fall: week four

Or, you might say a bonus week of summer! - this week has been so gorgeous, we've been out on lots of walks and playing in our big pile of leaves. Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend full of family and lots of yummy food.

celebrating three

A trip down memory lane, oh, how wonderful this day was for both of us.

When Stew and I were getting ready for our wedding we prepared a time capsule through our marriage preparation course (found it this morning, buried in our mountain of books so to speak) - we made a list of things we need to do to keep our marriage strong, ensure our needs are being met and truly understand why we are together (looking back this was a good course and it's nice to read these again!) in addition to this we made a list of all the things we want to do in the years to come.....here are a few highlights from our list so far:

travel across Canada by motor home together (Stew has very specific requests!)

attend a live in-studio session of Jeopardy

grow food in a big garden and eat it more often with our family

visit Ireland one day and understand our family history

renovate more houses together (but not as much as this one!)

laugh, savour and enjoy each moment, even the bumpy ones, becase we know we can work it out together

We will be adding to this list on Saturday night at our favourite resturant, celebrating three.

some days

This picture is how yesterday started...it ended with a glass of wine, a meal consisting entirely of mac and cheese (with double the amount of cheese) and a big ol' piece of dark chocolate. We have entered the land of teething again. And it is for this very reason we have this blog - to look past these challenging, I want to lock myself in the bathroom at 7:15am with a tub of ice cream kind of days. Both Stew and I strive to look beyond and capture the fun, silly, and beautiful moments of parenting, child development and becoming a family of three. Because really, what's a loss of sleep really going to add up to when there is coffee to get you through - hello to my french press again!

for the love of a 'Nana' bun

Great Nana stuck a few of her amazing buns into our travel bag for the ride home, and they were a huge hit. We had them on Sunday night with a very nice meal and needless to say, someone is hooked (yes, we managed to save a few for Stew too).

Don't worry Anna you'll get your fill at Christmas, in fact we all will.

fall: week three

Oh, October how I love you so. It is well known in my family that this is my absolute favourite month of the year - and for our family of three it will become a very busy month - an anniversary, a birthday and of course Halloween, I cannot wait.

It has been a real treat to be here this week - I've got to see the red barns getting a new coat of 'ranch red' paint, take in all the election chats (taking notes for the 'salad bowl' game at Christmas), soybeans being harvested and all of those awesome Ontario leaves - I'm soaking them in as Stew tells me he is prepping for the big rake - our big tree out front is in full yellow and they are falling.....fast.

We got to visit Tyrone Mill again this week and took in some fresh cider, Anna also got to try a first bite of a donut with cinnamon and sugar and pet the cutest ginger cat. We also got to go and visit our friends Jenny, Ian, Bella and Grace at their pumpkin farm. Grace and Anna are only 3 days apart, so it was very fun to finally meet and have the girls together. Anna is sporting her first birthday gift from Great Nana - matching sweater (gorgeous King Cole Splash from my Aunt Tina's store) and toque....ack, the cuteness is too much!

Thanks for a wonderful trip everyone, now back to our regular scheduled programming.

eleven whole months

Typing that word 'eleven' in the post headline got me a little emotional I must say. I can't believe she is really that old...already.

To our dear little friend - one who is becoming a very silly, energetic, sweet, beautiful and loveable little girl, wishing you a very happy day - we are off to our favourite swimming pool to celebrate!

at the piano

Anna has been spending more time this trip at the piano, and that makes me very happy. Every time now she walks by she wants up on the bench to sit and play. Today she sat after her nap for 15 minutes playing notes and watching my reactions. I've been singing with her, clapping and now playing along with her (yes, of what piano I remember 25 years ago). Her concentration is amazing (hence the tongue out) and she really gets into it. I am without a doubt lovin' this.

just beautiful

The bride, the tributes, the reunions, the food, the reception hall, the dancing and the fun. Thank you to Jules' and Brian for letting us be apart of your very special day, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Stew and I were able to stay overnight (alone!) for the first time since Anna was born and we both agree that we need to do it again, this time for two nights. Special thanks to my parents, Gilly and Jay for watching Anna. Especially when they got Anna to sleep through the night.

The views on our way to and from the wedding were amazing, wanted to capture some of the trees at the farm since we've been here last - the fall season is definitely in full swing, we are going to get out and enjoy it this week, stay tuned for more.