march with a K

1 year.

2012-02-07T14:35:00.003-07:00

The Hads is one year old!!!!

I cannot believe it. I have a toddler. What the what!?
Time seriously goes by too quickly.

At one year old (gasp - it feels weird to say that) recent developments include:

-Treating mommy and daddy to some wake-ups in the middle of the night....we think its due to hunger and we think we have it under control, but the wake-ups lasted for about 3 weeks/a month and I thought I was going to die!
-Has recently started to pick up and put away her toys when I ask! YES!
-Her clingyness has started to cease, but she is still super shy
-Has added spinning in circles to her dancing repertoire
-Sits on the couch, church bench, you name it, beside me like a big girl
-Waves "all done" when she is done eating
-Is increasingly becoming more and more cuddly. Mommy loves it!
-Tries to climb out of the bathtub
-New favorite snack is soggy cheerios in the bathtub

And, along with turning one year old, comes a birthday party!!! We did a farm animal themed one:

I had to add some pink to the overall slightly boyish theme, so I made some pompoms, and threw in some pick streamers and balloons:

Made these fun tags for the farm food:

I used the monthly pictures that I have been taking of my girl, and clothes pinned them to some ribbon for a super cute banner:

Opening presents:

And the piece de resistance - the cake that took me 4 1/2 hours to decorate:

H-puppy is one of our girl's many nicknames around here, and since she loves dogs, I thought it fitting to do a bone smash cake.

And here she is smashing and eating the cake:

When the party died down, I just sat in a daze. I could not believe that my baby was one year old, her party had come and gone, and that was that. I have a one year old.

I see bright things for our Hadley in the next year to come!
We love you baby girl!

Reminiscing

2012-02-03T20:06:00.002-07:00

A year ago tonight I went into labor (if you are going by days of the week - cause I technically went into labor on the 4th). I can't believe it. I can't believe that a year with my Hads has already gone by. I have been doing a lot of reflecting, and I can come to only one conclusion:

motherhood is a beautiful thing

I think back to that Friday night a year ago. I was so excited. But I had no idea what I was about to enter into.

I had no idea that I could love another human being so deep and so hard.

I had no idea, that she would become my world, my everything.

I had no idea that I would become so vulnerable. I find the degree to which I love her leaves me so vulnerable to the what ifs - what if something ever happened to her, what if she became sick, what if, what if.....the fear of losing her paralyzes me. I have never experienced that before.

I had no idea that being a mom would be so hard. It is SO MUCH WORK. I am more tired now than I ever have been in my life.

I had no idea that motherhood would be so rewarding. The simplest things that she does make my day.

I had no idea that motherhood would be so emotional. I swear I cry at everything now.

I had no idea how much I would grow.

I had no idea that my Heavenly Father loves and trusts me as much as he must to entrust me with such a precious, smart, beautiful little girl. He must think a lot more highly of me than I do of myself.

I had no idea that when gaining a daughter, I would gain a friend. Seriously, my best friend is a 1 year old.

I had no idea I could adore little elf ears, a thin little mullet, and a scrawny little bum so much.

I had no idea at my capacity to love.

I had no idea that I would LOVE being a mom. I knew that it was something a should do, but I never thought I would love it like I do. I have no desire to be anything else than a mom (and wife). It fufills me like no paying job has ever been able to. It truly is the hardest, but best job on the planet.

Its funny to think of that Leah one year ago, in labor, on the way to the hospital. I am not her anymore. I don't relate to her anymore. She vanished in a second. At 4:22 pm on a Saturday afternoon when I became a mommy.

One year ago.

The dungeon reno: Part 1

2012-01-26T13:21:00.004-07:00

We are developing our dungeon......ahem, basement. Ugh. What a project. I think it is litterally sucking the life out me. And definitely bringing out my OCD tendencies when it comes to cleaning. I cannot keep the house clean enough. If blog posts seem to progressively have an air of mental insanity, please act - I need help.

So, I thought, why not walk you through the process. We are done framing, and almost done electrical and plumbing. Then it will be on to drywalling. Here's where we are at:

(ignore the incredibly horrible pictures - it is real dark down there right now!)

You walk down the stairs into an extra wide hallway - I hate narrow hallways, especially at the bottom of the stairs, but because our furnace is in the middle of our basement, we couldn't lay it out any other way, so if I HAD to have a hallway at the bottom of the stairs, it was going to be a wide one!! Then at the end of the hall is our bathroom containing a soaker tub (ahhhhhhh) and shower, toilet, and vanity.

Beside the bathroom is the laundry closet. Not enough room for a room, but I will spiff it up a bit with french doors.....I am in LOVE with french doors.

Then you walk into the main room where we are putting in a a fireplace flanked by bookcases.

Dman is running the electrical for the 100 million recessed lighting fixtures. I think the KEY to any room looking magazine worthy, and especially a room in the basement, is lighting. So, so,so important!!

What a job. But it will be worth it!!

One a day.

2012-01-18T19:27:00.003-07:00

I did it!! I finally started a picture a day blog. Why finally? Well, cause I have been wanting to do this for years now. I figure having a child is my perfect excuse to start......easy blogging material. I can't wait to see all the pictures that we accumulate after a year. What a wonderful thing this will be to look back on in years to come!!

Check it out here.

We're fine!! And a video just cause.

2012-01-16T08:54:00.002-07:00

So, apparently I should refrain from citing a moving church article and saying that we are making a big change if I don't want everyone and their dog to be concerned about us.

We're fine!!!! Good changes, good changes. Can't a girl be moved and make changes for the GOOD? Jeesh.......
Thanks for loving us enough to be concerned though!

And just cause, I say how much Hadley loves bath time all the time.....just thought I would show it! (Don't mind me.....why do mommys sound like such goofs ALL the time!?)

The ABC's

2012-01-13T15:23:00.002-07:00

Every month we get a magazine in the mail that is filled with wonderful articles written by our church leaders.

This month's message from our prophet was written for me. I swear. Every single word hit straight to the heart and completely touched on exactly what is going on in my life right now.

President Monson talked about living an abundant life through his ABC's.

A - Have a positive attitude. "William James, a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher, wrote, “The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.”

B - Believe in yourself. "Don’t limit yourself and don’t let others convince you that you are limited in what you can do. Believe in yourself and then live so as to reach your possibilities. You can achieve what you believe you can. Trust and believe and have faith."

and

C - Courage. "Courage is required to make an initial thrust toward one’s coveted goal, but even greater courage is called for when one stumbles and must make a second effort to achieve."

I am making a MAJOR change in my life right now (no, we are not pregnant with another baby), and seriously, this article could not have come at a better time. Because I am scared. Because the world would tell me I am crazy. But my heart and my Heavenly Father tell me its right.

I will fill you in later on this big change, but right now is not the time. I just wanted to share this message that so helped me out. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

11 months.

2012-01-09T13:57:00.003-07:00

I can't believe this is my last age post before she is 1 year. Its sad.
Well, here she is in all her 11 month glory:

We have had a lot of developments this month, namely that white thing in her mouth - yup, my 11 month old FINALLY got her 1st tooth (at about 10.5 months)!
Other recent developments include:

-Waving bye bye

-Full on walking everywhere - no more crawling for this gal

-Playing SUPER shy - which means, on the plus side, she is a lot more cuddly

-Playing peek-a-boo

-Drinking out of a sippy very well now - we figured out that she loves the straw sippy cup versus the traditional kind. Down to just a morning and night time bottle.

-Is in a kind of grumpy stage - don't know if it is the teeth or what, but she is not quite my happy sunshine that she usually is (varies day by day)

-Still sleeping like a rock 8pm - 7:30/8am with a 2-3 hour nap in the day

And just for fun, here is a walking video (don't mind me CRASHING into toys as I walk backwards!!)

Christmas pics.....but not the one with Santa.

2012-01-05T21:11:00.002-07:00

Head on over here to see the Had's Christmas photo shoot.

Another year over.

2012-01-02T13:57:00.003-07:00

2012.
Wow. I say this too much but time flies! I am not the only one, right?

We had a fantastic Christmas.

Leading up to Christmas we got in the spirit by doing lots of Christmassy things like:
-pictures with Santa (did not go so well)
-Christmas shopping
-saw the lights at the legislature grounds and candy cane lane

-Went ice skating

Christmas day was a hit. Hadley got the hang of opening presents and definitely enjoyed all of the goodies she got.

And the turkey dinners, mmmmmmmm, my favorite. I couldn't get enough!

Then we brought in the new year at a wedding of some dear friends. It was wonderful for more than one reason.........1) the wedding was at the Fairmont in Jasper so it was BEAUTIFUL and the food was amazing, and 2) it was our first night away from Hadley!! And all 3 of us did very well! It was so great to have some adult time, just Dman and I. But one night was plenty. We were ready to come home to our girl by the end.

More than anything what I have really taken away from this 2011 Christmas, is a deep, deep feeling of gratitude. I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the blessings too great to number in my life. I pondered the Savior's sacrifice a little different this year. Perhaps because I now have a baby, I thought of the Savior fresh and new, swaddled in Mary's arms headed toward the biggest sacrifice mankind has ever known. What a path he must have trod. How grateful I am for that little baby. Because He made all of the blessings that I am so grateful for, possible. No way, no how, would my life be what it is today without my Savior. I am sealed to my husband for time and all eternity, we have brought a beautiful baby girl into our eternal family, there is love within our walls, I know where I came from and where I am headed, I have the atonement to utilize for virtually every aspect of my life, I can financially stay at home with our daughter because I am blessed through paying my tithing. I, am blessed. Beyond measure.

(if you want to know more about what I talked about go here)

Merry Christmas and a happy new year everyone!!

We're ready for you Santa...

2011-12-21T13:14:00.003-07:00

After I scoured the internet to find a look that I loved, I came up with these:

Hadley's:

Mine:

Dman's:

These were a labor of LOVE, let me tell you! They took me FOREVER. No joke. But I really wanted to make them.....growing up my mom made all ours, so I had to make my family's. I am SUPER happy with the way they turned out. They are just so darn cute. Definitely not perfect at all.....an avid sewer would take one look at them and probably die, but for us they work just fine!

I still have to add an 'H' on Hadley's a 'M' on mine and a 'D' on Dad's. But let's be honest, there are 4 days till Christmas......that won't be happening until next year!

These are a few of my favorite things...

2011-12-09T13:48:00.006-07:00

Oh Christmas. I LOVE this time of year. It is simply wonderful. I thought I would share a little of what our house looks like right now with all the Christmas decorations up.
Did I mention I love it? *sigh*

Some other favorite things:

-Coming in from the cold to a warm house

-Christmas candles

-Hot chocolate

-Cuddling up on the couch with a blanket and my hubby

-Christmas movies

-Slippers

-Christmas lights

-Whore frosts

-Walking through the dog park while soft snow flakes are falling

-Christmas music

-Excitement, love, joy and all around kindness

-Christmas baking....mmmmmm

-Time with family

-Hour d' oeuvres

-Games

-Ice Skating

-Tobogganing

LOVE IT!

10 months.

2011-12-06T11:57:00.002-07:00

Double digits what the what!?
I know I say it every month but I cannot believe we are here.

Here is the Hads at 10 months:

Oh boy oh boy she is a BUSY girl. Would NOT sit still for this picture and definitely wont lay on her back for them anymore. Her new favorite game is called "chase me". HA! Is she really that old already? Can someone pinch me.

Recent developments:

-WALKING!! Just steps for now, but walking nonetheless! The furthest her little legs have taken her so far is about 2 meters.

-Playing "chase me" (crawling though - she gets more speed that way)

-Has turned into a picky eater. Great!

-Trying to wean her off her bottle and to a sippy.......I can already tell it is going to take MONTHS hence why we are starting a little early!

-Gives high fives on demand (unless she doesn't want to of course)

-Flips the pages of books when we read.

-Reads books to herself - SO cute!

-Down to one afternoon nap a day.

That's about it. I will post a video of "chase me" later.

Merry Christmas...card

2011-11-21T16:03:00.004-07:00

Since I haven't posted in forever, and this needs to be a quicky, I thought I would share our Christmas card that I made this year.

I am so happy with the way they turned out.
Its getting close........33 days!!! I LOVE this time of year. Its my favorite!

9 months.

2011-11-07T13:36:00.006-07:00

Can, can, can you do 9 months!?

Oh wow.

I know I am going to sound like a broken record here but time is a-flying! I cannot believe how close she is to a year. Like, I actually have to start thinking about a 1st birthday party pretty soon here.

Not a lot of developments this month probably due to the fact that she hit so many milestones last month! But,recent developments include:

-walking with her walker ALL around the house (but running into walls just as much)
-eating mommy and daddy's suppers with us (via the magic bullet)
-still NO teeth
-starting to really fight her two naps - we may have to go down to one soon
but she still needs both!
-crawling up the stairs
-We think she may be able to say her first two words - she says mom when she wants me and "ou" when she gets hurt - the reason we are unsure is because it seems too early!
-Her new favorite game is called "lets take all the vents off the heat registers"!! Its REAL fun!
-still as happy and smiley as ever

Here is a little video of Hadley walking with her walker for the G-mas'! Just ignore my nasty man voice. I am a little sick.

Hadley, we love you SO much! You are the best baby in the entire world! Mommy and Daddy always comment on how blessed we are to have YOUR spirit in our family. I thank Heavenly Father for you every. single. night.

WARNING: Scarrrry post ahead.

2011-11-01T15:54:00.002-06:00

Just kidding its actually full of cuteness in the form of a lady bug.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone!!

We had a BLAST this Halloween. Everything is so much more fun when you have a little one to experience it with.

Dman and I (ahem, I mean Clive and Christy) kicked the weekend off by attending a murder mystery party.

Then we followed that up the next night with our church Halloween party where Hadley debuted her costume. Drumrolll..........

