Kayla's Visit

I've loved having cousin Kayla with me this week.

We've chatted, caught up on the latest, and laughed about childhood memories.

We've went shopping, sight seeing and did a photo shoot.
It's been a blast and just what the Dr. ordered....I didn't realize how much I miss daily adult social interaction.

I didn't realize how much I miss talking with her on a dialy basis.

And sadly she goes back to Newfoundland tomorrow.
It's been a great visit, lets hope its not as long til we see each other again.

Niagara Falls

Toronto Raptors Game

Some more Raptors game and time with Jesse, Boone and the cousins

Now I'm just waiting for Kenda to visit :)

Just Because - Kayla

Kayla & I grew up next door to each other. She's my cousin but I honestly think of her as a little sister.

This week she's visiting with us because "Auntie" couldn't wait to meet her honourary nephew Jesse.

Kayla is smart, witty and caring and it's these characteristics that make her the perfect candidate to be an elementary school teacher.

Which she will be when she graduates from university next year.

Today we headed out on a typical winter afternoon to shoot this not so typical and oh so awesome "Just Because" session.

We started out at "the olde hide house"

I love old buildings and Kayla rocked it

I have so many favourites

Then we headed to the railroad tracks

And then thanks to the fluffy snow we received yesterday we were able to get these BEAUTIFUL shots!

Kayla you're beautiful and were the perfect model today.

I'm so proud of you,I know your life will be full of success, love and prosperity.

I love you :)

And here's a slideshow with even more of my favourites

Also the winner of the Dirty Dancing - Havana Nights movie is Rae-anne, congrats.
Email me your address so I can pop your prize in the mail.

Candy

Kristen likes candy. No scratch that, Kristen loves candy.

However he doesn't eat it that often.

But under the right circumstances he can be easily lured...for example this past weekend we headed to Niagara Falls to show my cousin (who's like a sister) the sights.

When the lights and colours of Pop & Lolly's caught his attention

Mmmm....look at the candy

Kristen making his purchase....a very expensive one at that I might add.

Tourist attractions should be ashamed for charging so much money for flippin' candy!

But I must say it did make for a colourful photo op :)

And the candy was good too, he was willing to share!

Ice

Winter isn't all bad....

Bumbo

Remember THIS POST about me being an uncool mommy?

Well it appears I have GREAT friends who read my blog.

A fellow mommy and friend read my blog post and said I have a Bumbo you can borrow.

Perfect!! I'll take it.

I'm so happy I was able to borrow it and try Jesse out in it.

See? He's smiling.

But in the world of Jesse he doesn't usually last more than 15-20 minutes in any given toy.

And given his size he won't fit too much longer in this.

I might add it to my wishlist for a future child, but for now this loaner is perfect!

Thanks Tonya!!

Oh and one more of him discovering his feet.

It's a Giveaway!

It's a story about love.

A story about a forbidden love.

It's just not meant to be, yet they fall in love anyway.

They know it won't last but they decide to live in the now, live for the moment and enjoy their time together while they can.

For it's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all, is it not?

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It's a story about dancing.

A story about following your passion.

Who cares what it looks like, dance like no one's watching!

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It's a story about Havana, Cuba

A story about history and the revolution.

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It's a movie called Dirty Dancing - Havana Nights

And I have a DVD to giveaway!!!

Here's how to enter:

Tell me a story...

Tell me a story about love, or your passion, or your favourite trip to Cuba.

I don't care what the story is about, I just want it to be true and heartfelt.

I love reading your comments and learning about who you are and your lives.

This contest will be open until next Monday where myself and a few of my close family members will go through the stories and pick our favourite.

Winner to be announced a week from today, Tuesday - Feb 23rd

Good Luck & Happy Writing :)

Family Day

Wow....how fast does time fly?

I had all these plans of doing a Valentines giveaway on the blog and then before I knew it, Valentines had come and gone and no contest.....boo.

So tomorrow stay tuned for a giveaway....yay!

As for today?

Well today was family day.

Hubby had the day off work so we took Jesse for his first sleigh ride. Lets just say he didn't like it and cried a lot so I won't be posting those pictures.

Daddy ended up taking him out of the sleigh and walking with him.

He was a much happier camper then

Happy Family Day!

Torch Relay - The Journey Home

I've been watching the live torch relay on CTV off and on all morning.

I'm so excited about the Olympics, not only because I love them in general but because they're in Canada this year!

I just love the spirit of the Olympics and how all nations come together with a common mind.

