Welcome Baby Frankie

I'm home with a pukey Cedric today so have a little unexpected blogging time in between laundry and Konmari'ing our dressers.

It doesn't get much more glamorous than that folks.

Our dear friends added a fourth to their family in June.

And she is a doll.

We had a situation with a proud Auntie here from England for a short time period so ended up throwing together this party in 8 short days.

Thank goodness the kids were in yoga camp.

 In an hour at Fabricland I acquired most of the decorations.

These fabric covered balloons hung with fishing line added some whimsy to our plum tree.

 Never underestimate the power of ripped fabric strips and twine.

I also gave my Gram's tea cart a real workout as the drink station.

We kept it simple with some pink lemonade punch and lemon water.

I can take credit for about 10% of the food.

My co-host Grandma Shirley was amazing at putting this spread together.

I did, however, bake that cake for the sole purpose of using that Hello World cake topper from Confetti & Sparkle Shop.

 Ribbon and fabric served as drink identifiers but also ended up looking very sweet.

 I have no pictures of Mama and Mom but found this one of Prince Charlie in his shower throne.

 We had a second food table with quick grab kids food which gave me an excuse to hang these lace curtains that I purged from the cabin.

 You always need bike parking right?

Instead of a guest book we had everyone write a message on a strip of fabric (I had ironed a small piece of fusible interfacing on each for this purpose).  

Afterwards we tied them all on a stick and the resulting art piece is now displayed over Frankie's crib.

The guest of honour was the sweetest little thing through the whole party.

And has been ever since.

A Spring Shower

We have been spending the last couple of days outside.

It's finally felt like spring and I have had a hard time convincing myself to do any indoor activities ie: blogging.

I have, however, been looking forward to sharing some pictures of my niece's shower. 

She is Feefs and Ced's first cousin and simply gorgeous.

Sisterly love is big right now {thanks for that Frozen} so Fiona just adores her baby-sister-cousin.

She is eager to hold the baby and does so timidly at first, preferring a helping hand.

It doesn't take long for those maternal instincts to kick in though and she's quickly as confidant as can be.

 The spread at this event was beautiful.

How cute is this rubber boot vase?

And this fruit baby in it's watermelon basinet? 

The cake at top of the post was my small contribution {bought, not made}. 

I did, however, make the topper consisting of a mini-easel and flower from the dollar store.

 The guest of honour was truly spoiled. 

As any princess should be. 

 We had a great time and my Mom commented afterward what a lovely group of people were at the shower.

 Of course, none could top the owner of this sweet hand and her beautiful Mama.

Fiona's Room

I shared Cedric's room on the blog a while back.

I had a lot of fun decorating with the motor theme.

It came easy and felt right in our home and of course our lives as auto body shop owners. 

Fiona's was a little harder.

I kept feeling as though I should make it more girly.

Would I be depriving my little princess by not making the room various shades of bubble gum pink?

Of course not, I would tell myself.

 You'll be doing her a favour, maybe she won't even like pink.

{I laugh at my wishful thinking, her entire world would have a rose tinge now were it up to her.}

Anyways, I came across these pics from Cedric's newborn shoot.

Our {genius} photographer Elaine snuck these shots in at the beginning of the session.

This is when the room was in transition from nursery to toddler so there are some things not finished but it's still the same idea.

The quilt {hanging} was a wedding gift from my lifelong friend Diana.

I love how warm it makes the room feel.

The crib was my Dad's, Aunt's, mine, my sisters', you get the idea.

Just don't make things like they used to eh?

The rocking chair was my Gram's and was shipped here when they were moving out of their house.

I recovered the cushions with some spare fabric and added some ribbon to fasten them to the chair.

 The floor is original and was on it's last leg so couldn't have taken another sanding.

I'm glad because a good wash, prime and paint turned out great.

{I don't know that Jeff would have let me paint the floor otherwise.}

This way I also felt like the furniture wasn't too much wood and didn't have the itch to paint it.