If you can't tell, but I sure hope you can, I was Princess Leia (get it - Leia...Leah....HA!), Dman was batman, and the Hads was the cutest ladybug I have ever seen.

Then we went trick-or-treating on Halloween...

At our first door....

With the pumpkins....

And then we...Hadley...went through the loot. She had sooooo much fun pulling everything out of that bag. Christmas is going to be a blast with her.....she really gets into it!

And then that was that. Happy Halloween everyone!!

Farmin' it.

2011-10-19T12:09:00.002-06:00

This past weekend we took a trip out to a pumpkin farm/corn maze/everything you can think to do farm just north of the City. And we had a blast.

We....

Pet some animals

Pretended to be pirates

Measured our height. Hadley is 2'3".

Rode on a swing

Were enamored by "Super-Pumpkin"

Rode on Daddy's shoulders

Played in the hay

Took a weird bike ride

And.....

Got lost in the corn maze

Went on a hay ride

Saw pumpkins being shot out of a cannon

Ate hot dogs and fudge

Good times. Have I mentioned I LOVE fall?

8 months.

2011-10-11T09:34:00.003-06:00

8 months and she thinks she is numero uno (#1)!! We kinda do too.

I cannot believe 8 months is already here. When I was a girl there were a couple ages that seemed soooooo old to me. They were 12, 19, and 23. As a mom there are also a couple ages that seem sooooo old to me and 8 months is one of them!! Oh tear. I just can't believe how fast my baby is ceasing to be a baby!

We have hit A LOT of milestones this month. Boy, have we ever! The pediatrician says that she is "advanced".....haha. I think it is too funny, but I am also perrrrty proud of our little chica.

Recent developments include:

-Crawling (at 7 1/2 months). This girl gets around!! Cannot keep her out of stuff. But I love it - so much fun.
-Pulling herself up to standing on furniture and anything sturdy enough.
-Walking holding onto our hands......and I do mean an actual walk, not a parent forced, oh she moved a foot walk. No, no, a full on walk around the church/house/store walk.
-Walking along furniture.
-Pointing to EVERYTHING with a..... "do"?
-Clapping
-Dancing to music
-Sleeping from 8pm to 8am. For the longest time she slept from 8pm to 7am but now that its staying dark longer, she has extended her nights by an hour and I LOVE it!
-Loves her bath more than ever now that she can boot around the tub and gather all her toys.
-18 lbs.....and I don't know her current height.
-Eating soft solids (ie. breads, meats, egg yolks, etc)
-She's been a gabby girl since she could make noises, but this month she REALLY started to talk to us. Like she will yell at me to get my attention and then when she has it, she lowers her voice and babbles at me as if to tell me something.

And just a few more pics:

Oh how I love this girl. More than I ever thought I could love another human being. I seriously, no jokes or exaggerations, LOVE being a mom to her. Every second of it. Even the hard ones. She just makes everything easy and fun.

Please don't ever change Hads - I adore you!

Prayers needed.

2011-10-03T14:30:00.006-06:00

Usually I don't like to get too heavy on the ole' blog. Usually I don't like to play show and tell with my personal problems - I don't want to seem all attention needy or anything.

But this is not one of those times. In regards to this, I don't care how I come off. All I care about are prayers. Let me explain.

This is David:

David and I go way back. You see back in our high school days, Dman, myself and 4 other guys (one of which was David) were inseparable. Everyday after school we would trot off to my house or Nicks house, eat, and play Pokemon on Nintendo 64 (SUPER cool, I am well aware). That is with the exception of football and basketball season because Dman and David played on our high school teams together and practices were after school. Anyway, after high school we have held our quarter annual games nights, celebrated holidays together, and most recently all four guys became uncles when Hadley was born. These guys, and most importantly to this post, David, are very important people in our lives.

Just over a week ago, David had a very serious accident while riding his bicycle, leaving him severely injured and in a coma. At first the docs only gave David a 50/50 chance of making it. Since those first very rough few days, things are getting better. He is still in a coma, and the docs don't really know the extent of his brain damage. But the good news is that they do know that it isn't a brain stem injury (which means he is not brain dead - a fear early on), both of his eyes are responding to light now, he has been taken off most sedation, will hopefully soon be taken off the ventilator, and he is starting to move.

But the docs need David to wake up. This, I hope, is where you come in. I plead for your prayers for David. I know it could be weird to pray for someone you don't know, so heck, I don't care, pray for "that guy on Leah's blog" or "Leah's friend". Please, just please, include him in your prayers if/when you get down on your knees tonight. If you do not pray, then please have him in your thoughts.

We need him to make it and we need him to wake up as David. Hadley needs to know her Uncle Dave. I really cannot imagine having to explain to her who he was and how important he was to us through pictures. I want all of her surrogate uncles to be present in her life.

So, thank you for your prayers. They would mean the world to our family at this time.

Harvest time.

2011-09-27T14:23:00.003-06:00

Look what the Hads and I harvested from our garden this morning:

Mmmmmm. I love fall. And there are LOTS more where these came from!

My little helper:

Not one of her best pictures. The sun was bright okay.

And in other news Hadley is crawling (like a for real boot around the house crawl)!! See:

Yes, we wear our PJ's all day around here. Don't judge.

An ode to summer.

2011-09-20T09:26:00.005-06:00

Wow, I have been off the posting wagon for a while now. All I can say is that we tried to enjoy summer around these parts!!

This is what we were up to:

-Swimming - lots of swimming. Anytime it was nice we were in the WATER - pools, lakes, legislature grounds - you name it!

-And swinging - lots of swinging! We have a school park about 2 minutes away from our house and boy oh boy, do we ever frequent it.

-Just hangin' out in the sun (don't worry, baby was out of the sun as much as possible)

-Went to Heritage Days and Taste of Edmonton (our favorite summer activities)

-Frequented the Terwillegar dog park......the Hads and the dogs LOVE the river!!

-Matching pedi's

-Spent many a night/evening out on our outdoor sectional on our new deck......LOVE.

And now that it is over I am already looking forward to next summer.......hmmmm do ya think I should move to a warmer climate or what!? But the cool nights are welcomed! And fall....I love fall. The smells, the sights, the food.

So, so long summer. You were too short and sporadic for my liking. Maybe next year you can bring your A game? Maybe?

7 months.

2011-09-08T14:20:00.002-06:00

7 months. I compared these pictures this morning and I cannot believe that my girl is 7 months old. She feels so grown up.

For instance, Dman and I were trying to remember last night when the last time she really cried was. She will whimper when she is tired or grumpy but no full on cries anymore......like the oh my gosh, what does she need cry where it just doesn't stop. That represents age to me....like she's got this life thing figured out.

Recent developments include:
-Talking (indicriminate baby talk) like crazy.
Has added ma-ma (finally!), go, row, whoa, ta-ta, and pa-pa to her vocab
-crawling backwards but not forward yet
-can go from sitting to stomach and laying to sitting
-rides in the shopping cart like a big girl
-eating arrowroot cookies and the like
-16 lbs (25th percentile)
-26.5 inches (50th percentile)
-Don't remember the exact measurement but her head is in the 75th percentile. Ha!
Maybe she is going to be smart....big brain?

And just cause, here is another pic from our little 7 month photo shoot:

5 generations.

2011-08-31T10:33:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago Hadley and I packed up and headed out west with my mom and dad to visit my grandma and great-grandma (Nana).

Nana isn't doing so good so it was really important to my mom to get a 5 generation picture. You see, for 5 generations each woman has had a girl first. Ah-hem: my great grandma had my grandma first, then my grandma had my mom first, then my mom had me first, and I had Hadley who is my first. Pretty neat. I don't think 5 generations of all women happens too often these days what with people having kids later. Only one of Dman's grandparents is still alive let alone great grandparents. And Hadley has a great-great grandma!

So anywho we made our way out there over two days and camped with the rents in their little trailer in the mountains.

Hadley at bathtime in the trailer (pics are a bit blurry I know cause she was moving so darn fast - the girl likes to SPLASH!):

Have I mentioned how much I love this girl's personality!?

Anyway, then it was off to do some serious visiting with Nana and get that 5 generation picture. I won't divulge at this point except to say that Nana was one of the coolest people in the world. You have never met a stronger lady. She gave definition to the word woman. Her husband fought in 2 world wars, she lived through the great depression and had a hard-working life. But you would never meet a person more content with their circumstances. And boy oh boy, did the woman have a good sense of humor. And now she has changed. Old age, a stroke, a broken hip, and dementia have done a number on her. I was SO glad that she and Hadley met.

Meeting Nana for the first time (no we did not stage this):

And just cause, Hadley's fist time eating an arrowroot cookie at a restaurant:

My parents flew the Hads and I back home cause we did NOT want to do that drive again all the way back. She did great on the flight. Hammed it up with everyone on the plane and didn't make a peep.

All in all, a good reminder of what is the most important in life:
family.

3 years.

2011-08-23T15:58:00.003-06:00

3 years ago today I married my high school sweetheart.

3 years ago today was the best day of my life (sorry Hads, your birth was the 2nd best......but without marrying Daddy, you would not exist so it makes sense).

3 years ago today I made the best decision ever.

Friday we are going on a big date.......dinner and dancing without Hadley!! Grandma is even putting her to bed which means we get to stay out late! Weehoo!

And apparently Dman has a present and date planned out for each night leading up to Friday....we shall see.

I made the hubs a scrapbook of all of our letters that we wrote to each other when he was on his mission (what's a mission? Find out here). 2 years worth makes for a BIG scrapbook. It took a while.

He made me a big frame for my picture wall in the kitchen. And ordered me a bracelet that has charms which are teeny tiny little pictures of my beautiful girl (don't have it yet though).

This anniversary means a lot to me. Why? Because, as any parent will understand, bringing a life into this world with your spouse is the most beautiful thing. I see my husband in a whole new light now. He shines as a Father. He is brilliant at it. Which only means that my love for him goes much, much deeper than it did 3 years ago.

Happy anniversary hun! I love you. xoxo

My new nephew...Kohen!!

2011-08-16T14:10:00.002-06:00

I referred to the fact that my sister-in-law was in labor in my last post and here HE is!! Kohen. We did a photoshoot ASAP after he was born. Go here to see more!

6 months.

2011-08-05T14:00:00.005-06:00

This one is hitting me hard. 6 months!!! Where did my 6 week old go??

Half way to a year. Oh my.

Here is the Hads at 6 months:

Recent developments include:

-LOVES to eat!! So funny, I didn't think I would have an eater on my hands because she was HORRIBLE at nursing and didn't eagerly eat with a bottle. But she loves her food!

-Eating rice cereal, wheat cereal, carrots, sweet potatoes, and apple sauce

-While on her stomach pushing herself with her feet in an attempt to crawl

-Solely on formula. I just stopped pumping - like as in today. Yup, I pumped for 6 months as her only/main source of food. *shudder

-Knows her name

-Down to 2 naps a day - morning and afternoon

-Says ya,ya,ya and da,da,da (indiscriminately of course)

Oh Hadley, do but don't stop growing!!
And in other news, Hadley is going to have a new cousin today! Her Auntie is in labor!

My Hads

2011-07-20T10:33:00.004-06:00

We did a fun photoshoot the other day. Again, go to the photo blog!

I've been blog absent...

2011-07-19T09:24:00.001-06:00

because I have been busy.

New shoot on the photo blog.

5 months.

2011-07-12T12:12:00.003-06:00

I always say it - time is flying!! Here is the bean at 5 months:

Tear. She is getting so old!

Recent developments include:
-Playing shy
-Eating rice cereal
-Rolling over both ways
-Had her first runny nose
-Sitting up unassisted
-Happy screams all day long (sounds something like this:
eeeeeeeeeeeeee, ahhhhhhhhhhh, eeeeeeeeeee........REALLY high pitched)
-13 1/2 pounds, 26 inches long
-25th percentile for weight, 70th percentile for height

We love you Hads!!!!!

Tangled up in Tangled

2011-06-22T08:25:00.003-06:00

Hadley LOVES Tangled. Weird I know. I mean, hello 4 1/2 months?

Here she is watching it recently:

Oh this girl kills me! SO much personality!

Back to takin' pics.

2011-06-20T10:38:00.003-06:00

New pictures of sweet little Blakely on the photography blog.

In other news, our basement flooded today. Great. Stop raining!!!

Leah

Feelin' crafty

2011-06-14T11:53:00.004-06:00

Even though she is so cute you could just eat her right up, I thought maybe, just maybe, I should post about something other than the Hads.

So I thought I would share my recent crafty projects. Don't be mistaken though - I am not a craftaholic, I just dabble.

Exhibit A:

I made these invites for a friend's baby shower. I also took the picture shown and a few others (coming soon to my photography blog).

And Exhibit B:

My chore chart! I made these with a friend (let's be honest, she was the brains behind this one). Now that I have a little one I just needed a way to stay on top of housework without being overwhelmed and how hard is one chore a day right? So much easier than trying to get it all done in one day which is what I used to do. So, we put the days of the week:

And made individual (ie. movable) chores.

Cute huh?

That's all for now!

Leah xoxo

4 months.

2011-06-10T08:26:00.002-06:00

Ah four months!! Two more to six and then six more to a year....yikes!

Here is my girl at 4 months:

Sigh, tear. She is growing up so fast.

4 month developments:
-She found her feet
-EVERYTHING goes in her mouth
-she has big girl baths - ie. she is in the big bathtub without any props
-she rolls from stomach to back and back to side (not all the way over from her back to stomach quite yet)
-she just seems all around older - super interactive and so fun
-she needs toys to keep her occupied now - no more passive sitting or laying

That's it for now. LOVE this girl!

Little fish.