If only we could all get along like this on a regular basis.

When the CTV coverage has shown small snipets of touching moments along the trail I find myself welling up with tears. And I'm sure over the next 14 days I'll be just as emotional.

I remember at a very young age of my Mom turning on CBC for the Olympic coverage. It seemed to be a permanent channel for those two weeks.

I'm so proud to be Canadian and so proud of our athletes.

Jesse & I even had a chance to witness the torch ourselves when it came through our town a couple of months ago

Freezing our butts off but enjoying the moment

Going to the Olympics is definitely on my "Lifes to do" list

If you're interested in the schedule and tonight's opening ceremonies check the official Vancouver 2010 website HERE

Go Canada Go!

The Little Things

I'm on such a restricted diet ....Yet there are certain things that I've had a very difficult time giving up.

My HOT morning coffee is one of them.

So in an effort to not affect Jesse as much as possible I've switched to decafe.

And you might remember THIS POST where I admitted my love for flavoured coffee creamer.

Luckily it doesn't contain milk......go figure.

I won't get into the sugar content.....lol.

It's just one of the little things that make my day happy.

Cows Milk Sensitivity

Wow....its been a hectic few days.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned before that Jesse has a sensitivity to cows milk. Which means I'm not permitted to drink milk and I have to be extra careful with any dairy products that I eat which contains milk.

A couple of weeks ago Kristen and I started Jesse on cereal not realizing it contained milk.

After a very sleepless weekend, I luckily had a pediatrician appointment yesterday to find out we've been feeding Jesse the wrong cereal thus leading to Jesse's fussiness & gas and sleepless nights.

The pediatrician also gave me some hypoallergenic formula to try on him, warning me in advance that it smells bad and tastes bad and Jesse will more than likely not like it.

He was right....last night we tried some of the formula in his cereal and he HATED it. Which meant having to mix his cereal with breast milk.

It's a challenge making sure I have enough milk pumped everyday for his cereal but its worth it when I know it means Jesse not having a bad tummy :(

It also leads to a bigger challenge when it comes time to ween him. That being said IF he absolutely refuses the formula then I will breast feed or at least pump as long as necessary.

However the pediatrician wants me to do this until Jesse is two!....nope I don't think so. However it does mean that Jesse's milk intake has to be this hypoallergenic formula until he's two.

Now I know all of you are going to start suggesting goats milk, soy milk, and lactose free products but the pediatrician STRONGLY advised me to not give Jesse any of this since it does seem he's highly sensitive.

With soy there's a strong chance of cross contamination, and goats milk is no different than cows milk when it comes to the protein aspect.

When he's 12 to 18 months we will be allergy testing him to see if he has other food allergies.

Just keep your fingers crossed that Jesse is with the majority of babies and out grows it!!

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Here's a few photos of Jesse enjoying his cereal....the boy sure has an appetite.....lol

And a couple of him in his exersaucer

Risks Taken & Disappointments

If you follow me on Facebook, you might have noticed on Wednesday my status update was "decisions, decisions"

I was trying to decide if I should submit my name to be a vendor at a wedding show this Sunday at a local, very reputable, golf course.

The lady I spoke with seemed very optimisitc and didn't think it would be a problem and advised me that the girl organizing the event would be out of the office til Friday but would confirm for sure by then.

So I spoke with Kristen, my Mom and a few close friends who all thought I should pay the fee and take the risk.

And I did.....

Since Wednesday in between Jesse time....I've had sleepless nights, computer burnt out eyes, spent money I wouldn't normally have, and had a more than usual dirty house, all in an effort to have my website, portfolio and presentation "just so" for this coming Sunday.

I was terrified but so excited at the same time.

Until today I spoke with the girl who organizes the event. She advised me that she feels the quantity of photographers they have at the show is enough (4) and that adding myself wouldn't be fair.

I understand the reasoning...I do.

But I can't even explain how disappointed I am.

And though I do understand the reasoning, who's to say these photographers are going to get "x" number of bookings anyway?

Who's to say I would have "taken" these bookings from them had I been there?

Though secretly I would certainly hope so :)

Anyway....I just wanted to share as I know this is as real as taking a risk can get.

Do I regret the last 2 days? Nope...I'm already that much further ahead for when I do get into a wedding show. And that much further ahead with some things I've been procrastinating on.

Here's to risks taken, dreams followed and stars wished upon

"I took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference"

~ Robert Frost

Uncool Mommy

I'm a very uncool mommy.

