A Year Ago Today

It is hard to believe that a year ago today Sam, Jasmine, Mr. Tinks and I moved our lives down to Santa Monica. I can remember it so clearly, it was raining of course and I was feeling my heart breaking in the taxi on the way to the airport as I left my home and at the same time feeling totally excited about what lay ahead. When I think back to all that has happened in this past year between living in corporate housing, waiting months for our furniture, selling our first home to finding out mini coops was on the way, it makes my head spin a little.

In some ways this has been the most difficult and challenging year of my life. Leaving home, being new, is never easy and I have sooo much more understanding and empathy for those who do it. It is hard to be away from the people closest to you, those you love and what you know. On the other hand it is truly an adventure, an exploration of new things, new sights, new places and an opening of your eyes to a whole new way of life and the beauty and excitement of another great city. For Sam and I more then anything it has taught us to lean on each other, that it is our life as the two of us now (almost 3) and it is up to us to make our own memories, our traditions, our adventures and to make the most of all life's experiences, even when it's not always easy.

In lieu of American Thanksgiving coming up I feel I have a lot to be so very thankful for over this past year. When I imagined what my life would look like a year from the date we moved I think I imagined it differently, but like all good things in my life most of it hasn't happened how I 'imagined' it would - it has been better. I am thankful to God for being with us every step up of the way and for this opportunity to grow and to experience life in a whole new way and most of all I am thankful that His plans for my life are bigger and better then what I can imagine for myself and the peace that gives me in not needing to have it all figured out and of course for giving me the best husband ever to go through it all with :)

 My Santa Monica

sunshine-sea breeze-diversity-new relationships-opportunity-health-adventure-exploration-white sand- strand bike rides-mountains-deserts-lakes-ocean-trails-concrete jungle-warmth-friendliness-Farmer's market-community-good eats-palm trees-busy-on the go-small living-big city-style-excitement-activity-challenging-fun-newness-pushing myself-experiences-letting go-

salt in the air sand in my hair...happy one year SM here is to the next!!!

Where did October go??!.....

I actually mean it, where did October go?! I cannot believe it is already November on Friday!! What a busy month this has been. We had an absolutely wonderful visit home to Vancouver for Canadian Thanksgiving, which seems like such a long time ago already! It was so great to be in my homeland :) and to be around friends and family. We totally lucked out with having the most amazing weather while we were back, not one day of rain, every day was sunny and crisp, just like all those perfect BC fall days I know and love. It is always a little bittersweet visiting because it still feels like home to both Sam and I...but not because our day to day lives aren't there anymore, very strange feeling. Thanks so much to all our many friends who made such an effort to see us while we were back, it means so much to both of us!! I don't know if it was all the turkey or the White Spot I consumed or if Baby Coops just decided to grow a ton that week but there was a noticeable change in the bump from the beginning of trip to the end, probably a little bit of both ;)

 

 My mom LOVES that Sam has become our families official turkey man

 Beautiful White Rock Beach

 

 Since we have been back in Cali things seem to have been busy. Sam is getting ready for the launch of the game he works on which happens sometime next week, and we both have been doing a lot with iEmpathize which is the non profit we help out with and love doing, and of course as always baby, baby, baby :)

 

Baby Coops is just over 2 lbs, crazy, and I am growing everyday it seems. Sam and I randomly went to a parenting session at our church because we thought it couldn't hurt...we left a little scared haha, not really but it was quite funny hearing what the speaker had to say and what other parents shared, raising a little person is no small task! Other than that our crib arrived and Sam put it together last weekend, very exciting and we love it. We also got a chest of drawers from a store here in LA called Nadeau-Furniture with Soul, which is perfect because this is just the kind of store I have been searching for since we moved. The furniture has a slightly antique/distressed look to it and tons of character for a reasonable price. The cats were freaking out with the arrival of all this new gear, they got all excited climbing over everything acting like it was the best day of their lives, the other day I actually found Jasmine in our closet tucked under the blanket in baby boys car seat, sigh, those two have a lot of change coming their way.

 

Ok I just realized brunette is only for girls, sorry baby boy...lets re-phrase blond or brown hair?

 

What an allstar, crib is all put together!! We are total keeners!

