A Yogi's Family, Food, and Photo's

What a summer!!

2011-09-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that its September already?? Seriously where did the summer go. I know I've been a bit busy. On July 27 Leo, my Mom, Donk, and I, loaded up everything we could fit in our little red car and road tripped from Vancouver back to Alberta leaving Talon behind for a month. We actually had a great trip which was surprising with a 10 month old. My mom thinks Leo should be a trucker. As long as she was back there feeding him snacks he was a happy guy buckled up there in his big throne. I'm glad she has such high aspirations for my child;) My mom left me and Leo in Fort Macleod and we had fun for a day at the Orr family reunion. It was great to finally meet some of the cousins I've yet to run into since I"ve joined the family. Since we had so much fun in the car my Mom and Dad picked us up the next day and we drove back to Calgary to "surprise" my sister for her 30th bday. We had a whole day of fun planned to keep her away from the house where the party was, and I kind of thought we had her fooled until she asked me a question and I had to quickly think up a lie ( we were full of lie's that day it was hard to keep the story straight) , and I hesitated and I saw a look in her eye and I knew like only a sister would, that she was onto us. Dang it. We almost had her but she had fun all the same. Back in the car we went and Leo and I and Donk moved in with my parents at the ranch. I honestly could have stayed there another month or two. The weather was amazing, Leo loved being around Grandma and Grandpa and all the cousins, dogs, horses, cows, tractors, the beach. Pretty fun place to spend a beautiful summer. My mom and dad are awesome and helped me out lots. I am not cut out for this single mother thing. 5 weeks is much too long to be without my husband. He's finally home tomorrow and I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight I'm so excited.

I spent a bit of time at the farm in Fort Macleod too and its been great. Nik was here lots with me with both her kids and we had fun hanging out before they left us behind and took off for Texas. Of course they would move as soon as we decided to move back... but at least we'll be here to keep Carmen and Jim company while thery are gone for 6 months. I started working on the house we'll be living in. Its Talon's grandma's house which his grandpa built in 1952. 3 brm 1 bath + library, garage, living, kitchen upstairs. Bath, great room, bdrm, storage, dark room downstairs!! Whoo hoo. I'm not going to know what to do with all the space!!! I was optimistic with my plans and so far its actually exceeding my expectations. I stripped off the lovely peeling wallpaper to find wood paneling underneath. I decided to go with it and paint it off white, going for a country sheik look. Gorgeous hard wood is under all the carpet that Carmen and I tore up and my dad and I spent a day painting and 2 rooms are done. It is looking awesome and I'll be posting before and after pics when I'm all done so you can all see the difference. I'm super excited. I actully LOVE renovating and am pretty obsessed right now with the the house spending hours every night on pinterest getting new ideas for decorating. I'm gonna get crafty crafty so you should all get excited to see it!! I hope it doesn't take me a year to finish everything...lol.

I spent my last week of summer with my sister in Calgary. It is SO AWESOME being close to her and the girls. I always imagined that when we both had kids we would live close and hang out all the time and it was exactly that. Just feels so right being back here I feel so blessed that we were able to move back from Vancouver so quickly and that Talon can work from home now. I'm officially living at the farm now and let me tell you its really different than what I'm used to. Leo and I spent our first day alone in like forever and we were bored. It was cold and rainy and we had to stay inside all day. Time to invest in some warm Alberta clothes so we can get outside. I'll try and post some pics soon of the summer I'm just a bit too lazy tonight to go through them all.

Oh and I've been taking some online classes, learning about photoshop and blogging. Its fun but I've been royaling messing up the look of my blog so sorry. I hope I can figure it out soon and have some fun with it and get things to work instead of looking weird.

Happy long weekend everyone:)

9 months

2011-07-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

I'm loving this age. Watching you learn and have things connect in your brain. You are learning how your toys actually work and remembering things that I teach you. You're flying around the house as fast as you can. Full speed ahead. Standing on your own, today a couple times with no hands. After a month of chewing and drool those 2 top teeth are finally in. You are having a hard time napping these days I think because you are such a busy guy. You and Donk are playing together. He brings his toys over to you and you always play tug o war with him. Even when my back is breaking by the end of the the day how can I say no when you crawl over to me and pull up to standing on my legs and put those little chubby hands up for me to pick you up. You gave up your soother on your own and now your bottle is your best friend. Its pretty cute when you chill out on the floor and have some milk now that you can hold your own bottle. You have no fear as you dive head first of the bed, couch, out of my arms if I'd let you! You had your first shiner and fat lip this week and today have a giant scrape across your cute little nose. Good thing your a tough kid.

8 months and the Beach!!

