Just The Three of Us

It occurred to me that Easter was our last holiday as just three. The Easter bunny visited on Easter Sunday and Eloise had fun finding treats left in the garden by the sneaky rabbit. A little chick that peeps, a Franklin book and of course, a healthy selection of chocolate, filled her Easter basket and we spent the rest of the afternoon in a choco-coma from the morning's booty. 

As usual, my mom prepared a spectacular family dinner, finished with a layered meringue and lemon cream cake, served frozen, that was honestly one of the best things I have ever eaten. We took the opportunity to don our Sunday best for dinner and snuck out for a family photo, just the three of us (plus Noodle).

I like the devious look on Eloise's face as she prepares to devour yet another chocolate egg and I'm happy to have fit into that very pink dress for the occasion. Pink leopard, totally Easter-chic, right? 

The Trouble with Vacation

The trouble with vacation is that it always ends too soon.

We took off for the Okanagan over May Long weekend for some R&R and ended our trip with a bang in Osoyoos for my best friend Lindsay's wedding. It was such a nice trip. The weather wasn't entirely amazing, but Chris and I got just what we needed: time to relax, time for Eloise and each other, and time to sleep. We also toured wineries, lots of wineries.

Eloise seems to have grown up more during our trip, increasing her vocabulary with more complex words (conversation, disappear, excellent) and full sentences, becoming more independant and keeping us wholly entertained with her energy and antics. She loved spending time with everyone at Grandma Pat and Grandpa Bill's, swimming in the pool, terrorizing the pets and galloping around the house several times over. She was such a good girl the whole trip I am reminded how lucky we are to have such a special, charismatic child to share with the world.

Here are a few snapshots from our time away.

"Grandpa Bill sits on the lawnmower. It's funny."

"I want to smell the wine. Mmm, smells good."

"I a bit scared to ride my bike. Too big for me." (maybe next time?)

"I drive the cart too, Dada."

The view from our suite at the lovely Spirit Ridge.

Have you ever seen a more beautiful bride? I am so lucky to have been part of Lindsay & Lorne's wedding with these amazing ladies, what a perfect way to complete our trip.

A Year in Photos

As December comes to a close I've been looking back at year we've had through photos, and what a year it was.

In January Eloise said her first word - dog -  and finally slept through the night. In February Chris turned 30 and we threw him an excellent World Cup themed surprise party. In March Eloise celebrated her first birthday with a ballerina party and in April Chris and I went to Mexico for Devon & Kris' wedding and a full week of baby-free R&R. In May Eloise had her first swimming lesson and we planted our summer vegetable garden. June was a difficult month with the passing of beloved Grandpa Phil, but we celebrated his full life and spent much time with family on the Island. The summer sun was in full force by July and it was a month of weddings, starting with Julien & Bracken. Eloise finally took her first steps at the end of July, just in time for her debut as a flower girl, and we headed off to Toronto for Gus & Katherine's wedding and two weeks of family fun. By August Eloise was running, perfect for trips to the park and beach in the beautiful weather and Chris and I attended our fourth wedding of the year in Victoria for Ricky & Ruth. On September long weekend we took off to Quadra Island for Ari & Tyler's wedding and a weekend of fun with many of our friends, a perfect way to end the summer. In September Chris and I celebrated three years of marriage and Eloise's lost Piglet returned from 'vacation'. Eloise was a lion for Halloween in October and she began speaking in mini-sentences, much to our amazement. November was a quieter month between the busy fall and Holiday seasons but we did manage to make a trip over to Victoria for Grandma Marg's 80th. And now December. Shopping, crafting, Christmas parties, snow and today, it's Christmas eve.

We're looking forward to the year ahead, Merry Christmas everyone!

Family Photos

We received the photos from our family shoot with Cat Watson and I'm so excited to share them. Cat did a wonderful job and clearly made an impression on Eloise - when we were out for a walk this week we walked past the spot where our photo shoot took place and Eloise said, "See Cat? Cat here?" and "Aw, Cat nice."

I feel somewhat organized this year as I did get around to ordering our Christmas cards from Tiny Prints today and should even have them out in time for Christmas.

 

Cat's photos have a beautiful, soft quality and you can see more of her work on her blog. A million thanks to Cat for capturing our family so well!

PS. Remember my post on what to wear for family photos? I think our colour combo really worked :)

What We Wore for Family Photos

On Sunday we had a family photo session done with Cat Watson, a Vancouver-based photographer who I connected with through work. Cat has a really warm and wonderful way about her (she's a fellow mommy too) and Eloise was instantly comfortable with Cat and her camera. It turned out to be a beautiful - but very chilly - day and in just about half an hour Cat had what she needed. Perfect timing consider this was consequently the same time that Eloise started to meltdown.

I must admit I was rather stumped on how to dress for our family photo shoot without looking too 'matchy matchy'. I wanted us to coordinate of course, but not in the 'everyone wore jeans, white tees and bare feet' kind of way. Yuck. My colour inspiration for all of our outfits came from the wintery jewel tones in a red & navy plaid dress of Eloise's which I topped with a jean jacket to tone down the formality of the taffeta material. I wore an emerald sweater, a short black pleated skirt and a red plaid scarf, Chris wore a navy gingham shirt, a great sweater and dark denim, and Noodle sported his auburn-tinted winter coat (ha ha). I think our colours were perfect for the setting and the season.

Design Mom has some great tips on family photo shoots and I like this guide on Say Yes to Hoboken. Here are a few other colour combos I came up with:

I can't wait to share our photos with you!