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Easter Recap

4/16/2018

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We are somehow three weeks in to April and this is my first post of the month! Better late than never to recap our Easter week. Sometimes updates feel too far gone but there’s too many cute pictures not to share. And when I thought about it, this month has kind of been everything I set out for it to be — quality time as a family. As much as I think there’s so much to do, or I’d like to do, before baby, having this time with the girls is why I ended work earlier.
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The weekend started off with a visit to the Easter Bunny at Southcentre on Saturday. I thought we would just “say hi” but when Halle wanted in for a picture and Autumn didn’t, it took me snuggling up to the Bunny to get a photo with both of them. We did some colouring after, grabbed a snack and made a wish in the fountain. It was a fun little afternoon together!
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That night was my turn to play Bunny ;) I love putting together little goodie baskets! And hiding the eggs is fun, too. Matthew’s tradition was to have chocolate egg ‘trails’ leading from his bed to a gift basket. Mine was an egg hunt all over the house. So we do both at our house and the girls have a blast!
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They also get spoiled with parcels in the mail from grandparents!


After a morning of chocolate for breakfast and playing with new toys, Matthew got cooking jigs dinner! A favourite meal from home in our house.
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We were also excited about the arrival of Matthew’s cousin and family who were road tripping from Washington that day to spend Spring Break with us! (We visited them a couple summers ago. You can read about it here.)

Since we have no family in town, I love any chance we get to spend holidays with company! It’s so fun to have a house full of cousins to play together.

They only had a few days in the city and we kept busy with sight seeing.
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On Monday we joined them at the science centre and on Wednesday we bundled up and braved the cold at the zoo! They had spent Tuesday visiting Drumheller to see the dinosaur exhibits.


It was our coldest Easter in Calgary and we still had tons of snow after a long winter. Although we were so over it, they enjoyed seeing our Canadian winter ;) since they live in desert territory.
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It was a quick visit but all the outings, yummy take out dinners and time together was great! I think next time we’ll meet in the middle, somewhere warmer... and we’ll have one more little cousin to join us!
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Since then, Spring seems to have finally arrived in Calgary *knock on wood* The snow is disappearing and the temperatures are on the up and up. We are all very much ready for it! We’ve continued to enjoy lots of family time, including celebrating Halle’s 5th birthday and getting our home baby ready! I’ve shared snippets of that on Instagram and might find time for a post here.

There’s so much I’d like to share but what matters most is the motto behind this blog to chase fun, choose time and cherish family. Sometimes that means being present and soaking up time together which is exactly what we need in this season.

In the meantime, I’ve created a Facebook page for the blog! I’m excited to use this platform to share more and build community. I have lots of dreams for creating something more than a blog with this space. It would be great for you to follow the adventure!

As always, thanks for reading and I look forward to sharing more regular posts and a new vlog again soon! XO
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Life Lately: A New Chapter

3/24/2018

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It seems like the pages have turned to a new chapter over the past week or so!

​I finished up work, celebrated my birthday and the season changed to spring.
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I'm so glad I went with my gut and followed that voice telling me to end work mid month and (two months before baby at that.) For those of you that don't know, I run a dayhome (a daycare in my home.) That in itself has been such a blessing and valuable chapter in my life. It marks my return to work after kids and starting what I thought was my dream job. It brought great moments and unexpected challenges, most of which came about during pregnancy. One day, I'll write about it in detail, but for now I'll say I knew it was time for that chapter to close, despite it being much shorter than I ever imagined...

​With my birthday days away, it felt like the perfect time for a new beginning. We kicked things off with a weekend getaway! Which was actually a boys trip for Matthew's hockey tournament but we tagged along in celebration of my fresh start. It was our first time in Invermere, BC and it was beautiful! We would love to go back in the summer and experience camping season there on the lake between the mountains!
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​It was a cute little town and welcomed us warmly for the tournament. The boys had a blast on their team Could Be Worse and considering they came from all over, and hadn't played together, they made out not too shabby with a third place finish! A sun shining Saturday and St. Patrick's Day green beers made it all the better for them ;)

​Meanwhile the girls and I soaked up our "adventure" watching games, exploring parks + views and treating ourselves to yummy eats ;) There was a little bakery right around the corner from the rink which made the perfect pit stop for some birthday doughnuts.

​Although most of the weekend was busy with hockey (and hangovers,) Matthew was more than ready for a soak in the hot springs on Sunday when the games had wrapped. Just north of the town was Radium Hot Springs. The girls loved swimming in the snowfall in the naturally heated outdoor pool! It was a lovely way to end our trip.
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My birthday was spent driving back to the city and relaxing. Matthew cooked me a delicious BBQ supper and surprised us with cheesecake for dessert. I returned to some lovely happy mail waiting to be opened, too. Everything seemed like a perfectly aligned gift to new beginnings - from inspiring reads to baby clothes! It left my heart feeling grateful.

​The next day Spring began. It might not look like it in Calgary but it felt like a much needed "shift." I really felt like this marked the blossoming of a fresh start for me. While in Invermere, there was a powerful New Moon. If you've been reading the blog or following my Insta posts, you may have seen that I've embraced sharing my interest in the moon and astrology. I've made journaling new moon intentions a regular thing. So while I was away, even though I didn't pack my journal, I took time to write down my visions for the next six months or so. I couldn't help seeing the choice to end work when I did and it's link to the timing of the moon (and my birthday and the season.) It was like it affirmed the new path I was on.