2011-05-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

Can't believe what a little boy you are turning into. You've been crawling all over the place for a couple weeks now. Gone are the times where I can leave you alone in the middle of the room and come back and you are still there. You take off every chance you get leaving a path of destruction behind. We moved the guitars and stand into our room cause you can't leave them alone and keep pulling yourself up on them so the other day I let you crawl down the hall and you disappeared. I heard you in our room and then heard the guitars all fall over. I went to see what happened and there you were lying on the floor with 3 guitars and the stand on top of you with just your little face just poking out. Not crying or anything. You are such a mellow guy like your dad.

Its pretty cute how you follow me around now everywhere with your best friend Donk. Feel like I have two little dogs sometimes. It melts my heart when you crawl over to my legs and try and pull up and want me to pick you up. Can't say no to that. Find I don't get much done these days. You come over all the time now too and want to sit on our laps and be with us. Love books so much now. Could read them for hours. Life is a lot more busy with you but I loving seeing you grow up, its so fun. Can't wait to see what the next months bring. Oh and you sure loove that soother.

We spent the afternoon at the beach today. These are some of the shots. Trying to get as many beach days in as we can before we're back in Alberta.

Nothing like spring in Vancouver.

2011-05-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

There's nothing quite like spring in Vancouver. I remember my first spring here I couldn't get over the flowers. Every tree and every bush at some point flowers and everything is such a lush green. Lasts for a couple months too, changing from week to week. We can walk the same paths and enjoy the beauty and never seems like the same place. Since this will be our last spring here as we're moving back to AB I thought I'd better get out and take some photo's so I can remember.

I got a new 50mm lens in the states I played around with today. Got some nice close ups I think. I'll take some more landscape shots this week too. So pretty here despite ALL the rain. These were all taken just on our block while I was out walking Donk in the rain.

7 months....

2011-05-05T16:41:00.001-07:00

Ahhhhh.... how is the time going so fast. How is my little man already 7 months old. Its bittersweet. I love how he is changing and learning. He can go from lying on the ground to sitting right up, rolling, almost crawling. He can pretty much get wherever he wants now just at a nice slow pace. He found his tongue last week and can't stop sticking it out, so cute. Trying to pull himself up on everything but isn't quite strong enough. Loves going for walks in the stroller and riding in the shopping cart. Grabbing and shoving everything in his mouth. Still waiting for those 2 top teeth to come in. Wakes up happy every morning and from every nap turning on his mobile and plays in the crib till I come and find him. Sometimes I wonder how long he's been awake. When he's tired he never really gets grumpy just gets crazier and crazier. Its pretty funny. Loves riding on our shoulders and playing in bed with us. He's such a joy in our lives and such a sweet boy. We are so blessed to have Leo in our family.

Toth Family Vacation

2011-05-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend was my cousin Darci's wedding in Portland. Since it's only about 5 hours away we decided to drive down and have a little mini vacation. It was so fun to be their with the new young couple in La la love and share there big day. My Grandma and Aunt Jan were down from AB and cousin Janell so it was fun to see them too. The Portland temple was gorgeous.... made totally of Marble. So grand. It was a fun day.

It was also great to see how Leo would do on his first big road trip and I must say it was a success. He was a champ sleeping great, napping wherever we had him, car, stroller, playpen, crib. Good thing he takes after his Dad and is such a mellow guy. I pretty much planned the rest of the trip around shopping. There is no tax in Oregon and outlet shopping so needless to say I shopped till I dropped. Our car was PACKED on the way home. It was fun fun fun!! I haven't shopped in forever. People in the states have no idea how much cheeper things are down there.... especially compared to us in Vancouver.

We stayed at the Phoenix Inn. Awesome deal. Comfy king size bed, kitchen, pool, amazing breakfast. Seems like its a chain in Oregon and Washington. We were super impressed.

Took Leo swimming for the first time. He kind of liked it but his teeth were chattering, he was a bit cold, so I just took him back upstairs and let him swim in the warm bath.

Leo's new favorite way to travel:) Love my boys.

Warm beet and Toasted walnut salad.

2011-04-14T16:04:00.001-07:00

Mmmmm... I love beets and nuts and salad. So this is one of my favorites and nice and filling too. Thought I'd share the recipe since I know my sister can't wait to try this!!

First roast the beets:

Try and buy beets around the same size. I bought golden and red beets. Wash and dry, then drizzle with olive oil and wrap each one and place in heated 375 oven. Cook anywhere from 20-60 minutes depending on the size. Just poke one with a fork and if its nice and tender its done. Let them cool till you can touch them and the peels should slide right off. Done! I usually cook 2 beets per person.

While the beets are cooking chop up some walnuts. Just pop them in the over after the beets are done for about 3-5 min and they'll be nice and roasted and READY.

Have some nice greens ready on the plate. I added some red pepper today cause I had some. Cut up the beets and add, toss on some nuts. Goat cheese or feta is also delicious but I was out and then drizzle with the dressing and enjoy.

