I read this quote on one of my favorite mommy bloggers site this morning (project baby blog).  I wanted to share this with all the mommys who read my blog because it has really stuck with me. 

Just some food for thought today.....

First Haircut

Recently we took Nathan to get his very first haircut.  His hair was getting super long (and curly) on the top and the back but the sides were looking quite sparse.  He was starting to develop a little baby mullet. 

So, we took him to a kid-specific hair salon where each station had it's own little car or truck set up to watch Dora (seriously, what is with this show and why is my son so obsessed?).  Anyways, it was such a cute little setup that I honestly thought he was going to love it.  Ummm, boy was I wrong...like really wrong.

Let me paint a picture for you....

The first 5 minutes went smoothly.  Lots of Dora watching and pointing and talking to mommy and daddy.  Lots of smiles and giggles and more Dora.  The lady snipped happily away (I know she was thinking my child was an angel).  But then................

Nathan got wind of something going on "back there" and decided to stop and take a look. Then the water works started, then the screaming commenced, and then the head shaking happened. Next thing I know he is screaming his head off and trying to escape his car.

Needless to say, the lady did the quickest haircut I've ever seen and we were left with long curly pieces mixed amongst the shorter ones.  Ummmm, "mommy no likey". 

But we all survived.  Nathan left without a permanent scar.  And, his hair looks less like a baby mullet and more like a baby layered bob.  Cute, no?

I'm Baaaacckk!!!

Anyone miss me??  I know my sister has!!!  haha!

In the last month I've managed to break our DSLR camera (it's in the process of getting fixed) and dump a mug of coffee on our MacBook laptop.  So that's put a damper on blogging this summer. No pics and no computer to blog with.

Today I'm at work (bored) and decided to use my work computer to update everyone!

This summer has been great.  Here's a recap (sorry it's bulleted)

• I started a new job and it's going great so far.  Things are slow (hence the blogging at work) but will pick up soon.
• We went to Newfoundland for a week and did so many amazing things that they should really be their own blog post.
• We celebrated our 2nd year wedding anniversary
• Our best friends from Victoria have finally settled here in Ontario...and we love seeing them every weekend.
• We're finishing our basement.  And by "we" I really mean the hubs.  He's been slaving away down there and actually enjoying it.  He's become quite the Mr. Fix-it lately.
• This summer has been jam packed busy with festivals, hikes, friends, and exploring.
• Nathan had his first haircut...again more on this later.
• Nathan has grown leaps and bounds; both physically and intelectually.  He's becoming quite the little boy.  This again will be another post.

Okay, so that's mostly what we've been up to lately.  I have to say that as much as I've enjoyed summer I am SOOOOO excited that fall is here.  It's officially become my new favorite season.

I'll leave you with some instagram pics of our little guy.

Spooning

I've been completely slacking when it comes to letting our little guy feed himself with a spoon or fork.  Usually we just cut up his food and let him go at it with just his fingers.  Well lately he's been showing obvious interest in eating with our utensils and he's surprisingly pretty darn good at it.

So this weekend, I gave him a spoon, a bowl of his oatmeal and just let him figure it out.  Not sure if this was the best method but it certainly was funny.

I love this look.  He's concentrating so hard (kid loves his food, what can I say).

Look mommy...I can do it:)

And, we're done with the spoon.  Takes too long.  This way is much faster....and way more fun!!!!

There's never an dull moment in our house with this kid around....seriously.  Sometimes I think he should have his own reality tv show!!!!

1st year pics..the rest

I know I've really been slacking when it comes to this blog but I feel like I just have ZERO free time anymore.  Things were a little hectic around Nathan's first birthday with the planning and family here and work etc etc.  (Confession: I've also been busy reading the Hunger Games trilogy and Fifty Shades of Grey...but we'll just keep that quiet).

Anyways, now that things have settled I'll try and update a little more often....

I wanted to share the rest of Nathan's first year pics because they're just so darn cute.  I can't wait to frame a couple of them!!

Sorry if you've already seen these pics on facebook!!!!

Family photos...flops!

Trying to take a family photo at a birthday party full of people and toys and noise was like trying to pull teeth.