 

Nadeau dresser/change table

 

Slowly but surely baby stuff seems to be coming together, and I must announce I have officially made my most AMAZING craigslist purchase ever. Now I am not usually a craigslister but every mom and friend of mine with kids I talk to tells me about all these steals they find. It started off shakey for me with a lot of crap and flakey scammers, but I finally scored and got the exact swing, bouncer, playmat and bumbo off my list almost all brand new and perfect condition!!! All of this was well under half of what it cost brand new and I am pretty proud of myself, and had to brag about my craiglist allstar moment. Seriously I mean, I got the baby einstein neptune ocean adventure mat which costs $60 brand new, totally criminal, for $15...boooo yaaaa :)

 

Sam and the cats checking out the goods - I think he loves me more when I save us money ;)

Almost 23 Weeks!!

Well in one more day I will be 23 weeks and officially six months!! This will be the last month of my 2nd trimester, which is a little bit freaky, not quite sure where the past six months went??...I am still feeling good, but definitely more and more pregnant, having moments of discomfort where I feel like everything inside me is being squished together and noticing I have to take it easy more often then before. All in all though I am doing great and getting more and more excited about meeting our little guy soon! I know the next few months are going to fly by with thanksgiving and then Christmas, Mini Coops will be here before we know it. 

* Note my tribute to the Vancouver Canucks the night they smoked the Edmonton Oilers!!!

 Sam and I are going home to Vancouver tomorrow for a week so we can be there for Canadian Thanksgiving :) Sooooooooooooo excited!! Bring on the cozy sweaters, scarfs, boots and crisp fall days, even some rain I don't care I am just looking forward to being home. This is one of my favorite times of year (besides Christmas) in BC and I have missed it terribly. It is definitely an adjustment living in California without the seasons, it just seems wrong. We are currently having a heatwave and it has been the warmest month all year, warmer then our summer. So our apartment is decked out with pumpkins, fall decorations and yummy smelling candles to help with the illusion of fall, but I haven't bought a real pumpkin yet because I think if I put it out on our deck it will rot from the heat :p Baby boy and I are both looking forward to some Thanksgiving treats while I am back, some pumpkin flavored desserts, turkey, stuffing Mmmmm. 

Lately I have been a bit of a psychotic nesting pregnant women. This past weekend Sam and I dedicated our Saturday to going through the closet in the future babies room. Up until now it has served as a bit of a scary storage closet that has been on the 'to do' list to go through and organize since our move. Living in a smaller space can have its challenges and it all comes down to organization to makes things run smoothly. One thing I love is when I can finally get Sam started on a project, he gets so into it and becomes this master organizing worker bee, which is great for me :) 

* Sam being such a a good husband going through all his crap, I mean things ;) Check out Leo the Lion chair which will grace baby boys room soon, too cute!!

So we were able to tackle the closet and make a ton of space and get rid of a lot. Our second bedroom which has served as spare room, slash tv/video game room is going to become baby boys room. The TV will be moving out and the crib and change table will be moving in! 

I have been obsessing slightly and pinning into oblivion on pinterest my ideas and vision for the nursery until my eyes bleed. Sam and I make a good team in that he is the brakes and reality for me, so when my restoration hardware nursery had to be scaled down a tad...... scratch that, A LOT, I was able to come up with a realistic concept for babies room, compromising on not spending a fortune on furniture but then possibly allowing my restoration bedding..?? My theme for the room is 'calm baby' I am not a fan of loud colours and cheesy prints which can be challenging when looking because that is the majority of what is out there. Though I do want to leave some aspects a surprise we have decided on a Jenny Lind crib which is affordable, has great reviews and will look darling in the room with bedding on it. I would love to find some unique piece for the dresser/change table which I am currently on the look out for, but if I can't find anything suitable we may just go with the Ikea hemnes dresser and jazz it up with some personalized hardware. Lastly I am so excited to have some floating book shelves to display favorite books and change it up seasonally. My mom said when I was little she used to open the books up in my room and leave them on the floor so I could crawl up and read them. I so want baby boy to be a reader that will fuel a creative and fun imagination so I love this idea of having his books accessible and on display.

* The Jenny Lind Crib, looks a little stark on its own but with bedding looks fantastic

 *Floating bookshelf example....LOVE

* I am really loving banners lately and like the idea adding some colour and interest to the room.

* This is a bit too plain for me, but I like the clean lines and crib, and another example of the floating bookshelf!!