What I Wore: Wedding Edition!

So, I had a different post scheduled for today, but just couldn't resist writing this post when Megan from Absolute Mommy posted a Link-up to celebrate her 7th wedding anniversary. 
So, here is my trip down memory lane. I had sooooo much fun at our wedding. Honestly, our vision of a fun party with our family and friends, great food and great music ended up exactly how we envisioned it. We had a rather small budget, so I did a lot of things myself, which ended up being really fun, and I tried to give our wedding a personal touch through those little details. 
All photos are courtesy of the super amazing Kinga of Images By Frost

Dress: Paloma BlancaVeil: unknown...purchased it off Ebay for $10!! Shoes: Nina
Since we met in Thailand, we had our dinner catered by a local Thai restaurant. Oh man, it was so yummy! And Hubby insisted that we have pie at the reception, so we had 9 different flavours of mini-pies! Mmmm...

Ahh! I want to do it all over again! So much fun! 

Happy Anniversary Megan! May your life continue to be filled with love, laughter and adventure! 

9 Months!

At 9 months Peanut:

~ weighs about 20.1 lbs

~ is about 30 inches long

~Has started crawling in full force, very confidently and very swiftly

~Can sit up on his own from a laying down position

~Continues to understand more words and signs everyday, but has not, as yet, signed back or spoke any actual words

~ Still loves to cluck his tongue, and now sticks it out all.the.time

~ Loves food of all kinds. I don't think we have discovered anything he hasn't liked yet. 

~Favourite food at the moment is bananas and cereal puffs

~Claps his hands, which is super adorable 

~Is rather grumbly and growly, carrying on entire monologues with himself

~Uses his feet to pick things up...little monkey

~Loves to play peek-a-boo and to listen to songs that we sing with him

~Favourite books are "That's Not My Penguin" and "That's Not My Baby" (touch-and-feel books) and "Hand Hand Fingers Thumb"

I can't believe he's 9 months old! Time is going by so fast, and he continues to become such a little man. Love him! xoxo

On Becoming a Mom

Becoming a mother is a strange thing. I still don't truly feel that I "am" a mother. I feel I am in a constant state of becoming. Every day I learn new things; new ways to love, new ways to grow. My son is now 9 months old, and he has been around in the real world just as long as he has been around in my body. 
Becoming a mother is the most strange and glorious thing that has ever happened to me. 
It is so strange how much love you can feel for someone you have never met. Someone who doesn't even really exist independently of you at first. No idea if they are a boy or a girl, what they will look like, if they will be healthy, what their personality will be like. It is coupled with the anxiety and the fear of the unknown. It is a strange feeling to be so attached to something so tiny and miraculous, and something which is now so out of your control. 
Then the moment comes when your baby actually breathes. When he is there in front of you, and you embark on the next leg of your amazing journey. All of a sudden there is this new life that you are responsible for. He is small and precious and so incredibly breakable. He relies on you to survive, to give him love, to teach him how to live and learn and grow. It is an unbelievably huge amount of responsibility to lay upon someone. And yet, it is so utterly wonderful that there is no way I could trade it for the world. 
It is impossible to remember my world without him. This was something that crept up on me slowly. It was not like there was an instant switch when he was born. While I was pregnant, it was still so abstract to think of this new life that would be with us soon. After he was born it was so overwhelming. Learning all the things you need to learn in order to care for this new being is all-consuming. Or at least it was for me. I loved him like no other, but he was not entrenched within my life. Within my soul? Yes. Within my heart? Yes. But he was just so new, and the memories of my "old" life were so close. I can't say exactly when this changed. A week? A month? 6 months? But one day I just realized that there was no way I could imagine my life without my son. He is a part of me now; a part of my husband. 
Becoming a mother is a constant struggle. It is hard work. I still have those moments every day when I am amazed that I am actually a Mom. There are nights full of tears, moments of self-doubt, frustrations galore. There are days when I feel like it is impossible, and that things shouldn't be this hard. 
But there are also moments where I feel like my heart will burst with love and happiness. Moments where I look at him and think that there could not be a more perfect being in existence. There are times when my husband and I laugh so hard our tummies hurt at the crazy things he does. We have moments where we are practically exploding with pride and love. 
Becoming a mother is bittersweet. Watching him learn and grow and accomplish amazing things. Watching him discover the world around him and discover all the cool things our bodies can do. Cheering for him as he learns how to sit, how to crawl, how to clap, how to wave. And at the same time feeling the regret that he is growing so fast, and that these moments are passing us by and will never be experienced again. Packing away his little sleepers, his bassinet, his tiny shoes; these are moments that bring tears to your eyes. Tears of happiness and pride for the child he is becoming, and also tears of saying goodbye to the child he once was. 
Becoming a mother is my greatest accomplishment. It is something I long to do again sometime. It is something that I could never imagine not having done. Looking into the eyes of my son, I see what pure love looks like, feel what pure devotion feels like, and know the reason for my existence. 
Becoming. Evolving. Emerging. Growing. Transforming. 
As I watch him accomplish these feats, so do I become a mother. 

Nursery Art Giveaway From Printed Inc.!!

It has been an age since I've had a giveaway on the blog. Well, the time has come! And the only thing that I am upset about is that I can't enter to win...I seriously have a huge crush on some of these prints! 
Tracy from Printed Inc. is being super generous and is giving away 2 prints from her Etsy shop! These would be adorable in a nursery! 

These are 3 separate prints. Winner gets to choose 1!

                     

These are 3 separate prints. Winner gets to choose 1!