Dressing:
3tbsp olive oil
2tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
Thats enough about 2 salads

Me and My Boys

2011-04-13T15:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry but here's a million photo's of our little family. I had a hard time choosing so I just posted lots. Talon's best friend Kristopher Orr http://blog.kristopherorr.com/ shot our wedding photo's and for Christmas the Toth's got us a session with him again. He always does such an amazing job and now shoots 100% film. The colors are amazing. Thanks Fer!! Best Christmas present ever.... specially when you have to carry it home on a plane:)

Kinda looks like Momma..

2011-04-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

Leo's passport photo 6 months

Me 6 months

We've been working on getting Leo's passport done so we can go to my cousins wedding in Portland the end of the month. I took him to Sears the other day to get his photo done. He'd been sick and had a fever but didn't seem too grumpy so we headed over. I guess you need to have a picture with the mouth shut and Leo was smiling and being so cute for every photo it was hard to get one that would work!! After about 15 min they finally got one that worked and when I saw it I instantly thought he looked so much like me when I was a baby. I went home and dug out this photo and you can tell me what you think.

Now we're laughing

2011-03-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

This morning was total chaos at the Toth house. Started off like any normal morning. Leo woke up and he and I had a cuddle on the couch and watched a show. Then we had breakfast. He chomped down all his food like a champ and then I decided to let him play in his highchair while I went to the washroom. He was happy enough playing with his toys but I decided to try giving him a rice cracker to keep him entertained. He'd never had one before so at least I was smart enough to not just give it to him and leave. He thought it was pretty cool and shoved the whole end in his mouth..... all the way to the back of his throat gagging himself. He starts puking and out comes all of breakfast, all down his front, all over the floor, and all in the highchair. Not a smart move Momma:(. Well I hauled the puke covered Leo down to the bathroom and stripped him down and threw him in the tub. I called for Pops to wake up and come and keep and eye on Leo while I cleaned up the puke. While I was cleaning I heard a commotion coming down the hall. Talon's calling for my help so I go see whats happening. Leo started pooping in the bathtub so Talon pulled him out so he wasn't lying in poop and then he started pooping more all over the bathroom floor. Talon moved him out of the poop and set him down as he proceeded to control the poop situation as Leo start's peeing all over the floor now too. REALLY Leo?!! We both just looked at each other and started laughing. What a gong show. I started a chain reaction of stuff flowing out of our son and a once peaceful morning was over. Its morning's like this that I'm so glad I have a happy helpful hubby who doesn't mind cleaning up poop. No more rice crackers for Leo for a while.

Bliss Balls...

2011-03-27T22:09:00.001-07:00

Mmmmm.... so I really can't stop eating chocolate BUT I've found a healthy alternative that satisfies my cravings, are not too bad for you, and are DELICIOUS. I love them and they are really easy to make.

1 1/2 cups Almonds
1/2 cup Pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup Walnuts
20 pitted dates
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
4 heaping Tbsp cocoa

First Blend up the nuts and dates in a food processor. If you're using a blender I would half the recipe and it will blend better. Pulse until every thing is ground up fine. Add vanilla and honey. Mix some more and then press into balls. Simple. You can play around and use any nuts you want, more or less cocoa(mine are pretty chocolaty), honey, dates, add raisins, cranberries, coconut, you get the drift. Yummy. Hope you try them and see how blissfully delicious they can be.

First Bites..

2011-03-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

Leo was sure ready to eat solids. Right after he turned 4 months I decided to let him try eating some cereal. He's such a big guy and was always hungry so I started with cereal in with his formula for about a week and he seemed fine so I popped him in the bumbo and let him try eating. I've got a hilarious video on my iphone that I'll try and post but I can't figure it out tonight so I've just got some pics. It only took a couple bites before he learned how to swallow and after that he was chowing down. I tried making the cereal runny at first but he likes it nice and thick and its way less messy. Pretty soon he was eating lots of veggies too. Yams and carrots are a fav but he'll still eat peas and kale and beans too. Anything I stick in his mouth he eventually will eat. Here's hoping this means he won't be too picky of an eater. We've been letting him taste lots of stuff to try and get him used to lots of flavors. I think in another month we'll be just grinding up what we're eating and letting him go for it. Man this kid is growing up too fast.

Hair cut...

2011-03-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

Well as you may remember we had a son born with loads of thick black black hair. After Christmas every time I would bath him there was quite a bit of hair in the tub after Leo's bath. I showed it to Talon one day and was sure it was falling out. He didn't think it was and I shouldn't be worried but a couple weeks later Leo turned into a little baldy. He rubbed off the back and sides and then the top was so thin and sparse. I decided it was time for a haircut. Couldn't let a son of mine look so scraggly. I'm happy to say that another month has gone by since then and is all grown back in. Not so black this time but still nice and thick.

Those were a couple before shots. So thin on top!!

He didn't mind the clippers at all.

Another Month...

