Katie Geranium

sick Isla update.

2012-02-12T20:05:00.000-05:00

poor Isla.
friday morning she woke up with a fever of 40.1
that's the temperature that febrile seizures are made of. shudder.
thankfully we got some tylenol into her right away and she seemed ok.
we brought her in to see a nurse practitioner at my work.
she has an ear infection again, so more antibiotics
(apparently the resident at my doctor's office did not prescribe the last ones for long enough-for an ear infection on a child who is 6 months to 2 years old they should have antibiotics for 10 days... not 7 as had been prescribed initially-so we're not actually sure whether or not it is a new ear infection or the same one)
she also has rash.
Isla girl has been pretty out of sorts again today.
sleeping a lot and pretty much crying when she is not sleeping :(

she was supposed to be getting her 15 months vaccines tomorrow, but i guess we'll just go in to see how she is doing.

Thom leaves tomorrow morning for a week for work training.
pray for a peaceful week for this momma and her wee sick lass.

i hope that all your families are well. sickness is not fun!
i'm praying for full and complete healing for miss Isla, and no return of colds and sickness!!

small style #36

2012-02-09T18:42:00.001-05:00

sad news.

Isla girl is sick.

a-gain!

it started with a random rash on Tuesday

and then this morning a fever broke out.

she seems to be mostly in pretty good spirits, but the grumps do appear fairly easily.

Thom has been home with her the last few days.

next week he'll be away for work training, so pray that Isla is well!

those tired red eyes.

that runny nose.

that red rashy mouth.

poor girl.

lastly here is a bit of reality chez nous.

pretty silly.

pj's: Gap Kids, consigned.

sure hoping that you guys are not having a cold and flu season like we are!

Ottawa has been hit rough this year.

2012-02-08T20:14:00.001-05:00

helloooo!

well, i announced it on facebook, but i neglected to announce it here.

whoops. ;)

we are indeed expecting our second baby, due around July 30th.

if this one is anything like Isla, they will make an appearance around August 7th.

we'll see.

i am now 15 and a 1/2 weeks along.

with Isla we told quite a few people very shortly after we found out we were pregnant,

partly due to the molar pregnancy,

we wanted people to be standing in faith with us,

and we had early ultrasounds that showed us a little beating heart and then a little baby body.

this time around,

for some reason we kept it a little more quiet.

we told a few close friends, we didn't even tell our family until we were about 10 weeks.

and the rest of our friends we didn't tell until we were 12 weeks.

i'm not sure why exactly,

but it felt like we just wanted to have this little secret to ourselves.

it was fun to think i was walking around with a little secret living inside of me that was all my own.

miss Isla really has no idea what is going on, as my stomach gets bigger, we'll explain things to her (as much as she can understand)

but she had one of her first encounters with a new born,

and she was in awe!

she kept on bringing over Taflyn's soother to have it put it, and she loved peering into her car seat to check out that wee sleeping babe.

so nice.

needless to say, we are super duper excited.

we will find out if baby A #2 is a boy or a girl sometime in the end of March.

hurray!

it has been strange this time around, with Isla we had so many early ultra sounds to make sure she was alive and healthy, but we've only had 3 so far for this one

(btw, i know that 3 is a lot by most momma's experiences, but we had an early one to rule out another molar, and the first one there was no heart beat-it was too early but you can just imagine the nerve-wracking 2 weeks that followed that-then we had one at around 6 and a 1/2 weeks and we saw a heart beat and then we had the IPS* testing done at 13 weeks)

just wanted all y'all to know about us and our ever expanding family :)

*i'll write another post about why we do IPS testing, i know not everyone does it but it works for us.

small style #35

2012-02-02T20:57:00.000-05:00

this has been a tiring week!

i have been very busy at work, the last 3 days i have seen about 120 patients.

that requires a lot of patience (hee hee)

the saving moment was when i realized that today was thursday not wednesday!

which means that a little scrambling was done for small style.

Isla has been a bit of a bear this week as well

(a small cute bear to be sure!)

but a bit of a bear none the less.

she gets grumpy in the morning when she sees people eating cereal

(she usually eats breakfast at day care, since she is there at 7:30)

and for some reason she has been grumpers in the evenings as well

tonight she cried and cried about not having a spoon, she refused to say (sign) please

and ended up going to bed soundly and sleepily at 5:30

here's hoping she sleeps through the night!

here she is on an early morning day

getting dressed with daddy

don't you love watching little toddlers stand up?

look at how far over her feet that little booty is!

and i swear, she is standing up, not falling down!

what a cutie.

shirt: Carter's, consigned

sweater: Joe Fresh

jeans: Mexx, consigned

socks: Old Navy

boots: Robeez

weekly dozen

2012-01-29T18:08:00.001-05:00

a good friend of mine, a faraway friend who despite distance and a lack of constant communication, remains a very very good and close friend, started a group of us off in the New Year doing a weekly dozen list.

this is a list of 12 things that we have been thankful for in the last week.

there are 8 of us.

me, the above good friend, her sister (also a good friend), their cousin in law (who, though briefly meeting at first good friend's wedding, i would consider a good friend as well), a good friend of the first 2, 2 good friends of the good friend's sister, (still with me?), and a new good friend of the first good friend.

i have met 4 out of the 7 (7 not including me). I have heard of 2 others through facebook and emails and conversations, and 1 is a brand new friend.

5 of us are moms, 3 are god-moms to one of the others kids.

this is confusing.

the point is this:

i am loving being part of this little email group. i look forward to Sunday when i get to let these lovely ladies know how my week has been, and it is a good practice to reflect on the week and pull out some of the moments to be thankful for. big moments, and small moments.

when i was in high school and journaled like it was going out of style, i went through a time where i wrote 10 thank yous each evening. it was a very good way to remember to be thankful in all circumstances, and to always thank God. again, there were big things, and small things. for some reason today i can picture the words of this thank you: "Jen always says 'bless you'" - she sat behind me in english and always said bless you when i sneezed, and one week it did bless me indeed.

how do you keep track of the thankful moments? do you journal, blog, email, talk to someone regularly?

it seems like a practice that we should all make an effort to have in our daily/weekly lives.

small style #34

2012-01-26T19:55:00.000-05:00

it's been pretty nice to have miss Isla back to her usual happy go lucky self :)

she's back at day care, and lovin' life.

this is another new trick

she makes this face and says: "hoo hoo hoo"

all dressed up and ready to go to day care for the day.

shirt: Old Navy, consigned

jeans: Old Nacy, borrowed

slippers: Robeez, consigned

bellaclava: Joe's, $1.99!

jacket: Mexx, from Auntie Danielle & Uncle Alex :)

mittens: Roots, consigned

i surely love the thrifty-ness that i have been able to adopt when buying 'new' clothes for her.

i also love love love Isla's new coat, it's warm, it's long, it's fur trimmed,

and bee-u-ti-ful!

thanks Auntie Dani and Uncle Alex!

small style #33

2012-01-19T20:09:00.001-05:00

i am happy to report that miss Isla is no longer sick :)

sadly she decided she would share it with me :(

booo.

here she is on a happier day:

as you can see,

she's learned a new trick!

upside down Isla is very funny

and very cute.

sigh.

lovely girl.

shirt: Gap Kids, consigned

pants: Carter's, borrowed

i love small style

check out how cutey-cute Finley is over at Mama loves Papa today ;)

oh my.

2012-01-15T14:01:00.002-05:00

call me embarrassed.
has nobody noticed that none of the books on my list have changed since the fall?
(and that the title of said books was 'fall reading!)

well, i have remedied that today.
i have also added a new book list (like Edie)
where i'll keep track of the books that i have already read this year.

i'm currently reading Elizabeth I by Margaret George.
over the past few years i've fallen in love with historical fiction.

this book is loooooong. it is interesting, but not riveting or adventure filled.
i am halfway through.

i'll let you know what i think once i'm all done.

what are people reading or anticipating reading during these chilled months?

small style #32

2012-01-12T21:21:00.000-05:00

well,

we have a little small style, sick baby style this week.

poor miss Isla.

it's been rough, she started with a fever on sunday morning,

and then tuesday her eyes got all red, and then the cough came, and the mucus.

yuck.

wednesday i took her to the doctor, turns out the wee lass also has an ear infection :(

needless to say, these pictures show a sad little Isla.

watching yo gabba gabba

a few tears throughout the week

poor wee lass.

shirt: Gap, consigned

pants: Gymboree, consigned

here we go!

