Mad Passions

Spring Break on Mad Passions

2013-05-07T22:36:00.000-07:00

I've decided to take a break from Mad Passions for the month of May. I'll be doing some internal and external spring cleaning of sorts.

As always you can see my life in pictures on Instagram and I may be posting more on Twitter. In the meantime if you want to say hi! you can drop me an email.

Have a fantastic month and see you in June!!!

April 30? Really??

2013-04-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

With all that has been going on around here I haven't looked at my calendar in a few weeks. So imagine my surprise when I saw that today's date is April 30th. I couldn't believe that it's the 30th already and that tomorrow is MAY. Wasn't it just my birthday? How did the whole month get away from me?

Things are going better this week (knockonwood)and I'm hopeful that our rhythm will only improve from here on out. I can hope anyway. I can see many bright sunny days ahead filled with squeals from Connor, smiles from me and supportive hugs from James.

Life is really good.

And lastly a few things I've been grateful for in April: ♡ turning 38 ♡ the heat from Connor's tiny little body against mine at night ♡ home baked muffins ♡ getting started with Project Life ♡ strawberries ♡ cherry blossoms ♡ James joining us at the playground ♡ bubbles with Connor ♡ skyping with my parents ♡ my tulips ♡ starting new knitting projects ♡ sunny days ♡ flip flops ♡ loving my life through the struggles ♡ slowly creating a home that I love ♡ taking deep breathes ♡ Music Together ♡ alone time ♡

blooming

2013-04-26T06:06:00.000-07:00

My donkey tail is in bloom. I was given this plant as a house warming gift when we moved into this apartment eight years ago. I had no idea that these succulents could bloom until this year. Why my plant decided all of a sudden to open up these beautiful pink flowers I have no idea, but they make me smile.

And boy do I need something to make me smile.

Our rough patch is still going strong with Connor now going eight hours in the day without sleep. This has culminated in him falling backward off our sofa and getting a very nasty purple goose egg on the back of his head. It also doesn't help my nerves that James broke his leg last week. But don't worry, Connor is fine, and James is fine. He doesn't have a cast as the break is 2 inches below his hip, he just needs to stay off of his leg. Which is a joke because my husband does not do well with being idle.

sigh

I gave both my men a stern talking to and made it very clear that they are not allowed to injure themselves anymore. Have I mentioned that I'm really looking forward to April being over.

Beyond Puerperium

2013-04-25T14:04:00.001-07:00

I finally managed to snap a few photos of Connor in his Beyond Puerperium. I think he looks very handsome indeed.

Yarn Along

2013-04-24T19:16:00.001-07:00

Since last week I cast on my Age of Brass and Steam (eta: argh! every time I write this out I either write Brass & Steal or Brass & Stone! I've even typed Age of Fire & Ice a few times) and am loving how simple this pattern is and how easily written it is. Although the garter tab threw me for a loop. I had NO idea what the pattern was talking about and had to rip out my stitches at least 4 times before I gave up and looked up the pattern in Ravelry. The pattern page as well as many projects gave a photo tutorial link but it seems to no longer be working. I did a quick Google search and found a fantastic photo tutorial on Stephen West's blog. I am so thankful to have found that post because what I was knitting was completely wrong. After reading Stephen's post I had no problem casting on and whipping up the first part of this kerchief.

I have double the called for yardage so I'm planning on using it all as I really want a larger shawl. I'm hoping it works out and that the ends are not too long. I'm also trying to decide how I want to split up my two colours (grey and pink).

Do I want to knit small stripes? Think Dream Stripes... too much work I think.
Or I could knit larger stripes? I really like the look of this Simple Stripes Shawl.
I could do large colour blocks? Hrm, not sure on this one either...

What do you think? Any thoughts on how I should knit this kerchief/shawl with my two colours? Any suggestions are welcome!

I haven't gotten any reading in this week.

Joining in every Wednesday!

Pretty and Easy Art

2013-04-22T14:47:00.002-07:00

There is a small wall in our bathroom that I've been trying to find the right piece of art to hang for awhile now. And until I can find that perfect piece I loved Vanessa Brady's (from Tried & True) free I Love Everything About You colouring page.

After printing it out and trimming the sides down to fit an 8x10 frame I already had, I grabbed my blue and green pencil crayons and set to work making it pretty. The great thing about this easy art is that if you don't like how the colours turn out you can simply print a new one and try again!

I have to say I love free and easy art!