Exhibit A:  Nathan...."I'm more interested in what's going on over there guys...boring, yawn"....

Exhibit B:  "Ahhhhhhh...get me the hell out of this picture"

Exhibit C: "Ugh, I would rather stick my finger in my eye than have to take one more pic"

 Exhibit D:  "Okay guys, I'm really serious about that finger in eye thing"....

So, no family pic of us on his birthday.  Oh well...these pics probably paint a much more accurate picture of our family anyways!!!!!

The party..part 1

Nathan's birthday party was last Sunday.  We had 25 people at our house for a BBQ, drinks, and plenty of fun.  Most of the party consisted of adults (with a few exceptions) since we're new to the area and most of our friends with kids live elsewhere.  Nonetheless, Nathan had an absolute blast and was a total trooper with only being able to have one nap instead of his usual 2!!!!!

I wanted to post the 'decor' and theme of the party first.  Mainly because I'm not very crafty or creative and I was actually quite pleased with how everything turned out.

We did the Hungry Caterpillar Theme for 2 reasons:  1) Nathan loves the book (and so do mommy and daddy) and 2) I thought it would be super cute for a 1 year party since I had lots of ideas from pinterest.

This was the favor / present table.  For party favors we did boxes of jelly bellies for the adults and loot bags for the kids.

We had a BBQ complete with sliders, mini hotdogs, and cold salads.  On the main food table we also had an assortment of food based on the book: cupcakes, watermelon, apples, pears, lollipops, pickles, cheese and the list goes on and on.....

We had an amazing cake (with a train of cupcakes) made by a local bakery (idea from pinterest) and she did a fantastic job!!!

 We played a slide show of Nathan on the "big screen" packed with our favorite pictures.  I still can't believe how much he's changed over the past year.

 I didn't get to take all the pics that I wanted since my DSLR camera decided to go ka-put right before the party, so most pics are from my amazing sis (thanks Auntie Renee).

Our guests were dispersed throughout the house as well as in our "shoe-box" of a backyard.  

Overall, I love how everything turned out.  I'm such a procrastinator and the day before the party and the morning of were a little stressful (okay, a lot stressful) but was well worth the anxiety!!!!

Next up, the party itself including pics of the little guy!!!

Birthday weekend Part 1

Friday was the BIG birthday.  And when I say BIG birthday, what I really mean is that it was Nathan's first birthday, and it was also his mommy's birthday (aka my birthday).  In case you're new to the blog, Nathan was actually born on my birthday....what this means however, is that I will likely never have another birthday.  It's okay though, because I love my boo so much, I'm willing to share all of the attention with him:)

We planned the party for Sunday but we still wanted to celebrate on Friday so we took the fam to the Toronto zoo.  It's been over 20 years since I've been to a zoo so I was really pumped to go.  Plus, I was excited to see Nathan's reaction to all of the animals.

The weekend was extra special because my family flew in from Newfoundland...nanny, aunt Renee, and Uncle Todd were all there for the action.

I think the giraffes were all of our favorites because we could get so close to them.  Nathan just kept staring at them.

Then the boo started getting a little sleepy so he decided to go for a nap in his stroller (something he rarely does these days).

 Then we headed back with the entire family and had a BBQ at our house...complete with some yummy carrot cake (my favorite).  Nathan seemed less than impressed that he couldn't dive into the cake right away and had to actually wait for the happy birthday song....geez.

 Overall, we had a great day and I'm so glad we did this.  I can't wait to share all of these pics and memories with our little guy one day.

Next up....the party and the 12 month post (can you believe it??).

Sneak Peak

Yesterday we had Nathan's first year pictures done with the very talented "Little Rosebuds Photography".  Nathan was such a little trooper and remained very happy for 99% of the photoshoot.  We started the shoot with some family shots, then some pics of the just the little guy, and then we did a cakesmash.

This was by far the best part of the shoot.  We put him next to a 6" round vanilla cake with butter cream icing and let him dig in.  And let me tell you, he dug in.

The only time he really fussed was at the end of the shoot when I decided to take the cake away from him (after he had finished over 1/2 of it).  He cried.  Like full blown stomping feet and real tears cry.  Yeah, that cry.

I can't wait to see more.  This was such a little tease.