2012-01-12T08:16:00.000-05:00

new year.

new goals.

new time lines.

as you know by now, we moved into our friend's basement in november.

it has been going amazingly well!

which is awesome, because it is 4 adults and 4 kids in one house.

that is a lot of bodies.

the reason that we did it is to save money to be able to

-pay off our line of credit-

and

-save to buy a house-

we sat down at the end of december and finally worked out a budget.

we are following Gail Vaz-Oxlade's book 'Debt-Free Forever'

we haven't really read the whole thing,

but after watching many episodes of 'Til Debt Do Us Part' while on mat leave

i really liked her percentage pie chart on where money should be going.

here is Gail's:

we rejigged ours a little to be able to pay down more debt

and because our housing costs are significantly lower right now.

here is ours:

nice huh?

we had to move a little more into life because life includes day care and allowances and cell phones and such.

but we have our plan now.

we initially thought that it would only take 6 months to pay off our debt, but now it looks like closer to 10.

we think we forgot to factor in day care costs... which are costly!*

$700 for 4 weeks!

yikes!

but we love knowing that Isla is well cared for and that she loves going.
(i am also aware that some day care is waaay more costly, so we are thankful for that too!)

is anyone else sticking to a strict budget this year?
or at least attempting to?
any tips or spending secrets?

*Thom thinks that we actually had planned on not saving during this time, just putting all our extra money straight onto the line of credit

style inspiration

2012-01-09T21:50:00.000-05:00

as promised,

here is another edition of

"hey, i wish they made that in my size!"

{source}

scarf: what's so bunny?, modcloth, $18.00

coat: woodsy wonderland, modcoth, $90.00

hat: sweet dream beanie, roxy, $20.00

back pack: baggu, urban outfitters, $33.00

jeans: sweetheart skinny, old navy, $39.50

mittens: columbia, sport chek, $39.99

boots: merrell, the shoe company, $200.00 (on sale for $169.99)

i could have gone with ugg's or emu's for the boots,

but i can't get over the fact that they

SUCK FOR CANADIAN WINTERS!!!

you need waterproof here people!

ugg's in winter in canada is a pet peeve.

for sure.

small style #31

2012-01-05T07:03:00.000-05:00

small style evening style!

wearing Christmas pj's from Gramma Kiki

Isla loves hew new (to her) animal alphabet kingdom!

enjoy her enjoying it,

she is pretty funny,

and such a ham now!

pj's: Joe Fresh

socks: Old Navy

thankful for Morgan who is at least keeping me accountable to one post a week right now!

see her cute kids and some others too!

over here:

small style #30

2011-12-29T19:21:00.000-05:00

# 30!?

crazytown.

i have to apologize for being a terrible blogger this month.

work has been a bit more tiring than it was initially and we have some family things going on as well.

you can just bet that one of my new year's resolutions will be to pick a regularly scheduled blogging evening a few times a week!

at least we have Morgan to thank for the small style posts!

woo hoo!

here is a little Christmas Eve small style:

Isla amoungst present chaos

miss Isla was full of shenanigans this holiday,

hamming it up for everyone that she spent any time with.

Christmas Eve, she did not go to sleep as planned, but she just sat in her play pen until i came and got her for the family photo.

then she promptly stayed awake until we left at 10pm.

sure wish i had a pic of her in her car seat sleeping.

Thom put her in, and she fell asleep even before we finished packing the car!

what a lovely little tiny.

my mom got her an outfit for Christmas, but it was too big

(our almost 14 month old is still swimming in 12-18 month pants and skirts)

but the shirt and sweater fit, so that was paired with the stripey leggings that we love!

sweater: Gymboree

red shirt: Gymboree

pants: Gap Kids

socks: Old Navy

shoes: Pediped (finally used my Groupon to Kiddy Kobbler!)

we had a fabulous time with family, but we sure are glad to be home :)

you can find all kinds of christmas cuteness over at small style this week!

small style #29

2011-12-22T22:33:00.000-05:00

small style, christmas tree decorating/home made pizza night making/night with friends/watching a funny movie with the Roebuck's

Isla loved the pizza.

Isla did not love sitting beside the tree to have her picture taken.

(but Isaac did!)

however, Isla did love the tackle hugs that Isaac gave her

we may not have gotten a true Isla and Isaac christmas tree picture,

but we sure had a lot of fun!

long sleeve onesie: Carters, consigned
t-shirt: Joe Fresh
jeans: Gap Kids, consigned

i am sure am looking forward to next week's christmas style!

linking up here :)

small style #28

2011-12-15T14:27:00.000-05:00

whew,

with Christmas and work getting busier and busier, i almost forgot about small style this week!!

and really, i was so excited to show off this new little dress.

so here is miss Isla after our Church meeting on Sunday.

so cute.

this dress is divine!

i found it at Value Village for $3.99.

can you even believe?!?!

dress: handmade, thrifted

tights: Zuta (or something!), from liquidation world in Campbellford for 99 cents!

shoes: Mexx, consigned

don't you just love when a cute outfit comes together for so little cost?

i think this one was a total of 7 dollars!

love!

you know the drill :)

linking up here with Morgan of Mama Loves Papa

small style #27

2011-12-08T08:00:00.002-05:00

small style number twenty-seven

featuring the serious rocker.....

well, not that kind of rocker...

Isla discovered the rocking chair thanks to her Gramma Kiki.

she doesn't really look like she loves it, but she seemed to enjoy it a lot,

i just wasn't able to capture that.

silly girl with those chubby cheeks.

so precious.

shirt: Gap Kids, thrifted

pants: Old Navy

socks: Old Navy

shoes: Wonderful northern slippers from Isla's great (grand) Auntie Susan

Isla has been wearing the same size clothes for quite some time,

she still has some 3-6 month shirts that fit, she is wearing almost all 6-12 month pants,

but she seems to finally be stretching out a wee bit,

and plumping up too, so we may see the end of some of these favourites,

like these stripey pants, they have ruffles on the bum and i love them!

I know that it will be fun to pull out the next size, but it is a little sad to say good-bye to these ones.

linking up with Morgan at Mama Loves Papa :)

some thoughts

2011-12-07T20:36:00.000-05:00

i took a few days off of blogging post 30 Days Hath November, it was a very interesting challenge to put myself up to just at the same time that i was going back to work.

it was indeed some days challenging to remember to post, but it felt nice to be writing something every day.

some of the things that i truly enjoyed was:

Day #17: My Family - i'm going to try and post a family picture each month, a little portrait of where we are at, and what we've been doing.

and Day #15: Some Style Inspiration for the Season - i think doing the 'kids style' as inspiration was pretty genius for me, as i am always loving the cute clothes that kids wear. i may not make this a monthly feature, but expect to see it around again!

and a few others that i enjoyed and may play off of are:

Day #2, Day #4, Day #12, Day #13, Day #16, Day #24, Day #26.

you can probably expect to see something more like:

-something/someone/some blog that is inspiring/ me

-some quotes/scriptures/sermons that i've been hearing/listening to/inspired by

-something/someone i'm proud of/means a lot to me

thanks for reading last month!

small style #26

2011-12-01T19:17:00.000-05:00

small style, weekend style.

my mom and aunt and my sister and her husband were in town this weekend.

Danielle and Alex brought along a belated birthday present for Isla.

but why open presents when there is tupperware to be had?

really, there is no contest.

they gave Isla a little musical play mat, she was pretty smitten right away.

as you can tell.

she figured it out pretty quick, even though the box said 2+, that's right folks, my girl is play-matting at a 2 year old level ;)

then she figured out she could walk on it too.

she had a great time, and we had a pretty great time just watching her.

sweet little thing.

dress: Joe Fresh, consigned

leggings: Gap Kids

socks: Old Navy

boots: Robeez

hair bow: Dollarama

i love small style.

check it out!

a few more thoughts on motherhood.

2011-11-30T23:03:00.000-05:00

I have been told that motherhood looks natural on me.

And I have mentioned before that I feel like I have found my life’s calling.

I truly do love being a mom, I love my moments with Isla, I love the big ones, the beautiful ones, I can (usually later) cherish even difficult ones.

I have found motherhood to be more of a natural and organic venture.

I read books on sleep training and feeding cycles and no crying while I was pregnant, but for the most part, since having Isla, I have left those to the wayside.

I never was one to stick to a strict schedule with Isla. It was more along the lines of she ate when she was hungry and slept when she was tired.

She developed her own cycles, and she started to sleep through the night on her own at a fairly young age. Sometimes I feel guilty about this, like moms need another thing to feel guilty about!

I’m not saying that we don’t deal with any kind of parenting problem around here, we are currently dealing with a very early riser, this has been a little more difficult to deal with.

cloth diapers while camping!

I have dealt with the ups and downs of cloth diapering, and I LOVE cloth diapering, but it definitely has its downs (mostly ups!) but definitely some downs.

I started cloth diapering when Isla was 6 months, we do it almost full time, but it has been a bit more difficult due to bum rashes and daycare.

I also try my best to use organic products for her, but right now, it is certainly not the most cost effective, and if you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it. And we can’t always.

My family consists of myself, my husband Thom, and wee Isla.

We currently call our friends’ basement ‘home’.

We have our own bathroom, 2 bedrooms and a living room, but we share the kitchen and most of the living space on the main floor.