P.S. Vanessa also has the same print in a smaller size as well as other fantastic colouring pages for adults. I think I may give this one for boys a try next.

Lately

2013-04-19T12:39:00.002-07:00

Lately things have been rough. Connor is going through a growth spurt/mental leap and our nights have become very long. There have been lots of tears and separation anxiety and I am very hopeful that this phase passes soon. My mantra again has become "This too shall pass."

Lately there have been some very deep breathes needed to get through my day.

Lately I have been trying to re-organize our houseplants. I have over 15 plants and almost all of them are sitting on a table away from curious hands. But those curious hands are getting closer and closer as Connor grows taller. I am going to be hanging 3 or 4 of them soon and finding new ways to display the others. It's trying to find the balance between meeting the plants needs for sun and my need for a pretty display that becomes the hard part. Luckily there is Pinterest for inspiration!

Lately Connor has been giving the best bear hugs. He wraps his entire arms around my neck and squeezes with all his might while resting his head against my shoulder. I have waited for these hugs and they all but make up for the long nights we are having. He also has started giving wet open mouthed kisses. I LOVE this little boy of mine!!

Lately despite our rough patch James and I are feeling so blessed.

Yarn Along

2013-04-17T06:54:00.002-07:00

It would seem that I am in-between books right now and I can't even believe I get to say that. After spending months and months without reading anything it is refreshing to know that I have 2 books out from the library and they will be at my fingertips when I have some time to read. Ah, so refreshing!

I'm just about to cast on for another shawl. I still have yet to block my Oaklet Shawl but I was so happy knitting away on it that I need to have another shawl on my needles right now. I'm going to be knitting the Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief. I can't wait to get started!

Joining in every Wednesday!

Thoughts on Project Life.

2013-04-15T05:31:00.000-07:00

I love Project Life for it's versatility. This is a system that truly can be anything you want it to be. Because of this, I've decided on what I know will work for me and how I plan to start out with Project Life.

♡ I love the look of weekly spreads. I will run my weeks Monday - Sunday. This is how weeks have always made sense in my head and I also think it will work best because I can then keep the weekends together as these 2 days will feature James and us as a family the most.

♡ To start with I'm not going to focus too much on keeping the pictures chronological in my spreads, eg Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Looking back over the last 14 weeks I've realized that some weeks I have dozens of photos to choose from and other weeks I only have 1 or 2. If I can work the pictures Monday 1st, followed by Tuesday, etc I will but if that's not how it turns out I won't sweat it. Again I'm not going to sweat how my layouts look. If I prefer to have Friday's picture 1st, then by golly it's going in 1st!

♡ I'm going to try and keep things simple and clean to start with in terms of adding "stuff" to my photos. Then moving forward, I'll start to get a bit artistic with adding extras to my photos if I see fit.

♡ I really want to focus on the photos but at the same time I don't want to take pictures just for the sake of filling in spots. I do want to capture our every day life together. This system is called Project Life for a reason. So I will be adding photos of Connor's messy toys or a pile of laundry. I also love photos that show room layouts and what's hanging on our walls. I love looking at older photos and seeing what's in the background. Those are the treasures I love to remember.

♡ Sadly I thought I would be able to print my photos at home. I printed out a few photos on my HP Photosmart D110 printer but I just don't like the quality. Plus it really is much more expensive to print photos at home. So I will be ordering my prints online. Which is fine but it does mean that I won't have the instant excitement of having my photos right now. Instead I will have to wait a few weeks and order in batches. We'll see how this goes.

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. To learn more click here.

Project Life, Bring It On!

2013-04-08T21:55:00.000-07:00

I fell in love with Project Life the moment I saw it on Elise Blaha's blog. But I doubted myself, and then I hemmed and hawed. I would have to buy a photo binder and kits as well as photo page protectors. From the images I found through Google it seemed like something I would soon find myself frustrated with. There seemed to be a big time commitment and there were so many people with tons of embellishments and stamps, stickers and all sorts of do-dads I've never even heard of before. As with many people trying a completely new hobby I kept telling myself that there was no way I could be that creative. I believed that I would start this project and then compare myself to others and hate what I saw in my binder. Besides, I definitely can't afford to buy all of the Project Life stuff and all of the extra pretty embellishments people stick on their photos and journal cards plus print out my photos. So I kept giving myself reasons why I shouldn't take the plunge and start this project.

But through all of my negative thinking ~ deep down I knew that I would love Project Life.