2011-06-06T12:37:00.002-06:00

Hadley went swimming for the first time and she loved it! I was SO happy. But I kind of had an inkling she would cause bathtime is the bean's FAVORITE time of day.

Here is a picture montage of the event (I am a camera happy mom!):

Shy face:

Bubbles:

So happy to be swimming:

All done:

Um.....free advertising for my little sis.

2011-06-02T11:40:00.002-06:00

Need a personal trainer?

My sister just graduated from NAIT and is now officially a personal trainer. Her employer required some professional pics of her and given that she has just graduated from student status, the pocket change is still running a little low so I was given the task.

We had fun. And here she is:

Giver her a call. She's good. Takes the Gillian Michaels approach - a beat down.

The forgotten.

2011-05-19T21:50:00.006-06:00

I forgot to share these pictures. I took them about 3 weeks ago but they are just so darn cute that I can't not share them.

Oh how I love my girl!

Dman says I should have put a headband on her cause she looks like a boy in these pictures so if that is what you are thinking, I have already been told! I say phhhhhhht to that. She is adorably girly.

PS - Isn't it funny how when people have babies their blogs feature nothing else. I have fallen into that trap - can't help it though!

Leah

3 months.

2011-05-10T13:55:00.002-06:00

The Hads is 3 months old! See, she can prove it:

I can't believe how fast time is flying.

Can I just say, I LOVE BEING A MOM TO THIS GIRL! I seriously feel so blessed that she is a part of my life. I really am not exaggerating or streching the truth when I say that I LOVE being a mom. It is the greatest. Everyday is filled with smiles and laughs. What more could I ask for?

Recent developments include:
-grabbing and putting things into her mouth
-full on laughing
-playing with toys (little toys)
-moved up to big girl bottles (from the 5 oz ones to the 12 oz ones)
-LOVES her jumperoo
-LOVES TV (favorite show is Barney.....yay for me!)

On a side note: I got lots of questions about her onesies in these pictures - it is just a white onesie and I add the logo with photoshop.

Till next time,

Leah xoxo

Our Easter.

2011-04-25T10:45:00.003-06:00

Holidays are so much better with child! We had lots of fun this Easter with our Hads.

Events were as follows:

Easter egg hunt and dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Wilson's on Saturday.

Easter egg hunt for Dman and the Hads on Sunday morning at our house.

(she is really proud of her finds and it looks like she doesn't want to share!)

Church in our pretty Easter dresses.

And then dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Karch's on Sunday night.

(sporting a very suprised look with her cousin Jade)

That was our Easter. I think its been one of my most favorites ever!

Hadley's first REAL laugh

2011-04-18T11:41:00.008-06:00

Que heart melt.

Tour my house: Part V

2011-04-14T14:33:00.005-06:00

The master bath. Possibly my most favorite reno.

Again, I was too jump-to-the-gunny in getting our reno started and I failed to take real before pics. There was one single vanity in the icky blood stained oak and brick red counter tops just like in our kitchen, a giant clip on mirror, a nasty medicine cabinet, an ancient and totally ghetto ball pendant light, and hideous fixtures.

Here is the best 'before' pic that I have - but, it was halfway through the renos (our new double vanity is in):

And after:

The run-down of projects:
-Painted
-Replaced:
cabinets
sinks (and added another)
faucets
light fixtures
mirror (and added another)
-Tiled backsplash

I really LOVE it.

Did she get the memo?

2011-04-06T14:44:00.003-06:00

My baby is in the 75th percentile for height!

Ummmmmm, did she get the memo that her parents are SHORT?

Hey Hadley....we are short! We don't do tall.
We are a family of 10th percentiles when it comes to height! Funny.

(she is 50th percentile for weight)

Hads is two months old (tear). Time is FLYING!! It is bittersweet as they age isn't it. I look forward to what lies ahead as she develops but it is sad to see her change so QUICKLY!

I packed up her 0-3 month clothes yesterday because none the fit at all anymore and it was sad. I almost cried. Its funny how you grow attached to certain outfits of theirs......I have memories attached to each one.

But moving forward. We cant wait until summer!!!

Here is our Hads at two months:

Here she was at one month:

Changes?

Until next time!

Love.

2011-03-28T18:27:00.004-06:00

Have you ever seen anything cuter?

I can only think of one word when I look at it. Love. The two loves of my life who I love, who love each other, and who love me.

I LOVE it!

Life with Hadley

2011-03-21T13:55:00.002-06:00

Its been a while. Where to even begin!

We are all doing VERY well. Its been an adjustment but once she and I got each other figured out, everything has really been smooth sailing (with the exception of nursing).

Thank you SO much to everyone who commented on my last post. People's help and reassuring words totally pulled me through. We have the sleep thing figured out and let me tell you, she is an AMAZING sleeper. The last week my 7 week old baby has slept 8 hours straight. Maybe those are flukes, we will see, but on a normal night she only ever wakes up once. She goes to bed at 9:30pm, wakes up to feed around 3am and then goes back to bed until about 8am. A dream. I think it was the advice I received on keeping it totally quiet and dark when we feed her at night. Plus, before giving birth we read Babywise (a book on sleep training) and implemented a pretty strict schedule about 2 weeks after she was born. I have received a lot of flack for putting my baby on a schedule, but did I mention that my 7 week old sleeps 8 hours straight!?

Napping in the crib....now that's a different story. How do I get her to nap in her crib!? I don't get it.....night-time is fine....daytime, not so much!

I feel like she is growing and developing so fast. I know every mom probably says this, but it just seems like she is so ahead of the game, like she is too old too fast. She is SO alert, loves to stand all the time, can totally hold her head up (started that at about 2 weeks), and smiles and laughs with us (the BEST thing in the world).

Dman and I had out first date this past weekend. It was great and MUCH needed, but I missed Hadley SO much. I was so happy to see her fussy little face when we picked her up (her fussy time is 7-9.....sorry mom and dad!!!).

Little traits I love about Hadley:

-Her poop face. She frowns, her eyes go REALLY big and wide, she flairs her nostrils, and her lips make an o.....that's how we know she is taking a poo.

-She loves getting her diaper changed and has a conversation filled with giggles and smiles with me when she does.

-I have a framed "I am a child of God" print above her change table and since day 1 she just stares and stares at it. Now that she can smile she stares at it and smiles. Coincidence?

-Her skinny, skinny little neck.

-Her finger toes and monkey fingers.

-Her Dad's hairline.

-Bathtime. She LOVES bathtime. It consists of lots of kicks and giggles.

-She can seriously stand on her own. We of course have to hold her lightly for stability, but that's it.......I think she might be an early walker!

-When she is done her bottle she knocks it out of her mouth.....it makes me laugh just thinking about it......I forsee a stubborn little girl in my future.

Anyway, here are some pics from the first 7 weeks of Hadley's life (and I promise to keep more up to date from now on....its just SO hard to post when my baby won't nap well!!):

With one brother:

And the other:

Chillin' on the couch:

And chillin' with Dad:

At her baby blessing with my parents:

And both sets of grandparents:

Well, that's our Hads (as we so fondly call her). We seriously adore her. She is such an awesome little girl.

Hadley Elizabeth Karch

2011-02-16T14:26:00.002-07:00

Well folks, I have officially been a mommy for 10 days now.

Hadley Elizabeth Karch was born on February 5 at 4:22pm. She weighed 7 lbs, 12 oz and was 19 inches long.

The birth story:

On the way to the hospital. I was measuring 40 inches around.

I was induced Friday morning (the 4th) at 8:00am with cervadil. They monitored me for 2 hours, and like most people, I was sent home because nothing was happening.

So we waited and waited all day long. We went for a walk, watched some movies and then played some scrabble. It was during scrabble at about 8:00pm that I went into labor. The contractions were about 8 minutes apart. Funny side note: that morning when I was being induced I asked the nurse 'how do I know when I go into labor because I have been having so many braxton hicks, I don't know if I will know the difference' she responded with a 'ohhhhhh believe me, you will know the difference'. Was she ever right!! Real contractions feel nothing like braxton hicks!

Anywho, I tried to go to sleep, given the long road that I knew was ahead and that I should probably be rested. HA! There was no way I sleeping. Excitement mixed with contractions - yeah right! The contractions really weren't that bad though so I casually labored between my bed, the bathtub, and shower. By 2:00am they were 3-4 minutes apart so we decided to go into the hospital.

I went to admitting and was hooked up to the monitor and examined. No progress since the morning (when I was induced I was 1cm and my cervix was very high). Bummer. However, a loophole to being sent home presented itself: the nurse said that I had two options - one, get sent home, or two, f I wanted something for the pain (morphine) then I would have to stay at the hospital for another hour to be monitored.....brilliant!! I took the morphine! Which by the way, was a shot in my thigh/buttox and hurt more than the epidural. So from 4:00am - 5:00am we walked the halls and I ate lots and lots of ice chips. It really wasn't that bad though because I wasn't in active labor, so the contractions were minor. I was examined again at about 6:00am to find out that I had made about a 1/2 cm of progress. GREAT! However, loophole #2 presented itself: I was going to have to come back to the hospital at 8:00am for my second induction, so they gave us the option of just waiting it out at the hospital. Done. I REALLY did not want to go home. So, we spent another 2 hours walking the halls and I ate lots and lots of ice chips!

When 8:00am came around they examined me again and now I was 1 1/2 - 2 cm dialated. Oh boy. But the doctor on call (bless her heart) admitted me and said they would start me on an oxytocin drip. So I was moved to L&D and hooked up to the IV. My heavy contractions started right away. HoooooooooBooooyyyy did those puppies hurt. We decided to do some more walking (which was no joke almost the death of me - can anything prepare you for pain like that?) and when I returned to the room 45 minutes later, I was examined and voila, I had dialated from 1 1/2 to 6 cm in 45 minutes. No wonder it hurt.

EPIDURAL TIME!! The anethesiologist came in and started going over the risks.......blah, blah, blah.........I think my exact words were "I don't care......moan.....pant......get that thing in me!!!!!". After the epidural was in I went through about 2 more hours of labor and it was time to push!

I pushed miss Hadley out in 35 minutes which would have been 25 minutes had the doctor been ready........I had to wait 10 minutes with her crowning for the doctor to come!!! Wow, you want to talk pain......how about a freaking head half way through you for 10 minutes not being able to push!

When she popped out and they placed her on my chest it was the most surreal moment I have ever experienced in my life. Its just so amazing how in one instant my life completely changed. The creature who had been living inside of me for 9 months was really here. She was a real, living, breathing human being. No words can describe it.

I was in fact, so infatuated with her, that didn't even really notice them stitching me up for an hour.........yeah, I had a 3rd - 4th degree tear. Um, one word, OUCH!

Freshly out.

Yeah, I know its not the most flattering picture, but here we are for the first time as a family.

And here is my girl after being home for a few days.

Not going to lie, the last week and a half has been a whirlwind. There is so much that I wasn't expecting. To say its been hard doesn't encompass all of the emotions I have been feeling. Hadley is a good-ish baby, I think we have just been completely shocked into parenthood and all that it entails. Will I ever sleep again? Does the monotoney ever end? etc, etc, etc. I wish someone would have told me some of the things to expect. I beat myself up for a week straight thinking I was doing everything wrong. Why was my baby not as perfectly content as other people's babies seem to be. Or why was I not completely enamored by my baby on day one like so many other moms are. Or why can my baby not seem to get breast feeding!! Should it really take an hour to get her to latch!?

That being said, its amazing how quickly you do learn YOUR baby. Things are already getting easier and more enjoyable as we figure her out. I fall more and more in love with her everyday. I love just watching her facial expressions as she sleeps. I really am in awe of our little miracle.

One question I have for moms out there though: how do you switch a baby who has their days and nights mixed up? For example, trying to wake Hadley up during the day is the hardest thing, but at night she wont go to sleep!! I finish her last feeding and she is wide awake so we have to bounce her to sleep. Then we all go to sleep and she sleeps for about 4 hours before waking up to feed. I feed her and then she will NOT go back to sleep. Last night for instance she was wide awake from 3am-6am. SO frustrating!!! We dont let her nap for long spurts during the day and we have tried keeping her up during the day, but lets be honest, trying to keep a newborn awake is not the easiest thing to do. Advice???

Anywho, that is Hadley. She is beautiful. We love her. Life has changed!

We had our first photoshoot last week with the amazing Allison Cahoon, so you can go here to check out those pics.

Leah xoxo

Life changes tomorrow.

2011-02-03T16:24:00.002-07:00

Well I am a week over my due date and still no baby so I am being induced at 8:00am tomorrow morning. It is a cervadil induction so I expect that I will be sent home, and then who knows how long it will take me to go into labor and then how long labor will take on top of that. But one thing I know for sure:

I AM GOING TO MEET MY BABY THIS WEEKEND!!! YAY!

Its been a long wait and I really cannot believe that it is finally here. I really cannot comprehend that I will be bringing a baby home. That I will be a mom. That there really is a living, breathing human being inside of me that will come out this weekend. Its just so surreal.

I am nervous for labor. Because my body hasn't really "worked" like it is supposed to work thus far, I worry that maybe it wont perform when it comes time to get this baby out. Man, I hope I don't have to have a c-section. Being so small, I worry about that. But, so long as baby is healthy, then I am happy.

I have been having contractions.....no, not braxton hicks contractions, but REAL and INTENSE contractions for quite some time now. As I type this I am getting them about once every 10 minutes. But nothing is happening!!! They just aren't getting closer together. Oh well, hopefully they will have prepared me somewhat for labor.

Anywho, I am off to get my last minute preparations out of the way.

Next post: meet my baby!!!

Tour my house: Part IV.......the nursery!

2011-01-25T11:55:00.003-07:00

Well, as the countdown/wait continues, I thought I would share pictures of the nursery. Its completely done and just waiting for a little baby to arrive.