We have been learning what it means to live in community and be in each other’s spaces and faces every day.

We are Christians who are walking out our faith daily, and learning to show Isla what it means to love Jesus and to show others his love.

We are just beginning to navigate the world of full-time daycare, with me back at work full-time, which has been a transition, especially since my husband and I would both rather I could be at home with Isla in a greater capacity. But it has been a fairly peaceful process, going back to that whole Jesus and faith business.

We are living in the now, learning to appreciate every day, and every moment, and each other, and teaching it to Isla at the same time.

You can find three of my favourite posts

here-finding peace in stressful times

here-thoughts on motherhood and going back to work and mommy-friends

and here-my original disappointment with cloth diapering

I have written this post to enter into Today's Parent's search for some new Canadian blogging parents.

Day 30: three wonderful things that happened this month

2011-11-30T18:47:00.000-05:00

Isla girl turned 1!
one whole year has gone by since that we girl came into our lives.
this was a momentous occasion!

don't judge me because my daughter is eating a giant cupcake.

i went back to work and it's been pretty great actually.

Isla transitioned amazingly, i transitioned mostly amazingly
-with a little tiredness thrown in, and of course, missing out on chilling with Isla all day.

i discovered that i can indeed keep blogging while being back at work full time!

if i can keep up doing a blog post every day (i wasn't even late once!),

i can certainly go back to doing a few posts a week :)

Day 29: some place i'd like to visit

2011-11-29T19:37:00.008-05:00

the place i'd like to visit is not a city or country (though you can find it in a big city)

the place that i'd like to visit is Purl Soho.

I have been a reader of the Purl Bee for a long time, but somehow i failed to realize that they had an actual store until they moved from their 2 locations (fabric and wool) into their new big location.

i love going into fabricland and the various quilt stores we have in Ottawa, but Purl Soho seems absolutely swoon-worthy!

Purl Soho is located in the Big Apple.

Which just so happens to be where Blogher'12 is happening next summer.

funny enough, today when i checked Desiree's blog,

the Fawn behind this whole 30 days hath November,

she has New York as her place that she would like to go.

she plans on heading to New York in the summer for Blogher :)

i would love to head to Blogher myself, but i think we may have a few things going on next summer.

what looks amazing about Purl Soho to me:
all the colours, and all the textures, just all that plain old happiness.
sigh.

Day 28: a skill i'd like to learn

2011-11-28T20:39:00.001-05:00

i've been seeing a lot of this around the blog world lately:

source

i did some screen printing in high school, but that does seem like a long time ago!

it seemed like it would be impossible to have all the necessities to actually do this again;

we had a big machine that put the vellum on the screen and lots of space and ink and the necessary tools.

the 're-love affair' with printing started with this lady holding a fabric swap.
here are some of her prints:

i discovered that a lot of them have been done by stamping ink on fabric.

i have (incidentally) also done some stamp carving (also in high school)

and i think that i could do that again and make some of my own prints for things.

fun, no?

ps. miss Leslie Keating is a Canadian gal living in Australia

(i'm starting to think that maybe i am drawn to Canadian bloggers

the same way that i am drawn mysteriously to Canadian authors)

Day 27: myself, one year ago

2011-11-27T07:39:00.000-05:00

here i am a year ago.

a very unedited photo, you know, so you can see real life

note on the armrest of the couch:

phone for updating family, nipple cream, pen and journal for recording feeding and pees and poops, remote for watching many seasons of How I Met Your Mother, and the Itzbeen.

we also still had sir Charles *sniff*

i still miss him.

miss Isla was only 25 days old.

wow.

Day 26: something i'm looking forward to

2011-11-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

no surprise here!

i'm totally looking forward to Christmas.

i love Christmas

i love:

lights
music
decorations

carols
trees

gingerbread
paper snowflakes

candy canes

hot chocolate

egg nog

presents (giving and a little receiving)

some snow

family
friends
and i especially love that it is the time of year that i get to hear music about Jesus everywhere i go :)

does anybody else love Christmas as much as i do?
is anyone else sad that in 30 days it will be boxing day?

(click on the images for sources)

Day 25: the contents of my purse

2011-11-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

small style #25

2011-11-24T13:08:00.000-05:00

25! can you even believe! that's almost half a year!

here is miss Isla rockin' some new boots

that girl loves her remotes!

Thom made a joke the other day that we don't gender stereotype,
since then we have realized Isla-girl wear A LOT of pink!

just lovin' the pink i guess :)

long sleeve top: Joe Fresh, consigned

pink t-shirt: Joe Fresh, consigned

onesie: Carter's, consigned

leggings: Carter's, consigned

socks: Old Navy

Boots: Robeez (gift card from Grandma Val!)

and you will most likely find some other cute wee ladies in pink here:

Day 24: something that means a lot to me

2011-11-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

my lovely momma gave me this snow globe about 3 years ago.

it means a lot to me partly because i love how simply and beautifully it depicts the manger scene

and partly because this is a special gift from her to me.

my mom doesn't have entirely the same beliefs as i do,

she was raised Catholic but is fairly non-practicing,

but ever since i became a Christian she has truly been there for me.

God has used her to bless me and protect me and guide me.*

i love my little Joseph, Mary and Jesus snow globe,

and it always makes me so happy to put it out for Christmas.

thanks mom!

*a good example of this is when i first moved to Ottawa for school,

about 2 months in i became very homesick and was thinking it was a bad idea to be here,

upon telling this to my mom, she promptly replied: "you need to find some Christian friends on campus, go find that Christian group" (she meant intervarsity)

so off i went and met my now long-time friend Noah,

who was in his fourth year of nursing school (i was in first year)

and he brought me to my first meeting with the Church body that i still call my family :)

my mom is lovely.

-she is also something that means a lot to me ;)-

Day 23: eight things you didn't know about me

2011-11-23T09:00:00.001-05:00

i found this to be a fairly random list since i am usually pretty open and honest.

i don't have a lot of secrets.

but, without further ado, here is the list:

i have a blood clotting disorder called Factor V Leiden. basically it means that my blood can forget to stop clotting once it has started. so after having Isla, i had to give myself injections of Fragmin in my stomach. not fun.
i secretly love 'Keeping up with the Kardashians'. this is a terrible indulgence of mine. i used to love 'The Hills' when it was still on tv. i must have a need to have a really over the top, ridiculous reality show in my life at all times.
while i was pregnant i didn't have a lot of cravings, but i did weirdly crave pop music. i rarely listen to the radio in the car, but while i was prego i pretty much was hitting the scan button just hoping to hear some Ke$ha, or Britney or Lady Gaga (and may i point out that i never listened to these ladies before!)
i pierced my own nose. twice. yup, one summer at camp i decided i wanted a pierced nose and i found a cork and a needle and away i went. then i took it out and apparently the next summer wanted one again, so another needle into the nose it was.
in grade 12 i shaved my head. it was something i always wanted to do. my youth pastor Rob did it. i loved it so much and kept it shorn for about 8 months, but my mom said that she would not pay for my Grad dress if i kept it shaved. (seems weird that a girl with a shaved head would care, but oh how i loved my grad dress!!)
i do not have a strong desire to travel the world. it always seems to me that most people want to travel all over the place, but i have always felt like i would like to see a bit more of Canada or the some parts of the UK, but other than that... meh. even in high school i didn't have the travel Europe bug or anything.
i used to be a journaling fiend. I have milk crates filled with journals from grade 11 to about 3rd year university. i'm not sure how or when i stopped journaling regularly, but for some reason it seemed to slow down. i still have a journal that i take notes in on Sunday morning, or write some prayers or scriptures in, but not my day to day business.
i have a guitar that i don't really know how to play. i got it for Christmas in grade 10 and i never had any lessons. i taught myself a few songs, but never really stuck with it. but it still goes with me every time i move!

Day 22: some place i've traveled

2011-11-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

i haven't traveled a lot.

but for our honeymoon, Thom and I went the Dominican Republic.

we went the all inclusive route,

and after all the wedding prep it was an awesomely relaxing treat!

Day 21: something i could never tire of

2011-11-21T21:38:00.000-05:00

something that i could never get tired of is creating.

i love quilting, scrapbooking, sewing, knitting, card-making

and pretty much anything else that requires using my hands and creativity.

i once wove a basket out of willow branches.

more recently my friend Julie invited a few of us to a wreath making party.

and i don't mean that we just decorated the wreaths,

we actually started with wire frames and stapled in the greenery and then added on the decor.

(the staple machine was very cool and old-fashioned seeming with a foot press-i loved it!)

