Life with a Toddler

Well, I've been slacking again with blog posts. But I'm blaming the hot hot heat... which makes me want to do next to nothing. Living with a toddler keeps me on my toes though and it seems we are constantly having to rethink our furniture arrangements to keep her safe.

So I've not just been vegging in front of the tv the past few weeks. On the contrary, we moved our tv down to the basement for about a month to keep Whitney from pulling at the cables. Since there is no cable connection down there, every time we wanted to watch something, Matt would have to bring up the monitor and pvr after Whitney was in bed. Needless to say that got to be a bit of a drag and not wanting to get rid of our cable - we are suckers, no pun intended, for True Blood - we rearranged our living room once again to better suit our tv watching needs. Now we just need to find a toddler-proof tv cabinet and mount/secure our flat screen tv to the wall.

Here's a before shot of the living room:

Right now we are using an Ikea ps cabinet to house our media. While it works well enough - the locking door is convenient - and matches the rest of our living room decor, I'd really like something larger, a bit more elegant and not on wheels. When we find the new cabinet, I'll be share some after shots.

Luckily, Whitney has not paid much attention to the tv since it's been back upstairs. Although she knows how to turn the tv on, she still is not allowed to watch any programs. I'm hoping to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Besides, she's much too busy with her modeling gigs... kidding.
She did get to experience her first professional photo shoot earlier this month when a friend was looking for a toddler to model some of her new Fall clothing line. Here are my favourite shots:

Photos taken by Emma-Lee Photography

Really though, our little girl is happiest being outside, playing with water these days.


Personally, I prefer to stay indoors. I'm keeping busy with book illustrations, stocking some new shops and filling etsy orders.

And speaking of etsy, I'll be back soon with a little shop update.

Wedding Recap

Although I brought my camera on our trip out west, I didn't take a whole lot of photos at my sister's wedding.

I was too busy holding Whitney...

most of the time.

But I liked the photos I did take, most of them being candid shots. I think they always look so much nicer than the posed ones.

My sister (in one of her 5 outfits)

A proud papa looking on

Paparrazi :)

Paparazzi shot

The officially married happy couple (2 ceremonies later)

The whole wedding was beautiful and entertaining. My sister looked amazing in all her outfits and her husband must have felt like a king, getting to ride in on a horse as part of the traditional Indian Barat.

As with any wedding, there were a few hiccups, but my sister and her husband did a stellar job as they were their own wedding planners. They had a big wedding - about 200 people - compared to Matt's and mine. I only wished that I could have helped them out more beforehand. But at least I carried out the one responsibility my sister gave me - a sister of the bride speech - which was a daunting task for a very introverted individual like myself.

Thankfully all the hours I spent thinking of what to write paid off and the speech went over quite well, even though I was shaking like a leaf and fighting back tears through a lot of it. My sister said she was tearing up after the first line, so as long as she was touched, that's what mattered. A big thank you to my own husband for helping me tweak it and prompting me to put in directives, like "smile", lest I forget.

And another happy couple (& wee one)

And speaking of weddings, it's our 4th anniversary today. I think I'm going to wear my tutu skirt again tonight when we go out for dinner. Wishing everyone a happy weekend!

Lazy Summer Days

We're back from vacation...
okay, it's been almost a week since Whitney and I have been back, but my newly wedded sister was visiting so we took advantage of some more down time.

Here we are on Canada Day.

It's been a pretty lazy summer for me so far. Lots of work to catch up on and my shop and blog could definitely use some up-keep. I will share more photos from our trip out west later this week.

Hope you're enjoying some lazy summer days too. Happy Independence Day to my southern neighbours!