Friday 29 July 2016

ONE FINE MORNING


Thursday 28 July 2016

DATE NIGHT | pt.2

Captures from a most magical night x

Monday 25 July 2016

FOREST TURNS ONE

I cannot believe that Forest has turned one! I can't believe how time has flown and still has managed to pack an endless amount of memories full of beauty, laughter and grief. Forest has been through so much in his first little year of his life, including having his world turned upside down when I had my stroke and we were separated at 9 months old ( I will be sharing my stroke story later) And still through all his trauma he has managed to remain and flourish into a bright, hilarious, beautiful, intelligent, determined, sensitive, absolutely wonderful little boy. I also want to share that we successfully made it to a year of breastfeeding despite all the obstacles presented with the stroke <3)
 I may be biased, but he is truly a treasure on earth, and brings joy and healing energy everywhere he goes. His smile shines brighter than anything I have ever beheld and every day I am still blown away by his existence. He loves nature (a child after my own heart), loves playing in the kitchen and is obsessed with balloons. He loves to be silly and make people laugh, will dance immediately upon hearing music (especially rap, go dad) and is super loving and cuddly. He is also stubborn, shy when he doesn't recognize somebody, and so determined and proud of himself when he accomplishes something new to him. His party basically turned out nothing like I had originally planned (I just didn't have it in me to do all that work at this stage in my recovery) BUT it was lovely nonetheless. Forest didn't nap well that day so he mostly stayed glued to me but he loved having everyone sing to him and especially loves playing with his cousins. I think his favorite part of the day though, was definitely cake! He didn't have much but devoured every bit that made it into his mouth! It was a great day and I'm happy that a lot of our family was able to make it down to celebrate with us. Now I get to look forward to the many years that are coming with my little boy :)

Saturday 23 July 2016

DATE YO HUSBAND | pt.1

Here's a fun fact about us that you may not know. After we got married and found out I was pregnant with Forest, we moved out of the city almost immediately and lived in my parents basement so that 1.Gavin could find a full time job (neither of us had landed one yet in the city) so that we could save for a good place to bring our baby into 2.I needed extra support for both my mental health and the pregnancy as it was high risk. Due to unexpected circumstances, we were only able to move into our now home THE DAY I STARTED HAVING CONTRACTIONS. We had nothing ready. Basically, since marriage, Gavin and I have been fighting a lot of stress and have had 0 time together. Married, Pregnant, living with parents, move into a new place and Fores immediately made his appearance. Parents with 0 free time. I have a stroke, a million more complications arise, Gavin now works two jobs and so basically all this to say I REALLY NEEDED TIME WITH MY HUSBAND. like more than anything ever. seriously. So Gavin booked time off so that we could go camping together, we had everything booked and ready to go but our sitter had last minute changes and so it looked like we were NEVER going to have any time together. Luckily my dad was able to watch Forest for a night so that we could still have a day and night of REAL alone time. I can't even begin to explain how beautiful and necessary for my healing these past couple of days have been. My dad had just picked up Forest and Gavin and I headed to the beach before the storm. Clouds hovered heavily above us and the wind made the waves wild and beautiful. We spent hours chasing the waves and laughing like children over everything and nothing. It was the first time in years, yes years, that I felt so care-free and weightless. Gavin too, I could see it in his eyes. Once the thunder and lightening came and the rain started pouring down on us, we walked to town for coffee and sandwhiches. Completely soaked and completely happy. We were laughing becuase everywhere people were huddling and hiding from the rain except for us, who probably looked crazy walking hand in hand in it. Afterward we went home to relax before heading back out to watch the sunset. All of this has reminded me that we are responsible for building our own experiences, so make the ones you want happen. Life can be as beautiful as we let it, struggle and all. Focusing on the positive does not make you fake, it makes you strong <3