Day 20: a childhood anecdote

2011-11-20T18:31:00.000-05:00

this is a kind of silly, kind of sad little tale.

it's a reminder that kids don't always listen and often they think that they know best.

i will remind myself of this story when Isla is growing and getting into more things!

when i was about 7 or 8 years old

i remember that we often had pie at our chalet.

my favourite was (and still is!) lemon meringue.

mmmmmmmm!

we were having pie for desert and i was pretty confident i could get it out of the fridge.

my dad told me to leave it.

multiple times.

i was still so confident,

so into the fridge i went,

the pie, in it's little silver pie tin slid out,

and

promptly folded right in half and fell on the floor.

as you can imagine my dad was not happy,

-nor was anyone else who was expecting to enjoy that pie, i'm sure!-

funny how we carry some of these stories with us isn't it?

such a non-significant event,

but so vivid in my mind.

Day 19: a silly self portrait

2011-11-19T19:22:00.000-05:00

is this silly enough?

Day 18: what i wore today

2011-11-18T22:23:00.000-05:00

so, this is what i wear most days now that i am back at work.

usually i have a stethoscope around my neck and my hair in a pony-tail, but you get the idea

(i left my stethoscope at work and my pony-tail was hurting my head today)

these days, when i get home, i usually put on some stretchy kind of pant with a hoodie-glamorous, i know!

so i basically go from almost pyjamas to lounge wear.

a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

let me tell you, the nights i go out later make me sad...

get out of my comfy clothes?

what?

*sorry if you were expecting a real life version of this post! (maybe sometime in December)

small style #24

2011-11-17T21:38:00.001-05:00

pj style!!

i love these jammies!

they are so cute on my long lean baby!

she's a ham these days, let me tell you!

she loves to say 'no' to everything and shake her head

she thinks other kids are ha-lar-ious

and she thinks it funny to climb up on anything.

dangerous!

pjs: Gap Kids, consignment

onesie: Carters, consigned

check out some more cute small style over at

oh.. and did i mention that we have a walker?

(even though it looked like it, i promise she didn't fall into a hole)

Day 17: my family

2011-11-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

Day 16: someone who inspires me

2011-11-16T21:18:00.000-05:00

miss Isla Beth.

she may be wee

she may be only a year old

but she inspires me all the time.

she inspires me to be a good mother

she inspires me to provide a loving home for her and for others

she inspires me to take better care of myself

she inspires me to make sure that i am a good wife

she inspires me to be a good role model

she inspires me to be a better me

Day 15: some style inspiration for the season

2011-11-15T21:29:00.002-05:00

this was a pretty fun post to do.

is it weird to take fashion style inspiration from kids and babies?

because i pretty much always wish that kids clothes came in my size.

especially baby shoes.

original image: gap.com

striped t: Old Navy, $15 (on sale)

jeans: Old Navy, the Sweetheart skinny jeans in Gray, $25 (on sale)

ballet flats: Payless, Gwen jewel flat by Fioni, $29.99

felt camera brooch: Lupin on Etsy, $24.95

original image: Joe Fresh

sweater: Joe Fresh, open shawl-collar cardigan, $24

white long sleeve t: Old Navy, perfect crew neck t, $9 (on sale)

jeans: Quiksilver, Lorne skinny polka-dot jeans, $64.50

shoes: Toms, silver houndstooth classic, $65

large button brooch: tutorial here at Bugs and Fishes Blog

i may have to look into getting some of these items in the near future

(i mean being back at work should have some perks--$$)

and here is a little secret, if you have womens size 8 or under feet, you can fit in the size 6 at Gap Kids and Joe Fresh Kids.

No Joke.

Day 14: a favourite movie

2011-11-14T22:05:00.000-05:00

a long time favourite movie of mine is Babe.

i love those talking animals,
i love that wee Babe's heart,

i love the irrational duck Ferdinand ("Christmas means carnage!")

i love that Farmer Hogget is humble and loves simply,

and don't get me started on those singing mice!

it may be a children's tale but it always makes me feel nice and content and refreshed.

it is a simple story, and i love it.

Day 13: something i'm proud of

2011-11-13T08:20:00.000-05:00

this is the thing i am proud of: my body.

i had, for quite some time, not been a huge fan of my body.

it wasn't the way it looked in high school (duh.)

none of my clothes seemed to fit anymore (some were from high school, can i say 'duh' again?)

it didn't let me eat anything i wanted to (the way i could in high school-are we seeing a pattern here?)

so apparently i was in some high school warp where i assumed that my 5'7" frame should be at 28 years old the same 100 lbs it was at 17.

why do we do this?

here is where my pride comes in:

my body gave life!

i am in awe that my body grew a little miracle from teeny tiny cells to a big 8lb 9oz baby girl and then birthed her out!

seriously, i am an amazing amazing woman.

my body has done me proud.

i am more so in awe of my body this day than i have ever been before.

anytime i feel like it doesn't look like it did when it was 100lbs, i first say,

'kate, you wrestled in high school and cut crazy weight-not healthy. secondly, you are not 17 years old and your body will look different, and thirdly and most importantly, your body did an amazing task. give it and yourself some hip hip hoorays and some love and grace!"

and so i do.

Day 12: three blogs i can’t get enough of

2011-11-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

woo hoo!

I am so happy to share with you 3 blogs that i can't get enough of.

the first is definitely Young House Love

John and Sherry and Clara and Burger and all their house renos.

pretty much every time Maryann and i get together we say "hey did you see this or that on Young House Love?"

right now they are in the process of taking out a wall between their kitchen and dining room.

it went from this:

to this:

i can't wait to see what it will all look like when it is done!

they also tell a really honest tale of what it is like to be full-time bloggers and that a lot of becoming full-time bloggers is luck (lots of time to be sure, but it is kind of lucky as to whether or not you end up with a huge following or not)

the second blog that i check daily is the Anderson Crew

this is a fairly new to me blog.

i forget how i came across it, but i love to read about Emily and her family.

she has 5 kids with one on the way!

she talks openly about life with that many kids and the process of adoption and adding a child that way to her family.

here they all are:

i love this blog so much because of how honest Emily is.

she loves Jesus and her family and has really cool ideas on how to keep so many kids organized and feeling loved and special.

i also like it because i love the idea of a big family.

and the third blog i can't get enough of is Tollipop

Tollipop is Kirsten, she is a Canadian mama living with her husband and 3 daughters in Las Vegas.

of course i have soft spot for her because she is Canadian, but it is more than that.

her posts are great. they read like a well written book and can be absolutely hi-lar-ious!

she writes about the Death Squad, a group of men that she runs with through the desert.

she writes about killing scorpions SCORPIONS! that are a natural little yucky thing to deal with in the desert.

(imagine-i shudder at the thought)

she also has an etsy shop where she sells the most wonderful drawings of little characters.

Isla has Remy Fox and Margaret Bunny up in her room.

here is Kirsten with her girls

Tollipop writes about life:

drawing, baking, running, violin, cello, piano, hamsters, volleyball, family, cousins, royal weddings,

hair fascinators,

she writes in french, franchment

she is a mother after my own heart.

i love how her girls are creative and real.

i read blogs because they inspire me, they give me ideas on how to craft, write and live.

it expands my world a little beyond my city.

Day 11: something i've been craving

2011-11-11T20:30:00.001-05:00

oh man.

if you know me, and you've been around me at all near Christmas, you know that ~~live off of~~ occasionally like to indulge in President's Choice Candy Cane Ice Cream.

I definitely had been scanning the ice cream cooler at Loblaws and Superstore

(and to be honest, the Independent as well-a little desperate? it has been 10 months!)

but nothing.

then.

on thursday.

we got our flyers, and included was the President's Choice insiders report.

it was all christmas, and lo and behold there was my ice cream!

woot!!

i've been on a pretty good no dairy (minimal dairy?) kick since June (lost 15 lbs btw-apparently i like cheese)

but i will give in for this.

seriously, i wait all year for it.

i know that a lot of people don't like the bits of candy cane, but oh i do.

i finally found it and bought one little tub (such restraint, i know!)

and i've even only had one little bowl.

i can hear it calling to me.

lest we forget.

2011-11-11T09:00:00.001-05:00

it is Remembrance Day.

in Canada we observe a moment of silence at 11:00 am

the official national ceremonies are held at the National War Memorial in here in Ottawa.

my Poppa (my mom's father) fought in the war, and last year he went down to the ceremony in Burlington with my mom.

this year my gramma has all his medals mounted so he can wear them all proper on his coat.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie
In Flanders fields!

Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch: be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields

-Canadian Physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae-

Composed at the battlefront on May 3, 1915
during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium

Day 10: what i love about my job

2011-11-10T20:38:00.000-05:00

i've just recently started back at work post mat-leave.

i was a little nervous about going back.

i didn't love my job before going off, it was there, i enjoyed my coworkers, it paid the bills.

but i definitely didn't love it.

but, since i have been back, a surprising thing has happened, i am really and truly enjoying my job.

it is fascinating and stretching and rewarding.

the thing i love the most (and probably no surprise here)

is talking to new parents.

