 13)
X Baby Group with Sam the Mama Coach (Friday’s 9-11 at Auburn Bay Co-op Community Room)
X Bragg Creek Days (July 21-22)
X Water Festival in Chestermere (July 28)
Inglewood Sunfest (August 4)
Sweet Summer Corn Festival (August 11 at Calgary Corn Maze)
Globalfest Fireworks (August 16-25)
Mommy Connections Teddy Bear Picnic (August 24)
Konmari event (August 26)
SUP / Born to be Adventurous Mama Meet Ups
Movies at the Meadows (Wednesday’s in August at Spruce Meadows

Granary Road
Visit City of Calgary Pools / Splash Pads
- X Ogden
X Okotoks Spray Park
X Somerset Splash Pad
X Ralph Klein Natural Playground
U-pick Farm Berry Picking
Iron Horse Park
Calaway Park
X Calgary Zoo
X Explore Neighbourhood Playgrounds (Maybe I’ll do another post with some of our favourites. Calgary Playground Review is a s great resource!)

Plan TIU Meet Up
X Hot Mama Health and Fitness Postpartum Classes
X Watch Daddy’s Softball Games
X Drop in Play Gym at Remington YMCA
Play at Calgary Public Library
- X Quarry Park
- Fish Creek
See Hotel Transylvania 3 in Theatres
Go for Ice Cream @
- X XO Ice Cream & Waffles
- Village Ice Cream
Hikes with kids
- X Forgetmenot Pond
- Elbow Falls
- Johnson Canyon
X Backyard Slip and Slide
Trail Walks and Bike Rides
- X Fish Creek Park
Road Trip to Edmonton
X Tent in the Backyard
Calgary Farmers Market
Decorate front porch
Find food trucks

The list continues to grow but that’s what we’ve got for now. We always make time for spontaneous fun too!

I feel lucky to live in a city with so many amenities and fun events. And to have such a beautiful “backyard” to explore.

If you’re reading from away, let this inspire you to seek out events in your town. Summer time is filled with festivals and markets. Social media makes it easy to discover new things or community groups. Days with kids are made exciting simply by packing up a picnic and heading to a park in a new neighbourhood. I know for us, being outside and “exploring” makes our day 1000X better!

If you have any fun recommendations for us with a newborn in tow, leave them in the comments :)

Thanks for reading XO

PS. More snaps from summer in this post.

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A May to Remember

6/14/2018

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Where to begin to fill you in on the last month?! It’s been a blur of events. A blissful, happy blur.

It hasn’t quite felt real.

I found myself thinking about that quote from high school English class: “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” It just seems like life is different now but not much has really changed.

Our new reality is starting to settle in though and I’m really wanting to document these memories... before the little moments are lost to my mom-brain fog ;)

I also have an ongoing list of blog ideas that I’d really love to make time to write. Truth is I actually have a lot of “down” time, thanks to nursing, that I could turn in to blogging time, thanks to smartphones. But sleep deprivation makes it hard to get in to a writing groove sometimes...

As for now, here’s a look back at the month of May aka best month ever ;)

Matthew’s Mom arrived at the start of the month. He was working his last set of work away before baby’s arrival. It was such a relief to have her there! As soon as he left for work I started having cramps. Since both girls came a little early I was definitely anxious and nervous the aches and pains could be early labour. Matthew ended up taking some “family days” shortly after which got him home a couple days earlier than expected. It relieved us both of worry to know we wouldn’t have to scramble if he was away (again) if I went in to labour.

However, a whole week and a half was to follow making due day a real waiting game. It seemed like everyone expected me to go early. I had to remind myself that pregnancy doesn’t have an expiry date, it’s simply an estimated arrival ;) ...and this date had been the most questionable for us this time around since I didn’t have an early ultrasound. It also made us probably the most prepared this time around for labour. Which I am certainly grateful for!

We spent those days leading up to baby time celebrating all sorts of other special moments!

The following weekend, Matthew’s dad arrived. (And so did the warm, spring weather - finally!) We booked a Mother’s Day brunch reservation for all of us. It was really nice to have Matthew home and spend the holiday with my MIL in town. Little did I know, we would have more to celebrate that day!

We had been at the mall the day before. I had seen a cute necklace at a pop-up shop that I mentioned to his mom. Matthew had run out later that day so I thought she might have said something to him to swing back and get it as a gift... (Matthew has actually never bought me jewelry so I’m not sure why I thought this... ) but, as he and the girls presented me with a small gift bag that’s what crossed my mind. As I pulled out a much fancier People’s Jewellers box I knew it wasn’t the necklace. Of course the other thing crossing my mind almost seemed too good to be true! I was thrown off, and so was he, because his idea didn’t really go as planned... yet it seemed true to our not-always-to-plan style, so it was great ;)

Halle had been ‘in’ on the gift. She was so excited for me to open it! What kid isn’t excited about presents?! She was supposed to help ask the question. Me being me, asked the girls if they wanted to help me open it. Autumn being Autumn, kind of took over and pulled it out of the bag, not knowing what was in that little box. This left Matthew standing watching the chaos of the moment and lead to me opening the box. “Are you serious?” I asked... I knew it but couldn’t believe it. And Halle promptly shouted it’s “a wedding ring!” And Matthew asked me to marry him! We hugged and kissed and it was a happy, messy blur of a moment with two giddy girls telling us we’re going to get married!