So here it is looking in from the door (so hard to get pics of small rooms):

Her little blessing dress from Mexico:

Modge-podged these plates for a cute little plate wall:

Made the mobile:

Quilt and all bedding made by my mom and sister - thanks guys!:

Crib Skirt:

Crib sheet:

Recovered the rocking chair and ottoman:

I has this little side table that is hand painted on the top, but the colors did not go with the nursery. I couldn't bring myself to paint over it so instead I just covered it with scrapbooking paper:

Here is a close up of what we did on the walls. I really am not a fan of just painting a wall one flat color - I need more interest and depth. So I decided I wanted to do 5 foot board and batton style paneling and on top of that wallpaper. However, wallpaper is expensive and I could not find one that met what I was looking for, so instead I made a stencil and PAINSTAKINGLY stenciled the entire room. It only took me about a month........

And this is a closer view of the board and batton paneling. I LOVE it - I want to cover my entire house in it:

So that's it! Now all we need is the baby to use it! 3 days and counting. I have a feeling I will be late though - if that's the case then my induction date is Feb 4th. Ugh, that feels like an eternity away!

Any tips to get labor moving?

Insomnia.

2011-01-07T05:37:00.003-07:00

It's 5:30 AM and I have watched the past 3 hours tick by on my bedside clock. Can't sleep.

Could be the INTENSE braxton hicks that I have been having - like hard to breathe through intense. Or the fact that I am so very, very uncomfortable. Or my ever-impending role of Mom that is very quickly coming towards me.

All I do at night, as my husband blissfully snores sound asleep beside me, is think. I think about this baby inside me and what she will look like. Will she resemble Dylan or I, or a good mix of the two of us. Will she be a 'good' baby or a fussy one. Will my water break at church, shopping, in bed, on the couch, or will it break at all. What will going through labor be like. What will it be like when I see my baby for the first time.

But mostly I think about all the hopes and dreams I have for her. I think about who she will become - the goal of the child I want to raise, the obstacles facing that, and how to get her there. Dman and I were discussing the attributes that we would hope this little gal would have at 18 - how we would classify ourselves as being "successful" parents. We came up with Faithful, Virtuous, and Smart. At times, like tonight, the daunting task of getting her there overwhelms me. I know, raising a child does not happen overnight. I do not have to have any of this figured out right now, and I will learn as I go, but that doesn't take away from the huge responsibility that being a parent is - I am scared.

In my formative university days I used to watch Dr. Phil. Now I think he is a joke and wouldn't watch his show if you made me. But that is besides the point. The point is that he has a saying that has always stuck in my head - "The word Parent is not an adjective, it is a verb". Yup, a verb. An ACTION word. Actions that I will take that will forms this child's personality and inevitable future. Yikes.

The litany of jargon on "how-to" parent is, in the small sense of the word, overwhelming. Have you ever been to chapters and tried to go through the parenting section? Do you have a year?

But I guess that brings up the point that Dman and I always end our "how the heck are we going to raise this child" conversations with - thank goodness we have have spirit to guide us along our journey as parents. Really, I can read up all I want on sleep schedules, discipline tactics, and eating habits, but in the end, if I am in-tune enough with the spirit, I will know what to do. Who says He can't be the one to confirm to me that my baby isn't gassy, she just needs cuddles? I think he can and will.

Anyway, just thought I would put a pen to paper (in a manner of speaking) on my thoughts. I will probably look back in years to come when I have a brood running around, and figure out that no one really has it figured out, and laugh at my nervous self. But for now, I will probably go back to bed and keep on pondering. That is after I down a bottle of TUMS for this wicked acid-reflux!

Tour my house: Part III

2011-01-03T13:04:00.003-07:00

It's been crazy around here at casa Karch lately what with Christmas and the 3 week impending birth of our baby girl!! Oh my how time flies. I cannot believe it is almost here. At the same time, I am ready to have her out TODAY!! I am so, extraordinarily uncomfortable!! I am trying everything on the list to get something started as my OB predicts that I am going to be late!! ARRRG!

Christmas around here was great. Just time spent with family and eachother. And of course, preparations for baby. The nursery is DONE....just waiting for my sister to finish making the quilt and then I will share pictures. The only things left to do is to pack my hospital bag and make some freezer meals.

Anyway, I thought I would move on in the house tour to the main floor bathroom. Now, I failed to take before pictures of this room and I am so mad at myself for not because seriously, this room was B-A-D. Such an eyesore. Just picture the same cabinets as the kitchen, a really tiny, ugly clip-on mirror, and HORRIBLE fixtures. Oh, and a hole in the ceiling that had half-heartedly been covered up with a piece of wood. Got the idea? Okay, then here it is now:

(Do ignore me in this picture - a small bathroom meant inevitability of me in the mirror)

The rundown of reno's includes:

-Ripped out the old vanity, counter top, sink and fixtures, and replaced it with a new espresso vanity, granite counter, trough sink, and my favorite, the waterfall tap.

-Painted horizontal stripes on the wall. All I did was take the original paint on the walls (the taupe) and mix in some white, to get a lighter cream version of the taupe. You can't tell because it is very hard to take pics of a small bathroom, but the stripes ended up making the VERY small bathroom look a lot bigger.

-New lighting fixture - giant improvement on the Hollywood lighting that came with the house.

-New mirror to replace the 1 x 2 clip on mirror.

-Tiled backsplash that cost about $10. I just bought some inexpensive ceramic subway tiles from Home Depot and used the leftover glass/marble mosaic from the kitchen to create some visual interest.

That's about it. Probably the easiest reno of them all, but it created a big impact.

Next up.........the NURSERY!!

Tour my house: Part II

2010-12-08T11:18:00.004-07:00

It has been a while since I posted , so I thought I should get something up here! I have no festive ideas to share, so I thought why not continue with the house.

Next up is the kitchen. There are still a few things that aren't quite right, (like I want to add a dark brown bamboo blind as opposed to the white to warm up the space a bit) but I will get to those.

Here is the kitchen before renos (note: new appliances had been added cause there weren't any when we moved in, and the handles on the cabinets had been changed):

And here is the after:

This breakfast bar and cabinets are new. Nothing existed on these walls before, which in a small house was a huge waste of space I thought.

So, all in all we:

-Painted the cabinets
-Installed new counter tops
-Installed new cabinets and a breakfast bar on the opposite wall of the existing cabinets
-Painted the walls
-Dman built out a bulkhead and installed a pantry door instead of that nasty plastic accordian door that came with the house
-Installed new light fixtures
-Installed a counter to ceiling glass mosaic and marble backsplash

I would have LOVED to have continued the hardwood floors into the kitchen, but alas, our budget did not allow for that. We may tile somewhere way down the road, but who knows.

It was ALOT of work, but well worth the result I think.

30 weeks!

2010-11-18T21:18:00.003-07:00

Woohoo only 10 more to go!!! I set up my Christmas tree last week cause I am intense like that, so here is my 30 week pic in front of the tree:

k, now here is my 30 week question: I have been having ALOT of braxton hicks contractions - like one every 20ish minutes. And last night I was actually having them every 5 - 10 minutes. But then I drank lots of water and lied down and I was fine. But always every 20 minutes for about a week now.

Is this normal? Anyone else experienced this?

Leah xoxo

It's been a while....I have to post something!

2010-11-17T20:33:00.003-07:00

Some pictorials of my adorably cute extended family over on the photography blog.

Hello thrid trimester!

2010-10-19T20:13:00.002-06:00

It's official, I am in the last stages of this pregnancy! Man, time has flown.

Just thought I would share pics of me at 25 weeks since I haven't really shared any. I am big and feeling big time pregnant. Things like putting on my shoes and doing dishes (because I can't stand close to the sink) are getting really hard!

Oh man I don't enjoy these pictures. I have gained 30 pounds.....which is 35% of my body weight, and it shows! Oh well, pudgy faces were cute back in medieval times.

I just can't wait to meet our little girl. SO excited!!

Tour my house.....finally. Part I

2010-10-17T21:24:00.003-06:00

I know, I know, its taken me about a decade to show you the house that we moved into back in December 09, but I didn't want to share until we were done renovations which we just finished a couple months ago.

I thought I would share one room at a time. You have already seen my master bedroom, and the nursery is still in progress and the office, well, its a disaster, so the rooms that I will be sharing, in order, are:

1. Family room/dining room
2. Kitchen
3. downstairs bath
4. Master bath
5. Other little areas like the front entry, etc.

Now, I will preface this with the admission that I am forgetful and didn't take before pics of most rooms. Or I took them but they were of the in between stages.

Furthermore, don't be expecting much. We have an older, little, humble 1200 sq ft house in the ghetto - not a brand new beauty. And I have done the entire house on an EXTREMELY tight budget - like seriously, most people spend on floors what we spent on our entire house. I have just been thrifty - tonnes of DIY projects, sales, kijiji, thrift stores, big boxed stores, and even auctions.

Anyway, without further ado, I give you our family/dining room BEFORE we started decorating/renos, but after we had moved in and I had done some picture hanging and switched out the light in the dining room:

YAWN!

So, I painted (yes I actually did paint - I don't do color on walls so I changed from a beige to an off-white), decorated, and we laid hardwood floors for the AFTER:

So there you have it - my family/dining room.

Hope you enjoyed part one of the tour! Stay tuned for Part II - the kitchen.

Leah xoxo

Nightmare on 35th Ave.....

2010-10-07T11:52:00.002-06:00

Pregnancy often brings on VIVID dreams. I am no excpetion. Only mine aren't dreams, they are nightmares. I have about one every other night.

Last night's was the worst yet.

I dreamt that I was in present time, and Dman and I were separated (like as in we don't like eachother anymore separation). It was sad, I yearned for him. After about an hour or so (dream time) of dreaming about that, no storyline change, I started to spot. I called all the people I knew and asked if how much spotting was okay until I should go to the hospital. I wanted so bad to call Dman, but I didn't. Which made me sad.

Everyone told me it was fine, not to worry. But then my spotting got heavier and heavier. I was at my house upstairs in the bathroom and my parents were downstairs when all of a sudden I felt a rush. I reached down and a whole bunch of blood along with my baby came out.

I screamed. "Mom, call 911". I was in hesterics. I held her close to me telling her "you are okay baby girl", "I love you", "you are going to live". And then she slowly shut her eyes and died in my arms.

I woke up sobbing.

Isn't that horrible! What the what!?

These have got to stop.

Thanks and a wedding.....

2010-10-01T12:00:00.002-06:00

Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment on my last post. It really really helps to hear from other moms, cause I do not know what I am doing here! I really appreciate it!

And check out the latest wedding I did here.

Have a great weekend!

Leah xoxo

Questions......

2010-09-28T11:21:00.003-06:00

I think there should be a resource out there that is REAL and not some book off the shelf that can tell me all of the things I really need to know about this baby/new life that is speedily coming my way. But since I haven't found that, I am turning to YOU!

I need some answers!!

So, question #1: what are the "things" that you could not live without. That I should definately buy before the little gal comes. Like anything.....the other day I thought of nail clippers....stuff like that, that I wouldn't think of.

#2: Should I take prenatal classes? I think I have decided no on this one cause I don't want to get scared and stressed out about the impending pain and labor, but I still want opinions.

#3: In the dead of winter (ie. I am due in January) do I need one of those full body jacket/snowsuit bag thingys or if I have a car seat cover (you know, the fur lined ones) and a blanket and warm clothes, should the baby be fine?

#4: What clothes should I buy? I hear from some people to not buy much because I will get a whole bunch from people, but I have no hand-me-downs coming my way, so this makes me feel very unprepared. But I also have a small budget so I can't go hog wild.

I think that's about it for now. I would REALLY appreciate INPUT! Please!

Leah xoxo

It's a.......

2010-09-07T21:33:00.003-06:00

GIRL!!!

We found out today and we are so excited!

Here she is (ignore the poor quality - my scanner isn't the greatest)

She has Dylan's nose!!

We love her already. Dylan knows she is going to have him wrapped around her little finger.

We had us a little scare.

2010-09-02T11:04:00.004-06:00

Yesterday morning I woke up to a wicked pain in my lower abdomen. Like someone was stabbing me/really bad menstral cramp pain. Its okay, I thought, I probably just slept weird.

So I got up, got ready, and went to work. But every 10 minutes or so, I would have these pains that lasted for about 10 minutes. I couldn't stand up straight, I couldn't even cross my legs. It HURT! Don't worry I told myself, everything is fine (sidenote: our instincts are always right).

So then my boss asked me something from her office and I got up to go tell her the answer, but I couldn't get out of my chair it hurt so bad. "Leah! Pain in pregnancy is not normal - call your doctor!" she says.

So, I called my Mom, described it, and the she got emotional because she miscarried her first, and made me promise that I would call my OB. Then I called my sister-in-law - yup, its not normal she confirmed.

Then I called my doctor. Come right this minute they said. Okay, now I was scared. I called my husband in tears. Worst case senerios flooded my head. I cannot imagine loosing this baby and starting from square one again. That would be beyond devastating.

So, I met Dman at my OB's where they rushed me in. And with a quick ultrasound and cervical check, confirmed that nothing was wrong.

Apparently I am small - newsflash - and so, I am going to experience a lot of things that 'normal' sized people will not. My pain was a result of my ligaments being streched way too fast. Oh yeah, if I forgot to tell you, I am the size of an elephant now. Fun.

Seeing my baby kicking away and that little heart beating was the best feeling that I have had in a while. I am just so THANKFUL for the blessing that it is to be able to bring a child into this world. Stop and think about it for a second - it is a miracle.

I've been busy.

2010-09-01T13:17:00.002-06:00

Couple new posts on the ole' photography blog.

Just thought I would let you know what I have been doing and why no posts.

Leah xoxo

2 years.