This giraffe print makes we want to die of cuteness. And she's got some awesome prints that would be great for weddings or for around the house...you really must check out her shop. 
Head on over and show her some love! 
Printed Inc. on Etsy
2 winners will each receive your choice of one of the above 8x10 prints from Tracy's shop! To enter, head on over to Printed Inc. and let me know which print in her shop is your favourite. Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget. Thanks, and good luck! (I'm trying to withhold my jealousy...ack!)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

**Please note, I did not receive anything for this post. I just love Tracy's shop, and she generously donated some prints for the giveaway :) 

April Photo A Day: Week 2

Here is my second week of the challenge. And I totally did not just take all these photos today. Well, not all of them anyway...ahem. 

Day 8: Inside Your Wallet

Nothing at all except old Starbucks cards...sigh

Day 9: Younger You

Oh the '80s! Love my mom's hair and her Michael Jackson sweatshirt...

 Day 10: Cold

Our cold-hearted Kitty. Cold as ice...

Day 11: Where You Ate Breakfast

Breakfast was a vanilla latte

Day 12: Stairs

Day 13: Something You Found

Many years ago I found this old copy of the Hobbit on my parent's bookshelf. It's from 1966. 

 Day 14: How You Feel Today

Tired. As usual. 

How Do You Wean a Bottle Refuser?!

Right now we have a battle raging in our house. It's Hubby and I against and 8-month-old. And the baby is winning. 
Peanut took a bottle for the first couple of weeks after he was born, as at the beginning we had to supplement a couple of times with formula. After that, he was exclusively breast-fed until he started solids a few months ago. So, since about 2 months old, Peanut has adamantly refused the bottle. It makes no difference what is in the bottle. We have tried pumped fresh milk, pumped frozen milk, powdered formula, ready-to-feed formula, water. We have tried cold, room-temperature and warm. We have tried 2 different types of bottles, 2 different types of nipples (slow and fast flow). We have tried 5 different types of sippy cups. Even the miracle-worker Rubbermaid juice box! And nothing. He still screams bloody murder every time we try. We have just picked up a Doidy Cup, and he refused it. We are hoping to try it again when he's happier. 

This is our arsenal of weapons. So far, they are all duds.

We have tried someone else giving him the bottle. We have tried it when he is happy and not hungry (he takes it easily, but just chews on it and makes noises with it, and doesn't actually drink anything from it). We have tried waiting him out and hoping he will eventually get hungry enough to take it. This does work, but it's hell on the nerves, and he usually will only drink about 2 ounces. This battle usually lasts a few hours, so there is no possible way we could ever do THAT in public. Someone would call child services...This boy is stubborn. And he definitely knows what he wants. And what he wants is boob! 
When I first had Peanut, I only was planning on breastfeeding until 6 months. I had a lot of trouble in the beginning, and it was painful and all I could do was imagine that magical 6-month mark when I could stop. I am not sure why I had it set in my head, but that was my goal. Well, when 6 months rolled on by, I wasn't ready to wean. To be honest, I'm still not ready to fully wean, but man, I sure would like a break. I am at the point now where I am feeling exhausted and would love to have 1 FULL night of sleep. Or where I can go out for the evening and not worry about how long he has been screaming for, since I know that he will be once he gets hungry. The guilt makes it hard to enjoy my time away. And not only that, but the 8 little razor sharp teeth he is sporting have been wreaking havoc on my sensitive bits from time to time. Which makes things rather painful sometimes. So I want to be able to give him a bottle every now and then. To take a break. To have Hubby take over a feeding. Ideally, I would like to still nurse him a couple of times a day. But I am not sure that he will go easily between the 2 if we ever do get him to take something else. 
And the strange thing? He loooooves to eat. He will eat just about anything we set in front of him. But try and get him to drink and you might as well pop in some industrial strength ear plugs and settle in for the long haul. 
So we are stuck. This little dude is so incredibly stubborn (I wonder where he gets that from...hmmm...). I really don't know what to do anymore. I need help!! Are there any baby-gurus out there? Has anyone dealt with this situation before and succeeded? Share your wiseness with me!
Signed, 
(One tired Momma who doesn't know what to do next)

April Photo A Day-Week 1

Oh man, I am late in posting this (posting anything, really). I feel like I haven't been online in forever. The Easter weekend was awesome, and I have been busy in the real world, so the blog has been neglected. Please forgive me! 
Anyway, here is Week 1 of the Photo-A-Day challenge. As expected, it's a mix of real camera and phone camera...I am sure you can tell which ones are which. 
Day 1: Your Reflection

Cleaning house day
Day 2: Colour

Day 3: Mail

Day 4: Someone who makes you happy

Day 5: Tiny

Hard to focus on a flailing 8-month-old!
Day 6: Lunch

Mmm...spinach and bacon dip...drool
Day 7: Shadow

April Photo-A-Day Challenge

I have decided I want to finally commit to a photo-a-day challenge this month! So I am going to attempt to do the one from Fat Mum Slim. 

As I am sooooo behind the times and own neither an iPhone nor an iPad (gasp!), I don't have Instagram. So, you can follow along on my Twitter feed (do you follow me on Twitter?? If not, and you want to, click here). Also, I will do a weekly roundup of my photos on Sundays here on the blog. 
This is mainly a challenge for me to try and use the DSLR more and play around with it, however there will be days when the trusty ol' Blackberry will be used, so it will be a mix. I am hoping that I will be able to actually stick to the challenge, and not give up halfway like I normally do with things I try to commit to...*ahem* yoga twice a week?!?! *ahem*
Are you also doing the challenge?? Leave your linky so I can follow you!