Two

 

 

Two...

 

TWO

 

I know I sound like a cliché, but where did the time go?

 

I know exactly where the time went.

 

It went into so many happy/stressful/rewarding/frustrating/proud days of being your mama.

In just two short years you have gone from a tiny, helpless baby to a smart, funny, creative, beautiful and independent little girl.

 

To watch someone grow from nothing and witness all their accomplishments, no matter how small they may seem, is the most rewarding thing I have ever experienced.

 

To know that I have had a part in guiding who you are now is so very humbling and although I would like time to slow down so I can savor your littleness, I can’t wait to see you grow and develop even more.

Quinn, you make me feel like I’ve won the parenting lottery every day.

Here’s to so many more wonderful years ahead Boo.

Love, Mommy

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

To my darling husband

 

This post is dedicated to one special person.

The person who makes me laugh all the time. The person who loves me at my worst. The person who gave me our beautiful daughter.

He is dedicated, motivated, witty, hilarious and generous.

Today the man I married turns 29.

 It is not traditionally a milestone birthday, but I happen to think it is. This year is his last year being a twenty-something. Next year he joins the ranks of the thirty-somethings.

Quinn and I promise to help you make the last year of your twenties a memorable one.

 

Here's to you babe!

Thank you for loving me, loving our daughter and being you.

 

xo, Vicky

Our weekend :)

I love weekends. 

I love sleeping in. I love making big elaborate breakfasts. I love wearing my pyjamas until noon (or all day). I love spending time with family and friends. 

This past weekend included all of those things. 

Unfortunately the weekend also included fever and puke...

On Thursday Quinn woke up in the middle of the night feeling unusually warm. I gave her a half dose of Tylenol and put her back to bed. Friday she was off and didn't eat much at daycare. When I picked her up after work she didn't seem like her happy self and by bedtime she was worse. About an hour after we put her to bed she woke up very feverish and had a scary glazed over look about her. She ended up throwing up all over me as I rocked her. It scared the pants off me. This was the first time she'd ever been really sick. 

We quickly consulted The Baby Book which told us that fevers are a normal part of childhood and that what she had was most likely due to teething. The book also told us to give her Tylenol and strip her down to try and get the fever down. So we did and thank goodness, it worked.

 By the morning she was back to her usual happy self. :) 

The moral of the story = teething sucks.

We started off Saturday morning with a breakfast of champions. 

I made a potato, onion, pepper and cheese scramble and I must say, it was delicious. 

Shortly after breakfast, Simon's dad came over with a present:

A lovely bird feeder! 

Living in a new neighbourhood has many perks like new homes, new parks and new friends. 

On the flip side it lacks things like wildlife. 

Hopefully this new bird feeder will help attract some animal friends (of the non-racoon/skunk variety). 

I'm dreaming of painting it a bright colour (like turquoise) and adding some cute shingles.

I smell a project!

Saturday night we headed over to my friend Shelley's place to celebrate her birthday.

 It's funny how much can change in a couple years. Two years ago, birthdays were all about going out, getting drunk and having dance parties.

 Now it's all about babies, wine and games.

I think its safe to say, Quinn is smitten with Shelley's daugher Lyla.

Speaking of games, we played Werewolves of Miller's Hollow. SO FUN.

I highly suggest this for your next big gathering. The more people the better.

Sunday started off much the same as Saturday. I reheated the extra scramble I made the day before and it was just as delicious. While getting breakfast ready I looked over to where I had parked Quinn and of course she was no longer there.

This is where I found here:

She managed to crawl under the chairs and had trapped herself under our breakfast table. Little monkey.

After breakfast we got dressed and headed over to my aunt Heather's condo to see the renovations she had done. Everything looked awesome. She picked some really nice finishes. After some tea and chocolate cake, we headed out for a lovely dog walk.

Later Sunday afternoon I headed over to my parent's place for the usual Sunday dinner. I was cranky and ended up freaking on my sister. Oops. Hopefully she forgives me. :)

Overall our weekend was amazing even though I decided to be a brat and end it on a bad note. :)

To end this post, I would like to share the many looks Quinn rocked this weekend:

1) Princess Quinn

2) Smurf Quinn

3) Pope Quinn

4) Lasagna-face Quinn

5) Happy messy kid Quinn

Have a happy Monday!

xo Vicky

Birthday Celebrations: Part Two - PARTY!

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We did it! We celebrated Quinn’s first birthday this past Saturday and it was SO MUCH FUN. It took the combined effort of many people to pull off, but in my humble opinion, it was a success :) Thank you to our families for helping us with last minute preparations – we seriously could not have done it without you!
I had been planning Quinn's first birthday for, ohhhhh twelve months. No joke I've had a Pinterest board with all sorts of ideas since this kid was born.

I decided on a rainbow themed because I wanted Quinn's first birthday to be bright, cheerful and happy. What's happier than a rainbow? The dollar store has so many cheap colorful party supplies, plus babies love colours so what better theme than rainbow!
 
