New food Blog:)

Just passing along another food blog that looks delish! Kid friendly crafts, yummy recipes, colorful and relative to life:) Yes its true..I am a little addicted to food blogs lately:)

http://www.ourbestbites.com/

The pumpkin patch

Over the thanksgiving long weekend we headed to the pumpkin patch. We thought we would check out a different one than last year, and were really happy with our choice for the age addy is at and going forward! She had lots of fun jumping on the upside down trampoline., petting rabbits and goats, and of course all of the pumpkins that she loves! We had a great family day and look forward to doing it again next year..however we learned our lesson and we will not be going on the long weekend:)! it was a little nutty! But otherwise such great memories!

4 years today

4 years today my world totally changed. In some ways more than I expected, some changes have been hard, but some have been amazing. Its funny, but on days when I feel hopeless about the future or that these temporary hard circumstances in our life are never going to end, I think about how much has changed in just four short years for me. 4 years ago today I married a man who I thought I loved dearly. I was infatuated, "In Love" so full of emotion and glee and excitement for what lied ahead. But little did I know the sometimes harsh reality of what it meant to be a MRS. They weren't kidding when they said marriage was hard! But the funny thing is that its not hard for the reasons I thought would make it hard. What I have learned in the past four years is that growing up is hard, life is hard, and marriage just takes the brunt of those realities. What I have learned is that marriage is such an amazing journey, like no other relationship you will ever have in human form. I love the security that marriage has provided, the friendship, the confidant, the coziness, and the place of feeling at home like never before. I love how bringing children into the mix makes you not just a couple anymore but a family, and for the first time since becoming a mom I feel that separation from my own parents..Like for the first time I can do this, I can get through things. Do I still desperately need their love and support, absolutely..but my go to now is my husband, because we are in this together;)

I say that I thought I loved the man I married on our wedding day, but what I realize now is that I had no clue what real love is..but now, finally, now, I feel like I am really starting to get it. Its not always sunshine and roses, there are some pretty dark valley's we have and are currently walking through, but our reliance on the lord and each other has brought a depth in our relationship that has taught me what real love is. Its not a feeling its an action. An action that is required to be put to use every day.

So looking back over these four years, sure there are things I think we both would say we would change..but absolutely there is no doubt in my mind that I would do it all over again:) I am grateful for this love that I have in my life, and the little loves it has given me along the way. I am hopeful and excited for the future and for what God has in store for us for the next four years! I am glad that I love this man more today than I did four years ago:) Now don't get me wrong..a few nights away kid free, some more date nights, lots more laughing and playing are things that I miss at times..but those things will come. Today I am just going to reflect and be grateful for where we are at and what we have done together..because I think we make a pretty good team!

Food blogger

I came across this food blogger:

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/search/label/Desserts on Pintrest..I personally have not tried anything from her site yet but some of these things such as taco pasta, cookies and cream cheesecake, and caramel apple cupcakes will probably be on my list of things to try! Once I try a recipe I will make sure to review it for ya:) but for now i thought I would pass it along..

and yes being pregnant and not barfy right now has made me obsessed with food!!

Crafty:)

I do have a crafty bone in my body, a few actually:) but I tend to be a perfectionist in some areas so when I can't do things exactly the way I want to, I tend to not do it at all:) And with living on a depressingly tight budget lately, its been even harder! But I finally said screw it and got to work! I hit up the dollar store and grocery store, and whala! I saw this done a year ago on a day time tv show and thought it was cool! And than again, on pinterest recently! It makes me mantel feel like fall, and with my new Bath and Body works fall candles filling the air, it makes me happy! its also cathartic for me to do:)

My dollar store flowers against the brown paint that we have in parts of our house are making me depressed though! I have been wanting to paint since we moved in, and as soon as some uncertain things in our life get certain, that will be the first big project around here! I need some brightness:)! But otherwise i like it!

The results!

My little flower Girl:)

This past weekend we were involved with my dear girlfriend Zina's wedding:) Her love story is a pretty cool one. Not always romantic at times, lots of trails to overcome, but after four years her and her now hubby said I do! What was really cool about this wedding for me was that I have know the bride for ten years now, but I also have known the groom since elementary school. So being friends with both sides and being there to see the whole story unfold was such a great experience!

What was even more special was my little girl got to be a flower girl for the first time:)

I have to admit going into the weekend I was super nervous as, again, we all know how unpredictable 2 year olds are! But I have to say she did amazing, and this mama's heart was overflowing that day:) I couldn't have been more proud to be her mom in that moment..it was good:)

The whole weekend was a very busy one though that I don't wish to repeat anytime soon! I had my ultrasound on Friday afternoon, Dave was off work and had an appointment to go to, we quickly whipped home to get packed and were out the door by three o'clock. THREE hours later we were still sitting in traffic on the 99...it wasn't pretty:( So we missed the rehearsal, wasted a night in the car, I had a head cold..all in all we were done! We stayed at my brother and SIL, so we didn't have as long of a trek to go back, laid low that night and next morning and headed out to for the wedding in Kerisdale:) I knew as soon as Addy met the other little flower girl that would help, and I was so right! She loves older girls and immediately she had a new best friend:)

The held hands and walked down the isle like it was nothing! Again, a happy mommy heart:)

After the ceremony, we whiped out to North Vancouver for the reception, where my bro and SIL picked up our girl and took her home:) it was night to have a night off, but at the same time being sick and tired and hungry..I was kind of done:) The view of the city was lovely, and again I was so happy to see my friend beaming on her day!! The past four years of our lives have definitely been filled with weddings and babies, and newness which is always exciting, but also makes for a very full calender:) I savor the moments but also love the mundane of the in between where for me I have learned life really happens:) So until the next one..goodnight:)

Thicker Skin

If anyone asked me if I thought parenting was hard I would say this. I don't find parenting at home all that hard. Tiring at times, yes..exhausting at times, yes!! But, the only times that I have struggled with being a parent, where you can't go to sleep at night, or let things go so easy is when it comes to parenting around other parents..thats when life gets tricky for me. I am a people pleaser by heart, I want everyone to "like" me, to make everyone happy, and to please. But now that I am married and my world also involves to people with very different personalities that I can't control, Ihave really had to grow and stretch my patience, my control issues, and overall learning how to let things just roll off my back..not the easiest task for me;) But I am learning. I am learning that when my 2 year old has a melt down in the grocery store; that that is life, and by tomorrow it will be forgotten:) I am learning that when crotchety old woman at my friends wedding this weekend, who are the "church coordinators" keep telling the little kids to be quiet while they are ever so patiently waiting to perform their tasks, and when they make a comment about how this is the problem of having young ones in a wedding..and than I look at my bride friend who just snickers with me..I just laugh it off:) Their issue not mine...I am learning that when I went for my ultrasound this Friday and joked how this baby couldn't stop wiggling, just like its sister, and that I am in trouble, and the ultrasound tech proceeds to tell me that sometimes thats the parents fault, when the child is so busy and I need to harbour her energy...I laugh, and ignore it:) Anybody know how to get a 19 week old fetus to sit still, you let me know:) Anyways, I am learning. I am learning to get some thicker skin, as it just has started. I am learning that I need to go with the flow, and work with the situation, and that I am not always going to make the right decision in the moment but those are learning moments, and those are great too! I am learning that as long as I am staying to true and authentic to what I believe to be true, and right with God, than nothing else matters. I am learning, oh how I am learning..

And than there are the moments that God gives us to keep us going..when people affirm what you are doing and what a fantastic little person you have;) and than the mommy heart glows..and it grows, and it keeps you going for the next round of punches, because at the end of the day its working.