(i don't love giving those little wee ones immunizations, but you gotta do what you gotta do)

it is lovely to see how they are doing and listen to them gush about their wee ones.

i like the moments i get to sit down with any patient really.

it has been nice being back and having patients remember me

(i was there for a fairly short time before i went off)

i saw a patient today that i have been waiting to see since i came back.

he is a joker and a teaser and a lovely man.

the patients are my favourite part, yes indeed.

small style #23

2011-11-10T20:23:00.001-05:00

here is a little birthday sneak peek.
a little small birthday style.

Isla turned one and we had a tiny party for a tiny girl :)

birthday girl is excited!

lookin' at the fish
-check out the poms on the toes of those little shoes!-

for some reason we are avoiding eye contact

long sleeve onesie: Joe, thrifted

dress: Old Navy, consigned

tights: no label, consigned

shoes: Joe, consigned

bibs: Green Thimble Sews

lots more cute babies over here:

I'll post more birthday pictures next week.

Day 9: a close up of my day

2011-11-09T20:45:00.000-05:00

i'm having some camera technical difficulties at the moment.

the difficulty is that i can't find my camera cord :(

so this post will be late.

Day 8: the last item i purchased

2011-11-08T17:46:00.000-05:00

i find this becomes a little less exciting since becoming a mom.

i don't often purchase a lot for myself anymore.

the last buying trip was to Superstore.

i was going for diapers and formula.

as a treat i bought some washcloths on sale.

hmm, this seems sad.

this is a real life look into real life!

-i just realized that the other day i went to ikea and bought a magnet board... to organize our family life...
ooooooh the excitement is barely containable!!!!

Day 7: a song for the day

2011-11-07T19:37:00.000-05:00

this past sunday, one of our Church elders preached on peace.

it was really great for me to hear, because it has just continued to remind me of the peace that I have had before going back to work, and the peace I continue to have at work.

immediately this song came to mind.

05 Peace (I give to you) by Scott Kurtz

my peace i give to you, my peace i leave with you

i do not give as the world gives

my peace i give to you, my peace i leave with you

i do not give as the world gives

don't let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid

don't let your hearts be troubled, don't be afraid

come let us reason together says the lord

though your sins are like scarlet they will be white as snow

come let us reason together says the Lord

though your sins are like scarlet they will soon be white as snow

they were red as crimson, they will be like wool

though they were red as crimson they will be like wool

my peace i give to you, my peace i leave with you

i do not give, i don't give as the world my give

don't let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid

no, don't let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid

this song is written by a friend of mine from high school named Scott Kurtz.

it is taken from Isaiah 1:18 (NIV)

“Come now, let us settle the matter,”
   says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
   they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
   they shall be like wool.

(in the New King James Version it says "Come now, let us reason together")

i love that God is there to sit us down and reason with us.

to settle the matter that we are white as snow.

amazing really.

this is my song for today.

peace, i leave with you.

Day 6: a book i'm reading

2011-11-06T09:45:00.001-05:00

this one is easy peasy.

i usually have a few books on the go

but lately, thanks to my friend Kristen, all that i have been reading is the Twilight Saga.

i started them just before Thanksgiving (Canadian) and i am halfway through the fourth and final book.

Kristen has also been having me watch the movies as i finish the books.

now a little background.

i have been a sort of resister of the series.

i thought that there was no way that they would be as good as some other series, like Harry Potter or A Series of Unfortunate Events.

when i decided that i would read them for interest sake (this was a while ago) i mostly expected something somewhat entertaining but something that would read like a Sweet Valley High or Babysitters Club book.

boy was i wrong!

i am seriously unable to put these books down.

the writing is very descriptive and you feel like you are entirely in a vampire/werewolf world.

they also are not as scary as i thought, you know, gruesome for gruesome sake.

certainly there are some tense moments, but it is more the situations and less the gore and blood.

basically, i can't get enough of this series and as i am quickly approaching the end of the last book, i feel a ~~like my world is ending~~ a little sad to think about it all being over.

at least i have the new Breaking Dawn movie to look forward to!

so, if you have been putting of reading Twilight because it seemed silly, or like you were jumping on the band wagon or ridiculously mushy or something like that, i very strongly urge you to try it out!!

and in case you weren't sure...

Day 5: three years ago today

2011-11-05T17:14:00.000-04:00

i really can't even think a little bit about what was going on three years ago today

(my google search provided me with the fact that Obama just won!)

i really have a terrible memory for the everyday,

i can barely remember anything from before grade 8, besides random isolated events.

so i decided to go with 1 year ago today.

it's crazy to think that only a year ago today, miss Isla Beth was only 3 days old.

we would have come home from the hospital the day before,

and on this day, Isla had her first outing from home.

we were off to the doctor for her 3 day check.

(Isla also had not had a recorded pee at this point, a little worrying, but we probably just missed one)

everything was new and tiring and exciting and tiring and a little bit tender

(moms, you get me on this one!)

isn't she lovely?

i truly am in awe that she has only been here for a year (and three days!)

little ones pretty much change everything :)

in the best ways!

Day 4: a friend i adore

2011-11-04T23:28:00.000-04:00

i have many lovely lovely friends,

many of whom i adore.

just some of the adore-able friends

but in choosing just one,

i chose Maryann.

this year, i spent every other friday with Maryann.

she has been my friend for about 8 and a 1/2 years now.

we met while we were in university.

she was visiting her boyfriend (she went to uni in Peterborough) when we first met.

we lived together in my second and third year of school.

i surely wish i didn't have my photo albums packed away so that i could pull out some photos from those days!

in New Orleans
-Maryann would probably like me to add that while i thought
her hair looked exotic this entire trip, she thought it looked frizzy.
i still say exotic!

Maryann is a lovely friend.

i love her because she is always thinking of others.

she is courageous and takes that courage to culinary heights

(it's not always welcomed by her husband

-he does not like sweet potato muffins-but i do! so keep on being a courageous cook Mary!)

she is honest and genuine and listens to you and gives you advice or lets you talk your way into answers on your own.

Maryann got pregnant in June of 2008, around the same time i had my molar pregnancy.

she told me that she believed we would be pregnant together

(this was before we knew it was a molar and had to wait 6 months to try again)

but low and behold when her son Isaac was born 9 months later, i found out i was 5 weeks pregnant with Isla. Maryann is a believer in truth and miracles.

Maryann's Isaac and my Isla

Maryann loves Jesus and looks for him in the every day

(you can read about that here)

she is a ferociously loyal friend and sometimes she doesn't even want to share me with her sister.

She and i also have bonded over similar interests (we talk blogs, babies, home improvement, crafty-ness, and pretty much whatever else is on our minds)

a silly camping pic-we were under that tarp in the rain
ALL. DAY. LONG.

the reason Mary and I got to spend every other friday together this year was that when she went back to work, she began a compressed work week, so while i was on mat leave, she was able to have every other friday off.

Maryann and i have been close friends for a long time.

(she was one of my bridesmaids dontcha know?)

but i think that a lot of our friendship has grown over being mamas together this year.

it has been lovely.

Maryann, you are lovely friend who i am very blessed to know.

Day 3: something i never leave the house without

2011-11-03T20:12:00.000-04:00

wow,

i have been having a tremendously difficult time with this one.

i always forget my phone or wallet.

i often have to use Thom's car key cause i've lost mine.

even diapers i forget, and i don't always have Isla with me - especially now - *sniff*

i don't even think that there is one thing that i always check that i have.

this suddenly seems strange to me.

then i thought of this:

this is my engagement ring.

it was my mother's engagement ring,

and it was my grandma Elaine's engagement ring before that.

Elaine is my dad's mom, she died when my dad was 18.

this is a very special ring.

engraved in the ring it says

Terry to Elaine 1950

this is also an old ring.

i love it.

i do wear this every day.

even during my pregnancy when my fingers swelled and i had to take off my wedding band, this ring was still able to fit.

now in truth,

the ring actually only says

Terry Elaine 1950

this is because apparently i have fatter fingers than my grandma and my mom did.

which is funny, because if you know me, you know that i do not really have fat fingers.

i mean really, my ring size is 5 and a 1/2

tiny.

anyway, i love this ring.

it symbolizes history,
3 promises of love,

which includes the pledge of love that my husband made to me.

small style #22

2011-11-03T17:51:00.001-04:00

here we are with a very fun Halloweenie small style :)

a cutie little chicken!

this was Isla's first Halloween.

she was moonlighting as a bun in the oven last year.

we had a lot of fun doing some trick or treating Meika and Sophie.

here is our little family:

didn't you know that rabbits marry bees and make chicken babies?

well known fact, really.

chicken costume: Old Navy, consigned

leggings: Gap kids

socks: SmartWool

shoes: Mexx, consigned

you can check out all kinds of awesome and cute costumes over at Mama Loves Papa!

Day 2: three inspirational quotes

2011-11-02T22:15:00.002-04:00

-unknown-

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

-Romans 5:3-5 (New Living Translation)

There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.