2011-03-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

Wow another month has just flown by. Its crazy I swear life just keeps going by faster and faster. In Feb we had my mom visit, Talon's mom, and then Talon's brother Jared and wife Lindsay. It was AWESOME having lots of visitors and we had lots of fun. Love it when we get to see our family so much. It sure gets lonely out here sometimes. Its still winter. We actually got snow when Carmen was here but I see buds on the tree's and Daffodils a blooming so I'm hoping that spring is just around the corner. I've got a few posts to catch up on. Got to mark those milestones of our little guy.

Just Breathe

2011-02-07T23:06:00.000-08:00

I had an amazing night reconnecting with myself and others at my first yoga class in about 6 months. I have been doing my own practice but it is just not the same as sharing a space, uniting yourselves in breath and pose. You feel so calm and quiet yet so supported and connected with others that you don't even know.

I just love to close my eyes and hear the rhythm of my breath. The deep inhale filling my lungs and pulsing through the rest of my body. Bringing in goodness and life, and then the exhale releasing and purging. Then they rhythm of breath and pose, linking the body and breath as one, moving through sequences with grace and strength. I've forgotten the feeling and have missed it.

I feel good and strong. I feel calm and at peace. Tonight I will sleep well with a smile on my lips. Tomorrow I hope I can pick up my baby..... my arms are going to be sore.

namaste and good night

Glad our baby is tough

2011-01-31T10:52:00.000-08:00

Well after a near mishap with the dresser on my part, on Saturday I hear screaming from the bedroom while Talon is changing Leo's diaper. He just leaned over to put the diaper in the genie and Leo rolled again, this time right into the crack of the wall and the dresser. He didn't fall far but was stuck and scared, screaming bloody murder. I thought he'd fallen all the way to the floor this time but was actually kind of relieved that he had only gotten stuck and was ok. I don't know what I would ever do if this little guy got hurt. I'm sure it will happen one day as things do with little crazy boys. I think we won't be changing Leo on the dresser anymore.

I just have to write this story down too so we don't forget even though I remind Talon of it quite a bit. When we flew back to Alberta for Christmas we were at the airport in Vancouver. We made it through security with our dog and baby and stuff (we had quite the load), and were trying to find some seats to wait for our flight. Talon was carrying Leo in his car seat and we hadn't buckled him in after we went through security. The seat is really heavy with our giant baby and the base attached so he set it down for a minute and didn't really watch what he was doing. He thought he had set it down flat but it was actually kind of sideways and the car seat tipped over on the floor dumping Leo right out and the car seat right on top of him. There were lots of people around and this man yells out to me, " He dropped your baby!!" I run over of course as Talon's response time to emergency's is at a much slower pace than mine and grabbed Leo. He was totally fine not even crying but by then half the airport was staring at the father that dropped his baby. Hahha... it was pretty funny. Glad Leo's a tough little guy.

4 months

2011-01-28T14:01:00.000-08:00

My little guy is already 4 months old.... and about 18 pounds. Its hard to believe time is really flying by. Every month is getting better and better for me. I love watching Leo grow and learn.

You love blowing bubbles with your mouth and screeching with joy when you are happy. You can play with toys now and have fun in your bouncy chair and play mat. You're sitting up in the pink bumbo chair looking around and eating rice cereal yesterday and love it. You just lye there and are so quiet when Dad plays the guitar for you as you watch so closely how his hands move around. You hold onto Mom's hair and she feels like Rapunzel whenever she picks you up or goes to lye you down. You love the bath and kick and scream. We sleep trained you the other night and you only cried for 10 minutes the first night and didn't even cry the next. You are seriously the easiest baby always laughing and smiling.

You started loosing all of your thick black hair and now its pretty much gone. I'm pretty sad about it but I'm sure it will grow back. When you were about a month old you were screaming a sound I had never heard before and sounded like you were hurt. I looked and you had your fingers wrapped up in your long hair and you were pulling it and didn't know how to let go. It was pretty cute actually and you stopped right away after I untangled it from your strong grip.

We had a photo shoot the other morning... Shortly after this photo Leo rolled right off the dresser. Luckily I have reflexes like a cat and caught him before he hit the ground. Lucky mom should be more careful. I love you Leo you're such a special little guy.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-20T11:04:00.001-08:00

We had an amazing Christmas back in AB with our families. Grandma bought this hat for Leo and it was too small for his giant head so we propped it on for a photo anyway.

Leo had his first plane ride an did amazing. Slept right through the landing.

We were asked to be Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus in the Mountain View school Christmas program. When I was going to school there from grade 1-9 we didn't hardly have class in December because we were getting ready for the program. Learning songs, lines, making costumes and sets. It was pretty legendary so to get to be in it again was fun and I thought it could be a cool memory for Leo.

We spent Christmas morning with the Toths and then headed to the ranch boxing day. We had a good visit with everyone and were so happy Leo finally got to meet the rest of his family.