No really I am....I am completely clueless about the new and popular baby items.

There are three things especially that if I had known about them before hand they would have definitely been on my baby shower wishlists :)

First the Bumbo Baby Sitter

I didn't even know these existed until Christmas time when it seemed every baby EXCEPT Jesse received one as a gift.

These are so freakin cute!

I'm so frustrated that I didn't know, if I had known about these one of the gifts we bought Jesse, would have been replaced by this.

Now clueless item #2

The Bundleme

Again if I had known about this product, I would have had this for the day I brought Jesse home from the hospital!!

This is my friends baby....I apologize for the blurriness

But look at how warm and cuddly he looks!

There's all these rules about not wearing snowsuits or thick coats on the baby's in the car seats cause it interferes with the safety belts.

So me being totally uncool & hillbilly, I cart Jesse around in his carseat with uber cool blankets.

One wrapped around him once he's safely strapped in and then a 2nd over the carseat to protect him from the cold & weather.

Again I refuse to buy this one now because Jesse will soon be too big for the infant carseat and I've survived this long I can manage the rest of the winter.

Item #3

Sophie the Giraffe

She is a teether....an expensive $22 teether.

But when I found out about her, I did go buy Jesse this one.

Because Jesse is teething and I had a Babies R Us gift card to use :)

Look how much Jesse loves her!

Chew, chew, chew :)

I just wish someone had told me about these things before hand!

For example, the nursing pillow.

I was told by a couple of girlfriends that I NEEDED this item.

And boy were they right...even now I'm still using it.

So in future...mommies please share your knowledge so clueless, uncool mommies like me can be kept in the loop.

I don't buy things just for the sake of being cool, but these items are actually practical!

I already know that if we are blessed with Baby Hann #2 down the road, baby showers or not I'll be buying those items :)

But then again by that time, there'll be new products and I'll be uncool again....geesh!

Cousin Ken ~ The Funny Guy

Cue Kristen: Husband of Christa Hann

Back story: Kristen downed a trophy buck this year and sent it to a taxidermist since it's a once in a lifetime sort of deal

The trophy buck was ready for presentation on Christmas Eve....yeah of all times!

So the agreement was, Brutis, as Kristen has named him, could stay in the dining room over the Christmas holidays to proudly be displayed for family & friends.

As of today, it's still in my dining room...Grrrr!!

I mean seriously....just look at it, this photo was taken on New Years

It just sits there, looking, watching you.

I have a small house and this thing is so big it literally stretches across the house.

Kristen has to be careful when he stands from the table, so as to not bump his head on "Brutis!"

Then on to part 2 of the story

Cue Cousin Ken: Son of my Dad's sister, my Aunt Betty

The back Story: I'm sure I met cousin Ken as a child but since he grew up "on the mainland" and I grew up "on da' rock" I don't have any memories of him. I only knew 'of' him, Then along came Facebook, cousin Ken and I became friends.

At first I thought Ken was funny. I looked forward to reading his witty status updates.

That was until Christmas time........

That's when he, his wife, and daughter. Along with my Aunt Betty & Uncle Tom came for a visit.

Cousin Ken decided that he liked the deer head in the dining room and him and Kristen immediately formed a bond.

I don't think cousin Ken is funny anymore.

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To add fuel to my fire, cousin Ken often asks Kristen or myself if Brutis is still in the dining room and then continues to encourage Kristen on his quest to keep him there.

If I could lift the darn thing, it would have been off the wall weeks ago and in the basement where it belongs.

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Then there's yesterday....I updated my facebook status as:

"can't think of anything creative to write here"

Where cousin Ken took it upon himself to write the following.....

"How about this..................

I cleaned my entire household,

it's looking rather neat.

But the deer that's in the dining room,

makes my house complete.

That's an orignal Ken poem. You can use it if you like."

My response:

"LMAO!!! That's awesome :) I'm going to use it on my blog this week....!!!"

(give me a break people.....though I'm thoroughly annoyed about the presence of Brutis in my dining room....I have to give the 'funny guy' credit where credit is due)

But to my complete surprise, cousin Ken goes and tops himself by adding to his poem with this:

"You have a blog?!?!?!? Awesome. Here's a second and third verse...

It's not a total deer,

it's just his mounted head.

He lived out in the woods,

'till Kristen shot him dead.

And now he's mounted proudly,

free from all his cares.

If my husband thinks it's staying,

then HE can move downstairs."

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And I say....."Amen to that!!"