-Willa Cather

image found here

a year ago today....

2011-11-02T06:57:00.000-04:00

a year ago this morning:

miss Isla Beth was welcomed into the world

you made this guy a daddy

you made me a mommy

you changed us forever!

we love you Isla!

Happy 1st Birthday!

Day 1: a self-portrait

2011-11-01T19:32:00.001-04:00

so, here I am.

this is me today

at the end of a fairly ordinary day.

hanging with Isla at home in the morn,

and in the afternoon - a trip to get our passport photos done,

then to walmart, also a stop at work to drop off some necessary documents.

but the fact is, it didn't feel all that ordinary.

today is my last full-time day at home with Isla.

tomorrow I am off to work, and she is off to daycare.

it is the end of one thing, and the beginning of another.

(endings and beginnings often work like that don't they?)

but as you may be able to tell by the photo, I am still at peace.

complete and utter divine peace.

lovely.

-I am joining in on so fawned's 30 Days Hath November-

30 days hath november

2011-11-01T19:08:00.002-04:00

I've decided to join up with the Fawn this month in this little bloggy series.

It will ensure that I keep up the blogging once I head back to work....

tomorrow.

here is what you can expect this month:

Day 01: A self-portrait.
Day 02: Three inspirational quotes.
Day 03: Something I never leave the house without.
Day 04: A friend I adore.
Day 05: Three years ago today.
Day 06: A book I'm reading.
Day 07: A song for the day.
Day 08: The last item I purchased.
Day 09: A close-up of my day.
Day 10: What I love about my job.
Day 11: Something I’ve been craving.
Day 12: Three blogs I can’t get enough of.
Day 13: Something I'm proud of.
Day 14: A favourite movie.
Day 15: Some style inspiration for the season.
Day 16: Someone who inspires me.
Day 17: My family.
Day 18: What I wore today.
Day 19: A silly self-portrait.
Day 20: A childhood anecdote.
Day 21: Something I could never tire of.
Day 22: Some place I’ve traveled.
Day 23: Eight things you didn't know about me.
Day 24: Something that means a lot to me.
Day 25: The contents of my purse.
Day 26: Something I'm looking forward to.
Day 27: Myself, one year ago.
Day 28: A skill I'd like to learn.
Day 29: Some place I'd like to visit.
Day 30: Three wonderful things that happened this month.

I'll be back very very shortly with day 1!

Thanks to Desiree for the inspiration!

mad men

2011-11-01T07:30:00.000-04:00

as promised

here are the photos of our family 'mad men' style.

sorry for the blurriness!

Sarah's not sure what happened to her camera settings.

family photo

baby Isla

baby Isla and Daddy

a few things:

1. i'm glad that i don't live in the sixties-Thom is a super dad, changing diapers, cleaning house, dinner making, getting up in the night kind of super dad-i don't think this happened in the sixties very often!

2. i think that this is my favourite theme party to date-i had the dress, Isla had the dress, Thom had the suit, we just had to add a few pieces.

3. Isla is wearing the bonnet i wore as a baby at my christening-it was a little big, but made the outfit complete :)

firsts

2011-10-31T08:30:00.001-04:00

Isla will be starting daycare this week.

on her birthday.

the day i have to go back to work.

*sniff*

2 weeks ago she did a trial half day - LOVED IT!

and last week she did a trial full day- LOVED IT!

woo to the hoo!!

after a few traumatic daycare encounters i have found the best place for Isla.

Kattie has a daughter who turned one in August and Isla loves to play with her!

Kattie also sends me little photos and updates on Isla throughout the day, it is really nice.

it is so wonderful and peaceful to send Isla to a place that i feel is so similar to what she is receiving at home.

Isla's very first day-taken by me

eating avocado-taken by me

sleeping the first trial morning-taken by Kattie

eating breakfast the full trial day-taken by Kattie

drinking her 'ba' the full trial day-taken by Kattie

here we are

2011-10-28T09:18:00.000-04:00

so, we've moved now.

we moved on Saturday. we have heroes for friends.

when i went to pick up the moving truck.... there was no reservation ..........

aw, nuts.

and of course i had lost my tiny piece of paper that had the info i wrote down.

so, no trucks left in the city. not anywhere. not with any company.

discount said they found one in Bells Corners for me, 'okay' i said, that's not too far, that can work.

i called them just to be sure... no, they did not have a truck, there were none left in the city....

oh, right.

Uhaul had one i could get at 2pm. ok, that could work, but kinda sucks since it is 10am and people are meeting at our place at 9:30am to help move.

oh, and did i mention that at this point we are not even at home? that's right.

we're at Ben and Mary's, where miss Isla will be spending the day, trying to figure this all out.

so.

friends (the superheroes) are at our place waiting for us.

THEN:

Dale, the lead superhero calls and says that he can probably get us a truck, he has some super-power influence or something....

and by 11 we are all at our apartment loading the van.

the move went amazing!

we were completely moved in and done at 2:30pm.

wow!

all of our stuff fits, we are loving being here.

Isla is sad when we make her come downstairs. she wants to be upstairs where the girls are playing.

we (the ones who gave her life) are now boring....

um, isn't that supposed to take a few years to happen?

so, a big thank you to all our superhero friends who helped us move:

Edem, Ryan & Sara, Darren & Naomi, Annie, Isak, Benoit, our leading superhero Dale, & his leading superhero lady Jen (who made us chili and sandwiches and rice krispie squares for lunch!), Mike & Kristen,

and to the other superhero friends who watched Isla:

Ben & Maryann, Beth & Pat

in our church family, if someone is moving, it is pretty much guaranteed you will have a team of movers with no questions asked.

lovely.

small style #21

2011-10-27T16:04:00.000-04:00

sigh, I seriously love small style.

last week it was packing craziness, but I knew that I would at least get Isla's small style done!

this week's addition is from the visit we had at my mom's the other week.

my mom taught Isla how to pull the stickies out of the package

SHE LOVED IT!!
(of course),

so cute.

shirt: Carters, consigned

pants: Old Navy, consigned

socks: Old Navy

I pretty much always gravitate towards Carters onesies, my long lean daughter fits into them well, and they work well over her cloth diapers as well :)

The Joe onesies don't seem to work as well on her, is it me, or are they square?

What works well on your wee ones?

And don't forget to check out what all the other cute babies and kidlets are wearing

over at Mama Loves Papa!

small style #20

2011-10-20T20:05:00.000-04:00

phew!

it's been a busy week around the Geranium household,

we are packing packing packing,

Isla had her first daycare morning,

i seem to have pulled a major muscle in my neck,

but life barrels along!!!

here is miss Isla on Wednesday.

I had to laugh because we were at moms' life group and Janie commented that the other little girls there are always dressed so girly,

she didn't mention Isla!

And then I came home and read this post, all about kids fall fashion, over at Mama Loves Papa,

hee hee.

boys' style indeed.

also! Isla can blow in a whistle now! for real!

she thinks it's funny to blow in it and then put it to my mouth to let me blow in it too, sweet little girl.

plaid shirt: Joe

striped tank top: George, thrifted

white onesie: Gerber

jeans: H&M, thrifted

socks: Old Navy

moccasins: Handmade from up North

Check out all the other sweet babies over at Mama Loves Papa:

have i mentioned...

2011-10-19T14:42:00.000-04:00

that we're moving?

I don't think that I have.

But we are...

On Saturday.

Sorry for the late notice. :)

In September, we were hanging out with our friends Mike and Kristen.

While we were taking a tour of their newly renovated bathrooms, we went into the basement where they have had students living with the before.

Pretty much as a joke Kristen and I said that it would be awesome if we moved in.

Ha ha.

Ha?

So, after talking to Mike she said, "no really, you should move in"

Which is funny, because we had just been praying for a way to pay off our debt really fast.

And this happened the next week.

We hummed and hawed about it a little bit.

It will be a total of 4 adults and 4 kids living under one roof with one kitchen...

But then we decided to go for it!

What a blessing.

But as you can imagine, in the meantime around here, there have been piles of boxes, piles of what to keep out, what to store, and what to finally get rid of already(!), piling up in our apartment.

But we are super excited.

It's a good reason to go through things and decide:

-do we really need this?

-when was the last time we used this?

-do you think this bleach stained towel with holes in it is really worth keeping?

Since it will be for about 6 months to a year, it has also been tricky deciding what to put away in storage for that time. We don't need any of our kitchen stuff and we won't have space for all my nick-knacks.

So, books are in boxes, magazines are in boxes, crafts are in boxes.

And all I can think about is how excited I will be when I get to open it all in a year!

Just like Christmas!!

the Journey

2011-10-18T08:45:00.000-04:00

There is a blog that I have been reading, I think for just over a year now.