2010-08-23T21:24:00.002-06:00

Two years ago today, Dman and I married. Hands down, best day of my life so far (I know that when the little bean shows up, this will probably change).

Can I just say, I am SO lucky. I married my best friend, and for that I would trade nothing.

He is so good to me. We laugh all the time about the silliest things. He knows my thoughts even before I express them. He embodies everything that a man, husband, and preisthood holder should. He is my example, my light, my everything.

We have a beautiful thing going on.

We celebrated the day on Saturday. Festivities included:

-Layed in bed until we felt like getting up

-Exchanged cards/love letters (we don't do presents...too expensive)

-Made a big breakfast consisting of fresh blueberry pancakes, eggs, and bacon

-Went to the temple to do sealings (yearly tradition.....I make it sound like we have been married for so long...this is only number 2)

-Went out for dinner to the Cactus Club. YUMMMMMM

-Came home and took the mutts on a walk (side note: during which, we stumbled across a teenage couple getting it on in broad view, while it was still light out -we were flabbergasted)

-Watched a romantic movie

On our way to the temple.......

My handsome hubby...

Ready for dinner....

Tonight we will write in our anniversary journal - this was Dman's "gift" to me last year - every year for the rest of our mortal existence we will write in this journal about the past year's events, post pictures of the current year's anniversary date, and insert our love letters to eachother. I treasure it already and this is only year number two.

I love my Dman.

Oh WOW!

2010-08-12T10:24:00.003-06:00

I just felt my baby kick for the very first time. Just now. And today I am exactly 16 weeks.

It's like he/she is celebrating the mark....by kicking me!!

I had to ask a couple ladies at work....is this gas or digestion, or my baby kicking? We determined that since it hasn't stopped for about half an hour, and I haven't released any gas, and since it is on my side, it is most definately baby!

OH WOW!

Leah xoxo

I warned you...

2010-08-06T09:26:00.005-06:00

....that my baby bump is a bit ridiculous.

So here we go. Me at 15 weeks:

I feel like I should be 25 weeks not 15!!!

So far I have gained 15 pounds. YIKES. I haven't been able to put on more than 2 pounds since I was 14!!! I have litterally been the same weight since junior high.

I did a pregnancy weight calculator thingy the other day, and if I continue gaining weight at the same rate, I will gain 60 pounds by the end of my pregnancy!!!

Oh my, oh my.

I am hoping my body is just playing catch up because I was underweight when I got pregnant. LET"S HOPE!!

In other news, I finally went on Diclectin and I feel like I partially got my life back!! I was trying to be strong and not go on any medication because I just didn't want to take anything that could even remotely harm my little bean. But by 3 months, I had had enough of puking my guts out all day every day.

Question for you moms out there: do you ever feel like 'yourself' again?

I mean, I got pregnant and now my body has been taken over by this little alien (who I LOVE), and I keep thinking 'I can't wait just to have him/her so I can have my body back' but that won't really be the case will it? Cause if I am breastfeeding, the boobs will be his/hers. Right now I am a walking incubator, and then I will be a walking smorgasbord, and then we will probably pop out another one.

Or maybe I should take the approach that now I am just more of me - fufilling my eternal role as incubator.

Yup, that's the winner.

Cause seriously, body being taken over aside, this whole pregnancy thing really is a miracle. I just can't stop revelling at the fact that there is a living human inside of me.

Pretty cool.

Anyway, I will try to update more. That is, when I am not passed out on the couch with a migrain, exhaustion, or other perils.

Leah xoxo

Expecting.

2010-07-16T09:25:00.010-06:00

Remember this post and the trial I talked about?

Well, I am so elated to say that it is OVER and Dylan and I are expecting our first BABY!!!!!! I am due January 28th. And oh man, oh man, oh man, are we ever excited!

I debated sharing 'the trial' only because I don't like getting too too personal, but it helped/helps me when I read people's 'I made it through my trial' stories - they inspire me.

Disclaimer: I know that a lot of people deal with infertility, and many for a lot longer than I did. In no way, shape, or form am I trying to take awawy anything from anybody's experience. This is just mine.

So, I will take you back to a year and a half ago.

Dylan and I had been happily married for about half a year when we started to get the impression that we need to start trying to have a family. What the heck!?! No way! We were barely newlyweds, Dylan was a student, we were living in an apartment, as if we wanted to bring a baby into the mix. Where was this coming from?? About a month passed - the impression only got stronger. We prayed about it - yup, that's what we were supposed to do. We went to the temple about it - no mistaking it, we were supposed to start trying.

So we did.

A month passed. Then two. Then three. Then four. Okay, this is taking longer than I thought. Not to mention, even though we weren't neccessarily stoked when we got the impression to start having a family, as soon as we started trying, our hearts were in it. The possibility of what could be is addicting. Each month you eagerly wait for the day to come when your special friend doesn't come! After four months I was getting let down. But hey, I wasn't so nieve to think that this stuff doesn't take a while.

So five months went by, then six, then seven, then eight. I was starting to get really upset. Each month that I didn't get pregnant got harder and harder. It is so easy to sit here and type the words, six, seven, eight, but those were real months, each one of them with 30ish days - this was getting to be a long time!

But we kept at it. Nine months, then ten. I was getting depressed. My heart ached. Every day that we didn't have this child that we were trying for, seemed like an eternity. It was as if time was frozen, nothing moving forward. I was miserable at my job working 50-60 hours a week, but didn't know if I could leave because what if I got pregnant the next month - I needed mat leave!
And then Sadie died. That hurt bigtime. My only real baby - gone. I was SO MAD. I was SO SAD. Oh man that was hard. My heart split into two. Crying became a daily occurence.

Then came 11. Oh no, one more month and I was hitting the dreaded one year of trying and that means infertility.

12 months hit and I made an appointment with my family doctor. The day I went to see her I was filled with a renewed optimism - we were going to find out answers and finally get the ball moving forward. Well, that didn't happen. It went something like this:

DOCTOR: What brings you in today?
ME: My husband and have been trying to get pregnant for a year, and nothing.
DOCTOR: Well, how old are you?
ME: 23
DOCTOR: You are YOUNG! You have plenty of time. You don't need to be a parent yet. Why don't you just keep on trying for another year and then if nothing has happened we will start treatments.
ME: Because we want to start a family now for personal reasons. I don't think it matters what age I am. I want to start testing to get some answers. I don't think I am ovulating.
DOCTOR: Well there are no tests that can test whether or not you are ovulating.
ME: What? I know a girl who just had that very kind of test. It was a blood test.
DOCTOR: I don't know what test she got, because there is nothing that tests if you are ovulating.
ME: Doesn't it test for progesterone??
DOCTOR: No, but if you want you can go to the drugstore and buy a home ovulation test to see if you are ovulating. They aren't always accurate though. You might get some false negatives.
ME: What does that test test for?
DOCTOR: Progesterone.
ME: So you are saying that there is a plastic, over the counter, at home test that can test for progesterone, but the labs can't !?!?
DOCTOR: Yes.
ME: Okay thanks, I will get one of those. (Knowing full well that I would NEVER EVER EVER talk to her again - idiot. What med school did you go to!?!)
DOCTOR: Great, and then come in in about 6 months to follow up.
ME: Yup, bye.

I left that appointment completely and utterly CRUSHED. C-R-U-S-H-E-D. The waterworks immediately started. I called Dylan. I could barely talk I was crying so hard. He was sweet, loving and reasuring that we were eventually going to get pregnant. But I was lost. Where were the answers I was looking for? Who cared out there? What the heck Heavenly Father!?

I called a dear friend of mine who was going through the same trial, but I knew that her doctor was great. I got the number, called, pleaded my case, and prayed that this doctor would take on a new patient. A week later they called - yup, he would see me!

My NEW doctor is GREAT! He immediately ordered some tests and reffered me to a fertility specialist. Of course, each test, and appointment takes a while to get. I had to wait 3 months to get into see my fertility doctor. So 13 months hit, then 14 and 15.

But, when I met with him (for the second time) voila, we had our answer! Just as I had suspected months ago, I was not ovulating. Like not AT ALL! My hormones were all over the place.

So, bless my doctor's soul, he put me on Clomid instead of doing more tests which would have taken about another 3 months. He had a real get-er-done approach.

I was SO nervous going on clomid - what if it didn't work, then what? I was not ready for more dissapointment. I always knew clomid would be there as an option that works for most, and if it didn't work on me I seriously would have been devastated. But ladies and gents (well really, ladies) it worked FIRST month!

I, of course, had no patience and took a test the second I was a day late. Funny story. I peed on the stick and gave it the three minutes, fully expecting to go into the bathroom and read yet another false test. I had seen SO many of them.

When Dylan and I took a look at it I first saw the dark one line,

but then I saw a VERY faint second line.

What the........
Could this be...........
No, it can't be.........
Dylan, what do you think............

So I did what any modern young lady would do - I googled it.

And sure enough, a faint pink line means just as much as a dark one - a line is a line - WE WERE PREGNANT!!!!!! FINALLY!!!

We cried and hugged and laughed and said "can you believe it" more times than I can count.

I have been sick, but that is to be expected right? And everytime I throw up, I know why, and I am grateful (to be pregant, not to be throwing my guts up).

We got our first ultrasound at 10 weeks because I started showing at 6 weeks so my doctor wanted to rule out twins. We are just having ONE! FEWF! That ultrasound was the coolest experience of my life. Besides the fact that I was in SO much pain because I drank way too much water. The tech said that due to my size I only have to drink one cup....I drank 4! Anyway, after she called in Dylan and showed us the screen I started bawling. It was the greatest thing I have ever seen in my life. She said how great the baby looked and then he/she started kicking away! "oh boy, you have an active one" she says. GREAT! haha just what we want. The the little guy/girl waved at us. It was so distinct and SO perfect. I was instantaneously IN LOVE. I look at that picture all the time and just smile. I am so grateful.

An everyday MIRACLE that's what it is.

In all of it I can see Heavenly Father's grace, and it all makes sense to me now. He knew that we were going to have trouble getting pregnant, and prompted us to start trying a year and a half before we were actually going to start (we were going to start trying this summer). I am SO thankful that we listened to that prompting. We were scared but thank goodness.

HIS plan really always does work out.

I will post pictures later - my belly is a bit much for 3 months but everyone keeps telling me its cute, so I will choose to believe them!

Leah xoxo

My Bahama Mama experience

2010-06-28T11:42:00.004-06:00

At least that is what the locals called me...."Hey pretty Bahama Mama, how you doin' today?"

I am back. Safe and Sound.

And after two weeks of being back I thought that hey, maybe I should post about my trip. Can you say lazy much? It just takes a lot to get back into the swing of things after being gone for two weeks...and one day.

So where to even being...ohhhh boy.

Well, we flew for 14 hours from Edmonton, to Toronto, then to Nassau Bahamas. When we got to Nassau we took a taxi to the marina that pops was mooring the boat at.

A funny side note - for those of you who don't boat, all boats have names for safety purposes - the name of my Dad's new boat is El Presidente (Spanish for 'The President") - so the Bahamian people started called him the President. For instance, he got his laundry back from the laundry place in a bag labeled "Mr. President" - if you know my dad, I thought that was pretty hilarious.

Anyway, when we arrived at the Marina, the four of us (myself, Dylan, sister, and mother) were less than impressed. This place was not fit for a 'vacation' - there wasn't even water in the pool! Now don't get me wrong folks, this chica can slum it - afterall, I did live in a third world country for two years and didn't have a real shower or toilet (like we are talking POVERTY) - but I was not up for that on this trip - this was supposed to somewhat resemble a vacation.

So, on the very first day we made the consecutive decision that we would be paying more and switching marinas - to where you might ask - have you ever heard of a place called the Atlantis?? If not, check this out. Yeah, we stayed there for 1 week.

No joke, the first person we meet upon arrival was a NFL pro-bowler (don't remember his name but it was a really big deal to Dylan). A NBA superstar was docked just down the way from us (again, don't ask me his name), and we heard of plenty of stars being there but never saw them because they have a private pool. Get this, the most expensive public room (there are private rooms that go for more) goes for $25,000 a night!!! Nuts!

So have I set the stage for how amazing this place was? Like nothing I have ever seen before. And we have stayed at some pretty nice places.

Here we are upon pulling into the marina:

Very excited!

No, that is not me, that is my sister.

The myriad of things to do might take me a week to explain, so I will go with the highlights.

There were these C-R-A-Z-Y waterslides everywhere. On this one you actually go through a tank of sharks:

To get to the tank of sharks you either went down a twisty slide or this drop of doom:

You can't really tell, but West Ed has nothing on this bad boy - seriously, STRAIGHT DOWN!

Now, I will intermission you with a brief tour of the hotel:

Here is a shot of one of like 15 glorious pools:

This was the one we went to everyday - it was so hard to choose - so many choices!

The famous archway which is a room - that's the one that costs $25,000 per night:

The architecture:

The lobby ceiling (thought it was cool):

The Atlantis chair:

Okay, continuing on. One of the other very neat things about this resort is that there are aquariums EVERYWHERE - and I seriously do mean everywhere. They were floor to ceiling so as if to include you in the underwater world.

This guy was seriously like 4 times my size!

Other happenings included the fact that we missed the Justin Beber concert by two days!

Yup, the Atlantis flies in superstars for its guests private viewing pleasure!

We went to the 'straw market' - lots of local arts and crafts for cheap:

And just enjoyed being by the pool and beach!

And one of us even jumped in the water by the boat - grungy if you ask me!

And we saw a new release movie every night at the free movie theatre - yeah a movie theatre in a resort!

A week later it came time to say goodbye to the Atlantis and to momma-bear (she did not want to sail from the Bahamas to Florida with us so opted to ply home from the Bahamas a week earlier than us).