And that was when I discovered Ronnie's blog. With 3 young boys and another on the way her Project Life is simple and clean. She keeps it simple by using only photos and a few journal cards in her spreads. Any text she has on her photos is done digitally instead of by hand. And that's it, no extra bells or whistles. As with Elise's blog every single one of her Project Life posts make me swoon.

I knew as soon as I saw her Project Life binders that somewhere between Ronnie's simplicity and Elise's perfect embellishments that I could find my creative vibe. All of my negative thoughts disappeared and I didn't need any more convincing. So for my birthday I ordered a binder, a pack of blank journal cards and photo page protectors. I also received Photoshop Elements for my birthday so I'm now able to take my photos to the next level without going too crazy.

I am so excited to get started and share this new hobby with you!

38

2013-04-04T13:15:00.001-07:00

Today I turn 38.

It's been a marvelous day so far filled with Skyping with my parents as well as text messages and Facebook messages from family and friends. Connor and I are having a low-key day of laughter and naps.

I have always loved my birthday and today is a perfect day indeed. I hope your April 4th is amazing too!

Yarn Along: If You Find Me

2013-04-03T05:25:00.000-07:00

As you can see I'm still knitting away at my Inside Out cowl and still enjoying all of the twisted stitches. I'm taking my time with this one and am in no hurry to start another project. I've been spending too much time reading and enjoying being crafty in other ways.

This book If You Find Meis from the library but it is an Advanced Readers Copy so I get to keep it. I've just started reading it but what I have read so far I've really liked. It's an interesting plot and I'm looking forward to having these girls in my life right now.

Joining in every Wednesday!

walking update

2013-04-02T06:53:00.000-07:00

I'm still walking every day and I'm still loving it. I'm especially loving the walks now that it's getting warmer out and there is less and less chance of rain. Instagram is probably one of my favourite and most used app on my iPhone and I just don't understand when people tell me they don't get it. Seriously, if you're not using it you need to start... asap! Snapping a pic and posting it is a great way for me to stay motivated and to keep documenting my need to get outside.

I'm now trying to figure out a way to keep up the walking while taking Connor out for walks without the stroller. On most days we go for a much longer walk than 2 km, but without a stroller there is just no way for Connor to go that far, plus he takes forever to just walk 1 block as he loves to check out the world. There have been quite a few days where we go for 2 walks; 1 just for Connor to explore and then 1 for me to either run errands or take him out in the stroller for a long walk.

I love that my role as Mom is ever changing and I'm constantly challenged on thinking outside of the box with even the simplest task such as going for a walk. This insight makes me realize how far I've come since a year ago when I was engulfed in my postpartum anxiety/postpartum depression. Back then I couldn't even leave the apartment without breaking down in hysterics because everything was SO.HARD. Now I'm taking everything in stride and am easily managing my needs as well as those of Connor.

This may sound cheesy but I am so proud of myself.

April: share the wonder

2013-04-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

Connor's happy scream. He really loves the park. Just making your day a little brighter.
My One Little Word is still going strong even though I completely forgot to write a post about my March intentions. That's ok though, March was simple wonder and I sure kept it simple with my time away from the computer. :)

April is going to be good. I can feel it!

Besides being my birthday month (April 4th!) there is just something about this month that I love. I love spring and had decided a few years ago that during the month of April I will share my time more with friends and people I care about. And that ties in perfectly with re-discovering wonder in my life.

My goals this month are all about giving more of myself. This month I hope to:

♡ do 1 random act of kindness each week
I originally intended to make a plan for what I was going to do each week (and I may still do that if something inspires me) but I like the idea of letting this unfold on it's own. I want to be more aware of my surroundings and the people in my day-to-day life. If and when I see something arise I will act on it. I also plan on documenting these when they happen each week and sharing the outcomes with you. I would love to make more of an effort with this throughout the year.

♡ visit with friends
I've already started this in March and the wonderful weather we are having has sure helped. But it is important to me to remain social and maintain the close ties that I have with my small group of friends. I also want to make an effort to reach out to some of the wonderful women behind the blogs I am following.

♡ talk to family once a week
My parents and I have already made it a priority to schedule Skype once a week so that we can keep in touch and so that Connor can know his Grandparents. I also need to make sure that I call my sister and I will even make an effort in April to call and talk to my brother as well. I know I'm making it sound like calling my siblings is a pain or worse than it is, and it's not. My sister and I are close but my brother isn't the type to pick up the phone and call and neither am I. The only way this is going to change is if I make the effort. So consider yourself on my list of priorities Liz and Gord!