It's called "The Journey" and you can find it over at www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com

Here is a bit of her story from the Amazima Ministries website

(I was going to edit this, but the whole thing is amazing, so I left it all)

"In December of 2006, 18-year-old Katie Davis from Brentwood, Tennessee, traveled to Uganda for the first time. She was immediately captivated with the people and the culture.

In the summer of 2007, Katie returned to Uganda to teach Kindergarten at an orphanage. As she walked the children home, she was shocked to see the sheer number of school-aged children sitting idly on the side of the road or working in the fields. She learned there were very few government-run public schools in Uganda, and none in the area where she was working. Most schools in Uganda are privately operated and therefore require school fees for attendance, making impoverished children unable to afford an education.

God laid it on Katie's heart to start a child sponsorship program, matching orphaned and vulnerable children who are unable to afford schooling with sponsors anywhere in the world. Sponsors pay $300 per year to send one child to school, providing school supplies, 3 hot meals each day, spiritual discipleship, and medical care. Originally planning to have 40 children in the program, Katie had signed up 150 by January 2008. Today the program sponsors over 400 children.

Shortly thereafter, Katie established a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization called Amazima Ministries International. The organization seeks to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the people of Uganda who need it most. In the Lugandan language, Amazima means "truth." Also, Katie became a mother for the first time in January of 2008 to three orphaned girls.

Katie also reached out to the Karimojong people of the Masese community. The poorest of the poor, and losing their children to malnutrition and starvation at an astounding rate, she noticed their desperate need for nutritious food. She started a feeding program to the community, nourishing over 1,600 children Monday through Friday. This allows the children to attend school and therefore not go to the street to beg. Also provided is medical care, Bible study, and general health training.

As friendships developed with the Karimojong people, Katie wanted to help the women in the village provide for their families. She initiated a self-sustaining vocational program to empower these women to make unique Ugandan magazine bead necklaces. They are also taught money management skills. The necklaces made by the Karimojong women are purchased and sold in the United States.

Katie recently announced a dream to start, staff, and operate an Amazima school in Uganda. As a mother herself, she recognized the need to teach children critical thinking, problem solving and the fundamentals of learning in a Christian environment. Amazima hopes to open the school in 2012.

Now the mother of 13 daughters, Katie offers, "People tell me I am brave. People tell me I am strong. People tell me good job. Well here is the truth of it. I am really not that brave, I am not really that strong, and I am not doing anything spectacular. I am just doing what God called me to do as a follower of Him. Feed His sheep, do unto the least of His people."

Katie is not a frequent blog updater (understandably so!)

But when I see a new post from her on my blog roll it is the first one I read.

She is inspiring and I like to hear what is going on in her life and pray for her.

I can't be there, but I can lift up prayers to the Lord who is beside her every day.

Katie has just recently written a book.

Called "Kisses from Katie"

I'm going to order it from amazon and read it.

Is anyone interested in doing a little read-along with me?

A virtual book club of sorts?

You can link to the book on Amazon Canada up there or to the right under 'some fall reading'

who do you belong to?

2011-10-14T08:41:00.002-04:00

this week I have been away visiting my mom.

in 18 days I will be back at work full time.

and miss Isla will be in day care full time.

God has been giving me such peace about this.

I haven't felt stressed, worried or even really dwelled on the upcoming changes.

now, to be clear, I know that there will probably be some days that are a little difficult, but I've been at peace.

Until this week.

just Isla and I.

it has been a good week, but being out of the routine I've been in for the past year has been a little bit overwhelming.

overwhelming because I keep thinking about how my routine will be completely changed in 18 days.

mind you, Isla has also had a tremendous cold.

so we've been up in the night a lot and definitely have a less than normal amount of sleep.

but because of all this, that feeling of peace has seemed a little distant.

then, this morning, the song 'God of the Redeemed' has been in my head.

We belong to You Father

Love has come, we're orphans no longer

Brought into Your light and freedom

By the blood and the mercy of Jesus

It's rising, it's rising, the song of hope

From us set free

It's rising, it's rising, it's rising up

Hallelujah to You God of the redeemed

Hallelujah, You've opened blinded eyes to see

We will praise You

You are the everlasting light

Hallelujah to You God of the redeemed

We belong to You Father

Living for Your glory and honor

Here on earth, just as in heaven

We usher in the reign of Your Kingdom

-God of the Redeemed-Jeremy Riddle, Paul McClure, and Hannah McClure of Bethel Church-

and it has brought back the feeling of peace.

I know who I belong to and I know that He is Peace.

There is a bigger picture at work here.

A bigger one than me at work,

and an even BIGGER one that has come, is coming and will come.

small style #19

2011-10-13T09:29:00.000-04:00

here is wee Isla a few weeks ago heading off to meet with our Church body with her daddy.

I wasn't feeling so well, so I stayed home

(but definately felt well enough to pick out this outfit!)

I have been reading about cute little vintage dresses on a few different blogs,

and I found this little vintage dress a not long after in a little shop on Ottawa Street in Hamilton called Little Bird, it was on sale for like $4.99 as an end of summer sale!

I forget now why Isla had tears... maybe because I wouldn't stop taking pictures?

poor blog babies... they suffer.

dress: no label, consigned (and on sale!)

leggings: Gap

sandals: Joe

and you know that there are some mighty cute babies and kidlets that we are linking up with

over at Mama Loves Papa! (and if you don't know it, you should check it out!)

on closer inspection, it looks like this dress may be a bit big, but it will last for awhile.

we were at a Mad Men themed Birthday Celebration recently and Isla wore this dress with a bonnet and it was perfect!

when I have a copy of the "Mad Family" photo, I'll post it :)

i am so in love with this!

2011-10-12T20:39:00.001-04:00

oh my gosh.

a couple of summers ago i bought a dollhouse from a garage sale.

it was in pieces (ahem, it is in pieces)

but i had a vision for a lovely dollhouse for my someday, maybe daughter

(or to be perfectly honest, if i didn't have a daughter it could be for me!)

it looks huge, i paid $15 dollars for it.

it currently resides in the basement of some friends (remember, still in pieces)

the lady who sold it to me said she bought it to make for her daughters... uh oh.

but a few weeks ago, Nicole wrote about a big doll house project called the

it actually was started by Emily Henderson, from HGTV's 'Secrets from a Stylist'

(you can find her blog and the original post here)

essentially it is a dollhouse decorating challenge.

i am in awe

i am enthralled

i am so excited whenever a new post comes along containing any dollhouse related details

i sure wish my dollhouse was able to come out now, but we don't currently really have the space

so i will live vicariously and plan....

i guess i now have a dream house file and a dream dollhouse file!

a year ago...

2011-10-09T09:00:00.002-04:00

a year ago today we were waiting for miss Isla,

we thought she would be early because the 3 other little ladies due in October came early

(real scientific I know!)

little did we know that she would actually come three and a half weeks later!

we were at a wedding for friends of ours,

and our friend Noah took some impromptu maternity photos for us

(thanks Noah!)

it sure is fun to think about where we were then,

we had no idea how wonderful we would find parenthood.

that our little Isla would be a lovely and sweet baby and make it a very easy transition into being parents.

that I would truly feel like I have found exactly what I was meant to do with my life.

it truly is amazing and wonderful (and truthfully a little overwhelming at times) the love I feel for Isla.

I also cannot believe that her first year of life has almost come to it's fulfillment.

sigh.

small style #18

2011-10-06T15:52:00.000-04:00

the blog has been a little quiet this week!

sorry 'bout that, but we'd never miss a small style :)

Isla has truly become a well versed climber.

She is climbing everything so we have to really keep an eye on her.

She fell off of a small wooden chair the other day and she cried so hard and her mouth was bleeding and

was

awful.

But nothing a little cuddle and a bottle couldn't cure.

She was ok, just a tooth we were waiting for came through the gum.

Here is miss Isla climbing well supervised.

She was having a lot of fun, that's for sure.

Lovely little climber.

long sleeve shirt: Joe

pink t-shirt: Joe

jeans: H&M, consigned

socks: Old Navy

And now, you know it, I know it,

we're linking up with Morgan here:

If you haven't checked her small style, you should!
There are so many other blogs linked up with cutie cute babies!

small style #17

2011-09-29T18:37:00.002-04:00

sorry we're a little late today! some bloggy technical difficulties,
but yay!
my sister did send me some pictures from the wedding.

so here is Isla small stylin' at the wedding as promised

(as well as some extra pics of the wedding thrown in)

Hi!

my cousin Tim and his beautiful bride Lauren

with my Grandad

with auntie Danielle

Isla making herself at home!

just a "small" portion of chicken fingers

how cute is this dress?

dress: Joe, consigned-also, this dress is almost like a little raincoat, all the spills slide right off!

shirt: osh kosh, consigned

tights: no label, consigned

shoes: Mexx, consigned

and of course we are linking up with Morgan here:

ps. I just wanted to clarify that we did not feed Isla all those chicken fingers.we broke off the batter and gave her bits of the real chicken inside.(just in case you thought we force fed her a mountain of chicken batter)

Ramona Quimby age......