Our first stop was Chub Cay - and it only took us about 8 hours to get there - can you sense my sarcasm? Short for sailing but a freakin' century for normal travel (ie. by car).

It truly was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been with water sooooooo clear - like clearer than a pool - no joke.

Funny story - we were snorkelling and swimming in the late afternoon/early evening and these jet-skiers were kind of circling us. And they would stop every now and then and watch us. We were getting kind of annoyed until they came up to our boat and told us that no one swims here after dusk. Why? Cause the tide goes out, and the gish go out, which means the sharks come in. Bad situation to be swimming in. Needless to say, we high-tailed our butts out of the water!

The we were off to our last stop before Florida - Bimini Island. We had to travel for about 17 hours to get to Bimini so after a long and pretty rough trip (8 foot seas) we decided that we wanted to go to a marina for the night as opposed to an anchorage as we needed our rest and the rocky sleep that an anchorage would provide us with would not suffice. So at 10pm in pitch black we tried to navigate our way through this channel which lead to the Marina. The navigation in the Bahamas leaves something to be desired however, and the channel was not properly marked so we ended up running aground! Bad news. Thank goodness it was only sand because if it had of been rock or coral we would have been in BIG trouble. We booked it out of that channel so fast. I was stearing and was so scared that I was shaking like a leaf. And because we could not safely make it into a bay or marina we had to anchor in unprotected water - it was a horrible night. So we were up early the next morning and off to Florida. Again, in pretty rough water.

My Captain husband steering us through a thunderstorm (note the calm water - before it got rough):

When we finally reached Florida we were SO happy. I didn't end up taking a lot of pics in Florida because we spent the majority of our time shopping and eating and who wants to see pics of that?

We had fun though and got a lot og GREAT deals!

Eating a slice of dollar pizza at the Miami Bayside market:

And outside of the famous Bubba Gump's!

Whew, I don't know if I can write anymore. So, that was my trip! All in all, fun. Really, really hot, but a great get-away. Glad to be home to my pooches and house though!

Leah xoxo

See ya later Canada!

2010-05-28T12:16:00.002-06:00

Well, Dman and I leave for the Bahamas tomorrow so I thought I would say a quick goodbye!

I will be gone for two weeks.

I I do not return, please send help. There are pirates and hurricanes in the Bahamas.

But hopefully all I come in contact with is sun, sand, and the ocean!

Later!

Leah xoxo

Pretty blooms for a rainy day.

2010-05-21T09:08:00.003-06:00

The other night Dman and I took the mutts for a walk to the dogpark. Next to the Temple the dog park is my favorite place on earth. The walk through the ravine is lovely and I just love watching the boys play and skip with excitement.

Anywho, the paths were lined with an abundant amount of fragrant cherry trees in bloom so I decided to pick a few, and brought them home to rest in my antique milkjug find:

We were walking back to the car and some old dude says to me:

"I see you've been picking the lilac" - in a very annoyed sort of way. I replied "Yup, isn't it beautiful" in an ignorant sort of way. Mind your own business old guy.

Flowers always brighten my day, especially this gloomy one! And it just so happens that on this long weekend my mom and I are going flower shopping! Can't wait to fill my empty gardens.

Have a great long weekend!

Leah xoxo

DIY sunburst mirror

2010-05-18T08:36:00.002-06:00

For the longest time I have wanted a sunburst mirror, however this has simply remained a want because these puppies run a pretty penny - like $200 - $300 pretty.

Until the other day when I thought to myself: Leah, you can make this.

So I went to Homesense and picked up a round mirror for the centre for $14 dollars. Then I proceeded to Michaels to pick up some wood dowels for the 'burst' for about $10 and a can of gold spray paint for $7.

Grand total: $31 for this:

Do you love it as much as I do?? I am soooooo excited about it!

It only took me about an hour and a half to cut the dowels to size, measure out my spacing, glue gun them on, and give the whole thing a coat of shiny gold paint.

High impact for low cost and time - sounds like a good deal to me!

(and on a side note - the house is almost done so reveal pictures are coming soon!)

Have a great day!

Leah xoxo

Oh the things that make me smile.

2010-05-12T08:42:00.005-06:00

This morning I drove to work, the sun shining, 21 degrees on the horizon.

"Hey Soul Sister" came on the radio.

And a dude in a cube was eating porridge.

I smiled.

This is why I blog.

2010-05-06T08:43:00.003-06:00

If you look at my sidebar you will see that I follow quite a few blogs. Mostly for design and photography inspiration.

On one of the blogs I follow I came across this video yesterday
(many of you have already seen it).

This is why I blog. I NEEDED this SO BAD. Oh man did I ever.

Dylan and I have been going through our own trial for quite sometime now. It has been hard. My heart breaks just about everyday. Litterally. Breaks.

I hope that one day I will be able to tell you all about it. Because that will be the day that it will be over. I can't wait for that day.

I have been mad with my Heavenly Father for quite sometime. Mad that I have to go through this trial. Mad that I have to hurt.

Stupid me.

He loves me, and I will grow from this. As I write these words, I am bawling, but you know what, it feels good to say them. I know everything will work out the way it is supposed to. According to HIS PLAN.

Thankyou Stephanie and thankyou bloggers who remind me how blessed I am.

Because I am.

Destination: Bahamas!

2010-05-05T09:21:00.006-06:00

See yucky Edmonton May weather:

See the Bahamas:

See Leah in the Bahamas:

You can't yet, but as of May 30th that's where you will find me!!!!!! We just booked our flights last night!

You see, paps bought a boat down in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, which he needs to sail to Florida in order to have it trucked to Vancouver where he will keep the boat. He has hired a crew to help him take it to the Bahamas at which point myself, Dman, Mom, and sister will be joining him for 2 whole weeks!

Me, Leah, in the bahamas for 2 weeks! O man, I am excited! And guess what the best part is..... it is going to be DIRT cheap. We are going to be staying on the boat, which means no cost there, and my mom and paps will most likely assume many of the food costs, so really all Dman and I have to pay for is our flights, meals out, and spending money. But wait, it gets even better..... we have a travel VISA which we have been using since we got married and never really checked our points balance. Well, we decided to use whatever points we had racked up for this trip. Our total cost (2 tickets for a flight from Edmonton to Nassau, 2 tickets for a flight from Miami to Edmonton, and all of our taxes) $250 bones! That's it!!!!!! Which means this little lady has a decent sized shopping-in-Miami budget!!

C-A-N-N-O-T W-A-I-T!

I found this on the side of the road...

2010-05-04T09:17:00.004-06:00

(minus the streak of primer - there goes that jump-to-the-gun-ness of mine)

and turned it into this:

I was driving home from work the other day and spotted this beauty on the side of the road in our neighbourhood.

It was love at first sight.

Those clean lines, vintage written all over it, and sliding doors made me swoon.

So I booted home, called Dman on the cell and told him to get into the car when he saw me pull up. I assured him that I had not gone crazy but there was no time for an explanation.

I sped back to the spot that I eyed it and, hazard lights a-blinking, we forced this baby into our back seat.

(On a side note: I sure hope that someone was in fact throwing this out and not in the process of moving it somewhere, but no one came out of their house screaming or threatening death, so, finders keepers!)

It was quite the sight to be seen - you see, the cradenza did not fit all the way into our car so we had one door wide open and a quarter of the cradenza just hanging out. But, I am pleased to say that we got her home safely.

I proceeded to sand her down and then I chose to paint for two reasons:

1. I love white, and

2. the wood was in rough shape, so the task of re-staining would have been monumental.

I used none other than my trusty Zinsser 1-2-3 primer, and then gaver her a coat of white latex paint. Dman cut the legs down because this beauty was just a tad too tall for my taste, and presto, a new cradenza turned TV stand (our old one was a cheapy from IKEA and served me in my pre-marital/roomate days so I was all to happy to get rid of it).

She's just so beautiful with those lines and these built-in pulls:

Did I mention that when I got her home, I discovered (from a furniture maker's stamp on the back) that this beauty is a bonified vintage mid-century modern piece all the way from Denmark!!!! SCORE!!!

Man I love free stuff. Especially when it is awesome!

My little herb garden

2010-04-23T10:28:00.002-06:00

I long for fresh summer cooking with organically grown ingredients and fresh herbs. But I live in Edmonton where the growing season starts late, so this year I came up with a cute solution:

My windowsill herbs!

I chose to plant parsley, basil, and chives (my favorite summer-cooking herbs)

In order to be budget savy I used 3 little IKEA vases that I had kickin around from our wedding and filled them up with some potting soil.

Then I made these cute little tags and secured them onto popsicle sticks:

Then I planted my seeds and tagged them, and voila, a little herb garden.

I planted a couple weeks ago and I already have some sprouts! My chives are growing like weeds. But they sure aren't going to taste like weeds. Mmmmmmm I can taste them already........grilled baby potatoes with herbs, grilled lemon basil chicken, herb bicuits, strawberry arugala and basil salad.......yum!

Happy cooking!

Leah xoxo

I need your help.

2010-04-09T11:47:00.011-06:00

Okay bloggers, today I need your help to make a decision.

While doing all of our renos in the back of my mind is always resale because I know that we are not going to be here forever (actually probably only a few years depending on where Dman gets into school).

So, while I have TOTALLY stayed true to my style when picking out things such as doors, tile, cabinets, countertops, etc, etc, I have also tried to stay somewhat neutral for resale.

I want to spice it up a bit in the living/dining room with something on the walls (I am so over plain painted walls) - wallpapaer is out for me because I feel that it is too specific to someone's taste and not a good option for me if we are going to be selling in a couple years. So I have decided that I am going to do a panelling of some sort - where I need your help is deciding between two styles. I know which one I want to do but I need to know what potential buyers would like.

Pretend like you are in the market to buy a house - which one do you like or does one turn you off? Or do you even like either?

Option #1:

Wainscotting

Option #2

6 foot panelling

Images courtesy of 'Just Beachy'

What do you think? Comments PLEASE!

Leah xoxo

Doors, doors, doors.

2010-04-07T10:59:00.000-06:00

Ugh, renovations. Oh how I am sick of them.

But all is worth it when Dman and I get to step back and admire our work.

Today's treat for y'all: our new mission style doors!

Here is what was in the house when we bought it:

Yes, I failed to take a real before picture (as with most things we have renovated - darn excitement - I jumped the gun with everything), and yes, the door is now functioning as a fence hole-filler-inner to keep the mutts in. Our fence is HORRIBLE but one project at a time right? I know it's very white trash but don't judge me.

Anyway, as you can see, they were u-g-l-y, UGLY. A bad paint job of oak, and those bronze doorknobs that totally remind me of my childhood which, I might add, were all loose and falling off. Quite a few of the doors didn't even close because the frames were warped.

So, we decided to replace them with these beauties:

Please ignore the poor picture - I was at an awkward picture taking angle.

I chose to do mission style doors. Why? I am in love with the design movement. It originated in the late 19th century when people looked to break away from Victorian design but wanted something with more substance than the mass produced furniture of the industrial revolution. So furniture makers began making pieces that had straight lines, uncluttered profiles, and used very heavy/chunky peices of wood. It's a very modern (clean lines) but rustic (chunky, often highlights wood grain) look. Love it.

I was debating going with shaker style doors, which is very much of the same style. It originated with, no suprise here, the shakers and is characterized by many of the same characteristics as the mission style, the only real differences being that the shaker style is more delicate and not so heavy, and in the way that it is constructed. Modern shaker style uses a more complicated joinery that mission which is a lot more work for the manufactuer, and hence, a lot more money. So I went mission!

I chose brushed bronze doorknobs to match the mission period:

And thick, chunky, plain molding, again, to match the mission period of the doors:

One more project down, a zillion more to go!

Have a good one.

Leah xoxo

We were feeling silly.

2010-03-29T19:50:00.000-06:00

It's Sunday after dinner.

We played a couple rounds of Mexican Train and then Dman pulled out the Halloween candy. That's right, we like to pon of our old candy on family and friends.

The treat of choice: chocolate eyeballs. So we thought we would give em a try as eyeballs.
It was REALLY hard to get them to stay in the sockets. And it was REALLY funny. My abs still hurt from laughing so hard.

Good 'ol Wilson humor.

Scott was the best at it.

Kailey too.

My Mom, not so bad.

I was hopeless. Oh well, I have other talents.

I LOVE SUNDAYS! And I love my family.

Leah xoxo

Braddock

2010-03-28T21:34:00.000-06:00

Take a look at my latest photo shoot with my nephew Braddock over here.

Such a cutie-pa-tutie!

Leah xoxo

So lucky.

2010-03-27T22:04:00.000-06:00

Today I feel LUCKY.
This may not look like much to someone who has their very own real laundry room, but to me this is heaven.

My sweet husband has listened to me complain about how I HATE doing laundry in the icky, dingy, dirty basement so he surprised me with an as-good-as-we-can-get-until-we-can-afford-to-develop-the-basement laundry room.

My heart melted.

He used the cabinets and counter tops that we ripped out of the bathrooms for storage and a folding surface, added a rug so that I didn't have to stand on the concrete and worry about dropping freshly washed clothes on the dirty floor, and even hung a picture to make it feel un-basementy.

And look, these are the dried flowers that I have saved from our first anniversary back when we were just 16! Nice touch Dman.

I am one lucky girl. This reminded me all over again why I married him. I just feel all too blessed that I have a husband that is so in tune with what I need.
He knows me inside and out.

I was sick today.

2010-03-18T21:25:00.000-06:00

And they were very sympathetic. Didn't leave my side all day. Even went as far to make sure they were both on the same pillow as me - just in case I might need them.

NOTE: No, I have not changed my bedroom colors to chocolate brown and orange - that ugly thing that is covering me is my 'sick blanket'.

Leah xoxo

My master retreat.

