Family Vacation 2011

While working on this post this morning, I looked outside and for a brief moment we seemed to be in the midst of a mini-blizzard! The sky darkened and for a few minutes it was difficult to see anything but the large, fat snowflakes blowing around in the strong wind.  I heard on the news yesterday that the groundhogs may have been wrong about an early spring and we may actually have a few more weeks of winter left. Although I'm tired of this cold weather and starting to feel ready for spring, I have to admit that I've actually really enjoyed winter this year. Partly because I have been very distracted learning the ropes of motherhood, attempting to organize my house, and taking a photo here or there when I have a chance. But mainly because I have been very busy getting to know my beautiful daughter. She seems to be doing something new every day and I just can't get enough of her smiles and cuddles. I even find myself constantly sniffing her – sticking my nose in her neck and deeply breathing in her smell. (A few people have given me weird looks out in public. But I can't help it. It's addicting). So the last few months have gone by in a blur and my once tiny, sleepy, sweet newborn (with her adorable alien-like stretches) is now a bubbly, drooling 4- 1/2 month old with lots of smiles, grunts, giggles and a deafening high-pitched squeal. She's growing up too fast. So, today's post is very special.  Back in January, we were feeling adventurous and decided to take Robin on vacation at just 12 weeks old. We travelled south to the warm and sunny Dominican Republic, with Dave, Melissa and Kate (good friends and regulars on the blog), and we definitely did not regret it. It was a fantastic way to spend time together as a family and it was so nice to be outside in the sun and warmth. I loved dressing Robin in cute summer outfits and she loved hanging out in her diaper. We spent the whole week admiring her lovely little toes and chubby knees and elbows, which are normally hidden. Towards the end of the trip, Melissa and I decided it would be fun to take some photos of each other's family down at the beach and I'm so glad we did. Taking the time to do this produced some of the best photos of the whole vacation, and definitely a family portrait or two that I will always cherish. I think we may have started a tradition.

And below, one of my favourites of my two loves.

i'm loving valentine's day

This year I have the sweetest little valentine in the whole world! We spent a few minutes this afternoon taking a few photos to document the occasion. This next pic was inspired by the photographer who took Robin's newborn photos. The framed photo is one of my most treasured possessions. Thank you Scarlet!

Happy Valentine's Day.

Addaboy: modern clothing for little rockers

This is a long overdue post from a photo session done back in September, only a few weeks before my due date. Addaboy is a local clothing company that makes awesome, one-of-a-kind clothes for boys. A friend of mine introduced me to Michelle, the owner of Addaboy, who was looking to do a photo shoot to promote the fall/winter line. Their tagline, "Modern clothing for little rockers" definitely fits! We set out near the Distillery District with four little "rockers" and had a great time exploring the area while getting some shots. I was a bit nervous about working with four boys at once, but these kids were naturals in front of the camera and made my job easy. Addaboy is launching a nationwide search for brand spokeboys. Stay tuned!

Visit www.addaboy.ca or check them out on Facebook!

At the end of the morning, we spent a few minutes taking some photos of Michelle with her husband and their two little guys. I love how these turned out and I can't wait to work with them again!

exactly one week ago...

We spent last week in Punta Cana with Dave, Melissa and Kate and enjoyed a fantastic first family vacation. What a shock to our systems it was to return home to some of Canada's finest weather. Blistery cold wind and snow. I'm not totally sure why, but I love this photo. It  was Thursday evening and we went for a long walk along the beach so Melissa and I could get some photos. I guess it just reminds me of how blissfully warm and relaxing it was.  And how grateful we were to be hanging out on a beautiful beach with our hubbies who would normally be at the office.

Happy New Year! Bring on 2011

I hope everyone was able to enjoy ringing in the new year as much as I did! Robin was on night 9 of sleeping through the night so life is getting pretty good again and we were feeling optimistic about staying up past 10pm. We packed up the stroller with beer, wine, ice wine, champagne and a salad, and headed over to Dave and Melissa's along with Kendra and Jim. The babies went down to bed at 8 and we enjoyed a delicious feast and played a rather intense game of Hedbanz which is surprisingly much more challenging than I expected. Santa brought me a new camera for Christmas (BEST PRESENT EVER) so I got some practice in. It was the perfect way to welcome 2011. This is going to be a great year – I can't wait!

Merry Christmas!

We're busy rushing around the house, trying to get out the door to head to Oakville to spend the next two days with family (Robin's first overnight trip), but I just wanted to quickly post a few pics and wish everyone a very merry Christmas!! Robin continues to be the star of my blog (although my niece's artwork has made an appearance below) but hopefully this will change in the new year! Happy holidays. xo

Robin Grace

I figured that it was about time that I take (and post) some real photos of my own little one. Before Robin, I thought that having my own baby would mean a photo session everyday! But it turns out that most of the time I only have a few seconds to quickly snap a photo or two on my point & shoot. So my new plan is to try and do a good session with her once a month going forward (we'll see how that goes!) because I don't want to miss capturing her at every stage. So on a sunny Thursday a couple of weeks ago (when Robin was exactly 4 weeks old) I jacked the heat to 75 and we spent an hour in the kitchen taking these. My mom had just sent me some really pretty flowers so they have made a few appearances, along with a beautiful quilt made by Robin's Auntie Darci and an adorable hat and booties from our good friend Krissy. And while standing on the table bumping my head against the chandelier, I was inspired to include it as well.

I know, I know, I'm a huge dork for posting this next one. But in the future I will want to look back and remember how I was looking/feeling during this time, right?...  In case it's not obvious, I was feeling pretty proud.

Nick, Kathie and Veronica

Robin and I had a lunch date with Kathie and Veronica today and I was so excited to pass along the photos from their recent session. Veronica is so sweet and I look forward to taking many more photos over the years as she grows. Enjoy! xo

I'm back!

New house. New baby. New blog. New photos. The last few months have been crazy, but I'm finally getting my life back in order. We finished renovating and finally moved into our new house. Our daughter, Robin Grace, was born 3 weeks later, and somewhere in the midst of all of this I have finally managed to get my new blog and website into working order (although there are kinks to still work out). I'm quite behind on my posts so over the next few weeks I plan to get caught up. I'm starting today with a sneak peak from a photoshoot I did yesterday with our very dear friends Nick and Kathie and their baby girl Veronica.

Veronica was born 5 weeks before Robin and I'm sure they are going be great friends! Yesterday's shoot was amazing – the rain held out and we had good light, Veronica was very well-behaved and allowed us to take a ton of photos, and I survived my first real outing away from Robin. I'm so happy that I was able to do these photos for Nick and Kathie.