♡ text friends more
This is something small but it always makes me smile to share the love. Wendy started it ages ago. She would send me random texts on random days. Easy things like "Monday morning hugs!" or "thinking of you". It takes 2 secs to send the text and a whole day if not more to make me smile because of it. I plan on doing this to my other friends as well. I do realize that not everyone is going to send me a text back (and they may not appreciate it) but that's not the point. The point is to share my wonder.

♡ tell people I love them
This is something that I think we all need to do more often. Really how hard is it for me to say "I love you"? It's not hard. It's easy peasy to share the wonder.

Whew. After typing it all down it seems like a lot that I want to do but I know that it will be easy to do and hopefully even easier to keep going after April is over.

To see the start read January here. February here. All the rest here.

Happy Easter!

2013-03-31T22:28:00.001-07:00

A quick post to wish you and your family a very Happy Easter! My little family had a wonderful week-end filled with amazing weather and good times with my brother-in-law. It's so good to have James's brother and his family here to share the holidays and to start new family traditions with. Both Connor and my niece Maya are "only children" so all 4 of us are hoping they are close when they get older. They are off to a good start!

...and lastly a few things I've been grateful for in March: ♡ play dates with friends ♡ pizza lunches ♡ sneaking easter treats ♡ black jack cherry frozen yogurt ♡ getting to sleep in ♡ skyping with my parents every week ♡ realizing my computer wasn't broken ♡ getting invited to the yarn store with friends ♡ and actually being able to go to the yarn store & lunch! ♡ signing up for another term of Music Together classes ♡ reading a book ♡ having time away from the computer ♡ getting crafty again ♡ making dinner from scratch more and more ♡ having moments to remember how amazing Connor is ♡ deep breathes when Connor wakes up in the middle of the night ♡ meeting my friends new baby girl

Finished Project: Thumbless Mittens

2013-03-28T12:42:00.000-07:00

In January Connor outgrew his baby mittens and I scoured Ravelry looking for something to knit him. I knew I wanted them big enough to fit next winter and I definitely didn't want any thumbs on them as Connor fusses to no end because of those pesky thumbs, even if I don't put his thumbs in them. So when I saw Ginny's photos of sweet Silas and his thumbless mittens I knew I had found the perfect pattern.

♥ Pattern: Easy Thumbless Baby Mittens by Adirondack Mama
♥ Yarn: Indigo Moon Worsted Weight Merino in Midnight Song
♥ Needles: 4.5 mm (US 7)
♥ Mods: followed Ginny Sheller's mods for toddler sized mittens
♥ My Ravelry Page.

I followed Ginny's simple directions to turn the mittens into toddler sized mittens (the pattern is designed for newborns). They fit perfectly with room for next year. Now if only Connor will stay long enough for me to snap a few photos of them on. The 1 funny thing about my little mittens is they seem to have bumps at the top. I'm sure they are created when I bind off (my hats used to have that little bump too when I first started knitting hats) but it has become my goal to figure out exactly what I am doing to make sure this doesn't continue to happen.

Yarn Along: Looking for Alaska

2013-03-27T15:01:00.000-07:00

With my recent time away from my computer I was able to complete a quick knit for Connor (post to come!) and have also gotten quite a few inches knit on my Inside Out cowl. This is another project that has been sitting in my WIP basket since March 2011. I love knitting this and love the yarn but the cowl just hasn't been on my priority list so it always gets bumped for more important knitting. But not anymore! I'm really looking forward to being done this cowl as I think it will go perfectly with my jean jacket and will be great to keep the cold wind off my neck, but is light enough for this warm sunny weather we are having. I'm still trying to determine when I want to stop knitting as I can go as long as I want lengthwise. Once I'm finished this I think I will knit up something for Connor with any leftover yarn. I'm really loving the green and brown combo.

I wish I had taken a photo of my book before returning it to the library. But you'll just have to pretend there is a trade paperback in the photo. I am a huge fan of John Green's and Looking for Alaskais his first novel. I really enjoyed reading it and there was a plot twist in it that I didn't see coming AT ALL. In fact I had to re-read a specific paragraph a few times to make sure I was understanding the situation and not just imagining it. I was truly floored at what happened to one of the main characters and because I didn't see it coming I was slightly upset. I both love and hate when an author does this to me. He had me really invested in a specific outcome for a character and then WHAM! not going to happen. I know I'm being ambiguous but I wouldn't have hated for the book to be spoiled for me so I don't want to give anything away but let's just say that I am really glad that I got to read this book.