2010-03-15T21:43:00.000-06:00

So I figured that since I do not want to share pictures of my house until the final product is done, and I am just too anxious to share, that I would let you in project by project, room by room.

The first on the list and a room that I got done right away is our master bedroom. I pretty well brought everything from the condo, and painted it the same color: white!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE (did I mention I LOVE) a white bedroom. It feels like I am on vacation everyday!

NOTE: I did not take before pictures of a lot of our renos for some stupid reason - I think I was just too excited to get started. So just picture an UGLY BOX and that is what I started with.

So here she is, my new room:

It's all in the details.......

A little bling bling....

My vintage inspired alarm clock from IKEA. Super cute and super CHEAP!

This used to be in my bathroom, but when gutting the bathroom, we added more cabinets so I did not need this anymore. It serves as a great bedside table don't you think! I might get D-man to cut the legs off a bit cause I think it is a tad too high.

These are the drapes I made:

Out of ivory VELVET!! The master bedroom/love shack is the perfect place for a little bit of luxe and swag in my opinion.

Speaking of luxe/glam, meet my chandelier:

And my mirror with a beveled mirror frame that I got for Christmas. LOVE it.
Please ignore my Saturday house cleaning dress.

Our closet used to look like this:

Until we installed these:

Our PAX wardrobe systems from IKEA. I LOVE them! D-man and I agree: best money we have ever spent. And oh so attractive as well. I went with an off-white shaker style door.

Take a peak inside to witness them in all their glory:

Organization bliss.
There are cubbies for my jewels.

Pull-out hangers for my pants:

And a drawer for my sweaters:

The perfect finishing touch!

The only thing left on my list for this room is a upholstered bench for the end of the bed. Keep an eye out on Kijiji for me...I love a furniture-redo project!

So there you have it: my vacation room in Edmonton. My must-follow rules for a master bedroom:

1. It must be light and airy - who wants to feel like they are sleeping in a cave.
2. It must be romantic.
3. It must be glamorous - leave practicality for the rest of the house. This is your retreat so make sure it feels like one.
4. It must be organized and tidy. Nothing kills the romance like laundry and dirty socks lying all over the floor. (I know, the moms are thinking: 'she has no idea, just wait till she has kids' - and you are right, I am sure it will get a little harder to pick up after two children - get it, Dylan and a kid = 2 children - but I think this is a MUST. I know that I will ALWAYS need a RETREAT and even more so when I have kids.)
5. It must feel like I am on vacation which is achieved by all of the above.

Hope you enjoyed my bedroom tour! Next up: my new mission style doors!

Leah xoxo

Dear time,

2010-03-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

Leah here. Please slow down. If you plan on ignoring my request, please consider the following first:

-I work a full time job all day, everyday.
-I come home and have to make supper.
-I have to run a business - pictures are not going to edit themselves and clients do not like waiting 2 months to get their pics back. I do not like editing till I go to sleep every night.
-I have a house to clean and take care of.
-I have bills to pay and groceries to buy.
-I have to make enough money to support my husband, myself and our expenses.
-I have two callings, both of which require a lot of my time.
-I have to serve the Lord.
-I have to do missionary work.
-I have a house to renovate.
-I am a landlord and have a tenant to deal with.
-I have puppies to pay attention to.
-HART needs my help.
-I have a lot of doctors appointments lately.
-And somewhere in all this I have to find time to dedicate to friends and family, and if I am lucky me?

I can't keep everything straight with how fast you go. I am feeling overwhelmed. Can you please just maybe add a couple hours to each day or pause for while, or heck, maybe you could invent a machine that makes me money so I dont have to work my life away and feel the presure of finances on my solitary shoulders each day. Maybe?

Please get back to me as soon as possible because I fear I may go nuts if you do not.

Yours truly, and waiting in anticipation for something to change,

Leah Karch

Look what I found.

2010-03-07T21:36:00.000-07:00

The other day, painted on the hideous wall, that existed behind the hideous mirror, that we removed from our hideous bathroom, I found this:

Cute huh. D-man is thoughtful and always surprising me like that. I'm a lucky gal.

Leah xoxo

Meet Charlie.

2010-02-24T22:23:00.000-07:00

This is Charlie.

Charlie is our new little guy. I mentioned here that we were going to have an addition to our family due to the fact that Sadie's breeder offered us a free puppy. Well, here he is!

Isn't he precious!

This is the night we brought him home:

My sister Kailey

With Dad

And Mom.

And Brother.

We already love him to pieces and Tommy has a new best friend. They are so cute together!

Sleepin

He's just a funny little ball of fluff. Thinks he's a lot bigger than he actually is. Tries to pick play fights with Tommy but then runs back to me for protection when Tommy wants to fight back.

And oh the puppy stage and everything that goes along with it. The biting, the peeing, the pooing. Oh yeah, and this dog eats his poop!

As soon as its out, he eats it. I know, what the heck? Maybe he is "special". We love him none-the-less though. Poo eating and all!

Leah xoxo

Some recent stuff......

2010-02-13T19:58:00.000-07:00

I posted a new photo shoot on the photography blog. Life has been so hectic recently what with the move, new job and Christmas and now renovations that I have been slow to edit! Not to mention, I did a huge wedding a while back, so I have been a pretty busy girl. Just thought I would share something new.

Happy weekend everyone! And enjoy your v-day's with your lovers!

Leah xoxo

My early day of love

2010-02-08T20:35:00.000-07:00

Dylan and I decided to hold our Valentine's Day Festivities this past weekend because next weekend we are getting our new PUPPY and we figure we will be too preoccupied with the cutie-pie to want to leave him.

We are pretty tight on money this year (as we were last - Dylan be done with school already!!!) so splurging on some fantastic and enchanting night out was not an option.

Instead we went to WEM and played a fun little game (which do note, would have been held at the most divine store in the whole wide world - Anthropologie - if I had a million dollars).

Do to the absence of said million dollars, we went to Bed Bath and Beyond. We walked the store and then had 10 minutes to pick out a present (under $20) for each other that related to our new home. No matter if we did not want the item ourselves. It had to be STRICTLY for the other person.

I got Dylan this:

A Scale.

No, I was not trying to get my husband to loose weight because he doesn't need to (I must say, my hubby has a great bod). He is just a weight watcher, consumed with working out in our basement. Anywho, when we moved I threw out our old yucky one so he really wanted a new one. Hence, the scale.

D-man got me this:

You got it, I now have my very own under-the-bed shoe storage! He thinks I have too many shoes. It was quite thoughtful actually. You see, he also thinks I have too many clothes, and getting this amazing invention will free up space in my PAX wardrobe so that I can fit more clothes.

Or maybe selfish because he doesn't want me inevitably moving in uninvited to his closet space. Hmm. I will go with thoughtful.

Following BBAB we went out for dinner at Earl's. Mama Wilson got us a giftcard to Earl's for Christmas so obviously that was where we were headed for dinner! I got Chili chicken and pan bread and Dylan got baby-back ribs. I got my baby-back, baby-back........... nevermind.

So that was my 2010 Valentine's day. It was fun and cute. Sin fancy. But I was with my lover-boy so that's all that matters right? RIGHT!

Leah xoxo

It's official!

2010-02-03T20:04:00.000-07:00

This guy is a part of our family!

TOMMY has been our foster dog (see HART) for 3 1/2 months now and he has slowly worked his way into our hearts. He was with us when Sadie died - a VERY hard time for us - and he really helped us through it. He was there for us and so, we have FALLEN for him. Hook, line and sinker.

The other day, someone called to adopt him. They were very serious. They wanted him the next day. I called Dylan to share the news and we just couldn't do it. We both choked up at the thought of never seeing this amazing friend again.

We weighed the options, and on this decision we decided to go with our hearts. Our heads told us, it just isn't practical because we have another puppy on the way (Sadie's breeder offered us a free puppy - but more on that later - this is Timmy's time to shine) and I NEVER EVER wanted a shedding dog. I mean, gross. And we want to start a family. And they are a huge responsibility. But we decided that life would just be too boring and monotonous if we only followed our heads. So we decided to KEEP HIM!

When I hing up the phone, I don't know the last time I was so happy. A rush of joy replaced the sick feeling I had in the pit of my stomach at the news of his prospective parents. Dylan said he also almost barfed.

So there you have it.

For those of you thinking about getting a dog, DO IT! They are truly amazing animals. And please think about adoption. HART has 21 puppies up for adoption right now. And that is just puppies. The sad thing is that so long as their numbers are so high, they cannot rescue anymore dogs and during this COLD WINTER, the puppies just cannot make it out on the streets. Not to mention the abuse that these animals go through is something you can only see to believe....I have never seen anything quite like it.

Tommy was rescued from Hobema. He was shaking like a leaf under a truck because some kids were hitting him with hockey sticks. At the young age of 3 months, he is one of the worst abuse cases HART has seen. He still to this day is VERY fearful of leashes and collars - our theory: that someone was abusing him while he was tied up. When we got him he had lacerations all over his head and ears. Poor baby.

Don't want a permanent dog? Remember how I said that HART has so many dogs that they cannot go out and rescue anymore right now? Well, they also need foster parents just like us to take care of the dogs until someone adopts them. Keep in mind that I have never been a parent, but I have never experienced something so rewarding as fostering dogs. Yeah sure, it isn't 'convenient', but I am so sick of our society and how we dictate our lives around what is 'perfect' and 'convenient. Step out of your comfort zone because some of GOD'S CREATURES need you!

After all, dog is man's BEST FRIEND.

I'm Back!!

2010-01-30T19:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a looooooong time since I last posted. Why? Life has been C-R-A-Z-Y!! Let's see...where to begin.
At the end of November I started a new job. And I LOVE it! Its great. My hours are cut back and it is not so corporate as my last job.. I am now working in property management at ING and I think I have found my place in the work world! Management (ie. bossing people around) + Leah = HAPPY!
Then Dylan started Finals (which I am happy to say he did splendidly on - good job honey!) and meanwhile we were in the process of buying a HOUSE! That's right folks, we are now proud houseowners! Here she is, our humble abode at 4528-35 Ave:

I know it doesn't look like much, but this is our first house and we are in-LOVE! I mean I have my own doorbell! And that my friends is the most exciting thing to happen since press-n-seal Ziploc containers. Other reasons I love my new house:
1. My previously mentioned doorbell
2. My very own mailbox
3. A front door
4. A backyard
5. Two levels so that when I cook my bedroom doesn't smell like dinner
6. 300 sq ft more than our condo
7. Dylan and I own it TOGETHER
8. A driveway
9. A room dubbed "the nursery" (no that is not a hint about anything - just something to look forward to)
10. All of the sweet memories that we are going to make here at 4528.

I will share some interior pics later but right now we are in the process of doing some renovations so I will wait to 'reveal' the final product.

A couple weeks after the house Christmas hit and we were NOT READY! We were so busy with moving that I didn't really get the chance to prepare for Christmas. But I got an awesome Christmas tree on clearance after Christmas so to make up for this year, I am going to have to set up extra early next year. I can just hear Dylan cringing!

Much more to update on but alas, I have to run - picture editing is calling! Talk to you tomorrow.....yes I AM going to update this EVERYDAY. Or at least every other.... :)

Leah

Sadie

2009-11-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

This is a tribute to Sadie - one of the best friends I have ever had.

This week has been a really, really, really tough one. Why? We had to put down our 9 month old cock-a-poo puppy on Tuesday. About a month ago Sadie developed some soars all over her body, almost like little zits. But they were small and we took her to the vet, put her on medcation and within a week they were all cleared up. A couple days after she went off the medication they appeared again, and this time were much worse. She started getting soars around her eyes and mouth and nose. We were in and out and in and out of the vet for weeks trying her on different meds and new foods, etc, etc but nothing was working. The vet deducted that she had a form of Auto-immune disorer - like a really bad form of Lupis or Aids where the body attacks itself. On the day that we had to out her down she could not open her eyes because the soars had infested them, she couldn't walk because she didn't have enough energy because she wasn't eating. The poor girl was suffering so badly. On Monday I was talking to her(the dog lovers will understand that, yes you can talk to a dog) and I asked her what she wanted me to do for her (the vet said that we definately had to put her down but I was wrestling with the idea because I didn't want to feel like I was giving up on her - I wanted to fight for her) and I made the decision to put her down when, almost as if in response to my question, she let out a couple little whimpers, as if to say "Mom, make this pain stop".

I don't know if anyone can understand this, but the pain I feel over her death is overwhelming. I have never had to make a harder decision in my life, and it litterally breaks my heart that we had to end her life. We don't have kids so she really was my baby. I seriously looked forward to coming home everyday from work to see her. She was our form of entertainment - Dylan and I would watch her crazy antics and behaviours and just laugh and laugh. She was a true companion and a great friend.

So here is to you Sadie. To your wonderful spirit. I hope you love Heaven. Some favorite memories of Sadie:

-One day this last summer Dylan and I were lounging in my parents' pool and up pops this head at the side of the pool - she had, no word of a lie, climed the tall swim ladder, propped herself on the top with her hind legs on the back wrung and front legs on the front wrung, and then proceeded to jump into the pool and swim over to mine and Dylan's floatie.

-How much she loved and took care of our foster dogs.

-One time we took her to the Terwilligar dog park and this giant dog started chasing her - she got so scared that she ran and hid under a car and SCREAMED for her life! It was pretty funny.

-Every morning we played a game that went a little something like this: I would be in the bathroom getting ready for work and she would peek her head around the corner, make sure I wasn't paying attention, and then jump at me in her 'I want to play' pose (front legs stretched out in front of her and butt in the air). I would then jump at her, but not actually catch her and she would run around the corner and out of the room. I would go back into the bathroom and we would do it all over again. Over and over. Every morning.