All of which clued Nanny (Matthew’s Mom) in on what was happening. She had casually started unloading the dishwasher ha because I had suggested to the girls we sit at the table to open the gift... oops! And Poppy was sitting on the couch... hence yet another reason why my gift took me by surprise! And them too, obviously! I guess Matthew just wanted to surprise us all ;)

Anyway, it was a great moment that completely took my mind off the baby waiting game and labour nerves! It also gave us some wonderful news to share with family who would be calling on FaceTime for Mother’s Day wishes. It really made the day extra special!

The ring had to be resized to fit my finger so I was sad not to wear it out that day. We had enjoyed a lovely brunch and it was this sort of unreal sense of happiness and content.

The celebrations continued as we celebrated Matthew’s mom’s birthday that Thursday. It was her 60th and I wish we could have thrown a bigger party. But with baby yet to arrive and all of her family back home it just wasn’t realistic. She certainly wasn’t complaining to spend the day with her grandkids though! We celebrated with take out Chinese food for supper and birthday cake.

Of course we wondered if baby would share her special day but it turns out he wanted a day of his own! Later that night I awoke with more frequent and intense contractions. I got in the shower around 3:30am in case this was ‘go’ time. An hour later we checked in to the hospital. Then, at 12:54pm on May 18, Jordan John was born! We were overjoyed to meet our baby BOY!

I’ll be sharing his birth story (+ photos) in detail soon. I’m thankful to have documented both girls (here & here) so I can reflect on the details as the years go by. I will say, my labour and delivery was another positive experience and the gender surprise made it all the better!

We spent the rest of the month soaking up family time. Matthew’s parents helped us with some backyard projects, served us home cooked meals and spoiled our girls with lots of fun! We had Autumn’s ballet recital and enjoyed some outings as a family of 5 to the lake and the zoo.

As slow as the month seemed to start, reflecting back, it flew by! I’m grateful for all we celebrated and will share more stories very soon.

Thanks for reading XO

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Bump Update: Full Term with #3!

5/9/2018

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I'm still pinching myself that I'm about to have another baby. I mean I feel super pregnant, and beyond ready to have baby earth side, but it still seems surreal that we are going to have another little one!

This pregnancy has been extra special. Don't get me wrong, the first two were just as great, but there's something about this time that has me feeling extra gratitude for this beautiful experience a third time around.

I think it's because going in to this pregnancy, I knew myself better. Both as a mom and as a women -- as myself. The constant learning and growing as we go through life gave me time to desire this experience. To not just think 'I'll have a baby someday' but to truly long for another baby in our lives.

I had my ups and downs about this but in the end our story seems to have gone perfectly as to bless us with another child. And that's why I'm so grateful.

I'm super excited for how this time will be different... with more experience, bigger kids, and new appreciation.

As for now, I'm trying my best to be patient and let nature take it's course. Keeping that gratitude in mind and praying for an easy and joyful labour and delivery.

Treated myself to a mani + mcflurry this week! Is your guess PINK or BLUE for baby? ;)

I only wrote one other pregnancy post this time and haven't shared any fun pregnancy ramblings. So, since we're 10 days away from estimated arrival why not do a little bump Q&A?!

Changes?
Weight gain? About 30 lb!
Stretch marks? None... but as mentioned in my last post, I learned of varicose veins and their commonality in pregnancy this time around... according to my doctor, they typically disappear once the pressure of baby's head is gone.

Signs of labour?
- Cramps as of last week but nothing too intense or regular. I didn't have many early contractions for the girls so when I started feeling these last week, the day Matthew left for work, I got super anxious thinking it was the real deal!
- About 2-3 cm dilated at my 38 week check up and lots of low pressure from baby's head.

Craving?
- Breakfast foods! Oats, cereal, granola. Anything nut butter/banana.
- Sweet tooth goes and comes but it's more for chocolate or fruit.

Feeling?
Much more relaxed the past couple days! My MIL arrived on Saturday and Matthew decided to fly home early and landed Monday evening. It's a relief to have both of them here, mentally and physically. I've been taking it much easier than usual lately. Thankful for time to lie down when I need it and extra hands to help with the girls and things around the house.

I'm also so excited about baby's gender being a surprise! It's been such a cool experience not knowing who is growing in there. I think it's going to be an amazing part of delivery!

Sleeping?
Tough call. The past couple months have not been the best in the sleep department. I was logging good rest hours but was dealing with sore hips and leg cramps. Constantly turning side to side with pillows for support because I found it much harder to rest on my left side for the whole night this time. Since going to a prenatal chiropractor a few weeks ago, my pain has really improved. Now my problem seems to be more insomnia, cramps or baby moving too much to sleep. I don't know if its adrenalin kicking in or my body preparing for the lack of sleep that's about to hit... but it's so strange to be tired and not able to sleep. Like I said though, I've been napping or atleast lying down every day for the past week so that helps too!

"Preggo Problems"
- Picking up anything that falls on the floor... and attempting to play Frisbee with Halle ha!
- Lacking shirts to cover the bump
- Brain fog (trying to think of problems because there's definitely more laughable things...)

That's pretty much it! Here's hoping the next update will be baby's arrival and birth story (I love reading and writing these!)

Happy hump day!

Thanks, as always, for following along XO

bump, bath + bedtime snack :)

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Summer Live List

A May to Remember

Bump Update: Full Term with #3!

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