Joining in every Wednesday!

An unplanned computer vacation.

2013-03-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

Well that was embarrassing.

Two weeks ago, on March 13th, I woke up to find that my computer had died. I bought this laptop way back in either 2007 or 2008. It's been so long the dates are a bit fuzzy and really this laptop is about 90 in computer years. I knew that it was on it's last legs as it's been slow as molasses and there have been a few other problems.

But I didn't think it would actually die on me. At least not anytime soon. So when James had been reminding me daily to back up my computer but I kept putting it off. I'll do that tomorrow I would say. And then I woke up that fateful morning to find my computer giving me a black screen and telling me there was no hard drive found. I honestly didn't think much about it and just restarted my computer only to find that it wasn't joking around. Again the black screen, many loud beeps and no hard drive.

I was surprised that I didn't panic. I actually felt a bit relieved. It wasn't until about 4 days later that it really hit me that I potentially lost all of my videos and photos of Connor. Before his birthday I printed off all of my pregnancy and labour/birth photos so that was a small blessing. I was now kicking myself that I hadn't listened to James and backed up my photos.

I kept putting off taking my laptop in to see if anything was retrievable. The main reason being that we don't really have any extra funds to buy me a new computer. And I wasn't really interested in learning what type of new computer I would buy. So I just let my computer sit here and used it as a really big paperweight.

After two weeks of procrastinating, I finally decided I needed to get serious and do something about this little problem so last night I told James I was going to take my laptop in to see if anything could be salvaged. I don't really know how that works so I thought I should turn it on to see if the battery was still working. And that's when I found that my computer is NOT dead. In fact it's working quite fine. For now at least.

So yup, I guess my computer just need a little vacation.

Could you imagine what would have happened if I did bring it in? The guy would have turned it on and looked at me like I was crazy. Just like James did last night. I seriously think he thinks I've lost my marbles but I SWEAR my computer wasn't working and couldn't recognize the hard drive!

The positive of all of this is that I have now completely backed up all of my essentials. Photos, videos, music and any files I think I would need on a new computer. I have also taken time to do some serious Spring Cleaning of my laptop as well as my iPhone. I know that this computer may be working now, but it's not always going to be. I want to start planning on a new purchase and only keeping what I deem to be essential on here.

Oh, and with all my free time, I did a major Spring Cleaning of our apartment, spent plenty of time knitting, and crafting, I also read a book (!!) and have been spending lots of time outdoors with friends enjoying this gorgeous weather while it's not raining.

I have about 100 blog posts to catch up on and plan on paring down which blogs I continue to follow. I like that I've refocused my attention on Connor, my home and the blogs that I feel truly connected to.

**the above photo has nothing to do with this post really. This pair of Canada Geese have lived in our neighbourhood for about 5 years now. Every year they come back here and nest on an apartment building 2 blocks over from us. We can see them on the roof of their building through our living room window. Connor was tickled pink by them, especially because they didn't care that we walked right beside them.**

Yarn Along: Finished Project

2013-03-13T04:11:00.000-07:00

I finished my Oaklet Shawl on Monday night. This was another project that had been sitting in my WIP basket. In fact I cast this shawl on back in July 2012. I believe that I left it to sit because I wasn't sure about the yarn colour and I wasn't sure that a shawl was something that I would put to use.

I can say that now that I've completed my first shawl that it was such a pleasure to knit, I really loved the simplicity of the pattern. It had just enough to keep it interesting and was easy enough that my tired Momma brain could knit without messing up. I adore the final edge border. And as you can tell from these pictures it still needs to be blocked. I'm not quite sure when this will happen as I need to find somewhere to keep it while blocking so Connor doesn't destroy it. I'm sure I'll figure something out. Pictures to come of the finished project!!

♥ Pattern: Oaklet Shawl by Megan Goodacre
♥ Yarn: Juno Fibre Arts MILLY in Delice colourway
♥ Needles: 3.75 mm (US 5)
♥ Mods: none
♥ My Ravelry Page.