We loved being home and sure hope we can move back sometime in the future. It was -20 the day we left which made it pretty easy to leave. I'll take a few rainy warm days over freezing cold anytime.

Leo's Blessing Day....

2011-01-20T10:39:00.000-08:00

We decided to wait and bless Leo in church at Fort Macleod so all of our families could be there. It was a really special day. All of my siblings and kids were there and most of Talon's family too. Leo was super handsome and was nice and quite during the blessing and Talon did a great job. I was super proud of my boys and really happy to be home with family.

December 19th, 2010

Creative Christmas...

2011-01-13T21:06:00.000-08:00

I gotta say that I'm pretty proud of a couple of my presents this year and thought I'd share the ideas. My sister in Law had the idea to make a memory card game with pictures of the family but never made it so I stole the idea and put my super creative husband to work. I knew what I wanted the cards to look like so I directed Talon and he made them in about a half hour. Would have taken me weeks I'm sure. I asked all my siblings to send me a head shot of everyone in their family. Talon made the backing and cropped everthing to a 3" x 3" size and I sent it off to the printers. They turned out amazing. I hope all the kids can play the matching game and get to know their cousins who don't live close to them and think about them sometimes..... especially little Leo;)

I had heard of this website called Blurb when I was doing some photography classes and you can make a book out of your pictures. What better present for parents and grandparents than pictures? The site was pretty easy to use and I made a book of pics since we've moved out to the coast.

While I was doing it I decided to make a book for Talon. We were set up by our mutual friend Sarah Low and I was living in Calgary and Talon in Vancouver. We emailed for a couple weeks before we started talking on the phone and then finally met about a month after we started communicating. I had all of our emails saved and always meant to print them out so I cut and pasted them into a book with a bunch of pics from that summer we dated. It turned out super awesome and was really fun to read all 53 pages of emails. Kinda made me fall in love all over again. It was a pretty crazy romantic summer.

http://www.blurb.com/

Here's the site. They are hard cover and the pictures are great. Only took about a week to get them too at Christmas. This is the first Christmas ever that I have been creative. We'll see if I get any ideas for next year or if this is just a one time thing!!

Talon's Birthday.

2011-01-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

I'm a bit behind after the holiday so there might be a few posts over the next couple days:) It was Talon's birthday back on Dec 13. Birthdays are not as big a deal in his family as they are in mine. My mom would make such a fuss over us and we had the best parties every single year. Always a big day and we all felt the love. Talon's birthday being in Dec often was just a busy time of year. He doesn't remember really having many parties. So I've tried to make a fuss over him. This year I thought what does my husband like to do? Play video games? So I got a bunch of guys together and suprised him with a guys video game night down at the school that he works at. He was super happy and so were the other guys. The next day was his actual party and I had a few of our good friends over for a waffle party. It was delicious with cream cheese whip cream and of course his annual ice cream cake. Oh and I got him a new tiny ipod nano which he can clip on his shirt and listen to almost 24 hours a day. Don't know if I love that so much but he does so I'm happy. He had a great weekend and was a happy birthday boy. This is what he posted on FB after which made me smile.... " super thanks goes to my perfect wife for an awesome birthday." Glad you had a great one babe you deserve it.

Forgot to take a pic of him and the cake... but this is a rice crispy motorcycle with Talon riding made for his birthday by Lincon Chan.

A new year.

2011-01-04T08:54:00.000-08:00

I'm always happy at the beginning of a new year. New beginnings. A time to reflect. I always look at the past year and hope that I'm progressing, that I'm learning, and growing from one year to the next. I think my lesson of last year was patience. I am a very active person and being pregnant was sure a lesson in patience. Not being physically able to do a lot of the things I was used to doing for 9 months and then Leo was 9 days overdue. Then a really hard birth added another 3 months to that and now I think my body is almost ready to become active again.

Since moving to Vancouver I've started teaching Yoga. The way I feel when I do it is something I want to share with everyone. The strength and lightness, the balance and stillness. Being quiet and focusing on your breath. Spending some time just with yourself. Its important to treat your body and mind to some quiet and I'm excited to be starting my practice up again. Talon is getting up in the mornings with me. I hope it will help him to have a bit more energy and fix the pain he is feeling from sitting in front of a computer all day. It is amazing the changes proper alignment will do to your body.

Its hard to get out to classes all the time so if you're at home and want to try some different classes here's a great website to try. It has all different levels and styles of yoga. Something for everyone.

http://www.yogaglo.com/

namaste

It's almost Christmas!!!!!

2010-12-12T23:53:00.001-08:00

Well I have to admit I'm extra excited about Christmas this year. Not just cause its my first Christmas as a mom but that all of the family gets to finally meet Leo. He's such a great little guy I can't wait to share his smiles and cuddles with everyone back in Alberta!!

