My hubby and I decided to host a small dinner for his family at our place this past Thanksgiving weekend. A few months back I had won a turkey through work (random, I know) and had stowed it away in the freezer for safe keeping. Both my husband and I have never prepared a turkey before so we figured a free one was a good place for us to learn, as there was no loss if it didn’t work out! While my hubby managed the turkey (and most of the cooking I might add) I got to work on creating the perfect Thanksgiving tablescape.
Author: Arlynn Wiebe
Pumpkin Pancakes
On the weekends I tend to indulge in “bigger”, sweeter breakfasts and I always make them from scratch. So when I decided to do all things pumpkin a few Octobers ago, I searched the internet for a pumpkin pancake recipe. I came across this one and have been making it at least once each October for the past few years. It combines the perfect amount of pumpkin flavour with all the festive fall spices. It’s so simple to make and such a hit!
Baby Girl Fall Favourites
Fall is my absolute favourite time of year to shop for clothing. As the temperatures change and the leaves turn, I gravitate to the beauty of the indoors to purchase chunky knits, large scarves and layers upon layers which make my heart sing and my wallet empty! This year having a little a girl to shop for has given me a whole new reason to be excited about fall shopping, and has really cut down my own personal shopping (baby clothes are just so much more fun to buy, aren’t they?). Even better is that Emsley is finally starting to fit into 0-3 month clothing which is very exciting as it has opened up a whole new shopping world for this momma! Here are a few of my favourite fall items that I have purchased for her so far!
The Truth About Breastfeeding: Part 2
When I first arrived home from the hospital with Emsley I was struggling with the whole concept of breastfeeding as well as the incredible amounts of pain that was associated with it, (see The Truth About Breastfeeding part one if you haven’t already read it). Within a few days of being home, a large, hard mass formed in my right breast and I soon learnt that I had developed a plugged duct. My right breast felt as though it was engorged again; hard and uncomfortable as well as extremely painful. A day after I noticed the lump, I also started to experience some minor flu like symptoms. I felt achy, sore and just “off”. I also didn’t have as much energy as I normally did. Despite feeling unusually yucky, I chalked it all up to the fact that I had just given birth, not realizing at that time that it was connected to the plugged duct.
2 Months Old
Our little pumpkin was 2 months old yesterday! Some days it feels like just yesterday that we came home from the hospital whereas other days it feels like we have been doing this for a long time (mostly when we are experiencing the 3am fussiness after feedings!). Yes, that’s right; to all of you that absolutely hated us after reading our 1 month update we have now officially lost a few night’s sleep. But perhaps to your dismay it’s only been a FEW nights. Our babe is still an amazing sleeper overall and on average we are still stretching 6 hours between feedings each night. Typically we feed her around 11 pm and she doesn’t wake up until somewhere between 5-7 am, which makes mommy very happy. It also makes mommy even happier when she falls back asleep for at least another 4 hours! She feeds anywhere between 3 to 5 hours in the day but is still usually more consistent with the 3 hour mark.
Baby Girl’s Baby Shower
Last Sunday my mother hosted Emsley’s baby shower at our place. It was wonderful to be able to have both of our families and a few close friends gather and celebrate the arrival of our sweet girl. As the guests arrived my little pumpkin cried her head off upstairs as mommy attempted to get dressed. The song “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to” played in my head as I tried my best to calm her down. (Hard to take her seriously in her cute tutu dress). However, enter the boppy, aka soother and our girl was good to go!
Baby Must Haves
Well it’s been just over 8 weeks since my baby girl made her grand entrance into this world which I feel has given me plenty of time to use all the fun and much needed baby products that I had collected over my 38 weeks of pregnancy. I’ve decided to share some of my favourite items that have made my life easier and have served great purpose for baby Emsley and I.
Newborn Photos
A few weeks ago when our daughter was only one week old, my brother was able to come into town for a few days to meet his niece for the first time. While visiting with us he snapped a few pictures of our sweet girl and our little family of 3. These pictures are incredibly special to me as she will only be this tiny for a short amount of time. I can already see so much growth in her today compared to when these were taken. I know that we will cherish these pictures for years to come and I am so grateful to have family who was able to do this for us.
A Floral Nursery
Before we even began trying for a baby I was already dreaming of decorating a nursery for our future little guy or gal. We of course didn’t care what the gender was as all we wanted was for our baby to be healthy, but I myself am quite the girlie girl and was not so secretly hoping for a little girl! I’ve had my eye on this Anthropologie peony wallpaper since I caught sight of it on Pinterest and Instagram almost 2 years ago. Each time I saw it pop up I would save the picture or pin it, in hopes of getting the chance to use it one day for my own baby girl.
When we found out we were expecting I created 3 inspiration boards, one for both genders as well as a gender neutral one in case we chose not to find out the sex. Before becoming pregnant I often thought I would have a boy first, but once I became pregnant I instantly had a feeling that I was carrying a girl. My hubby and I couldn’t resist knowing the gender and so we made the decision at 20 weeks to find out. Once we knew it was a girl I was off and running to create a peony wallpaper inspired nursery filled with coral and mint for both my future babe and I to enjoy. I instantly knew I wanted to use the Anthropologie wallpaper but was fearful it would be overpowering so I opted to do only one feature wall of it behind the crib. I kept everything else in the room fairly neutral in order to let the wallpaper really be the star of the show. I then of course added my touches of gold, which were perfectly appropriate for a baby girl and are carried throughout the rest of our home.
I absolutely love home decor and have always enjoyed decorating our homes, but creating this room in preparation for our babe was even more special! Every item was picked with care and each print and saying was designed with love. I am so happy with how it came together; it’s the perfect mix of white and gold with a little splash of colour. I enjoyed this process so much that I am truly sad it’s over and am already looking forward to doing it all over again for baby #2!
DIY Age Blocks
I was tempted to purchase age blocks from Indigo for $45.00 to document Emsley’s growth this upcoming year but instead decided to get crafty and make my own as I didn’t love the colors being sold and already had a lot of the necessary supplies! Also, who doesn’t like to get crafty?!
Here’s what was needed:
- 1 ¾” min. width wood, 10″ in length (saw required to cut to sizes)
- Sandpaper
- White paint
- Paint brush or sponge
- Number/letter stickers – 2 packs
- Mod Podge (Matte finish)
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