The one thing that I'm hoping blocking will help with is the size of the shawl. I don't know why but in my mind I thougth this shawl would be perfect to go over my shoulders to keep me warm during these cold winter nights. I was going to add more rows to the shawl but decided to just follow the pattern as-is without making any changes. Because of this the shawl is tiny. It just sits on my shoulders and if it doesn't stretch at all while blocking it will be used more as a cowl than a shawl. I'm a little worried that if this is the case I won't use it at all. But I'll be keeping my fingers crossed and I'll let you know how it goes!

The one thing that I'm extremely happy about now that I've finished this shawl is that I want to knit another shawl right away. I'd love to hear any suggestions you have!

I'd love to see what is on your needles (or hook)! Please post a link in the comments.

Joining in every Wednesday!

Saturday and Sunday

2013-03-11T06:03:00.000-07:00

Last photo © Wendy Avis

This week-end was filled with love. It was very much needed for our little family. We spent most of Saturday with Wendy, the four of us walking along the beach, taking pictures with our iPhones, catching up on each others lives and eating an early dinner together. Spending time with Wendy is good for my soul. Sunday was spent watching Life of Pi with just the 3 of us, eating more yummy food, seeing amazing photos of my dear friend's new baby girl and having a long family nap.

This week-end was dreamy.

Wild Marigold

2013-03-08T14:59:00.000-08:00

Back in February, the lovely Meryl of My Bit of Earth had a wonderful sponsored giveaway from Wild Marigold and lo-and-behold, I was the winner.

Or technically Connor was the winner of 8 wooden strawberries but I think I'll keep them for myself for a bit. He's far too young for such precious play toys. Who's with me on this? I mean, come on! These are perfect for my desk, and my bookshelf. How can I not enjoy them for awhile?

Another Milestone: First Haircut!

2013-03-07T19:19:00.000-08:00

Today my adorable little baby boy went from this slightly anxious Connor....

... to this crying, scared little baby boy....

... to this sweet toddler boy in less than 15 minutes.....

... a few snips and there sat a calm and mighty handsome Connor.

He makes my heart SWOON!

Yarn Along: Oaklet Shawl

2013-03-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

After finishing James scarf I have been motivated to go ahead and finish the other items in my WIP basket. This Oaklet Shawl is gorgeous and an easy knit so it's perfect right now. I cast it on back in July of 2012 and it's been laying there since about August of 2012. It is my first shawl for myself and I only have 3 rows left before I start the lace edging. I'm very excited to see how this turns out. I never have considered myself a shawl type of person but it is so pretty, even if I don't wear it out in public I will be wearing it around the apartment.

As usual I haven't been reading lately.

I'd love to see what is on your needles (or hook)! Please post a link in the comments.

Joining in every Wednesday!

Happy Birthday Uncle Gordie!

2013-03-01T00:57:00.000-08:00

{Photos by Jessie Gibbs}

Today my brother turns 39. Gordon (aka Gordie when I was a kid) is my only brother and is a mere 13 months older than me. My brother is where Connor gets his blonde hair and blue eyes from and numerous people have told me that Connor looks so much like Gord when he was a baby. I think that's pretty cool. And Connor does too.

Happy Birthday Gordie! I hope all of your birthday wishes come true this year. I hear 39 is a rockin' year!

boy wonder

2013-02-28T15:53:00.000-08:00

After re-reading this post from the beginning of February I realized that this month has been fantastic in terms of my one little word.

I set out with the intention to let boy wonder come to me organically. I didn't want to figure it out what boy wonder meant before hand. I still don't know how to put into words how WONDER came into my life this month but as I sit here while my son naps, I know that it did. Just look at those pictures above from the other day. Connor is a ball of discovery, it seems that every day he has changed. I'm quite sure that he is going through another mental leap and it is so amazing to be here alongside him to witness this growth.

It no longer matters to me that I gave birth to a boy. What matters is that I have a son, and I get to be his Mamma. And that is fabulous.

To find out more about Ali Edwards amazing one little word course click here. There is still time to sign up!

And lastly a few things I've been grateful for in February: ♡ date night @ The Red Onion ♡ hearing James and Connor belly laughing in the bedroom ♡ mini white chocolate toblerones ♡ Connor napping for 3 hours ♡ homemade split pea with ham soup ♡ play dates ♡ Family Day statutory holiday ♡ worked more on February's one little word prompt ♡ napping with Connor ♡ Music Together classes ♡ Downton Abbey ♡ finishing James scarf!! ♡ snuggles from Domino ♡ sending out Valentine crafts to my nieces