2011-09-28T08:05:00.000-04:00

twenty-one!?!?!

my littlest sister Roslyn has long been called Ramona.

in her younger days she was pretty close to a spitting image of the original book cover,

and the name just stuck around.

but the little baby Ramona is gone!

Roslyn has turned 21 today.

she is all grown up and legal even in the states.

Roslyn is a very caring and loyal kind of lady.

she speaks very fondly and lovingly of her friends and her family.

she is fiercely determined and independent.

Roslyn lives in BC right now, the farthest away of anyone in my immediate family,
so we don't get to see her that often.

but we did get a nice visit in Montreal for Danielle's wedding.

we love you Roslyn!!

have a great day!!

Giveaway winner!

2011-09-27T17:16:00.000-04:00

wow!

i was quite surprised at the amount of people i know in real life who have been reading the blog!

Thanks everyone :)

it was great to read your comments and i felt the love.

and as promised, the winner of the giveaway using random.org to generate a random number between 1 and 11.

it chose #5.

It was the elusive Ninnygoat who said

"Hi kates! It's nin. Love you. Xo"

well Ninny, you know I love you too!!

send me your new address to:

katiegeranium(at)gmail(dot)com

and I will send this off to you pronto!!

Happy Blogiversary to Katie Geranium!

2011-09-23T08:04:00.000-04:00

7 years old!

i am really starting to get into the swing of blogging.

i am even starting to think in blog format throughout my day :)

i have some goals for the coming blog year.

goal #1:

stop being a blog creeper and start commenting!!

i read a lot of blogs throughout my day, but i am definitely guilty of coming and going without making a single comment. this is not very supportive of my fellow bloggers, especially the ones i have been reading for a few years!

goals #2:

publish 2-3 posts a week.

i have started being better at that over the summer, but as i am gearing up to go back to work i want to stay in the swing of things! it may mean writing multiple posts at a time, but i want to be consistent! especially for those of you who are reading my blog regularly. Hi!

goal #3:

figure out how to take better pictures for the blog!

whether that means taking a course, reading some books or saving for a new camera, i want to be able to upload pictures and not cringe at the quality.

any suggestions?

goals are well and good, but even better?

a giveaway!

to mark the 7 year blogiversary of Katie G, i am giving away a little vintage tea pot (it holds about 2 cups) and a handmade by me tea cozy!

i'll be throwing in a few surprise goodies as well.

to enter leave me a comment saying hello and where you are reading from :)

and if you've never commented before, now is your chance!

good luck!

oh, and the contest will be open until monday at midnight, standard eastern time.

small style #16

2011-09-22T08:06:00.000-04:00

this week has been fairly low key, this weekend we did a lot of driving to Hamilton and Toronto for a wedding.

my cousin Tim married his beautiful bride Lauren.

it was a lovely and beautiful day and wee Isla was awarded the best baby award.

well, not really.

but she did stay quiet through the ceremony despite the fact that it was outdoors on a windy bluff overlooking lake Ontario and it was FREEEEEZING!!

and then during the reception she had some dinner and promptly fell asleep in her stroller for the rest of the night.

we had a lovely visit with my sister Danielle and her husband Alex,

and my dad and his girlfriend Susan.

I didn't get many great shots of Isla so I'll try to get some from my sister for next week.

here is Isla making some use of an empty suitcase.

pretty fun to come around the corner and find her in it :)

messy toy mess-the norm around here

shirt: Carters-consigned

jeans: Joe

shoes: you can't really see them but they are some cute navy moccasins that my aunt brought back from up North.

and we're linking up with Morgan here:

oh! and don't forget to come back to the giveaway tomorrow!!

blogiversary

2011-09-20T21:03:00.000-04:00

the week at Young House Love, they are celebrating a 4 year blogiversary.

suddenly I thought to myself, hey wait, how long have I had this ol' blog, and when is my exact blogiversary?

turns out it's this Friday!!

And it will have been seven years...

huh? wait? what?

that's right folks. SEVEN YEARS!

here is the first post ever.

a lot of people I knew were blogging, but it seemed that most people didn't make it past the first year.

in fact I recently had someone from that blogging bandwagon say to me: "wow, people still blog?"

um....

yes.

blogging for me started as a way to keep in touch with my saskatoon peeps.

now it is a fun therapeutic kind of thing.

where will blogging lead? we will have to wait and see.

so.

since this little ol' blog is turning seven, I thought that I would have a little giveaway.

so come back on Friday to enter a little contest for the big day!!

small style #15

2011-09-15T09:35:00.000-04:00

Isla loves loves loves her dad right now.

She is so happy when he gets home from work, and a little insulted when he leaves in the morning.

Isla loves to play fun games with daddy. He makes all her stuffed toys have funny voices.

Daddies and Babies.... need I say more?

shirt: Pekkle - thrifted
leggings: Gap - thrifted
hat: from Isla's Great Gramma's church bazaar
sock monkey: made by hand by Isla's auntie Ashleigh!

as always, we're linking up here with Morgan:

Isla eats.

2011-09-12T09:37:00.000-04:00

One of my favourite things to do is to watch Isla eat.

Ever since she has been able to pick up her own food, I love seeing her figure out how to get it in her mouth,

Isla loves to feed herself-which is not always helpful for a quick meal time-

but she will pick something up in her hand and pass it back and forth and examine it before putting it in her mouth.

some of her favourites include:

-shredded chicken

-sweet potato

-steamed beans

-puffed kamuts

-whole soft pears*

-whole peaches*

-plums

-blueberries

-raspberries

-cucumber

watermelon

rice rusk

raspberries & blackberries & pear

bun with gramma kiki

nectarine

really getting into that nectarine

what's left of a whole pear

lunch with Isaac

bread & cheese

Isla also loves yogurt, oat cereal, ham & carrots.

So far, we haven't really found anything that she doesn't like. She seemed really adverse to bananas at first, but now enjoys them as much as anything else.

Also, a trick I learned for those slippery foods like banana or fruit pieces is to coat them in wheat germ.

gives them grip.

what kind of foods do your kids love? anything they really don't like?

*Just a little warning:

giving her whole fruit is certainly messy, but it does give a good amount of kitchen cleaning time!

small style #14

2011-09-08T09:03:00.001-04:00

Here we are again!

this was last week, i think that we were going to go out and get groceries, but then after Isla's nap she woke up with a leaky diaper.

so she was changed and i didn't get any more pics of this cute little outfit.

but here are 2:

sigh, those moccasins.

shirt: collection by Coccodrillo - consigned for $1!

shorts: H&M - thrifted

shoes: Gap - consigned

and we are linking up here with Morgan of Mama Loves Papa :)

cloth diapering part two: a disappointing start

2011-09-06T11:27:00.000-04:00

i told you about my reasons for cloth diapering here.

here is the story of the start of cloth diapering for our family.

while Isla was in the hospital we used disposables, mostly just for easiness,

but we had all the diapers prepped and ready to go.

so home we came, and i was so excited to put some cloth on that little booty.

i put on the prefold and i can' believe.....

how RIDICULOUS it looks!!!

poor Isla-who was not a tiny baby by the way, 8lbs 9oz thank you very much-seemed waaaay too small for these prefolds.

i continue to describe it as what it would have been like if i wore a bath towel as underwear.

not pleasant.

i was so so sad. my heart was a little broken indeed.

i felt silly that i had been talking this up for months, spent all this money,
at that point, even my ideas of being able to do all my laundry in our building's washing machines seemed like a silly dream.

my lovely friend Maryann-worried for my heart and reputation-said:
"oh, don't tell anyone!"

i pretty much just packed up all the pre-folds and covers and just jumped on board the disposable diaper train.

i put all my reasons for cloth diapering to the back of my mind so i wouldn't feel so sad and defeated.

the first use of the diapers came a month or so later when i busted out the covers to put over disposables when i was flying with Isla to keep poop blowouts from ruining our flight.

but that was it.

until just after Isla turned 7 months.
something changed.
i actually can't even remember what it was, but i decided to give those cloth diapers another try.

and success!! they fit!

first small style in cloth :)

i was elated! my wet-dry bags kept the stink in, the diapers were working, and even washing them was working out!

so now we have been using cloth for 3 months and i have to say that I LOVE IT!!

i am completely in love with cloth diapering, if any one asks me anything about cloth, i can go on and on and on because i love to tell people my story, the things that worked for us (and the things that didn't!), how i deal with doing laundry when i don't have my own washer or dryer.

seriously, i am a little addicted.

living in an apartment definitely poses some laundry challenges,
which i'll address in cloth diapering part three: these things stink!

this cloth diapering moment...

2011-09-03T09:32:00.000-04:00

a home-made wool cover.

fabulous? oui.