-Hide and go seek - we would hide in various parts of the apartment and call her name and she would have to come and find us. She was SO proud when she did find us. And we would play it in the park - Dylan and I would run in different directions and hide behind trees - she would get so confused.

-We would take her to the park and to wear her out Dylan would run to one end of the park and I would stay at one end and hold her. Then Dylan would call her name from the far end of the park and she would SPRINT to him. When she got to him I would call her name and she would SPRINT to me. We did this over and over and over and over again - seriously, the girl had a lot of energy!

-One of her favorite games was played with my neice Jade. Since Jade could run, she has loved running down our hallways (the apartment hallways). We would always let Jade get a head start and then let Sadie go, and Sadie would chase Jade the whole way down the hallway, all the while Jade would just be laughing and laughing. So sweet.

-She loved to cuddle. Even right up until the last minutes of her life, we were cuddling, just my baby and I.

I could go on and on and those are just a few. So you see, we loved, adored, cherished her. She was so much more than a dog to us. She is sooooooo missed - I can't even describe it. I love you Sadie.

Jaxon

2009-10-12T18:49:00.001-06:00

I know, I know, lately all I have been posting about when I finally do post are my recent shoots, but its cause they CONSUME my life!!!!! (happily so). Anyway, check out this little guy at Leah Karch Photography ......

Warms my heart!!

Leah :)

Say hello to our new little friend

2009-09-23T21:49:00.000-06:00

This is Duffy. He is our foster dog. We decided to become volunteers for the Human Animal Rescue Team (HART). They are a not-for-profit organization that rescues stray, abondoned, and abused animals in Alberta. Because they are not-for-profit, they cannot afford a place to house all the animals so in order to save animals they need people to volunteer their homes as foster parents. No homes/volunteers = no saved dogs. The more homes = more saved dogs.

Duffy and his 4 other brothers and sisters were found on a dump on a Northern Native Reserve. Their Mommy was shot in the head by some mean person so these poor guys at 6 weeks, were left alone. That is were we stepped in. Duffy (a golden retriever, husky mix) joined our household a week ago and we are just LOVING this boy. He is such a kind and sweet tempered dog. And not to mention so stinkin cute! He and Sadie absolutely love eachother. They don't stop playing (which means a lot of missed sleep for us!).

The bittersweet part is that hopefully someone will adopt this little guy and give him a permanent and loving home. I am going to bawl and probably be depressed for a week, but I will be happy when that day comes cause I will know that we helped him find a better life.

Anywho, here are some pics of Duffy - aka Duf, Duffers, and Duf Puf.

A couple from Kamry & Jason's maternity shoot

2009-09-16T22:08:00.000-06:00

Check out Leah Karch Photography for a few pics from my last photo shoot with soon to be parents, the Lows!!

Leah :)

So, I was thinking...

2009-09-10T08:31:00.001-06:00

This morning as I drove downtown, pulled into the parkade at work (at 6:40 am) and strolled into the lobby saying my morning "hello" to the doorman and security guard.......very nice men who know me quite well because I forget my security card on occassion.......and hopped into the fancy shmancy elevator to the 23rd floor, I thought to myself (and do remember, this is at 6:45 am), I am one lucky chica. Most mornings I dread being at work at such an awful hour and wasting my life away here until the evening, but this moring a thought occured to me: be grateful for what you have. This may not seem all too revolutionary to some, but for me, who is always searching for something better, this was big. Yeah sure, I could be making more money and working civil hours, but you know what, I have a job. That in of itself, during these times of recession, is something to be grateful for. If I talk to the lady in the States who had to take a job at McDonalds flipping burgers cause she has to pay the rent, my life is peachy. I beat out a bunch of other suckers for this job, I have a paychek that pays the mortgage and bills, I have a fantastic husband, a puppy that I adore, a great family, a condo that we own, a new car that won't give us any problems, great friends and I belong to a great church. There are TONS of bumps (Dylan and I seem to attract bad luck like the plauge.............seriously, no joke, I mean really, honestly, horrible luck), sometimes big, sometimes small, along the way and you know what, they SUCK when you are going over them, but it is so important that at the end of the day I realize that I am SO blessed. It makes me tear up to think about how much my Heavenly Father must love me to have blessed me so much.

So, if you are feeling down, or lost, or just plain fet up of challenges and trials (like I was last night after our computer, hard drive, and laptop all decided to crash at the same time......lets remember, I am a photographer, so this is a big deal), remember two things:

1. Your BLESSINGS....... No matter who you are, what your circumstances, you have blessings. We all do. So look for them, cause it will always make you feel better about what you are going through. Why is it that we, as humans, tend to focus on the negative? The negative aint gonna get us nowhere.

2. Is your trial/challenge/bump going to matter in five years? If it is, take your time to grumpy or sad or mad......we all need to vent our emotions. If not, like I reminded myself this morning, who cares! Because if it isn't going to matter, what is the point in wasting minutes/hours/days of your life worrying about it. You can't get time back, so use it wisely. Plus, being angry and worring about things gives us women wrinkles. In my mind, not worth it.

Well, I am glad I posted these thoughts cause I know that I am going to have to come back and read them many a time to remind myself of what I felt this morning. That's all.......hope my thougths are worth reading!

Leah :)

A little tid bit

2009-09-01T08:43:00.000-06:00

Okay, so, I realize that I have been horrible at blogging lately, but its cause too much is going on! I actually have A LOT to blog about right now.....i.e. trips to Vancouver/Seattle/Osoyoos, our first anniversary, etc, but there is just NO time. I am going to give it a shot tonight cause I have a couple hours for the first time in weeks. Not making any promises though. The biggest reason I like to blog is that it acts as a journal of sorts for me, because lets face it, no matter how many times I have attempted to keep a journal, each time I fall flat on my face with failure. So this blog is my journal.........note to self: I need to keep it updated!

Okay with that said, I thought I would just post a quickie since that is easy to do. My Mom is hosting a baby shower for a lady she works with and I made the invite for her and thought it turned out pretty good, so thought to myself, what the heck, post it.

Ther' she blows. Anywho, got to get back to life. Until next time,

Leah :)

Tami & Mike wedding pictures

2009-08-28T22:38:00.000-06:00

On August 14th I had the pleasure of taking Tami and Mike Woolley's wedding pictures and I think they turned out grrrrreat!! Check out my photography blog for the goods!

Leah :)

Photography Blog

2009-08-17T11:14:00.001-06:00

Howdy everyone!

Thankyou so much to everyone who reads my blog for your support and great feedback in reguards my photography. It has really given my confidence a boost, and I am actually getting really busy with photo shoots which is AWESOME!! I can't wait to turn this into a career! I just wanted to let everyone know about my photography blog http://leahkarchphotography.blogspot.com where I will be posting my latest and greatest and where I have my prices and contact info listed. Recent shoots include a family shoot and a wedding! Upcoming: a family shoot, child portraits and a maternity shoot. Keep posted and thankyou SO SO SO much for all the support.

Leah :)

Tami & Mike engagement shoot

2009-07-21T17:48:00.000-06:00

So, here is my first official photo shoot - and engagement shoot with Mike and Tami. These guys were fun to work with - a little camera shy at the beginning, but with some persuasion and compliments, they really warmed up to the camera and me. I think we got some great shots....these are some of my favorites (and sorry, but I can't just share a few so, WARNING: lots of pictures ahead!)

Leah:)

new hair

2009-07-21T17:26:00.000-06:00

I CHOPPED my hair off a couple weekends ago. Why? I don't know, I think I needed a change. And boy, did I ever get a change! Thought I would share some pics of my new hairdo.

Leah :)

Lately

2009-07-13T11:02:00.000-06:00

I have been a BAD blogger of late. And why? What have I been up to, what's my excuse? NOTHING! I am just lazy I guess.

Lately has consisted of:

-Got my hair cut SUPER short a couple weeks ago - I will post pics later. At first it really scared me and I liked it one day and then didn't the next. But now, I think it has grown on me and I think it may stay a while. Dylan says we are now officially ready to have kids - married (check), dog (check), and now the Mom haircut (check)!

-I re-decorated our master bedroom (again pics will come later because I am waiting to get a new lamp and a clock). I did it in all white....walls white, furniture white....the only color is shots of a light blue-green in the bedding, the lamp shade and some paintings that I did. I am looking for a cute alarm clock.....I have looked at homesense and winners.....any ideas anyone??? I am thinking I want a retro looking little table clock in white or silver.

-I think Sadie is FINALLY house trained. Fewf! She has accidents here and there but she knows to go pee pee and poops outside now, so we are elated.

-I have been humming and hawing about my career and where I want it to go. As most probably know, I work in commercial real estate / development downtown in a position that I always thought would be my "dream" job but in the last couple months I have realised that what I was brought up to be (a hard-working, career driven, success-minded person) is not who I want to be. I am a VERY creative person (painting, scrapbooking, interior decorating and photography are what I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE) and I feel stagnant and like I am in a creative black hole in this job - most importantly I am not happy. So what to do? I don't know and this is the problem. Where does one find a job that is a creative outlet, that I enjoy and that I get paid for? I have been taking a whole bunch of photography courses and really trying to expand my talents in that division so I am seriously thinking about slowly making it into a career. First I need subjects......anyone want FREE family, baby, or wedding photos? Just ask! Anyway, I need advice! What should I do, what should I pursue NOW so that I do not go insane.

-I am in a photography course right now so the other day I took some pics of my neice and nephew. We were just in their house so not the greatest backdrop, I know, but here is what I snapped:

Leah :)

I'm a big girl now!

2009-06-14T21:04:00.000-06:00

Well, its official, as of last Wednesday I am a UofA graduate! I was done my degree in December but now I have the paper to prove it. After a long 4 1/2 year road I graduated with distinction and a BA in Sociology and Human Geography (essentially urban planning). I am glad I went to my convocation because it felt like a real closure to my years as a student, and, not to sound all prideful, but I was proud of myself. I worked my butt off for 4 1/2 years so I felt like I deserved to walk that stage and hear them call out my name followed by "with distinction". Man did it ever feel good!

Looking back now I am so grateful that I was afforded the chance to go to university. I am grateful for the many ways that my education expanded my mind, matured me, and truly morphed me into the person that I am today. I am definately glad that it is over, but grateful for the experience. Once in a while I find myself missing being a student because I miss challenging my mind to the utmost on a daily basis, but then I remember that now I do not have to come home and study until I go to bed, and then I am glad to be a working girl. I think one day I may go back to school - possibly law school or to get my MBA - but right now I am content and ready for the new chapter in my life.

Here are some pics from the day.

Leah :)

Kailey's Grad

2009-06-04T20:03:00.000-06:00

This past weekend my baby sister graduated from highschool. The thing is, she will always be my baby sister to me, so seeing her graduate was kind of sureal for me. I know that life is a progression and we all get older but its been a hard adjustment for me to see Kailey as an adult - not because she doesn't deserve it, because she does, but because I have always mothered her, and felt a sort-of duty to look out for her (could be because of the 5 year difference in age). Seeing her as an adult means giving up part of my identity as big sister, role model, icon and that is wierd for me because I have been all that for so long. You know, I am okay with it though. I am excited for her to grow into adulthood so that we can strengthen the bond of friendship between us. So that we can grow as adults together.

Well, the day was great, and I took on the role of photographer extraordinare. Dylan says that I like photography because it allows me to boss people around (one thing I love doing) while doin another thing I love. But I think my bossiness paid off - I got a lot of great shots. These are just some of them, I am still editing a lot so, more to come!

Leah :)

Kickin' it with Braddock

2009-05-27T20:23:00.000-06:00

The other night I babysat my 5 week old nephew Braddock. We had so much fun together. I love this little guy so much. He is such a good baby so he didn't fuss at all for me - he just chilled out on the couch, bed, and in my arms. I decided not to let the perfect opportunity for a photo shoot pass me by so we had a glamour shoot for a large portion of the night - he was a great model. Here are some of the shots that I took.... I have just started getting into photography with my new camera so, I am pretty happy with them.

Leah :)

Sadie

2009-05-15T08:13:00.000-06:00

About two months ago, we added a new member to our family named Sadie. Her purpose was to curb my recent baby cravings......didn't really work. She is a cock-a-poo (cocker spaniel / poodle mix) and an absolute bundle of energy! We laugh because she totally decieved us when we were at the breeders picking a puppy - she was so calm, so cute, and so submissive - that wore off about a week after we brought her home. This dog is MENTAL! We litterally think she is posessed by the devil. She likes to bite and fight things, most of all hands, and when we tell her NO, she makes this wierd growling/whining noise and jumps around as if she is telling the devil inside of her "no, don't bite" but the devil is saying "yes, do it" - its like this wierd internal battle that she is having. And sometimes we will just be sitting watching TV or something and out of no where Sadie will get up and start sprinting, and I do mean sprinting, around the condo, darting from the living room to the kitchen to the spare bathroom to the master bedroom to the ensuite and then back to the living room to do it all over again, all the while barking and growling. So funny! She also steals everything from you - food as you are bringing it to your mouth, clothes as you are putting them on, toilet paper as you are tearing it off the roll....anything and everything! We love her though because she is such a smart/unique/intuitive dog. She is the only dog I have ever met who will stare you in the eyes and not break eye contact. Like when she wants something or feels sorry about something she will make direct contact until her point has been proven.

All in all she really is a bundle of joy. She makes us laugh all the time. She also loves me more than Dylan so that makes me happy. She follows me everywhere I go and whines when I go too far away from her. Here are some pictures of our little Sadie

This was the first day she was home with us, when her toy was as big as she was!

Bathtime with Bella! hehe I LOVE this picture.

She has blue eyes which is pretty unique for a dog. I have never seen it before.

This picture kills me - this is her 'I'm in trouble, please forgive me' look.

See, she trys to steal everything, even my camera.

Leah :)