Only 3 sleeps and we'll be on our way there. I finished my last Christmas project tonight and I can't wait for everyone to get their presents this year. I've had some time to do some fun stuff and I'll be sure to post some pics once everyone has the presents. Can't spoil the surprise yet!

Leo and I had a photoshoot the other day in a little man outfit and these are some of the pics. I think he looks pretty handsome.

Enjoy!!

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas where ever you are.

Lots of Love!!

JT

Winter Visit...

2010-11-23T15:55:00.000-08:00

Time is flying by and I feel like my little man is growing up to fast. I love how you arch your back and purse your lips as you're waking up. I love how you grunt and start munching and wiggle your head back and forth right before I feed you. I love your big smiles and wide mouth laughs, your handsome face and your chubby little legs. I could just watch you all day and my heart always melts. I love my baby Leo.

I started working last week and I've been busy, had a client everyday. I thought I might regret working so quickly but its been great. Its kind of nice to have a visitor every day so I'm not totally alone. I've finally gotten out of my pajama's and put on makeup! I've been able to schedule Leo with feeding and napping just fine and I wasn't to tired by the end of the week at all. Nice to be making some mad cash before Christmas too!!

Talon's brother Jared and wife Lindsay and there kids Jacob and Abby came down from Northern BC on the weekend to meet Leo. We had a fun day with them. Even though it was so cold we went down to the beach so the kids could run and play with Donk. He just loves playing with kids and they loved playing with him. I can't wait till he and Leo can run and play together. Lindsay was nice enough to take some family pictures for us. That's the problem with my new hobby is that I'm always behind the camera instead of in front of it. They turned out great and Leo of course was happy even in the cold weather.

Thanks so much guys for coming to visit us!!

Halloween!!!

2010-11-02T15:09:00.000-07:00

Well another week has gone by and it was Halloween. I probably wouldn't have gotten around to buying or making Leo a costume this year but Talon's super awesome sister Nik sent us out this awesome Dragon costume!! It's for a 6 month old but of course fit Leo great and he looked super cute. We went up to a party at our church and took him trick or treating.... or maybe just showed him off:)

This is Cooper... Leo's new BFF. He's 2 month's older than Leo and the only other boy that we know that will be born this year in Vancouver. Hopefully these two won't get into too much trouble together.

We carved a pumkin... lit it up. Took some pics, and then I made him into soup. Yum!!

Janell and Ben came over from Victoria and spent the weekend. Janell had some good cuddles with Leo and Ben kept Donk entertained all weekend. He needed some extra attention and sure got it as well as lots of popcorn, walks, wrestling matches. He was one happy pup. We had a great visit and are sure happy to have some family out here:)

3 Weeks Old.

2010-10-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

We'll we are home and happy with our son. I'm so happy to not be pregnant anymore and to be feeling much better after giving birth to an almost 11 pound boy. I kind of felt like I was in the twilight zone after 31 hours of labor and then after expecting a girl for 9 months having this giant boy plopped on my chest. I am in love with him and you'll see why. Such a handsome guy and such a good boy. He really just eats and eats and eats and then sleeps. He eats a lot but is trying to keep up his chubby physique. So here's some pics I took yesterday. I'll try and do weekly pics for everyone back in Alberta (mostly for my mom). Can't wait for you all to meet him!!

Sock Owls...

2010-09-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

Well I'm almost a week overdue to have our baby. Its been a tough week but I'm trying to stay busy and positive and enjoy the time I have to myself right now because soon I will be wishing for weeks like these. I haven't been able to find moblie for baby "S"'s crib and was looking online and found this. A pattern for sock owls and decided this might just be the perfect way for me to keep my feet up and keep from going crazy. It was actually a lot of fun. I was pretty excited every day about my new owl, finding it easier with every one.

I think they turned out pretty cute. So now I'm done.... and the room is done..... and I'm all packed. Come on little one. Don't get to comfy in there... its time to come out!!

Beach Day in May??

2010-05-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

Spent our first REAL day at the on Friday. A beach day in May?? This is something that a girl raised in Alberta can hardly believe and is thoroughly enjoying. Can winter really be over?? I asked Talon the other day if the weather was going to stay like this.... "pretty much till the end of October." I bought myself a new lens as an early birthday present. Decided I needed something with a bit more zoom so I picked up a Canon 24-135mm off of Craigs list for almost half price. Not my dream lens but it will be nice to have something else to play with for the rest of the summer. Got a remote too..... maybe its time to take a few belly shots when I've got some time to play around.

Plants and flowers...

2010-04-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

I had a really great day at the Bloedel Conservatory in downtown Vancouver. I had heard about it in one of my photography classes. They might be shutting it down due to budget cuts so I got together with my friend Naomi and we went and shot some photo's. It was a beautiful place full of birds and flowers and every plant imaginable. I don't know what they'll do with all those plants if it shuts down. Here's some of my favorites from the day.

15 weeks....