 The toys were left this way by Fiona as was the crib.

I like how these photos are not at all staged but still look so cute.

 This little rocking chair was a gift from my Gram and Grandad {sourced by my Mom}.

 We found the antique chalk board and blue stool at the Old Strathcona Antique Mall.

The Ikea lamp behind the Ikea bookshelf is the perfect amount of light for bedtime stories.

The linen Ikea curtains are just enough to soften the morning light.

A last minute touch was a framed poster of Fiona's first {out of the womb} Dave Matthews Band concert.

The room came together in the end and feels calming and nostalgic.

Though I must admit it's now usually much messier and with many more touches of pink.

Breaking Teeth

So apparently Jeff + Cheryl = Vampire.

We thought it was just a fluke with Fiona but now Cedric has popped out some fangs.

You'll be happy to know they show no other signs.

Neither of them are biters {knock on wood since I'm still nursing}, they love the sun and don't hesitate to eat garlic.

I'm just chalking the odd chompers up to them being super on-trend in our vampire obsessed society.

Splish Splash

Why am I always shocked, come winter, by how early it gets dark?

Once our clocks "fall back" I'm ready to go to bed at 7:00.

Bedtime used to creep up on us as we played outdoors.

Now the evening seems endless.

I don't tend to take the kids out once it's dark.

This means that we're stuck in the house from 5:30 on.

No quick walks around the neighbourhood for us.

What to do to pass the time?

T'is the season for long, warm bedtime baths.

The kids could go for days in the summer without bathing.

We have to make a conscious effort to get them in the tub.

The winter is a different story.

They make a splashy mess of the bathroom bathe almost daily.

It's extra fun now that Cedric is sitting and splashing along with his big sis.

The only challenge is to keep their skin from drying out.

T'is also the season for moisturizer, and lots of it.

{I hear that.}

Aspiration Time

No, I'm not going to lay out my hopes and dreams.

This post is not about that type of aspiration.

It's happened.

My little man has his first cold.

He woke up snorting this morning but still sported a smile.

Such a trooper.

It's really such a sad thing to watch a baby who can't breathe out of his nose try to nurse.

Fiona was a bit of a stuffy baby.

I didn't realize this until we had Cedric.

We haven't even had to break out the saline and nasal aspirator in his first 7 1/2 months.

Well, it's time.

Nasal aspiration is really not my favourite thing.

{I know you're shocked.}

I find those little squeezy bulbs {that's the technical term, no?} quite intimidating.

 I don't feel like I have a lot of control over the sucking pressure and I'm terrified that I will accidentally squeeze it while it's still in the baby's nose.

Cue the Hydrasense nasal aspirator.

I was tipped onto it by a friend {thanks Andrea} and it's wonderful.

It's still disgusting. 

More actually.

You see it still has a bulb but instead of squeezing it, you put the tube that's attached to the other end in your mouth and suck.

No, this is not a gross Halloween prank, it's real.

Please note that the tube is about 6 inches long and there's a filter in the bulb.

No snot gets close to your mouth, ever!

Cedric is napping at the moment but I've pulled out the supplies and am ready to aspirate.

Impromptu Bib Success

Something wonderful happened last time we were at the lake.

I forgot Cedric's bib.

Ok, you're right, that doesn't sound wonderful.

I didn't think so at first either.

Then I grabbed a tea towel, folded it in half and tied it around his neck.

Voila, the best bib you've ever put on your baby!

I'm not kidding you.

It has it all.

You know how you pay out the wazoo for the food catching pouch?

It has that.

You know how you pay extra for those super large bibs that cover their shoulders because inevitably the dog will bark or the toddler will scream by and the baby will whip their head around before you get a chance to spoon off that extra food and it ends up all over their shirt?

I know you do.

It has that!

You know how you also break the bank for a bib that kind of makes your baby look like a really cute cowpoke/hipster?

It has that too!

I love a good discovery, especially the thrifty kind.