​Cluing up another year and closing my dayhome seemed like a proper ending to let go of the past and embrace the new. There's so much I have been dreaming of and planning to share and now I can move forward with that! My next Vlog is coming soon ;)
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​​In the meantime, I'm in full on spring declutter and organize craze doubled with nesting mode. I'm ready to get things together and ready so I can enjoy the rest of the time relaxing and soaking up moments with my girls. I'm hoping Spring will have truly arrived by then and we can spend more time outdoors... I'm already loving the longer daylight, boy does it make a difference for me!

​I feel 'lighter' being done work and looking forward to what's to come but I've also been hit with that third trimester exhaustion lately...  It's hard when I want to "do all the things" but find myself needing to slow down. After our weekend away and many indulgences, I'm trying to get back on track with cleaner eating so that I can feel better. I also had to go for a second glucose test to screen for gestational diabetes. My sugars were slightly elevated the first time so I went back for the fasting test that takes a few hours. Here's hoping it was just to do with what I ate the first time around.

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Other than that, I've been feeling good. I really enjoy being pregnant (overall)! This pregnancy has been different though. It's been hard to tell if it's due to circumstances or third baby problems. For example, I have yet to experience stretch marks * knock knock * but this time around (prepare for potential TMI - I shrug it off ha) I have varicose veins..... annnnd higher up than my legs. Meh. It's from all the pressure and blood flow to baby. And apparently it's quite common, but new to me. I'm really hoping it goes away, in time, postpartum. I think this circulation issue is also bringing on crazy leg cramps in my sleep! Again, another thing that I didn't experience with the girls but is hitting me this time. Sleep is definitely getting more challenging these days, too, with the large belly. I'm prioritizing going to bed early. Plus it helps not having to wake for work, although I do still love my morning me time ;)

​As for other things baby, we are struggling with boy names! We are not on the same page at all... or can't find one that sticks. There's still time, but that nesting feeling makes me want to decide right now. We're good for girls names and in general these seem way easier to pick. Names aside, I'm super excited about the anticipation of who this little babe is growing in my belly!
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Hmmm in other news around here, (since the words are flowing as I type, despite this post turning in to a novel...) our big girl, Halle, has lost her first TWO teeth! We had a dentist appointment a few weeks ago and discovered she had four wiggly ones. Of course, that week, she lost her first bottom one. Then, not even a week later, the other one followed. It's kind of a bitter sweet parenting moment... She'll be five next month... Losing teeth seems like such a step from being a young child to a big kid... I really love seeing her personality grow though! And I'm so excited for her and Autumn to both be big sisters soon!

​I suppose, a whole new chapter for them... for all of us, is about to unfold...

:)

​...Keep checking back to read all about it!
​XO ​

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Flow vs Force

3/6/2018

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March is my birthday month and dreamy Pisces season. My sign reminds us to go with the flow — something that has always been important to me. I like when life flows and I often make decisions emotionally and intuitively because of it.


It’s funny how that works though. At the start of the month I wrote down intentions to let go of force and embrace more flow.

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intentions for march


Going in to this weekend, I had high hopes and big plans. Well, not really big plans, but things I was looking forward to like my hair appointment and date night.


And then, neither one of them happened.


It had been snowing all weekend and not worth the half hour drive to my stylist. She works in a small town south of the city. I love the extra “me time,” and mountain views, the commute provides me. Either way, stormy highways were not worth the risk this week. And I decided my roots (and spending account) could wait a couple weeks...


As for date night, on top of the weather, Matthew’s back wasn’t well and we have a weekend getaway planned for mid-month. As much as I was craving dinner at Anju, our night out could wait too.


It made this weekend a little more dull but it was the perfect example of swapping force for flow.


We flowed with what came our way.


This meant slowing down and simply being together as a family. (Another intention I set for this month.)


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family walk in fish creek park

Plus I finally got to work on some office and tax organization which is oh-so-easy to put off but feels oh-so-good to make progress with.


I wanted to share this post because at times, flow might not feel good. If we are longing for something, it can be hard to flow, yet it robs us of being present. When we can be okay in the flow, and okay in the present, we can be truly happy.


Then, things often come full circle flowing more of what we are wanting or needing in our life.


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not bad for a self timer snap from a park bench ;)

When I was feeling stuck this weekend, for example on missing out on one-on-one time with Matthew, I had to let it go and trust our time would come. When I allowed that to happen, today, some alone time flowed in to my naptime break and we finally got to chat about some things that had been put off. It gave me such relief to get the connection and time I had been craving! And more importantly because it flowed and was not forced.


I know not everyone likes reading these posts as much as say family updates... but I think it’s so important to share. Creating space for moments like these is what makes our life great! We can all welcome more flow in our lives and trust that good things will come :)


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sweet signs of spring - a gift from one of my dayhome children I said “see you later” to last week as this month marks starting at her new daycare :)

Hope you are all having a lovely week.


If you haven’t tuned in to the latest vlog, you can find it here!


Thanks, as always, for reading XO
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