2010-03-28T16:58:00.000-07:00

Ok... the tiredness is over and I've got no more excuses. I'm 15 almost 16 weeks pregant and feeling fabulous. I've been to tired and busy these past couple months to update the blog and every week I swear its already Friday again!! Can't believe how fast time is passing. I'm going to have a newborn before you know it.

So our official due date is Sept 23. Every time we have an ultrasound they keep moving it up which is ok by me. I'm excited to have a baby but pregancy..... hmmm, not really loving it. I'm not even that sick or anything but right now I just feel like I'm getting bigger and bigger. Can't wait to feel that baby move so this all seem a bit more real. We have two amazing midwife's out here that are taking great care of us. They call to see how I am and have appointments every month. Everything is right on track so we feel blessed. Can't wait till 20 wks so we can finally see if its a boy or a girl. Talon and I both kinda want to have a boy first but I kinda think its a girl. Either is great I just want to start planning and SHOPPING. That will be fun. I 've been buying other people baby stuff for so many years I can't wait to buy it for my own little one.

I've been busy working and teaching Yoga. I've started my Anusara training which will go on for the next year. I have a 5 day workshop every 2 months and then I'll be a Anusara Inspired teacher. It's a new style of Yoga that is really simple yet effective and used a lot in helping people with injury's. I love learning about the body and how it works together and I'm excited to have this experience. I didn't realize the amount of homework I would have though.... we get assignments every week in between immersions, I should probably be finishing that right now...

Life is good on the coast. Spring is here... the flowers have been blooming for a month and the tree's should have full leaves by the end of the week. Best winter of my life. I miss everyone back home and its a lot worse now that I'm pregnant. Its going to be hard to have our family out here but I know that this is where we are supposed to be right now.

I'm to lazy today to upload pics but I have lots so I'll do a picture blog later this week.

Lots Of LOVE!!

Christmas Time is Over....

2010-01-16T11:22:00.000-08:00

We had an amazing Christmas back home in Alberta. It was crazy and so much fun. We flew into Calgary and stayed at my sister's house. I got to spend lots of time with her and the girls. I miss them the most out here and its going to be hard raising our kids apart. Her girls are so fun and sweet. I really loved staying with them. Every day that I was in Calgary I had lunch dates, dinner plans, snowboarding, dog walks. It was fun catching up with all of my friends. Then Talon's mom drove up and picked us up and off we went to the farm. It was chilly but so nice to be home. We had Christmas a day early at the Toth's and then off we went to the ranch. It was the first Christmas in a long time that all of my siblings were home. It was amazing and so fun to have Brad and Kay drive up from Utah at the last minute. The house was crazy and packed with kids and dogs and cats but was so fun to have everyone there for Christmas. I feel so blessed for my amazing family's and to be able to jump on a plane and in an hour come home. Lots of pics to look at.... sorry but I just love them all.

Happy New Year!!

Princess Bambi and the Hound.

2010-01-16T10:48:00.000-08:00

As many of you know I have a love for animals. I have always had at least one pet my whole life so luckily I married a guy who doesn't mind a few animals tearing around our house. I've had Bambi now for almost 6 years and she's quite the princess. She drinks by dipping her paw in the bowl and licking it off, its pretty cute and she's in love with Talon. She seriously loves him more than me and he loves it. Donk is our new little hound dog. He's a Dachshund crossed with a Boston Terrier and he's such a good pup. He so friendly and easy to train. We are so happy we picked such a good pup.

Visit Home to Alberta

2009-10-04T16:36:00.000-07:00

Well it was a whirlwind of weekend but it was so great to go home. I know no matter where Talon and I end up we will always be able to come home to our parents places. You can take the girl out of the country but you can't ever take the country out of the girl.

Talon's parents picked us up at the airport and we went out for dinner with Chris and Nic and then off to the farm. It was a beautiful sunny day there with barely enough wind to go play with the new trick kite that Jim bought. My mom drove up that night to pic me up and off to the ranch we went.

I got up early to see my brother shoot a bear from his new house while Christina, Janell, and I were doing yoga out on there new patio. The two really didn't fit but I was happy the girls would let me practise my teaching skills on them and we could enjoy the beautiful view. My husband showed up that afternoon and we enjoyed a great horseback ride on the new horses with Jason, almost got blown away trying to fly the kite, and had fun with the kids, kitten, Grandma. Always so much going on at the Ranch.

Off to Calgary we went the next morning for Emmerson's blessing. It was a great day again with family and we were so happy we could be there for her big day. She sure has grown since I saw her last and has such a sweet little disposition and lots of smiles for her Auntie.