Without further ado, I give you the highlights of Quinn's first birthday:

Apparently throwing a party for fifty guests requires a fair bit of preparation? Lesson learned. Here I am just minutes before guests arrived trying desperately to finish icing the cupcakes.
 

My aunt Heather ended up taking over and did a marvelous job!

It’s a cupcake rainbow (if you hadn’t guessed already)!

 

 

My brother Mitch and Heather helped to decorate the place and it looked great! THANK YOU! (This picture is a pretty good representation of the wall color.)

 Special mentions to both my mom and  mother-in-law, Shari. My mom did a bang-up job chopping all the veggies, fruit and cheese and kept me sane during those last few minutes before people came. Shari saved the day by picking up our balloon order and getting it back to our place just in time for the party to start!

Miss Q watching everyone pile into our house :)

 

Guests started to arrive around one and by twenty-after we had a full house! Simon was on drink duty and made sure guests had a beverage as soon as they walked in. We figured people would forget about the cramped quarters if they had a couple drinks in them. I think it worked. :)

 

Speaking of drinks, I must mention that Simon whipped up a seriously delish batch of red wine sangria that did not disappoint party-goers. Great work babe!

 

For around an hour, guests mingled and snacked on meatballs, deviled eggs, veggies, fruit, chips and some wicked homemade tarts that Simon’s cousin Tara brought. While everyone was downstairs partying, I was frantically editing Quinn’s First Year video upstairs. Although I could have spent a few more hours making everything perfect, we ended up playing the video for everyone in a semi-edited state and I think it did the job. One day I’ll get around to fine tuning everything and post it to YouTube for y’all to see.

After the video, it was time for presents! Before I show you some pictures, I want to take a minute to tell you how amazing our friends and families are. Even before Quinn was born, they have supported, spoiled and loved our little girl. I can’t tell you how much it means to Simon and I to know that Quinn is loved unconditionally by so many. Looking around the room at all the people who took the time to come and celebrate our baby girl’s birthday was amazing. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

 

A very special copy of Where the Wild Things Are <3

 

Yay for presents!

Once all the presents were opened, it was time for cupcakes and cake!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a wonderful day filled with laughter, happy tears, presents, cake and the best people in the world. Thank you all again :)

 

xo Vicky

 

 

 

Birthday Celebrations : Part One

As mentioned previously, yesterday was an awfully special day. Our little girl turned ONE! We had a busy but amazing night celebrating with our families. Before everyone arrived we decided to hit up the pumpkin patch. In my mind no birthday in October is complete without a trip to the pumpkin patch. So off we went!

Thirty five dollars, ten pumpkins and two corn stalks later, our front steps have been carefully decorated by my amazing hubs. Pictures to follow tomorrow!

Shortly after we got home our family members started to trickle in. We ordered pizzas and I made a carrot cake topped with cream cheese icing (YUM!) My original plan was to make Quinn a healthy, no sugar, whole-wheat carrot cake… but that didn’t happen. Mommy fail. The cake I did make was not healthy by any stretch of the imagination, but I like to think it was better than just a regular old birthday cake. I mean it did have carrots, right?

How did Quinn react to the cake, you ask? Let’s let the pictures tell the tale…

I'd say she liked it :)

What about presents, you say? There certainly wasn’t a shortage of those! On Quinn’s birthday invitations I asked guests to bring children’s books inscribed with personal messages instead of cards. I thought it would be a cute way to commemorate her first birthday while also building her library.

Uncle Mitch gave Quinn his own copy of “I Am a Bunny”. Mitch LOVED that book as a little boy and would force us to read it to him at least a hundred times a day. It was a very thoughtful gift indeed.

Auntie Leesha gave Quinn a copy of “Cinderella”. This story has two special meanings –first, we’ve taken to calling Quinn ‘Quinderella’ and secondly, when Alicia was little she loved the story of Cinderella. So much so, that she used to call herself Cinderella, or Cindy for short. Leesha also gave Quinn the most adorable leopard print dress and knit sweater complete with an animal earedhood! Anyone who knows me or who has read my old blog knows I have a weakness for animal-eared apparel.

Grandma and Grumpa gave Miss Q a copy of the book “I Love you Through and Through” with a very sweet message inside. They also had another little present for her…

That’s right folks, a tiny Coach purse! Ridiculous :) Quinn crawled around with it for some time and even climbed the stairs with it on her way to bed. How adorable!

After everyone left we all splashed around in our big soaker tub and then tucked Miss Q into bed. She was exhausted and passed out almost immediately.

I think it’s safe to say her first birthday was a success! Thank you to our families for celebrating with us and making her big day so very special. <3

As this post’s title suggests, the birthday celebrations don’t end there. Heck no! Her real birthday party is this Saturday. Just a small gathering of forty or so of our closest friends and family… no big deal. :) Make sure to check in on Monday for a recap!

Well, I hope you all have a lovely day.

Thanks again for reading.

xo Vicky