I stayed up in Calgary the next 2 days with my sister. I had such a great time hangin out with her and her adorable girls. Mckenna is becoming quite the ham. She's so hilarious all the things that come out of her mouth. She's a funny fun kid. I had lots of errands to do as we signed the papers on the sale of out condo this trip too. Lawyers, accountants, banks, condo managers. Every hour of my visit was busy but I did manage a dinner with my two best girls Kat and Sara and Mercado(YUM), crave cupcakes(no trip to calgary is complete without) and a little shoping at my favorite store Purr complements of Talon's visa:)

This is Talon and I right after we signed the papers. We are SO HAPPY our condo is sold. Everything worked out so great with the timing of the sale as we had this trip already booked for the blessing. We are so grateful everything has worked out for us in Vancouver and we love it here but there is truly no place like home.

Super Duper Happy!!

2009-09-19T09:15:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah... I forgot to mention the PUPPY!! It only took me 5 days to talk Talon into getting me this puppy. I do spend a lot of time by myself out here and am super excited to have a new buddy to come on my adventures with me. He's a dachshund boston terrier cross. I've never seen a dog like him. He'll grow up to be about 10 pound and will look like a little lab. We are both pretty excited and I think a dog will fit perfectly in with our new lifestyle. We will get him on Oct 2 so I'm sure you'll see more pics then. His name is Donkey Kong. We'll call him Donk.

2009-09-19T08:35:00.000-07:00

We are really loving living in Vancouver. It's just been amazing how everything has worked out for us here and I feel greatfull every day for that. I do miss my family and friends but I don't miss Calgary and work. I had a great month off discovering the city and area. We are living in North Vancouver and great. We can ride a ferrie into downtown that's only 3 blocks from our house. Its pretty amazing to be able to ride our bikes to the beach and then be able to go hike up a mountain the same afternoon. There's ton's of mountain biking trails and I'm super excited to try out the 3 ski hills that are only about 15 min away from our house? I can see why Talon liked living out here.
Talon's job couldn't be better. He works at a 3D production and printing company called Protodemon. http://www.protodemon.com/3D_Model_Prototyping_and_Printing/

He's working with his 2 good buddies from Fort Macleod about 3 blocks from our house in an amazing loft that looks out onto the harbour. They are getting lots of steady work and learning a lot and he says that most of the time he doesn't really feel like he's at work because he loves what he's doing. Him and his buddy Joe have converted a shed in Joe's backyard into a motorcycle shop. Its pretty sweet actually and they spend hours working on bikes. They are almost fininshed with a bike Joe bought a month ago. They pretty much stripped everything off it and rebuilt it. It's looking great. I'm always pretty impressed what they can do. Needless to say Talons a pretty happy boy these days.

I'm currently becoming a Yogi. I'm doing my teacher training and will be finished in October. Its a 5 week course and I will be certified with the Yoga Alliance. Super Exciting. I've done yoga for years and have always wanted to train. I love it so much and just want to keep learning. I have a few people that I already have lined up to come teach in there homes and I hope to get a job at a studio when I'm finished. I have been doing hair out of my house and am actually getting quite busy. Word of mouth is spreading and I have decided that self employment is the way to go right now.

I don't really know if life can get better than this. I'm so happy and content right now. I want for nothing and am so blessed.

Life is just a mirror, and what you see out there, you must first see inside of you. ~Wally ‘Famous’ Amos

Much Better!!

2009-06-28T22:18:00.001-07:00

Okay.... so I think I'm starting to get the hang of this thanks to my super blogging sister!! I was over at her house tonight playing around. We still have some things to figure out but I think it's looking pretty good.

I've had a pretty relaxing weekend which has been so nice. I've been busy getting ready for this move and getting the house ready to be listed that it was nice to not have too much on the go. Talon left on thursday to start his new job. I was excited to have the whole house to myself but the excitement wore off quickly and I found my self missing my hunny. I'm getting more used to being here by myself every day and in only a short month I'll be living in Vancouver too!!

I do have a new man around my house though for the next couple weeks.... Meet my little furry friend Zeus.

Our good friends Alisha and Dave got the cutest little fur baby... and then had to go on vacation so they left him with me and Bambi to keep us company. He's one of the cutest kitties I've ever seen and he's been lots of fun. After a day he and Bambi became good buddies and now are chasing each other all over the house. How come kittens are so cute?

This is my fur baby Bambi. She is very chubby and is quite the princess around our house. I love her lots she's a real sweetheart. She really likes other cats and I'm hoping she'll get some exercise chasing Zeus around for the next 2 weeks!!

Just Starting Up

2009-06-21T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well I've decided to join the blogging world!! I'm still trying to get the layout and everything figured out and will be enlisting my computer genious husband to help me out right away. I find things so much easier if someone can just show me what to do instead of me having to figure it out hours and hours later!!
Talon and I are moving to Vancouver and I hope this helps us to keep in touch with more people while we are away. The condo is listed and Talon leaves in 8 days:( I'm going to be sad but it's only a month and that'll give me lots of time to spend with my family and friends before I can't just see them anytime I want. It's going to be different but we are excited.